Line #18 Trivia/MobyDick


1	[[foldercontrol]]
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3	[[folder:Novel]]
4	* AccidentallyCorrectZoology:
5	** In "Cetology," Ishmael states that dugongs and lamatins (manatees) are not whales, which is true. But his explanation focuses mostly on how "contemptible" they are, rather than on valid biological indicators. (In Melville's defense, his tongue is planted firmly in cheek as Ishmael writes this)
6	** Despite writing before evolution was even theorized, Ishmael's hypothesis that whales are larger than they have ever been is still correct hundreds of years later. It's not, as he says semi-comically, because all animals slowly get bigger over time as proven by the fact people in the past were shorter.
7	* BeamMeUpScotty: Ahab's last words are commonly believed to stop at the "For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee" part. He also says it ''before'' harpooning Moby Dick rather than after he's tied to him.
8	* CreatorKiller: Melville was a pretty successful author between 1845 and 1850. Unfortunately, after ''Moby-Dick'' tanked (yes, this classic of English literature was an abysmal failure both critically and commercially), he never truly recovered and his work during his last 30 years was largely ignored and unknown. Reportedly, this caused a CreatorBreakdown.
9	* ReferencedBy: [[Referencedby/MobyDick Has its own page]].
10	* ScienceImitatesArt:
11	** Not surprisingly, Melville's work has been of inspiration for a few prehistoric whale names. ''Albicetus oxymycterus'' -- "sharp-nose white whale", named despite, obviously, only being known from fossil bones -- is a very early sperm whale named after the great cetacean himself. ''Livyatan melvillei'', a very large predatory sperm whale, was instead named in the author's honor.
12	** ''Voeltzkowia mobydick'' is a type of skink named due to a number of its traits, namely its absent hindlimbs, flipper-like forelimbs, reduced eyes, and pigment-less skin, putting its discovers in mind of the white whale.
13	* ScienceMarchesOn: Melville was very knowledgeable about cetology, using the most up-to-date science of the time. Nowadays, the science he used has not aged well.
14	-->"Be it known that, waiving all argument, I take the good old-fashioned ground that the whale is a fish."
15	** More of a case of ''definitions'' march on. "Fish" originally just meant "animal that lives exclusively in water". Melville recognizes that whales are warm-blooded, breathe air, and bear live young, but just doesn't think that a sufficient reason to redefine what "fish" means.
16	** He classifies whales primarily according to their size, which is now considered one of the least useful diagnostic features for taxonomy. It results, for example, in him grouping sperm whales in the "Folio," which are otherwise all baleen whales (a monophyletic group that does not include sperm whales).
17	** He also mentions phrenology and physiognomy, both now considered pseudosciences.
18	** Chapter 105 poo-poohs the notion that whaling might endanger the whale population.
19	** Detailed InUniverse, too; ''Basilosaurus'' turned out to be a mammal, not a reptile, hence the incorrect suffix.
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22	[[folder:1956 Film]]
23	* CaliforniaDoubling: The PortTown parts are set in Massachusetts, and were shot in Ireland and Wales.
24	* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/JohnHuston once considered casting Creator/OrsonWelles as Captain Ahab.
25	* ChannelHop: The film was financed by Moulin Productions. When the film went overbudget, it was sold to Creator/UnitedArtists in order to recoup some of the Mirisch brothers' debt. The rights would later revert to Creator/{{MGM}} starting in 1981. Creator/WarnerBros still distributed the film, corresponding to their original licensing agreement; when the agreement ended, United Artists took over the film's distribution rights
26	* CreatorBacklash: Creator/GregoryPeck disliked his own performance as Ahab so much that he refused to allow footage from the film to be used in ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' for Quint's introduction.
27	* CreatorBreakdown:
28	** Creator/OrsonWelles was actually battling depression at the time of filming, and had to be coached through his lines by Creator/JohnHuston.
