10 things you didn’t know about Back to the Future

The day has come. Today the whole world will be united under the same hashtag: #BackToTheFutureDay. “Back to the future” turns 30 today, since the first episode of the cult saga directed by Robert Zemeckis with Michael J. Fox as protagonist came out in 1985.

The film is built around the story of the young Marty McFly and his special friendship with "Doc" Brown, a sort of mad scientist ahead of his time. Doc is working on a time machine, able to carry its passengers back and forth in time. It is launched one night in the parking lot of a shopping mall, and Marty suddenly finds himself in 1955, where he meets his adolescent parents, even before the two have met each other.

In the second episode Doc and Marty have to deal instead with the future, which for us is now reality: the two are sent exactly to October 21^st 2015, at 4:29 pm. The film offers an extraordinary vision of both the past and the future, almost surreal if you think of the limited digital means with which it has been realized.

Every time you happen to watch it again you catch new and unexpected details and the story seems more and more hilarious. But what really lies behind the creation of this amazing film?

Revelation 10 points.

#1 The idea for the subject came to Bob Gale, writer and producer of the film, after seeing a picture of his father in a yearbook. Gale found himself thinking if the two could have been friends in another era.

#2 The subject was rejected 40 times before being taken into consideration by Universal.

#3 Michael J. Fox was not going to be the protagonist of the film. Because of his many work commitments the actor had turned down the role, and the company chose Eric Stoltz as a substitute. However, after six weeks of filming, the production realized that his performance was not convincing and called Fox spending millions of dollars to film all the lost scenes again.

#4 Michael J. Fox was able to film only at night, because of his busy schedule. The crew confessed they didn’t see the light of the day for months.

#5 Universal hated the title "Back to the future". They wanted the work to be called "Spaceman From Pluto" but Spielberg refused it categorically.

#6 John DeLorean, the creator of the iconic car used as a time machine, was chosen among several candidates and after the filming he wrote a letter to the director to thank him for making him realized the dream of his life.

#7 When Marty departs 1985, he leaves the Twin Pines Mall, and then knocks over a pine tree when he arrives in 1955 at the Twin Pines Ranch. When he returns to 1985, the shopping centre is called Lone Pine Mall, all because he knocked one over in the past.

#8 Have you noticed that Pepsi appears a lot in the film? Michael J. Fox was a major endorser of the brand in 1985.

#9 Einstein, Doc's dog, was supposed to be a monkey according to the original script. Then the producers realized that any movie that starred a monkey had ever been successful.

#10 A sequel was not planned. Making the movie was so hard that didn’t want to make it all again. Until the studios put them in front of a decision: "We are going to make a sequel: you want to participate or not?" Spielberg and Gale felt obliged to protect their work and decided to do it.