History Trivia / BacktoTheFuture

** ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'': The scene of Creator/MichaelJFox being hanged wasn't acting. He actually ''was'' near hung to death there. He was quickly cut down when Creator/RobertZemeckis noticed the "acting" was getting a little too real.

** Why the sequels exist at all - the studio wanted to cash in on the first movie's success by putting forth two more sequels, which the Bobs had not planned on doing and had zero interest in, as the ending of the first movie was simply supposed to be an [[AndTheAdventureContinues implication of the grander adventure continuing]] without actually following through on it.[[labelnote:*]] For example, the Bobs have said that if they had genuinely planned on doing sequels from the outset they would never have had Jennifer get in the car with Marty and Doc [[/labelnote]] When the ultimatum came down that the studio would make them with or without their involvement, Zemeckis and Gale agreed to return so the movies would be on their terms at least.

** Universal president Sidney Sheinberg insisted on several changes, several of them positive. He suggested "Professor Brown" be changed to "Doc Brown", which he felt was less stuffy. He also insisted on Emmett Brown's chimpanzee pet being changed[[note]]his reasoning was that movies with chimps didn't make money; when Creator/ClintEastwood's ''[[Film/EveryWhichWayButLoose Every Which Way]]'' films were pointed out, he retorted "That was an orangutan."[[/note]], which became the dog Einstein, and requested Marty's mother's name go from Eileen to Lorraine ([[Creator/LorraineGary his wife's]] name). One note that was heavily resisted was suggesting the title be ''Spaceman From Pluto'' after the comic seen in the film. Sheinberg went so far as to suggest multiple possible potential [[TitleDrop Title Drops]]. The Bobs were aghast at it, but Steven Spielberg used his clout to veto it by way of faxing Sheinberg and saying it was a "good joke".
** Why the sequels exist at all - the studio wanted to cash in on the first movie's success by putting forth two more sequels, which the Bobs had not planned on doing. When the ultimatum came down that the studio would make them with or without their involvement, Zemeckis and Gale agreed to return so the movies would be on their terms at least.
** Cost considerations forced a complete change in the tactic to return to 1985 in Part I, from powered by a nuclear test explosion to powered by the lightning bolt. By all accounts, it was a major improvement, as keeping it "local" in Hill Valley, added an immediate urgency, and gave Doc something to do with the clock tower (in the original script, he simply watched from a mountainside).

[[folder:The Musical]]
* ActingForTwo:
** The actor who plays Goldie Wilson doubles as Marvin Berry.
** Principal Strickland doubles as Mayor Red Thomas.
** Dave [=McFly=] also plays Slick, one of Biff's gang.
* ApprovalOfGod: Creator/RobertZemeckis played a big part in the development of the musical, while Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox have both seen and enjoyed the musical. Lloyd even featured in some of the marketing.
* CastIncest: In 2022, Amber Davies, then playing Lorraine Baines-[=McFly=] in the West End, confessed she had started dating Ben Joyce, who was playing her son, Marty. Particularly hilarious considering Teen Lorraine's attraction to Marty in the show itself.
* PlayingWithCharacterType: Creator/RogerBart, the original Doc Brown, had previously starred as another famous MadScientist from a [[Theatre/YoungFrankenstein musical adaptation]] of a beloved film.
* SelfAdaptation: Bob Gale, the co-screenwriter on the original films, wrote the book of the musical, while Music/AlanSilvestri, the film's composer, also did the music for the stage production.
[[/folder]]

* TheWikiRule: Futurepedia, the [[http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Back to the Future Wiki]].

* TropeNamers: These movies named the following tropes:
** CantHoldHisLiquor
** CaughtInTheRipple
** DelayedRippleEffect
** GetBackToTheFuture
** IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect
** MisterSandmanSequence
** NobodyCallsMeChicken
** NowIKnowWhatToNameHim
** TheOtherMarty
** RightOnTheTick
** RippleEffectIndicator
** RippleEffectProofMemory
** WeDontNeedRoads
** WriteBackToTheFuture

** While TheOtherMarty, Creator/EricStoltz, was around 6'0", Creator/MichaelJFox was 5'4", so many tricks were used to make him appear around the same height as the 6'1" Creator/CristopherLloyd. For example, the two are rarely in the same shot together and, when they are, one is usually sitting down or much closer to the camera than the other. When Doc Brown is talking, he's often moving around so much that the viewer can't really tell how tall he is. Lloyd also improvised a hunch in his posture that helped give the character more of a MadScientist look.