29	** Creator/RayBradbury wrote a memoir of his experience writing the movie and his relationship with Huston called ''Green Shadows, White Whale'': one chapter details a lunch with the director, where Huston openly questioned Bradbury's commitment to the project, nearly reducing the writer to tears. He proceeded to write a story where a PrimaDonnaDirector is carried off by [[TheFairFolk a banshee.]]
30	* DawsonCasting: Although Ishmael is supposed to be in his twenties, Creator/RichardBasehart was actually forty when the film was made -- two years older than Creator/GregoryPeck.
31	* HostilityOnTheSet: According to the biography ''The Bradbury Chronicles'', there was much tension and anger between Creator/JohnHuston and Creator/RayBradbury during the making of the film, allegedly due to Huston's bullying attitude and attempts to tell Bradbury how to do his job, despite Bradbury being an accomplished writer.
32	* NoStuntDouble: Creator/GregoryPeck didn't have a stunt double. As a result, he injured his kneecap from hobbling on his fake knee and got washed out to sea.
33	* OnSetInjury: Creator/GregoryPeck, who did not use a double, injured his kneecap, Richard Basehart broke his ankle while jumping into a whaleboat, and Leo Genn slipped a disk and caught pneumonia before shooting had finished
34	* OneForTheMoneyOneForTheArt: Creator/OrsonWelles later used the salary from his cameo to fund his own stage production of ''Moby-Dick'', in which Rod Steiger played Captain Ahab.
35	* PlayingAgainstType: The primary reason that the film wasn't well-received initially was that audiences weren't comfortable seeing Creator/GregoryPeck as a villainous character (albeit an AntiVillain). Creator/PatrickStewart and Creator/WilliamHurt faced no such problems.
36	* SameLanguageDub: Creator/JohnHuston dubbed the voice of Joseph Tomelty (Peter Coffin), because his Irish accent was thought to be too strong. He [[ActingForTwo also dubbed]] the voice of the lookout who falls to his death.
37	* TroubledProduction: Filming was delayed by cast injuries and bad weather which caused the budget to overrun. And then there was the white whale. A 90-foot model was built for $30,000. A tug pulled it out into the Irish Sea and, after two shots were completed, the towline snapped and the whale quickly sank. A second whale was built on a barge but a storm also sank it without a trace. Finally a third whale was built and again the towline snapped. Creator/JohnHuston had had enough. He climbed into the whale and shouted, "Lose this whale and you lose me!" He stayed aboard as two crew members swam under the whale, grabbed the line, and reconnected it. In his autobiography, Huston called this, "The most difficult picture I ever made".
38	* UncreditedRole: Creator/RoaldDahl did some reworking of the script.
39	* UnderageCasting: Creator/GregoryPeck acknowledged that he was too young to play Captain Ahab at 38, when he's supposed to be an old man at the end of his career.
40	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
41	** Creator/JohnHuston originally planned to cast his father Creator/WalterHuston as Captain Ahab, but he died during development. Other candidates included Creator/MarlonBrando, Creator/GaryCooper, Creator/ErrolFlynn, Creator/BurtLancaster, Creator/FredricMarch and Creator/JohnWayne. Creator/GregoryPeck felt that Huston himself should have played Ahab.
42	** Creator/MontgomeryClift was interested in playing Ishmael.
43	* WrittenByCastmember: Creator/OrsonWelles wrote his own scenes.
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46	[[folder:Adaptations in general]]
47	* CaliforniaDoubling: To date, none of the film and TV versions have been shot in Massachusetts, in large part because the real New Bedford is far too developed and moder-looking to realistically pass for its 19th century self.
48	* BillingDisplacement: Creator/EthanHawke was billed over Creator/WilliamHurt for playing Starbuck in the 2011 miniseries.
49	* FakeAmerican:
50	** The various film versions cast British actors as the mostly-American crew of the ''Pequod''.
51	** Ahab is played by the British Creator/PatrickStewart in the 1998 miniseries.
52	[[/folder]]

Context Trivia / MobyDick