By SEAN DALY Special to the Daily Press
Actress Jessalyn Gilsig will never forget the first time saw she “E.T. The Extraterrestrial” at a local theater near her childhood home in Montreal.
“I was crying so much, the man behind me gave me a tissue,” recalls the “Boston Public” star, now 31. “I was really young and really freaked out because you weren’t supposed to accept things from strangers. I don’t remember ever crying at a movie before."
Indeed, there were many glassy eyes during the summer of 1982, when the 3-foot alien botanist first came to Earth and befriended a 10-year-old boy named Elliott.
“I actually had to go to the ladies room to get tissue because I was crying so hard,” admits Wendie Malick of TV’s “Just Shoot Me.” And Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean remembers: “My mom got us the video and I just kept watching it over and over again. I loved it. I would love to go see it again and be like a little kid again.”
This weekend, McLean will get his wish, when Universal Pictures and director Steven Spielberg release a special 20th-anniversary edition of the classic movie starring Drew Barrymore, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote and Dee Wallace-Stone.
“I can’t wait to take my kids to see it,” says actor Patrick Warburton, better known as Puddy from the TV sitcom “Seinfeld.” “I know the effects might not seem as spectacular as they did back then, but I think it will hold up pretty well in the theater 20 years later.”
Actually, thanks to a sort of digital makeover from the folks at George Lucus’ Industrial Light and Magic, Hollywood’s most famous intergalactic traveler now appears not only more animated, but in many ways, well... more human. There have also been several scenes added. And new state-of-the-art technology has also allowed Spielberg to make other minor adjustments to the film — including the replacement of handguns, in certain sequences, with walkie talkies.
“I don’t know if (making the changes) would be my cup of tea,” admits “Death To Smoochy” director Danny DeVito. “But if you want to go in as a filmmak-er and re-edit your work, it should be up to you.”
“And here’s the great thing about it,” DeVito adds with a laugh, “I own ‘E.T.’ on DVD. So I got it without the walkie-talkies!”
John Ratzenberger, who popularized the Cliff Clavin character on “Cheers,” has spent much of the past decade voicing animated characters for family movies including “Toy Story” and “Monsters, Inc.” He believes there is a good reason for the changes.
“My suspicion is that when Spielberg made ‘E.T.,’ he didn't have children,” the actor says. “Now he has children and he sees the world through a different lens.”
Ratzenberger, a father of two teenagers, suggests the director may also have underestimated the impression his film would leave on younger viewers.
“I went home and looked in my closet to see if there was an alien,” laughs Victor Webster of the syndicated series “Mutant X.” “And I remember the big joke around school was all the kids running around with their finger out going ‘E.T. phone home.’”
Ratzenberger, however, recalls different dialogue from the film.
“My son’s first swear word came from that movie,” he said. “He was 5 years old and he said the ‘S’ word. I asked him, ‘Where did you learn that?’ And he said, ‘E.T.’”
Still, “E.T.” has become a family favorite worldwide, earning more than $770 million at the box office.
Its secret? “The creature was so sweet and dear to the children,” says Linda Blair of “The Exorcist.” “It was an endearing movie. It’s got a great story... And Drew and the other kids are so darn cute!”
Malick agrees: “I think it was one of the best things Spielberg ever did.” (Sean Daly is president of Showtime Entertainment and is a regular contributor to Us Weekly and The Toronto Star). Return of E.T.: Everyone’s favorite alien gets a facelift
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 22, 2002. Read the original PDF.