** Because Creator/ChristopherLloyd is 6'1", much taller than the 5'4" Creator/MichaelJFox, camera tricks were used to avoid using one. For example, the two are rarely in the same shot together and, when they are, one is usually sitting down or much closer to the camera than the other. When Doc Brown is talking, he's often moving around so much that the viewer can't really tell how tall he is. Lloyd also improvised a hunch in his posture that helped give the character more of a MadScientist look.
** Creator/ThomasFWilson is 6'1" and was deliberately cast to serve as an imposing bully, but in select scenes camera angles and boxes were used to make him appear even larger.

** Creator/JamesTolkan played both Principal Stanford S. Strickland in 1955 and 1985 and his ancestor, the U.S. Marshal James Strickland in 1885.

[[folder:Part I]]
* BannedInChina: The film was banned in China mainland for a while because the notion of time travel "disrespects history". The ban has since been lifted.
* CastTheRunnerUp: J.J. Cohen was originally cast as Biff Tannen. However, he didn't look so imposing against Eric Stoltz, the {{Trope Namer|s}} for TheOtherMarty, so Creator/ThomasFWilson was cast as Biff while Cohen was recast as Skinhead, one of Biff's {{Mooks}}. According to Bob Gale, had Creator/MichaelJFox been cast as Marty from the beginning, Cohen would definitely have landed the role of [[IdenticalGrandson Biff/Griff/Buford Tannen]] instead of Wilson. Creator/BillyZane also auditioned to play Biff before being cast as another one of Biff's mooks, Match.
* TheCastShowoff: Kind of. Although Creator/MichaelJFox is miming his performance of "Johnny B. Goode" he did actually learn to play the song (having played guitar in high school) so he could do so accurately. The guitar solo was actually played by Tim May, who also had previously performed the guitar solo on "Born to Hand Jive" from ''Film/{{Grease}}''.
* ChannelHop: Zemeckis and Gale originally pitched the film to Creator/{{Disney}} and then to Creator/ColumbiaPictures, both of whom turned it down, albeit for completely different reasons: Columbia felt it was too quaint (this was the era of sex comedies like ''Film/AnimalHouse'', ''Film/{{Porkys}}'' and ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds''), Disney thought it was too ''raunchy'' (in particular, they took umbrage with the angle of 1955 Lorraine coming onto her future son).
* ChristmasRushed: Test screenings got such a positive response that Sid Sheinberg asked The Bobs what it would take to get the film ready for the 4th of July weekend (instead of the original intended release date, July 19th). Sheinberg ponied up the extra money to get the needed effects shots completed, but as a result of the time crunch, some of them were a bit unpolished. The fading hand was saved for last, and deemed "acceptable."
* CreatorBacklash:
** Although Creator/EricStoltz was replaced by Michael J. Fox (a few clips of him remain in the finished film), the former has since regretted his involvement in ''BTTF''. At one point, Stoltz [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrwwYO9bM9g turned down an offer to be interviewed for a BTTF companion book.]]
** Creator/CrispinGlover was intensely displeased over the ending, in which Marty and his family are more well off and Biff now works for George instead of the other way around, claiming it to be too materialistic and lacking enough heart, as well as sending a bad message that it's okay for one to bully back his former bully.
* DeletedScene:
** Wonder why George had peanut brittle for dinner in 1985? Originally, after meeting with Biff, Marty tries to urge George to stand up for himself when a child selling peanut brittle shows up. Instead, he caves, buying all of it, with the child's father saying "See, I told you we'd only have to stop at one house."
** After the MisterSandmanSequence, [[DreamRealityCheck Marty asks a woman to pinch him to see if he's dreaming]]. She slaps him instead.
** The 1955 Doc looks at the contents of his 1985 counterpart's suitcase, which include a Playboy magazine and the hair dryer Marty takes with him while playing "Darth Vader".
** In 1955, before Doc gets introduced to George, Doc and Marty see Lorraine cheating on a quiz in class, surprising Marty.
** The Darth Vader scene was longer, ending with Marty knocking George out with chloroform, explaining how George overslept and missed school. It got cut because it lasted too long and was redundant since George would repeat the dialogue in the very next scene.
** While discussing their plan, [[HitMeDammit Marty tries to get George to hit him as practice]].
