History Trivia / TheBlueBird

* BillingDisplacement: Tyltyl and Mytyl (Todd Lookinland and Patsy Kensit) are billed ninth and tenth in the opening credits, and after the title to boot. Moreover, while Creator/ElizabethTaylor's top billing makes sense (given her LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles and their relevance to the plot), and U.S. viewers of the time would certainly recognize her fellow American actresses in important supporting roles, the four Russian performers credited before the title all play ''much'' smaller roles. (Oleg Popov, as "The Clown" at the Palace of Luxury, is just TheCameo played up because he was the star of the Moscow Circus.) Given the nature of the production, this was probably mandated so that the Russian side of it would not be marginalized.

* TroubledProduction: The anime almost wasn't made, due to Maeterlinck's wish that the play never be performed in Germany and Japan. It took a long, tumultuous negotiation period before Maeterlinck's surviving family would allow the series to go forward.

* NamesToKnowInAnime: Creator/LeijiMatsumoto did the original character designs for the show, which were adapted for animation by Toyoo Ashida (''Anime/FistOfTheNorthStar'', ''Anime/MagicalPrincessMinkyMomo'' and others). Matsumoto and Ashida were two of several ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' (''Star Blazers'') staffers who worked on the series, with others including producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, script writer Keisuke Fujikawa, and composer Hiroshi Miyagawa. Also, the series director, Hiroshi Sasagawa, had recently left Creator/TatsunokoProduction, where his credits included ''Anime/SpeedRacer'', ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' and ''Anime/TimeBokan'' among many others. Tyltyl was voiced by Creator/ToruFuruya (Amuro in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask in ''Anime/SailorMoon'') and Mytyl by Creator/MamiKoyama (Arale-chan in ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' and the original Minky Momo).

** George Cukor told the Soviet studio head how honored he was to be filming in the same studio where Sergei Eisenstein had filmed ''Film/TheBattleshipPotemkin'' in 1925. "Yes," said the studio head, "and with the very same equipment."

* FollowTheLeader: This was 20th Century Fox's answer to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''.

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/ShirleyTemple playing a girl who starts out as outspoken and spiteful and gradually learns her lesson was something audiences were not comfortable with.

* PlayingAgainstType: Creatpr/ShirleyTemple playing a girl who starts out as outspoken and spiteful and gradually learns her lesson was something audiences were not comfortable with.

* PlayingAgainstType: Creatpr/ShirleyTemple playing a girl who starts out as outspoken and spiteful and gradually learns her lesson was something audiences were not comfortable with.
* TroubledProduction: This was a much-ballyhooed family musical, the first-ever cinematic co-production between the United States and the U.S.S.R. An AllStarCast of mostly American actors had the lead roles while respected director George Cukor helmed the project, shooting in Russia.

** The first problem was that the U.S. side originally promised the participation of Creator/MarlonBrando (in what role, it isn't known), but he backed out. This was resolved amicably when Creator/ElizabethTaylor was brought in to play ''four'' parts, though her attempt to get Music/DavidBowie in the cast (probably as Fire) didn't pan out once he read the script; for that matter, Creator/KatherineHepburn and Creator/ShirleyMacLaine also backed out of the film by the time it was set to go.

* BillingDisplacement: Tyltyl and Mytyl (Todd Lookinland and Patsy Kensit) are billed ninth and tenth in the opening credits, and after the title to boot. Moreover, while Elizabeth Taylor's top billing makes sense (given her LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles and their relevance to the plot), and U.S. viewers of the time would certainly recognize her fellow American actresses in important supporting roles, the four Russian performers credited before the title all play ''much'' smaller roles. (Oleg Popov, as "The Clown" at the Palace of Luxury, is just TheCameo played up because he was the star of the Moscow Circus.) Given the nature of the production, this was probably mandated so that the Russian side of it would not be marginalized.

* PlayingAgainstType: Shirley Temple playing a girl who starts out as outspoken and spiteful and gradually learns her lesson was something audiences were not comfortable with.
* TroubledProduction: On the American side, several of the actresses caused problems ranging from illness (Elizabeth Taylor) to a feud with the director (Cicely Tyson), while on the Russian side the crew and equipment weren't up to the technical standards the production needed. The translators weren't skillful enough to bridge the language gap, the American and Russian composers hired couldn't agree on the musical style to use for the songs, etc.

* AllStarCast: Both on the American and Russian sides of the equasion, but this does mean some BillingDisplacement.

* AllStarCast: Both on the American and Russian sides of the equasion, but this does mean some...

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: No legit U.S. video release as yet, and unscreened on television for 20+ years before Fall 2011, when Fox Movie Channel began occasionally airing it.