20+ Easter Eggs We All Missed In ET

Keep your eyes out for Harrison Ford

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It's common knowledge that Harrison Ford is Steven Spielberg's best buddy and favorite actor. This is due to the fact that Ford plays a large number of "hidden" and uncredited roles in a variety of Spielberg films, not to mention this one. See if you can spot the covert operative who is now watching the house from the van.

Ford just couldn't keep away!

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Ford didn't just stop there though. There was another scene where Ford made a little cameo appearance but you probably wouldn't recognize him. Remember the scheme where the kids are dissecting a frog in class? Yup, that's Harrison Ford as the teacher alright.

Most of his scenes were cut from the film though

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Harrison Ford, who had previously worked with Steven Spielberg on Indiana Jones, obviously had some tiny roles in the film. Well, he was an executive producer on the film too so was probably on hand. Most of his scenes were actually cut in post-production though.

Steven Speilberg enjoyed a little cameo...

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It seems that Steven Spielberg has been following Stan Lee's footsteps by making his own cameo in his self-directed films. If you look close enough, you'll notice that one of the doctors (with the beard, mustache and glasses) is the film's very own Spielberg.

The voice of E.T. actually starred in the film

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The voice actor behind E.T., Debra Winger, actually made her own appearance in the film (besides being E.T.'s voice obviously!). If you keep your eyes peeled in the movie, you'll see her in the Halloween scenes where E.T.'s eyes follow a woman wearing a monster mask and carrying a poodle.

The trees have faces in the beginning

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Have you ever paid attention to the opening scene of E.T.? Well, now maybe you will want to. Apparently, while E.T. is being chased through the woods, you will notice something peculiar about the trees. Some of them have faces that actually move... sneaky!

It was stunt bike riders that pedaled the bikes

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Unsurprisingly, the kids did not perform their own stunts. It has been revealed revealed that the scene featured three skilled riders. After working for a couple of weeks, they realized the significance of their roles, which they were unaware of initially.

Every doctor you see in the movie is real

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Fun fact: Steven Spielberg insisted on using actual doctors and nurses for the movie to achieve life-like authenticity. In order to maintain the realism of the film, they were instructed to treat E.T. as they would any other patient. I mean, that is pretty crazy.

10% of the budget went solely on designing E.T.

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Not surprisingly, the movie had a production budget of $10.5 million, which is roughly equivalent to $30 million now. Given it was a rogue film, it's quite a hefty budget. Yet, 10% of the budget was allocated to alien creature puppets and accompanying animatronics.

Sometimes, E.T. was actually a person in costume

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E.T. was brought to life through the use of a puppet for the most part, but the production team also created an animatronic version of the character. In a handful of the sequences, real performers, including Pat Bilon and Matthew DeMeritt, who was just 11 years old at the time, wore a rubber E.T. outfit.

It took 5 years to release the film on tape

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Preserving the experience of watching a film on the big screen and avoiding piracy were the main reasons behind this decision. In 1988, the studio released E.T. on videocassette and it sold almost 15 million copies in its first year, five years after its initial release.

They shot the movie in timeline order

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Steven Spielberg shot the movie from beginning to end following a chronological order in an effort to trigger genuine reactions from the child actors, particularly at the end of the film when they are saying their goodbyes to E.T. I mean, it makes sense doesn't it!

E.T. was found in a camera store...

Image Source/ E.T. Wiki

Check this out: The guy who does sound for the movie heard this lady in a camera store and was like, "That's the voice we need!" The lady was none other than Pat Walsh, a housewife from California who apparently smoked like a chimney, which gave her that cool raspy voice.

E.T. 2 was going to be a thing!

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E.T. 2 was actually in the works at some point, quite soon after the success of the first film. Spielberg coupled with writer Melissa Mathison to write a nine page treatment for the second film: Nocturnal Fears. It was to follow the group of kids after they get kidnapped by aliens.

It even revealed E.T.'s real name!

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Believe it or not, the second E.T. film was also going to confirm to the audience the real name of E.T. Want to know what it was? Well, the answer is Zrek. Damn, why couldn't we actually get this film? I'd pay good money to be able to see it in theaters.

