Through extraordinary big-screen projects like the Indiana Jones films series and the Jurassic Park trilogy, Steven Spielberg has given cinema some of its best works of all time. And as unique as each new concept of his was, most of them required equally special maintenance and care as well, without which they could encounter serious problems.
That happened not only with his 1975 superhit thriller Jaws, but also with his 1982 blockbuster, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Though, in the latter situation, Spielberg had his friend Jim Henson ask a favor. Henson ended up ‘fixing’ E.T. for him and saved the $792 million movie.
Jim Henson Fixed E.T. In Steven Spielberg’s 1982 Sci-Fi
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was undoubtedly one of the biggest masterpieces by Steven Spielberg ever. Based somewhat on his own life story about how he created an imaginary friend for himself following his parents’ divorce, the film gained massive acclamation from general audiences and critics alike.
As for the alien, it was made through people wearing his costume as well as animatronics: Although the actors had to wear the costume of the alien in real time depending on which scene was being filmed, the character’s face and expressions were controlled by a team of puppeteers with animatronics.
However, once, these fairly sophisticated animatronics posed a genuine problem for Spielberg. Thus, to save his movie which was already ditched once before from being ditched yet once again, the filmmaker asked for help from a friend, who was a puppeteer and animator: the late Jim Henson.
As cartoonist Guy Gilchrist shared with Dennis Pastorizo during a recent appearance at the L.A. Comic Con (via Instagram):
“Steven Spielberg was also a very dear friend of Jim’s, and Jim fixed E.T. because E.T. didn’t work.”
Before The Fabelmans director, Henson had also helped George Lucas with Yoda back when he got in trouble with him while shooting for Star Wars. Thus, because he was in such a good relationship with both Lucas and Steven Spielberg and because he knew how to do some serious tinkering, Jim Henson was able to save E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — literally!
Steven Spielberg Had To Change Jaws‘ Story Due To A Similar Situation
While this happened with Steven Spielberg’s $792 million sci-fi movie around the early 1980s, it wasn’t the filmmaker’s first encounter with a serious mishap on sets. A few years back in the 1970s, he was met with a similar situation during the shooting of his 1975 thriller Jaws, which inevitably led him to change the storyline of the film.
Originally based on the 1974 novel Jaws by Peter Benchley, Spielberg’s movie of the same name had a specially designed moving shark created using special effects. However, the fake shark posed a problem as it started malfunctioning within a short time of getting into the water. This was because the saltwater ate away at its rubber skin and mechanisms.
This led to the filmmaker changing the movie’s storyline to a different approach than was in the book, considering how the shark appears on screen for a mere 4 minutes in total. To the director’s luck, this malfunctioning proved to be of help to him as it created a more thrilling and suspenseful effect that helped keep the audience constantly terrorized.
Although these constant changes in the script led to a massive delay in shooting — which went from the planned 55 days to a stunning 159 days straight — Jaws still managed to become one of the best works by Steven Spielberg as even the malfunctioning shark helped the film in ways that even the director couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams!
