History Trivia / HowardTheDuck

** Creator/PaulaAbdul, Creator/KimBasinger, [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Jodi Benson,]] Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Lori Singer, Creator/ToriAmos, and Phoebe Cates were all considered for the role of Beverly.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Due to its less-than-glorious reputation, it was only recently officially released on DVD.[[note]]And is missing the WesternAnimation/{{Daffy Duck}} voices MelBlanc recorded for the movie[[/note]]
* MoneyDearBoy: GeorgeLucas pushed for this film's wide release to pay of the debts for his divorce and the expansive Skywalker Ranch he had just had built (which had also cost him his Creator/{{Pixar}} division, which Steve Jobs and ex-Disney animator Creator/JohnLasseter bought, and it would be 26 years before the two companies were fully reunited under Disney's banner).

** The film also caused Frank Price to resign as the head of Universal Pictures (the movie's production allegedly led to a fight 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.

* CreatorKiller: 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 GeorgeLucas on many projects like ''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.
** The film also caused Frank Price to resign as the head of Universal Pictures (the movie's production allegedly led to a fight 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 Columbia a few years later.

* MoneyDearBoy: GeorgeLucas pushed for this film's wide release to pay of the debts for his divorce and the expansive Skywalker Ranch he had just had built (which had also cost him his Creator/{{Pixar}} division, which Steve Jobs and ex-Disney animator John Lasseter bought, and it would be 26 years before the two companies were fully reunited under Disney's banner).
* OldShame: '''''EVERY! SINGLE! PERSON! INVOLVED!!'''''

** ''Creator/RobPaulsen'' and Townsend Coleman of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' fame had both auditioned for the voice of Howard. As did Martin Short and Creator/JohnCusack.

** Creator/JohnLandis was originally slated to direct the film.

** The film also caused Frank Price to resign as the head of Universal Pictures. ''Variety'' reported it with the headline "'Duck' Cooks Price's Goose". Price would reappear at Columbia a few years later.

* MoneyDearBoy: GeorgeLucas pushed for this film's wide release to pay of the debts for his divorce and the expansive Skywalker Ranch he had just had built.

* 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 [[WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck]], resulted in Marvel pushing Howard onto the backburner of their comic book lineup for decades, until Disney actually purchased them under Bob Iger's orders in 2009.

** The film also caused Frank Price to resign as the head of Universal Pictures. ''Variety'' reported it with the headline "'Duck' Cooks Price's Goose".

** Creator/PaulaAbdul, Creator/KimBasinger, Jodi Benson, Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Lori Singer, Creator/ToriAmos, and Phoebe Cates were all considered for the role of Beverly.

** ''Creator/RobPaulsen'' and Townsend Coleman of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' fame had both auditioned for the voice of Howard.

* OldShame: GeorgeLucas disowned the movie after its completion.
** JohnBarry, who scored the film (and had part of his music replaced in the finished product by [[{{Airwolf}} Sylvester Levay]], most notably for the scene with the Ultralight), also wasn't too proud of this movie. (Let's face it, who ''was''?)
*** Lea Thompson doesn't mind being associated with this film.

* HeyItsThatVoice: Howard is voiced by Chip Zien, also the original Baker in StephenSondheim's ''IntoTheWoods''.

** Creator/PaulaAbdul, Creator/KimBasinger, Jodi Benson, Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Lori Singer, and Creator/ToriAmos, and Phoebe Cates were all considered for the role of Beverly.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The DVD featurettes of the film mentions 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's 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 [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj38JhvNBCw this fanmade animation of Howard]].

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Due to its less-than-glorious reputation, it was only recently officially released on DVD.[[note]]And is missing the {{Daffy Duck}} voices MelBlanc recorded for the movie[[/note]]

** The film also caused Frank Price to resign as the head of Universal Pictures. ''Variety'' reported it with the headline "'Duck' Cooks Price's Goose".