October 21 is Back to The Future Day!
For a brief background: Back to The Future was a 1985 lite science-fiction film starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. Its humor, buoyant plot and commentary on American life combined to make it an instant classic, which then spawned two sequels, an animated cartoon series, a long-running ride at Universal studios, and a permanent place in pop culture history.
When Marty travels to the future in Back To The Future II, the date he arrived at was October 21, 2015. When the rest of us caught up to that date, many celebrations were had, and since then, October 21st has annually been known as Back To The Future Day.
- BTTF Fun Facts...
- there was only intended to be a single, stand-alone film. The "to be continued" at the end of the first film was intended as a sort of whimsical joke. The creators have said that if they actually were planning on a sequel, Jennifer would never have gotten in the Delorean with Doc and Marty (which is why she does end up spending most of the sequel films unconscious.
- The clocktower climax to the movie wasn’t part of the original script. Instead, Marty and Doc were supposed to visit a nuclear test site in Nevada where a nuclear explosion would then send the DeLorean back to the future. This was changed because the whole sequence would have proved too expensive.
- Robert Zemeckis’ first choice to play Marty was Michael J. Fox, but Fox's schedule was tied up with Family Ties. Zemeckis ended up going through the typical casting process, ultimately casting Eric Stoltz in the role. Filming started with Stoltz playing Marty, and they actually completed six weeks worth of filming, but the humor just wasn't landing right with that actor. So even though Zemeckis respected Stoltz and also knew he'd lose a lot of money by having to reshoot six weeks worth of footage, he let Stoltz go and reattempted to hire Michael J. Fox.
- Michael J. Fox really wanted to film the movie, but contractually he needed permission from the Family Ties producer. Gary Goldberg gave permission on the condition that the tv show's schedule would not be impacted in anyway by the movie. So Fox rehearsed for Family Ties from 8 am to 6 pm, then rushed to the Back to the Future set where he would rehearse and shoot until 3:30 a.m. This schedule lasted for two full months while Fox continued on with just 3 hours of sleep per night.
- Melora Hardin (famously known as Jan from The Office) was originally cast as Marty's girlfriend, Jennifer. Once Stoltz was let go and Fox was hired, they were concerned by how much taller Hardin was than Michael J. Fox, and so they recast her as well.
- In Back To The Future II, the roles of Marty's dad and girlfriend were both recast due to difficulties obtaining the original actors. With wigs and makeup, most fans never noticed.
- Back To The Future II and III were filmed at the same time.
- Some celebrities of the 80's, as well as now-celebrities of today, have small cameos throughout the trilogy. ZZ Top, Elijah Woods, Huey Lewis, Billy Zane and Flea (from The Red Hot Chili Peppers) all turn up if you look out for them.
https://screenrant.com/back-to-the-future-trilogy-behind-scenes-facts/
On October 21, 2015, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd both appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, reprising the characters of Marty and Doc Brown publicly for possibly the last time ever.
If you love adventures through time and want to branch out from the original Back To The Future trilogy, the library offers so much more, for both the page and the screen. Here is a sampling of other hits from the genre, all available for checkout.
- Other Time Travel stories
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Doctor Who. The Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, travels through time and space in their ship the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension In Space) with a series of companions. From time to time, the Doctor regenerates into a new form. Episode by episode, the doctor travels backwards and forwards through both space and time, in a show that veers from comedic to dramatic to scary to poignant.
- various doctors and companions include Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Karen Gillan, Jodie Whittaker, and Jenna Coleman.
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Outlander. The Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year 1743. Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
- Novel(s) by Diana Gabaldon. TV series starring Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan.
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The Time Traveler's Wife. A dazzling narrative in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap.
- Novel by Audrey Niffenegger. Movie starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. TV series starring Rose Leslie and Theo James.
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11/22/63. Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine. Jake's friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane, and insanely possible, mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake's new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake's life, a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.
- Novel by Steven King. Mini series starring James Franco.
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Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. A 1989 hit where its two titular teens are a pair of "excellent" "dudes" who are flunking history. Needing to pass a final exam in order to avoid Ted's being sent to military school, the pair are suddenly visited by the mysterious Rufus, who shepherds the lads on a trip through space and time, using a telephone booth to collect historical figures: Napoleon, Socrates, Genghis Khan, Beethoven, Joan of Arc, Billy the Kid, Lincoln, and Freud.
- Starring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and George Carlin. Part of a trilogy also including Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and Bill and Ted Face the Music. A series of graphic novel spinoffs are also available in our collection.
If you love Back to the Future for its perfect 80's charm, here are some other classic teen movies we offer for that Gen X nostalgia and for the Gen X at heart.
- Other 80's Teen Classic Movies
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The Breakfast Club. Five high school students -- a Rebel, an Athlete, a Brain, a Princess, and a Basketcase -- find themselves thrown together serving a Saturday morning detention. They do not have much in common, except giving up their day, sitting in the school library, and writing an essay for the principal. At first, they argue and hate each other, but after smoking some of the Rebel's marijuana, they begin to pour their hearts out to each other. They talk about their fears, secrets, deepest emotions, and problems.
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Heathers. When two teens 'accidentally' begin murdering the most popular kids in school, suicide suddenly becomes the 'in' thing to do. A dark comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater.
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The Goonies. A band of misfit kids searches for buried treasure in a subterranean cavern. Here they cross the path of Mama Fratelli and her outlaw brood. The kids befriend Fratelli's hideously deformed (but soft-hearted) son, who comes to their rescue.
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Say Anything. A young man, recently graduated from high school, wants only one thing: a date with a fellow graduate. The catch is she's beautiful, brilliant and headed to England to study, and all his friends and her father tell him she's way out of his league. When they fall in love anyway, the result is a funny, poignant, and joyous celebration of first love.
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The Karate Kid. Newly arrived in California from New Jersey, teenager Ralph Macchio almost immediately runs afoul of karate-trained high school bullies. He is rescued by Japanese janitor Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, who agrees to teach Macchio how to harness karate for good instead of brutality. The film culminates in a championship karate bout, pitting Macchio against his sworn enemy Martin Kove.
Descriptions provided by the publisher