** Just when Marty leaves for the dance, Doc gets asked for a permit by a cop for his "weather experiment", and Doc gets it: a $50 bill, quite a bit of money back then. Also, Marty worries about his plan, asking "What if I go back to the future and I end up...gay?", to which Doc says [[HaveAGayOldTime "Why shouldn't you be happy?"]]
** George, realizing he's late during the dance, goes into a phone booth to confirm the time, but Dixon, the bully who'd kicked George and later cuts in on him and Lorraine, traps him inside, with Strickland chastising him.
** While shooting with Creator/EricStoltz, they filmed a scene in which Marty uses some clever MacGyvering to escape detention with Mr. Strickland. The scene was never refilmed with Creator/MichaelJFox, as they had apparently decided to cut it by that point. It does appear in the novelization, however.
* EnforcedMethodActing:
** Two examples that didn't make the film because of Creator/EricStoltz. When they filmed the cafeteria scene, Stoltz roughed up Creator/ThomasFWilson for real and Wilson almost broke his collarbone. The normally nice guy Wilson planned to get revenge during the car park scene at the dance by actually punching Stoltz but Michael J. Fox had taken over by then so he never got the chance.
** An unintentional example, but remember that Michael J. Fox was filming the first movie at night while still keeping his obligations to ''Series/FamilyTies'' during the day. Any scene where Marty looks wiped out and exhausted from everything going on is most likely not acting.
* HostilityOnTheSet:
** Tom Wilson has said that he and Crispin Glover didn't get along very well with Eric Stoltz when he was initially playing Marty, as Stoltz acted fairly arrogant throughout filming. Stoltz was apparently very rough when shooting the diner scuffle and genuinely hurting Wilson, who said that he was ready to trade blows by the time Stoltz left the film. Wilson even said that for years he thought Stoltz was fired due to his behavior on set, not because the producers wanted Fox originally.
** Post Stoltz firing, the cast became very timid towards the producers because they felt their job was in danger, after all they fired the lead actor months into filming. Lea Thompson was heartbroken because she was friends with Stoltz, having previously worked with him in ''The Wild Life'', while Crispin Glover didn't come back for the sequels because of bad blood between him and producer Bob Gale (who claimed for years Glover was a prima donna asking for an absurd pay hike).
* InspirationForTheWork: According to ''Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History'', there were two things that led to the creation of the movie:
** Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis first toyed with the idea of a time travel story as far back as 1975. Their initial inspiration came from the {{Zeerust}} depicted in the Norman Bel Geddes [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama_(New_York_World%27s_Fair) "Futurama"]] display at the 1939 World's Fair, and the General Motors [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-5aK0H05jk "Futurama II"]] display at the 1964 World's Fair, with their first concept being a time travel caper that ends with the present day turning into the future that those expositions promised. Gale notes that they didn't have a precise story or hook in mind, but he did come up with the title ''Professor Brown Visits the Future''.
** In 1980, Gale came up with ''Back to the Future'''s hook after he visited his parents in St. Louis, Missouri. Searching their basement, Gale found his father's high school yearbook and discovered that the elder Gale was president of his graduating class. Gale had not known the president of his own graduating class, and wondered whether he would have been friends with his father if they went to high school together.
* IronyAsSheIsCast:
** As opposed to the initially ExtremeDoormat role of George [=McFly=], Creator/CrispinGlover was actually very demanding and very argumentative, and, in fact, always tended to be at loggerheads with Creator/RobertZemeckis and Bob Gale over various matters.
** Although the role of Biff cemented him as one of cinema's iconic bullies and meatheads, Tom Wilson is actually self-professed music nerd and says that he used his own experiences as a bullying victim to create a character audiences would root against.
* LoopingLines: Creator/CrispinGlover lost his voice due to nervousness while filming. For some scenes, he had to silently mouth his lines, with his voice being dubbed in later at a recording studio.
