Most of the full-body puppetry for E.T. was performed by a 2'10" tall stuntman, but the scenes in the kitchen were done using a 12-year-old boy who was born without legs but was an expert on walking on his hands.
Steven Spielberg shot most of the film from the eye-level of a child to further connect with Elliott and E.T.
At the auditions, Henry Thomas thought about the day his dog died to express sadness. Director Steven Spielberg cried, and offered him the role of Elliott on the spot.
Juliette Lewis auditioned for the role of Gertie, but her father reportedly made her turn it down.
Harrison Ford initially filmed a cameo role in the film as Elliott's school headmaster, but the scene was cut.
Steven Spielberg stated in an interview that E.T. was a plant-like creature, and neither male nor female.
When the kid in the Yoda costume is seen, you can hear a snippet of "Yoda's Theme" from "The Empire Strikes Back." John Williams composed the music for both "Empire" and "E.T."
Dee Wallace says that fans of the movie at conventions she goes to, always refer to her as "E.T.s mom" or "The mother from E.T."
According to Steven Spielberg, none of the children were acting. They had to act through the movie in a chronological order and never saw the E.T. costume without an actor inside (let alone the actor without the costume). When the ending was filmed, they had actually befriended the alien and now had to say goodbye forever. Their heartbreak was real.
E.T.'s communicator actually worked, and was constructed by Henry Feinberg, an expert in science and technology interpretation for the public.
When Elliott insults Michael (the script did not actually specify what to say, just something insulting), Dee Wallace was supposed to yell angrily at him to sit down. When she actually heard him say, "It was nothing like that, penis breath!" Wallace's laughter while saying "Elliot!" was her entirely genuine reaction.
Spielberg deliberately filmed the scene, so it looks like the scientist are hurting E.T. rather than trying to save him.
Drew Barrymore really believed E.T. was an alien. Her tears during E.T. final farewell are genuine and heartfelt.
When E.T. and Elliot hug goodbye at the end of the movie, E.T.'s gentle hand motions on Elliot's shoulders were performed by a mime wearing gloves.
The late Michael Jackson owned one of the E.T. puppets.
"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" had the longest ever theatrical run (over a year).
The film was the highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide until Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" (1993) was released.
Richard Attenborough later said that he felt bad that his own film, "Gandhi" (1982), beat this film to the Best Picture Academy Award because he considered his friend Steven Spielberg's film more deserving of the award and was convinced before the ceremony that it would win. Attenborough described E.T. as "a quite extraordinary piece of cinema".
Trivia items from IMDB
Listen to my fascinating conversation with the wonderful Dee Wallace using the links below. Enjoy!
Episode 13 - HERE
Episode 14 - HERE
