Line #15 Trivia/HowardTheDuck


1	!![[ComicBook/HowardTheDuck The comic book]]
2	* ColbertBump: The main reason Howard got a new comic in 2015 was thanks to his cameo in ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy\|2014}}''.
3	* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: Steve Gerber was fired from the original series for repeatedly missing deadlines. In 1996, he was blacklisted from Marvel for six years after writing ''ComicBook/SavageDragon[=/=]ComicBook/DestroyerDuck'', a "companion" comic to ''Spider-Man Team-Up #5'' which revealed that the titular Duck and Dragon intervened in events in SMTU to rescue the "real" Howard the Duck and Beverly and replace them with clones.
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5	!![[Film/HowardTheDuck The movie]]
6	* {{Blooper}}: Thanks to the production issues on set regarding the suit and the puppet, Howard's appearance frequently changes throughout the film.
7	* CompletelyDifferentTitle:
8	** Brazil: ''Howard the Super-hero''
9	** Croatia: ''Sinful Howard''
10	** Greece: ''Howard the Invincible''
11	** Portugal:''Howard and the Destiny of the World''
12	** Taiwan: ''Heavenly Warrior''
13	* ChristmasRushed: The film only had 7 months of production as a result of Creator/{{Universal}} wanting a big summer film in their lineup. Unfortunately, this led to a rather [[TroubledProduction problematic shoot]], the least of which was the effects to bring Howard to life constantly being a headache to the crew.
14	* CreatorBacklash: For everyone involved save for Lea Thompson, who said, "If I did it, I own it. It’s just really fun to see people having fun celebrating ''Howard the Duck'' in all its great silliness and blemishes."
15	* CreatorKiller:
16	** Before the release of the movie, Willard Huyck had directed three movies, and he and wife Gloria Katz (who co-wrote ''Howard the Duck'') had collaborated with Creator/GeorgeLucas on many projects like ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'', ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' and even ''Film/ANewHope''. Since the failure of ''Howard'', they haven't worked on a single theatrical release, with their only subsequent credit being ''Radioland Murders'' -- and even then they only got credit based on a draft of the screenplay dating back to 1974.
17	** The film also caused Frank Price to resign as the head of Creator/{{Universal}} Pictures (the movie's production allegedly led to a fistfight between him and MCA boss Sid Sheinberg, which the two men denied happened). ''Variety'' reported it with the headline "'Duck' Cooks Price's Goose". Price would reappear at Creator/ColumbiaPictures a few years later.
18	** This film, ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' the same year, and an acrimonious divorce resulted in George Lucas agreeing to sell his Creator/{{Pixar}} division to Creator/SteveJobs for $10 million; Lucasfilm and Pixar wouldn't be united under one roof again fully until 2012. The whole matter didn't help Lucas's career out a whole lot, but he remained in business.
19	* ExecutiveMeddling:
20	** The only reason why Lucas ended up becoming as much of a scapegoat as he did was thanks to Universal wanting to promote his involvement, something he was against as he didn't want to overshadow his friends. Universal informed Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz that they wouldn't make the film if that stipulation wasn't met.
21	** Similarly, Frank Price wanted the film to be more in the vein of ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'' after it became a success under his tenure at Columbia.
22	* FranchiseKiller: The negative fallout from this movie's creation and bombing, along with [[Creator/{{Disney}} the newly christened Walt Disney Company]] complaining about Howard looking like their classic cartoon character WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, resulted in Creator/MarvelComics pushing Howard onto the backburner of their comic book lineup for decades, until Disney actually purchased them under Bob Iger's orders in 2009.
23	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Due to its less-than-glorious reputation, it did not officially release on DVD until 2009. To everyone's shock, it actually got a Blu-ray release for the 30th anniversary, subverting the trope for now (then it got an Ultra HD Blu-ray release).
24	* MoneyDearBoy: Creator/GeorgeLucas pushed for this film's wide release to pay off the debts for his divorce and the expansive Skywalker Ranch he had just had built. Its failure forced him to sell off many of his assets, one of which being [[Creator/{{Pixar}} his computer graphics division]] (Marvel, Lucasfilm, and said division would all be reunited under Disney's banner by 2012).
25	* TheMountainsOfIllinois: The film is pointedly set in Cleveland, as is the original comic, but shot in Southern California, as evidenced by the palm trees in the background of some shots. Savvy viewers will also notice a few scenes shot in San Francisco, including the museum exteriors. Additionally, while Cleveland does have both a natural history museum and an aquarium, they are on opposite ends of town, not in the same building.
26	* TheOtherMarty: Creator/RobinWilliams was originally cast as the titular duck. However, he left the project out of frustration and the role eventually went to Chip Zien.
27	* RecursiveAdaptation: This film adaptation of a comic book was given its own comic book adaptation as a three-issue miniseries.
28	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
29	** The DVD featurettes of the film mention that the writers were talking about the film being worked out as an animated film. The featurettes also mention that the idea to make the film animated was scrapped because the studio wanted the film to be released in the summer of 1986, and there wasn't enough time to produce an animated film. One can wonder what would have happened if we had gotten an animated feature of Howard the Duck. The closest thing we can get is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj38JhvNBCw this fanmade animation of Howard.]] An earlier failed attempt to adapt the film into live-action was made in 1982, with Creator/StanWinston tapped to make the effects.
30	** Creator/RobPaulsen and Townsend Coleman of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' fame had both auditioned for the voice of Howard, as did Creator/MartinShort, Creator/JohnCusack and Creator/JasonAlexander.
31	** Music/PaulaAbdul, Creator/KimBasinger, [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Jodi Benson]], Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Lori Singer, Music/ToriAmos, and Creator/PhoebeCates were all considered for the role of Beverly.
32	** Creator/JohnLandis was originally slated to direct the film, but after reading the script turned down the opportunity due to the police car crashes in the finale. He felt this was too similar to his previous film, ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''.
33	** Howard was primarily going to be a puppet, made by Creator/RickBaker's wife Elaine Baker, with the suits only being used for wider shots. When the puppets proved to be too problematic for the crew (reportedly, it tore off the skin the moment they started filming), ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'''s Tim Rose was brought in to improve the effects as best as possible. As a result of the reshoots done in order to accommodate the changes, the suits became the more prominent method going forward while the puppets were relegated to a few closeups and some stuntwork.
34	* This film managed to tie ''Film/UnderTheCherryMoon'' to co-win the Worst Picture of 1986 UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward. ''Howard the Duck'' is technically the first of three comic book–based films to win the Worst Picture Razzie, being followed by two superhero comic book movies in the 21st Century: ''Film/Catwoman2004'' in 2004, and ''Film/{{Fantastic Four\|2015}}'' in 2015.
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Context Trivia / HowardTheDuck