Trivia / The Rocketeer

The comics

• Died During Production: Dave Stevens's cancer made it difficult for him to do any more comics.
• What Could Have Been: After the initial adventure in California, and one in New York, Dave Stevens's plan for the third story arc would have had Cliff meeting a character who was "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." This team-up would have taken place on Halloween 1938, in Grover's Mill, NJ. Cliff Secord meeting Clark Kent would eventually happen under IDW Publishing but with Clark as a child and Cliff as a grown man, making it apparent Superman won't be coming into being for some time.

The film

• Acclaimed Flop: The film did poorly at the box office (it didn't help it came out around the same time as Terminator 2: Judgment Day), but it was well-received and became a cult favorite thanks to video rentals and TV showings.
• Better Export for You: The European and Australian DVD releases have superior picture quality to the American DVD.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $40 million (not counting marketing costs). Box office, $46.7 million.
• Completely Different Title:
  • Bulgaria: The Rocket Man
  • Lithuania: Human Rocket
• Creator-Preferred Adaptation: Dave Stevens said he was "70% happy" with the film, praising Joe Johnston's direction and Bill Campbell's casting.
  "He was made for it. The part was his."
• The Danza: Jennifer Connelly as Jenny.
• Darkhorse Casting: Billy Campbell's casting caused a stir among Disney execs, who wanted a more A-list lead. Likewise, Jennifer Connelly was on the rise but still mostly known for her Ms. Fanservice roles (she wouldn't get a proper breakout until Requiem for a Dream nine years later). Timothy Dalton was the biggest name in the cast overall, and he was playing the villain.
• Deleted Scene: A scene where Neville Sinclair sends a message to Berlin (coded first on an authentic Enigma machine found for the production) was filmed but cut due to running time constraints.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Billy Campbell got a haircut to look how Cliff does in the comic before his audition, which helped him get the part.
• Executive Meddling: Part of the reason the movie didn't perform too well — Disney released the film under their own name as opposed to their adult label Touchstone Pictures, in part to sell toys, and this resulted in things being softened up a bit (mostly Bettie becoming Jenny). Dave Stevens later said, "All they were interested in was the name." (Ironically, Disney released the film overseas under the Touchstone name in part to attract the teenage audience they hadn't because of the Disney name being attached.)
  • Because of this, the movie went through several different rewrites, forcing original director William Dear to drop out. Joe Johnston came in and things quickly got smoothed out, allowing production to begin.
  • One attempted change was by Michael Eisner himself — specifically, he wanted the Rocketeer helmet to be a clear, astronaut-style helmet so the face of the lead actor could be visible. Joe Johnston threatened to quit, and a compromise was reached; after Disney's various prototype helmets were rejected, Johnston and Stevens managed to create a helmet that was nigh-identical to the comics version.
• Follow the Leader: This was one of a number of films with an old school art deco noir-esque style following the huge success of Batman (1989).
• Hey, It's That Place!:
  • Sinclair lives in Ennis House, a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Los Angeles that's also seen in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the House on Haunted Hill (1999) remake.
  • The climax takes place at Griffith Observatory, also seen in Rebel Without a Cause, The Terminator and the comic book Runaways series.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Bill Campbell was terrified of flying when he was cast, but overcame it during production.
• Playing Against Type: Timothy Dalton as the comic book big bad Neville Sinclair, especially because, at the time, he was still under contract to play James Bond and was waiting for the legal snarl to clear up to do his third Bond film, making it quite a novelty that the James Bond of the time was living it up in a different film as an over the top villain. (Said legal issues ended in 1993, but by that point Dalton had tired of waiting and opted to exit his contract, clearing the way for Pierce Brosnan and GoldenEye.)
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Cliff's girlfriend in the comic is called Betty Page, but Jenny Blake is in the film. This is because she was named after pin-up icon Bettie Page - who declined to have her name used in the film.
• Romance on the Set: Lead actors Bill Campbell and Jennifer Connelly had a romance leading to a lengthy engagement, though they eventually called it off.
• Stillborn Franchise: There were plans for a trilogy, but they were sadly scrapped because of the lackluster box-office performance; it would be 25 years before plans for a sequel were announced.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Stevens had been trying to get a film made as early as 1983. One idea was to make it as an intentionally low-budget film in black & white, an homage to the Republic Pictures Commander Cody serials.
  • Johnny Depp was the Disney studio's preferred choice as Cliff Secord. His getting passed over was part of why he would eventually get cast as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Other actors considered to star as Cliff Secord included Kevin Costner, Vincent D'Onofrio, Emilio Estevez, Matthew Modine, Bill Paxton, Dennis Quaid and Kurt Russell.
  • Sherilyn Fenn, Diane Lane, Kelly Preston, and Elizabeth McGovern were among those considered for Jenny Blake.
  • Charles Dance and Jeremy Irons were considered for Neville Sinclair.
  • The role of Eddie Valentine was originally meant for Joe Pesci, who turned it down.
  • Lloyd Bridges turned down the role of Peevy Peabody.
  • The film was originally supposed to be preceded in theaters by a Roger Rabbit cartoon called Waiter, There's a Hare in My Soup, but the Roger shorts were discontinued after the third one.
  • The novelization was based on the film's original screenplay, and included a different opening; FBI agents Fitch and Molloy would be carrying the rocket pack in an armoured car and would stop when they see a stranded female motorist. They would then be ambushed by a crew of gangsters (the woman would be the leader's girlfriend), most of whom would be killed in an ensuing car chase.
  • Eddie Valentine had some backstory cut from the film, which explains why he turns against Neville Sinclair a little better; as a teenager, he had lied about his age to fight in World War I and became a decorated hero.
  • The comic adaptation of the film contains a sequence where Eddie Valentine and his men chase The Rocketeer to Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The Rocketeer saves a falling woman and lands in wet cement, leaving his footprints outside the theatre. This sequence was in the script, but there are differing reports over whether it was filmed or not.

