E.T. Trivia ET's face was modeled after poet Carl Sandburg and Albert Einstein. At the auditions, Thomas, Henry thought about the day his dog died to express sadness. Director Steven Spielberg cried, and hired him on the spot. Harrison Ford played the school principal, but his only scene was cut as Spielberg considered his presence would be too distracting. Ford's wife Melissa Mathison wrote the screenplay. In the Halloween scene, a child dressed as Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back (1980) walks by and catches E.T.'s eye. A snatch of composer John Williams' Yoda theme is heard. Reese's outbid M&M's for product placement. There is a rumour that M&M's were used initially, but the company asked for them to be removed, suspecting that the film would flop. The extraterrestrial's plant collection includes a triffid (from The Day of the Triffids (1962)). ET's voice was performed by Pat Walsh, with help from Debra Winger. ET's communicator actually worked, and was constructed by Henry Feinberg, an expert in science and technology interpretation for the public. Steven SpielbergTrademark: Elliot's father deserts the family to go to Mexico with Sally.
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