The Back to the Future trivia here is collected mostly by RESEARCH! I don't just cut and paste other people's Back to the Future pages. When I quote from another source, I will give credit. If you have something to add or correct, feel free to email me. You will get credit on the page if I use it.
Trivia
My personal text will be in black.
Quotes from other sources will be in red. Quotes emailed in will be in green.
Both the intro clocks, and the scene where all of Doc's clocks chime 8:00, are reminiscent of similar scenes in The Time Machine . The movie opens with a series of clocks, and the inventor's clocks all chime 8:00 when the hero is late for dinner.
After Lorraine's father (Sam) runs into Marty Mcfly with the car, he (Sam) yells "Stella!". A famous line from A Streetcar Named Desire, uttered by Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski.
Ever wonder where the term "Great Scott!" comes from?
Great Scott or Scot! A mitigated form of oath. The
initial letter of the German Gott is changed into Sc.
" `Great Scott! ... Beg pardon!' ejaculated Silas,
astounded." - A. C. Gunter: Baron Montez, book iv.
chap. xix.
I don't know the date of publication of this book yet,
but I am still researching and will post it when I find
it. I do know A. C. Gunter died in 1907, so it's at least that old. I never heard of this book until 1999. I know
where I learned the phrase "Great Scott!" (and Doc
probably did, too).
Wow! Batman fans can be touchy! I got a ton of email from Batman fans who pointed out that "Great Scott!" appears in
lots of Batman comics in the fifties, too.
One more Superman tie-in. Marc McClure, who played Dave Mcfly in BTTF, played the role of Jimmy Olsen in all four Superman movies that Christopher Reeve made and in the Supergirl movie that Helen Slater made.
Displayed prominently at the head of Marty Mcfly's bed is a brightly colored magazine named
"RQ." This is "Reference Quarterly," of interest only to professional librarians.
The date Marty Mcfly travels back in time to, November 5, is the same date of time travel in
Time After Time
(1979).
Mary Steenburgen in Back to the Future III
The device originally considered for use as the time travel machine was a refrigerator. Director Robert Zemeckis said in an interview that the idea was scrapped because he and Steven Spielberg did not want children to start climbing into refrigerators and getting trapped inside.
Eric Stoltz was originally cast as Marty McFly, but changed because he didn't act enough like a teenager. When 'Michael J. Fox' (qv) was cast, his costume was completely revamped.
The "main street" is the same one used in Gremlins.
The theatre in 1955 is showing a double bill: "A Boy's Life" (the working title for Steven
Spielberg's E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial), and "Watch the Skies" (the working title
for Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind ). See also Gremlins
(1984).
The device in Doc Brown's lab that Marty Mcfly plugs his guitar into is labeled "CRM-114",
which was the name of the message decoder on the B-52 in Dr. Strangelove
, and the serial number of the
Jupiter explorer in 2001 - A Space Odyssey, both directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Doc Brown's dog is named Einstein. This may be a vague reference to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where the inventor of a miracle car owned a dog named Edison.
The mall where Marty McFly meets Dr. Brown for their time travel experiment is called
"Twin Pines Mall". Dr. Brown comments that old farmer Peabody used to own all of the
land, and he grew pines there. When Marty goes back in time, he runs over and knocks
down a pine tree on the Peabody's property. When he comes back to the mall at the end
of the film, the sign at the mall identifies the mall as "Lone Pine Mall".
Farmer Peabody's son is named Sherman. Sherman was the name of the little boy time
traveler in one segment of Jay Ward's cartoon show, Rocky & Bullwinkle.
The dog who owned his time machine was named Mr. Peabody.
Did you notice the Twin Pines logo on the Zales Jewelry advertisement on the bench Marty and Jennifer stop at after the band audition? In 1955, Zales Jewelry is on the square.
You will not hear Sherman called by name. You have to watch the credits at the end of the movie to get this one!
One scene only shown in a 1990 TV was the 1955 Doc investigating his 1985
counterpart's suitcase, discovering a hairdryer and a copy of Playboy.
The dialogue where Lorraine says that when she grows up she'll let her kids do anything
they want was cut.
Another deleted scene shows Marty Mcfly peeking in on a class in 1955 and seeing his mother
cheating on a test.
The scene where George Mcfly has to save Lorraine
from being attacked by Biff in the car is longer:
George forgets what time it is and has to go in a
phone booth to call the time and temperature, but one
of Biff's gang slides a ruler in the door and traps
him there. He's later rescued by Mr. Strickland.
The scene where Marty asks if he and Jennifer become "assholes" in the future was
reshot for television. The word "jerks" replaced the word assholes.
The newscaster on TV in the opening sequence is 'Deborah Harmon' (qv), who appeared
in director Robert Zemeckis' Used Cars.
When Marty gets back to 1985, he spots a bum on the bench. He calls him "Red": "Red
Thomas" was mayor in 1955.
The radio in Marty's room plays "Back in Time", by
Huey Lewis and The News, who
wrote and performed some songs for the film. Also, a poster for their
Sports album is
visible on the wall of Marty's bedroom when Doc calls and wakes him.
The "Mr. Fusion Home Energy Converter", which is sitting on the DeLorean when Doc
returns from the future, is made from (among other things) a Krups coffee grinder.
The script never called for Marty to repeatedly bang his head on the gull-wing door of the
Delorean, this was improvised during filming as the door mechanism became faulty.
CAMEO (
Huey Lewis): the high-school band judge.
Here's the Trilogy CD. It does not have the rock songs on it, just the orchestral pieces.
Where To Next?
Musical notes and sources
backtothefutureclub - The #1 Back To The Future Club on Yahoo!
In some prints, the word "jerks" is dubbed in, and you can see Marty's mouth form the word "assholes". watch for it!
Soundtrack Back to the Future-Trilogy
Here's the one I like! I bought it on vinyl back when the movie first came out. This is the best rendition of "Earth Angel" on Earth (this or any alternate Earth). I wore the LP out. Had to buy the CD.
Back To The Future: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack
(BTTF music trivia and where to get "Mr. Sandman" and others)
Goofs for Back to the Future (1985)
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My Back to the Future II Trivia page
My Back to the Future III Trivia page
Click here for My Tribute to Calvin and Hobbes!
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Who wrote The Big Sleep? Click here and find out!
Who wrote The Maltese Falcon? Click here and find out!