Page "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" Paragraph 23

Ed Verreaux created a $ 700, 000 prototype for E. T., which Spielberg deemed useless.

Carlo Rambaldi, who designed the aliens for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was hired to design the animatronics of E. T.

Rambaldi's own painting Women of Delta led him to give the creature a unique, extendable neck.

The creature's face was inspired by the faces of Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein and Ernest Hemingway.

Producer Kathleen Kennedy visited the Jules Stein Eye Institute to study real and glass eyeballs.

She hired Institute staffers to create E. T.

's eyes, which she felt were particularly important in engaging the audience.

Four E. T.

heads were created for filming, one as the main animatronic and the others for facial expressions, as well as a costume.

Two dwarfs, Tamara De Treaux and Pat Bilon, as well as 12-year-old Matthew DeMeritt, who was born without legs, took turns wearing the costume, depending on what scene was being filmed.

DeMeritt actually walked on his hands and played all scenes where E. T.

walked awkwardly or fell over.

The head of the E. T.

puppet was placed above the head of the actors, and the actors could see through slits in the puppet's chest.

Caprice Roth, a professional mime, filled prosthetics to play E. T.

's hands.

The puppet was created in three months at the cost of $ 1. 5 million.

Spielberg declared it was " something that only a mother could love.

" Mars, Incorporated found E. T.

so ugly that the company refused to allow M & M's to be used in the film, believing the creature would frighten children.

This allowed the Hershey Company the opportunity to market Reese's Pieces.

Science and technology educator Henry Feinberg created E. T.

's communicator device.