You know how some people have a hard time deciding their all-time favorite movie? Well, that’s not me. My answer every time, unequivocally, is Back to the Future .
It’s been more than 35 years since this miraculous film blew us all away.
Go back in time and celebrate these 10+ Back to the Future behind the scenes secrets that fans didn’t know!
1. The time machine wasn’t always going to be a Delorean.
According to a CNN interview with Bob Gale, the original design of the time machine was actually more of a ” time chamber .”
It looked a lot like the refrigerator you’d see in your home. Well, not your home. Maybe, your grandparents’ home?
2. Ronald Reagan quoted the film in his 1986 State of the Union speech:
“As they said in the film, Back to the Future : ‘Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.'”
You know you’ve managed to create an iconic piece of dialogue when you’re quoted by the President!
3. Disney actually thought that the film was too adult for their taste!
Bob Gale recalls a meeting with a Disney executive to CNN .
They asked: “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!”
4. Marty’s guitar was seriously expensive.
In the film, Marty plays a Gibson ES-345 . Ironically enough, the guitar was also from the future! The ES-345 wasn’t released until 1958, three years after the film takes place.
Nowadays, you can pick one up for a cool five grand .
5. The film continues to inspire new generations of filmmakers.
I’m actually embarrassed to admit how long it took me to realize that Rick and Morty is just one brilliant and vulgar ode to Back to the Future .
If you’ve not seen Dan Harmon’s incredible cartoon, it’s worth the watch — especially if you’re a Community fan.
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6. Tom Wilson, who played Biff, has the answers to all of your questions.
Mostly, because he’s tired of having to answer them for you!
Instead, Tom wrote out handy cards that cover every single possible query fans of the films may have.
7. There’s a reference to Chuck Berry that you may have missed.
While Marty is up on stage playing guitar, he’s asked by the bandleader to play one more number. “Something that really cooks.”
Marty then proceeds to break into an electric version of ” Johnny B. Goode .”
Upon hearing the song, The bandleader rushes off stage into an office to call his cousin.
“Chuck, it’s Marvin! Your cousin — Marvin Berry! You know that ‘new sound’ you’re lookin’ for? Well, listen to this!”
Chuck Berry released the track in 1958 .
8. One studio-head thought that the film should be renamed *Spaceman From Pluto*.
Funny enough, they were arguing that Back to the Future was too indicative of the genre.
Although I don’t know how a title could be more on-the-nose than Spaceman From Pluto ?
Luckily, Steven Spielberg knew exactly what to do in response to the memo.
He wrote one back on behalf of Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, according to The Shortlist .
“Hi Sid, thanks for your most humorous memo , we all got a big laugh out of it, keep ‘em coming.”
9. There are rumors of a possible reboot involving Tom Holland!
Although the outcome at the moment is unlikely. Tom admitted to Collider “That film is the most perfect film- or one of the most perfect films, one that could never be made better.”
I don’t know, would you like to see Tom Holland as Marty McFly?
10. There is an official backstory that explains how Marty and Doc became friends.
The way that Bob Gale laid it out to Mental Floss was that:
“For years, Marty was told that Doc Brown was dangerous , a crackpot, a lunatic. So, being a red-blooded American teenage boy, age 13 or 14, he decided to find out just why this guy was so dangerous.”
Gale continues, stating that “Marty snuck into Doc’s lab, and was fascinated by all the cool stuff that was there.”
At that point, Doc Brown offered Marty a part-time job assisting him with his experiments, working in the lab, as well as taking care of Einstein on occasion.
11. Doc Brown wasn’t supposed to have a dog!
As Bob Gale told CNN :
“At first, Doc Brown didn’t have a pet dog. He had a chimpanzee . Sid [Sheinberg] said no chimpanzees. “I looked it up,” he said, “no movie with a chimpanzee ever made any money.”
12. The script was turned down by every single major studio in Hollywood.
In some cases, multiple times over! As writer Bob Gale explained to CNN :
“The script was rejected over 40 times by every major studio and by some more than once. We’d go back when they changed management.”