* NonSingingVoice: Creator/MichaelJFox did not sing "Johnny B. Goode" (the final singing audio was recorded by Mark Campbell), although he did learn to play it. For bonus points, his guitar coach Paul Hanson taught him to play the song in B, figuring an 80s guitarist like Marty wouldn't play a song in B flat. He's playing the song on-set in B and says it's a "blues riff in B," but nobody told Tim May, the guitarist who recorded the final audio, so the film audio is the original B flat version. Of course, May was more well versed in 50s music, having previously played the guitar solo on "Born to Hand Jive" from ''Film/{{Grease}}''.
* OrphanedReference: Ever wonder why George had peanut brittle for dinner in 1985? Originally, after meeting with Biff, Marty tries to urge George to stand up for himself when a child selling peanut brittle shows up. Instead, he caves, buying all of it, with the child's father saying "See, I told you we'd only have to stop at one house."
* TheOtherMarty: The Trope Namer.
** Creator/EricStoltz was cast as Marty, and filmed some scenes, before being replaced by Michael J. Fox because people felt Stoltz was too serious for the role - all of which was a tad bit ironic considering that Fox was always the first choice for the role and came on as the replacement for the actor meant to replace him. A few shots of Stoltz remain, namely of Marty driving the Delorean and Biff being punched. They finally did include [[http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/thr-eric-stoltz-as-the-original-marty-mcfly.html some Stoltz footage]] in the Blu-Ray release of the trilogy.
** J.J. Cohen was initially chosen to play Biff Tannen, but was replaced by Thomas F. Wilson as Cohen wasn't considered physically imposing enough next to Stoltz; Cohen was cast as one of Biff's gang members instead. According to Bob Gale, had Creator/MichaelJFox been cast from the beginning, Cohen would've probably won the part, because he was much taller than Fox.
** When Claudia Wells temporarily dropped out of the movie due to scheduling issues, [[Series/TheOfficeUS Melora Hardin]] was briefly cast as Jennifer Parker opposite Creator/EricStoltz, but had to be replaced after he was dismissed as it was discovered that she was taller than Creator/MichaelJFox. Ironically enough, it was the ''female'' crew members who complained about the height disparity between Hardin and Fox, while the male crew members had no problem with it, whatsoever.
* PropRecycling: According to the documentary on the Blu-ray, the two cat sculptures standing beside the clock were originally created for ''Film/CatPeople''.
* SleeperHit: ''No one'' expected the movie to become as big as it did. Robert Zemeckis openly admitted he was just hoping it would break even and the final bit with the Delorean flying and "something's got to be done about your kids!" was meant as a joke on Marty having just changed the past for his parents. Michael J. Fox recalled that when he was in London filming the ''Series/FamilyTies'' TV movie, his agent called and told him that the movie was a hit. He was pleased, but the agent had to reiterate that it was a BIG hit.
* ThrowItIn:
** Many of George [=McFly's=] mannerisms (the shaking hands, the infamous Honeymooner's laugh) were ad-libbed by Creator/CrispinGlover. Glover explained years later in an interview that he saw the original 1985 George as a deeply unhappy man, and that his laugh at such a trivial moment on TV was his way of forcing out happiness. Allegedly, much of that was Glover's normal behavior, and the real challenge was getting him to act normal for the improved-1985 scenes.
** [[Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews Huey Lewis]] improvised the line "I'm afraid you're just too darn loud", as the silly excuse for Marty's band to be rejected.
** According to Creator/ThomasFWilson, he improvised the phrases "butthead" and "Make like a tree and get out of here".
** During the MisterSandmanSequence, when Marty sees the 1955 Texaco gas station, there was originally only one attendant working on a car, but Creator/RobertZemeckis had the costume department find 3 more attendant costumes, believing it'd be funnier.
** According to Bob Gale, Red (the homeless guy)'s name was ad-libbed by Michael J. Fox, so he isn't Red Thomas, the mayor of 1955 Hill Valley.
* TroubledProduction: Everyone involved in the film was sure it would bomb because absolutely nothing went smoothly. (Among the crew, it was nicknamed ''The Film That Would Not Wrap''.) The shoot nearly drove Creator/RobertZemeckis insane, ruined his health, and threatened to wreck his career if the film wasn't a hit.