Drew Barrymore's iconic line was adlibbed

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When Gertie, the character played by Drew, first encounters E.T., she says, "I don't like his feet." Well, even though it wasn't scripted, Steven Spielberg cherished the statement so much because it was a genuine reaction that 6-year-old Drew had to the puppet that he made the decision to include it in the movie.

The actors didn't make as much as you think

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You would think that any actors that starred in roles in massive money-making films would receive quite a hefty paycheck. Well, this wasn't the case for the child actors of E.T. They only went home with minimum wage, but they do still get residual cheques to this day.

The film actually impacted the sale of Reese's Pieces

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The movie depicts how Elliott manages to convince E.T. to accompany him back home by leaving a trail of Reese's Pieces. It was revealed that sales of Reese's tripled in the weeks following the release of a certain movie, according to Jack Dowd, the former VP for new business development at Hershey Chocolate.

Speilberg was more than good friends with George Lucas

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Believe it or not, the Star Wars films and E.T. actually take part in the same universe, and there's many clips that prove it. Firstly, with Spielberg and George Lucas being good friends, Spielberg incorporated Yoda into the film by having him as a Halloween costume!

Did you miss it in Star Wars too?

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Did you know that members of E.T.'s species made a cameo appearance in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace? George Lucas owed Spielberg a favor after his Star Wars Yoda made a cameo in E.T., which was gifted by Steven Spielberg himself. So cool!

Stranger Things loves an E.T. reference

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You might have realized that Stranger Things and E.T. have more in common than you think and it appears the similarities stem from Season 1. When the kids in Stranger Things happen upon Eleven, they find and hide her in a very similar way to that of the kids in E.T..

They just can't get enough!

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In Season 2 of Stranger Things, Eleven persuades Hopper to allow her to go trick-or-treating. She dresses up in a sheet with eyeholes cut out, similar to Elliott's costume in E.T., to conceal her identity. Also, viewers can spot an E.T. figure on the dresser in Dustin's room.

Even Jurassic World references the infamous E.T.

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It seems like Jurassic Park loved to get a little E.T. reference in there too, the first being the red hoodie that the little girl Maisie wears. It's the same style that Elliot wore in E.T. and even the director admits that it's very "Speilbergian."

Where's the infamous bike now?

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Tom Meighan, the lead vocalist of the British rock group Kasabian, spent almost $12,000 to acquire one of the authentic bikes. A significant addition to the collection of special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi's work is an original E.T. animatronic prop, which has found a new home on exhibit in an Italian museum.

Drew Barrymore originally auditioned for another film

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Did you know that while Spielberg was getting ready to make E.T., he was also working on the scary movie Poltergeist in 1982? Drew auditioned for the main part of Carol Anne, but Heather O'Rourke got it instead. So, after the audition, Spielberg had Drew in mind for E.T.

The film originally had a different name

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Before E.T. was known as the iconic E.T., the film actually had a different title that the filmmakers were rolling with. It was meant to originally be called "A Boy's Life", which has a very different vibe to what they ended up going with. E.T. sounds a lot better.

Drew Barrymore went back to film at the original house

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In 2000, the actress who produced and starred in Charlie's Angels paid tribute to her early acting days by featuring a brief scene at the Los Angeles house where the Taylor family resided. A quick glimpse at the background reveals an E.T. movie poster hanging on the wall.

Of course, E.T. was a record-breaking film

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Even though there have been countless films released since E.T. in 1982, it will still largely remain one of the most successful films at the box office. The film remained in theaters for well over a year, meaning that it had one of the longest runs in cinematic history.

E.T. and King Kong are more similar than you think

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Carlo Rambaldi, the renowned special effects artist who created the iconic character E.T., was honoured with the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the film. The Italian artist is known for creating iconic movie creatures such as King Kong and Alien.

Did you miss the E.T. 2019 Christmas ad?

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Xfinity was granted permission by Steven Spielberg to bring back the cherished extraterrestrial for a brief follow-up film in 2019. The 4-minute ad premiered during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The ad also brings back actor Henry Thomas as Elliott, who is now an adult with a family of his own in the story.