Back to the Future is a true sci-fi masterpiece developed under the cinematic canvas of Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale. However, even a movie of such caliber and star cast had a slew of rejections before it was released, including multimedia titans like Disney, which gave the film a hard pass.
While many would assume that the complicated timeline of the movie would be the issue, the reasoning for the same was entirely different and presented a rather scandalous scene by the protagonist, Michael J. Fox.
Disney rejected Back to the Future due to a certain scene by Michael J. Fox
The movie was rejected by over 40 multimedia houses, according to screenwriter and producer Bob Gale, who disclosed this in 2010 (via CNN) for the film’s 25th anniversary. One of the main reasons for this rejection was a scene featuring Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox).
The 1985 film had Marty traveling back to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean automobile to prevent his parents from falling in love. However, when his own existence is threatened, he is forced to reconcile them.
Later in the film, during the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance sequence, his teenage mother (Lea Thompson) kisses him. This prompted the media houses to reject the movie since a mother falling in love with her child was too scandalous for them.
In the same interview with CNN, screenwriter Bob Gale stated:
We went in to meet with an executive and he says, ‘Are you guys nuts? Are you insane? We can’t make a movie like this. You’ve got the kid and the mother in his car! It’s incest. This is Disney. It’s too dirty for us!
Despite numerous rejections, the film was able to reach the big screen after catching the attention of Steven Spielberg, who grew interested in it and gave it a permanent home at Universal Studios.
Ryan Reynolds’ heartwarming message for Michael J. Fox
While Michael J. Fox is well-known in the entertainment industry, he is also involved in a variety of humanitarian organizations, the most noteworthy of which is the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which was founded in 2000. Fox, who himself suffers from Parkinson’s, founded the organization to raise funds for therapy and treatments for others affected.
Ryan Reynolds, who’s also on the organization’s Board of Directors, wrote the message (via Time) after Fox was named one of Time’s top 100 most influential people. The Deadpool actor added:
I met Mike 17 years ago. I’ve watched him raise the bar for purpose and passion. It’d be kinda lazy to simply characterize him as the greatest champion of Parkinson’s research on the planet
This subject is close to Ryan Reynolds’ heart, as his father James Reynolds, had Parkinson’s before he died in 2015 after fighting the disease for nearly two decades. Further, the actor also added:
He’s someone who helped my dad, along with millions of others, feel less alone.
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 29 in 1991 and publicly announced the diagnosis in 1998, which surprised many considering his age.
But the actor did not let this discourage him, and now, after decades of entertaining people on screen and continuing to raise awareness off screen, Michael J. Fox is unquestionably worthy of being named one of Time’s top 100 influential people.
Back to the Future is currently available on Apple TV, AMC On Demand, and Vudu.