** The script for the film floated around Hollywood for years. Writer-Director Creator/RobertZemeckis and his cowriter, Bob Gale, were shot down by several studios for various reasons; Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox considered the script too raunchy while Creator/ColumbiaPictures thought it was too ''quaint'', and others were hesitant due to their involvement in ''Film/NineteenFortyOne1979''. The film finally landed with Creator/UniversalStudios after the two scored a hit with ''Film/RomancingTheStone'', but the film's script underwent heavy rewrites just prior to filming, some of which was due to budget limitations and ExecutiveMeddling.
** Zemeckis reportedly wanted Creator/MichaelJFox from the start to play the lead role of Marty [=McFly=], but Fox was busy with ''Series/FamilyTies'', so they casted Creator/EricStoltz in the role. According to Creator/ThomasFWilson, neither he nor Creator/CrispinGlover got along with Stoltz and found him arrogant. The producers had their own complaints with Stoltz, finding him too much of a dramatic actor for a comedy film and annoyed by his insistence on MethodActing. Creator/CrispinGlover lost his voice due to nervousness while filming, and butted heads with Zemeckis and especially Gale (which led to him refusing to reprise his role in the sequels).
** Six weeks into filming, a deal was reached to work Michael J. Fox into the film around the schedule of ''Family Ties''. [[TropeNamers Stoltz was quickly fired]] [[TheOtherMarty and replaced with Fox]], and Stoltz's scenes were reshot with Fox in the role. Stoltz was reportedly ''very'' upset when Zemeckis broke the news, and to this day he refuses to talk about the film. His firing made the rest of the cast very nervous about their job security, with Creator/LeaThompson in particular being dismayed as she was good friends with Stoltz, having previously worked with him in ''The Wild Life''. Despite this, overall mood on the set improved with Fox in the role.
** And because of working two productions at once, Michael J. Fox was running on fumes, commuting between the ''[=BttF=]'' and ''Family Ties'' sets with virtually no sleep in-between. He would record the show during the day and film the movie at night, once he went into a panic on the show because he thought he needed the camcorder prop he was actually using for the movie. In his interview on ''Inside the Actor's Studio'', he notes that he was basically a zombie, which luckily [[LostInCharacter enhanced his acting a fair bit]].
* VoiceOnlyCameo: Tony Pope voices the radio announcer in the film's opening scene.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[WhatCouldHaveBeen/BackToTheFuture Has its own page along with Part 2 and 3]].
* WorkingTitle: The film was almost titled ''Spaceman from Pluto'' [[ExecutiveMeddling due to the insistence of Universal Studios President Sidney Sheinberg]]. It took the intervention of Creator/StevenSpielberg to get this resolved, and the way in which he did it is absolutely legendary. Instead of arguing against the title, resulting in a battle he may not have won, he pretended to misinterpret it as a hilarious joke, as if he couldn't comprehend someone seriously suggesting a title like that.
[[/folder]]

** After the MisterSandmanSequence, [[DreamRealityCheck Marty asks a woman to pinch him to see if he's dreaming]].

** The Darth Vader scene was longer, ending with Marty knocking George out with chloroform, explaining how George overslept and missed school. It got cut because it lasted too long and was redundant.

* ChristmasRushed: Test screenings got such a positive response that Creator/SidSheinberg asked The Bobs what it would take to get the film ready for the 4th of July weekend (instead of the original intended release date, July 19th). Sheinberg ponied up the extra money to get the needed effects shots completed, but as a result of the time crunch, some of them were a bit unpolished. The fading hand was saved for last, and deemed "acceptable."

** There are no back seats in a [=DeLorean=], original or newly built; they only have a pair of front bucket seats. (That's why Jennifer had to ride sitting in Marty's lap.)

* CreatorChosenCasting:
** Creator/MichaelJFox was always the first choice for Marty [=McFly=], as Bob Gale and Creator/RobertZemeckis believed that his acting timing in ''Series/FamilyTies'' could be translated to Marty's clumsiness.
** James Tolkan was the first choice for Principal Strickland after Zemeckis saw him in ''Film/PrinceOfTheCity''.