The Disney Junior series:

• Acting for Two:
  • Frank Welker voices Grandpa Ambrose and Butch.
  • Kari Wahlgren voices Harley and Mrs. Snootsmith.
• All-Star Cast:
  • Billy Campbell, the original actor in Cliff Secord's The Rocketeer, voices Kit's father Dave, who is Cliff's grandson.
  • Frank Welker voices Ambrose Secord and Butch, Kit's grandfather and pet bulldog respectively.
  • Maurice LaMarche voices the villainous Sylvester Slapdash
  • Ted Allen, of Chopped fame, voices the Cast-Iron Chef.
  • Maria Bamford and Kari Wahlgren voice sister team Laura and Harley.
  • Charlie Adler and Parvesh Cheena voice The Great Orsino and Deany, respectively.
• Creator's Favorite: Nicole Dubuc said that Orsino was the first villain she created for the show, hence why she's fond of him. One of the writers, Kendall Michelle Haney, helped create Orsino and Deany, hence why she considers them her favorites.
• The Danza: Kitana Turnbull voices Kit.
• Dawson Casting: Kit, who is 7, is voiced by the 14-year-old Kitana Turnbull.
• Descended Creator: Nicole Dubuc voices Mrs. Snootsmith's dog Honey.
• Early-Bird Release:
  • "Carnival Caper/Songbird Soars Again" was released onto Disney Now on November 8, 2019 while its television debut was November 22, exactly two weeks later. It was also released to YouTube on November 15.
  • Both the Halloween and Christmas episodes came out July 16-17, 2020, while they came out on Disney Now the day before .
• Fake Mixed Race: Kit Secord is a Caucasian girl with Lebanese ancestry. Kitana Turnbull is a Caucasian girl of Italian, Chinese, and Taiwanese ancestry.
• He Also Did: Nicole Dubuc, the showrunner, has also worked on Dragon Tales, My Friends Tigger & Pooh, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Young Justice (2010), Transformers: Rescue Bots, Star Wars Rebels, Miles from Tomorrowland, and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
• Network Red-Headed Stepchild: While it's not uncommon for Disney Junior to produce shows based on an established property it's either for characters they directly own, based on a Disney Animated Canon movie, or based on a children's picture book. Having a show based on a comic book, especially one that's not that kid friendly, is interesting to say the least.
• The Other Darrin: In "The Christmas Star", minor character River is voiced by Kitana Turnbull instead of Kai Zen.
• Out of Holiday Episode: The Halloween and Christmas episodes came out in July 2020, months before the respective holidays.
• Out of Order:
  • According to Nicole Dubuc, the episode "Recipe For Disaster", which introduces The Cast Iron Chef, is produced before "Runaway Bulldog", where the characters already know him, despite airing afterwards.
  • A more notable example is "Cleared For Takeoff/First Class", which formally introduces Valerie, despite airing after her previous two appearances in "Flight Class Heroes" and "Valerie The Valkyrie". Another clue is that "Flight Class Heroes" features Kit as already being a Valkyrie Flight Academy student and "Cleared For Takeoff" is the episode where she convinces her mother to let her attend.
  • "The Haunted House/Halloween Heist" is apparently the 4th episode in production order, yet it aired as the 19th episode.
• Playing with Character Type:
  • Parvesh Chena is known for voicing lovable cowards that help the heroes, such as Blades and Bodhi. Deany isn't that different from them in terms of behavior, but he's an assistant to The Great Orsino, a villain.
  • Stephanie Lemelin voices the extreme sports hero Xena Treme, who's aloof and vain yet otherwise fairly good, much like many of the characters she voices. She crosses into villain territory when stealing Tesh's bike just so she won't lose.
• Production Posse: From Transformers: Rescue Bots, writer Nicole Dubuc works together again with Maurice LaMarche, D.C. Douglas, Parvesh Cheena, Robbie Daymond, Eric Bauza, and Steve Blum.
• Screwed by the Network: Unlike most Disney Junior shows, this one wasn't renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere, basically signaling that Disney probably didn't have much faith in it. While series producer Nicole Dobuc has denied the rumor that the show was cancelled after one season, the fact it moved to the 24/7 Disney Junior channel to burn off the rest of the episodes, leading to the Out of Holiday Episode conundrum seen above, isn't really sending any good signs of this show being renewed. The fact that Disney Channel and Disney Junior rarely aired reruns of the show doesn't send any good signs either.
• Voices in One Room: Not everyone records together, as Billy Campbell mentioned in this interview in regards to himself, but it does occasionally happen, particularly with Kitana Turnbull and Callan Faris.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Kit's surname was originally Seacort but was eventually changed to Secord, hinting she could be a descendant of the original Rocketeer This was eventually confirmed in the episode "Rocketeer Day"; he's her great-grandfather.
  • There are two changed elements in regards to "The Haunted House/Halloween Heist". For the latter segment, Lillith would have had dialogue to express her inner thoughts. For the former, Deany went through many costume changes before it was decided he should be a cat.
• Write What You Know: Sitti's Visit is based on many memories of Nicole Dubuc's family.

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