Trivia / The Elephant Man

• Cast the Expert: Anne Bancroft plays a theater actress. In real-life, Bancroft was a stage actress before starring in films.
• Creator-Chosen Casting: John Hurt was cast after David Lynch, Mel Brooks and producer Jonathan Sanger saw his breakout role in The Naked Civil Servant.
• Creator's Oddball:
  • One of two films by David Lynch that was based on a true story (the other being 1999's The Straight Story), and unlike The Straight Story, the only grounded film of his to be co-written by him.
  • Mel Brooks produced it, so this also counts for him; instead of it being a comedy akin to what he was known for, it's instead a melancholic biographical drama.
• The Danza: John Merrick, played by John Hurt.
• Dawson Casting: John Merrick is said to be twenty-one years old and died at the age of twenty-seven. John Hurt was forty at the time.
• Dueling Movies: With Raging Bull. Both films also competed in Best Actor nomination, with Raging Bull winning.
• Enforced Method Acting: John Hurt needed to wear extensive prosthetics. They were extremely heavy, about twenty pounds of weight glued to his head and shoulders. When he tried to lie down and sleep a few hours before going on-set the first time the makeup was applied... Suffice it to say that he was found in the morning sleeping sitting up, in the same manner Merrick was known to.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Significantly averted by producer Mel Brooks, who produced the movie for his Brooksfilms studio. He and co-producer Stuart Cornfeld screened it for Paramount executives, who requested some changes. According to Cornfeld, Brooks told them "We are involved in a business venture. We screened the film for you to bring you up to date as to the status of that venture. Do not misconstrue this as our soliciting the input of raging primitives."
  • Also, Brooks intentionally withheld his name from credits, fearing people would think it was another one of his parodies rather than the serious heartwarming biography it is.^note Which becomes Hilarious in Hindsight with The Fly (1986), which was also co-produced uncredited by him. While no one thought it would be a comedy, Brooks distributed comedic antennae to premiere goers to soften the extreme horror.
• Fake Brit: Anne Bancroft, an actress born in the Bronx, plays Englishwoman Madge Kendal.
• Fatal Method Acting: Barely avoided by John Hurt. The prosthetics he was wearing on his head were very heavy, weighing in at about twenty pounds. When he tried to lie down for a nap for a few hours before going on set, he practically strangled himself due to the weight of his head on his neck. Hurt was subsequently forced to nap while sitting down. Ironically, the real Joseph Merrick was also forced to sleep while sitting, and died because he tried to sleep lying down, strangling himself due to the weight of his head.
• Method Acting: When Dr. Treves sees Merrick for the first time, he sheds a single tear. Anthony Hopkins thought of his sick father at that moment to help him to cry.
• Referenced by...:
  • Batman Returns: After he is exposed as a fraud by Batman, The Penguin renounces his birth name and humanity in a Russian Reversal of John Merrick's speech.
    Penguin: My name is not Oswald! It's Penguin! I am not a human being! I am an animal! Cold blooded!
  • Bobby's World: In "Bad News Bobby", Bobby has an Imagine Spot where his Uncle Ted is a doctor. Ted comes across an anthropomorphic elephant who tells him "I am not an animal! I am a human being!"
  • ClayFighter 63⅓: When being hit, Blob has a random chance of saying "I am not an animal!" or "I'm a human being!"
  • Family Matters: In "Rachel's First Date", Rachel tells Carl and Harriette that The Elephant Man is playing on television. Upon hearing this, Harriette says she loves that movie.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean: One of Snow White's Seven Dwarfs, brought to life by Ungalo's Bohemian Rhapsody, mentions The Elephant Man as one of his favorite characters.
  • The elephants' noises in the opening scene are sampled with a higher pitch in Nine Inch Nails' song "Ruiner" from their album The Downward Spiral.
  • R.E.M. nodded to the film in three of their songs — "Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)" and "Circus Envy" were based on the film's carnival scene, while "New Test Leper" features the protagonist seeing the subtitle "I AM NOT AN ANIMAL" mockingly attached to him on a camera monitor.
  • Rugrats: In "The Slide", when Angelica and Susie argue over whether Chuckie is a "scaredy cat" or a "big, brave dog", Chuckie paraphrases John Merrick.
    Chuckie: I am not a aminal! I am a human bean!
  • Tiny Toon Adventures: At the beginning of "Rent-a-Friend" (part of "Rainy Daze"), the Rent-A-Friend Montana Max drives away shouts "I am not an animal! I am a human being!"
  • Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: The music for the opening scene is reminiscent of John Morris's score from The Elephant Man.
• Star-Making Role: The film launched John Hurt to international acclaim.
• Uncredited Role: Mel Brooks was the film's producer, but left his name off the credits so audiences wouldn't assume the film was a comedy.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Terrence Malick was offered the chance to direct, but passed.
  • Trevor Howard was offered the role of Bytes.

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