Talk:E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

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This article is undergoing a featured article review. A featured article should exemplify Wikipedia's very best work, and is therefore expected to meet the criteria.

Please feel free to leave comments or be bold and improve the article directly.

If the article has been moved from its initial review period to the Featured Article Removal Candidate (FARC) section, you may support or contest its removal.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on November 12, 2017.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
May 13, 2007	Good article nominee	Listed
May 22, 2007	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
July 31, 2007	Featured article candidate	Promoted
A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on June 11, 2022.
Current status: Featured article

Film: Core / American

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References to use

Please add to the list references that can be used for the film article.

Booker, M. Keith (2006). "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". Alternate Americas: Science Fiction Film and American Culture. Praeger. pp. 157–170. ISBN 0275983951.
Sragow, Mike (2004). "Steven Spielberg on E.T.". In Rickman, Gregg (ed.). The Science Fiction Film Reader. Limelight Editions. pp. 254–260. ISBN 0879109947.

The family's name

The article states Thompson as the family name, but the Washington Post's review states Taylor, which is as I recall it on the original release. Plenty of other sources (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) corroborate this name, also. If the name has verifiably changed in a recent edit of the film, then this should also be mentioned in the article. EP111 (talk) 04:13, 17 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Cast

Should those who were inside ET be considered the cast? Take Pat Bilon for example, who was inside ET for most of the film.... Nauseous Man (talk) 04:15, 12 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Issues with this featured article

I hate to do this, but this FA is showing its age.

The lead is too short.
The cast section is mostly unsourced.
- Also maybe add one or two images to that section.
There may also be some issues regarding comprehensiveness.

**One thing missing is that Richard Attenborough said that ET should have won Best Picture.

There is also inconsistency in reference formatting.

This is a notice before a potential FAR: hopefully these can be addressed. ~ HAL333 01:24, 27 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@HAL333: do you feel these issues have been addressed now? Ten Pound Hammer • ^{(What did I screw up now?)} 17:28, 2 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for following up on this — I had forgotten about it a while ago. There are still some issues in terms of the reliability of certain sources (e.g. 'ET Kuwahara'). Is 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary Celebration (DVD)' a high quality reliable source? A dead link to Xfinity? There are also 15 "citation needed" templates throughout the article. References are also not formatted correctly/consistently (e.g. Ref #90 missing Deadline as the publication). ~ HAL333 17:59, 2 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Featured Article review

Since the link wasn't posted anywhere on talk, dropping a discussion notice here that this article was submitted to FAR.

Here's the link: Wikipedia:Featured article review/E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial/archive1 --GoneIn60 (talk) 22:16, 9 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a raccoon character?

The section https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial#Cast mentions a raccoon character. But the plot synopsis doesn't, nor can I find any mention of one when Google searching Greg Dahlen (talk) 11:41, 29 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's one of the teenage boys. ~ HAL333 21:50, 30 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, HAL. What makes you think so? The actor who is credited as playing "Raccoon" Frank Welker would have been 36 years old at the time the movie was made. You think he played a teenager? That's a big age difference. Greg Dahlen (talk) 10:57, 1 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Good point... That's really why this article needs better sourcing. IMDb doesn't list any role, and it wasn't present when this article was promoted to FA. ~ HAL333 14:05, 1 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

After a little digging, apparently Walker voiced ET in a 1984 episode of Muppet Babies. He also appears to have had voice cameos in many Speilberg films. ~ HAL333 18:55, 1 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, HAL. Well, going through the article history, I see the Frank Welker/Raccoon edit was made by an IP address without a talk page https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial&diff=prev&oldid=1023044282. I suppose I'll remove the edit and see if anyone does anything with/about the removal. Greg Dahlen (talk) 10:46, 2 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

That was the right move. The closest I can figure is that Welker may have contributed to ET's voice: 18 people supposedly contributed and they apparently used raccoon recordings as well. (Or it's just an IP screwing around as usual.) But until a source is found that can support it, best if it isn't included. Cheers. ~ HAL333 18:52, 2 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Botanists

The Plot section describes the aliens a bit too clearly as "botanists". It's true that they appear to collect plant samples, and the main character has the power to revitalize withering flowers. But he has some other unusual powers, too, and we don't know what else did the aliens plan to do. So is it really so clear-cut that "botanists" is what they are?

I'd just write "Aliens secretly visit Earth" and not "Alien botanists". Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 07:51, 12 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"Allegations of Plagiarism" should be removed?

I'm honestly quite surprised that the "allegations of plagiarism" survived as its own section on this article for four years before becoming a subsection, but even so, I think it's time we revisit whether these allegations are WP:UNDUE. The discussion that preceded the addition of this section still exists above, and in it, many other users raised the same concerns I currently have, and yet the section was still added without consensus to do so and has survived.

First, the sources used for the section are almost entirely from India, where Satyajit Ray has an outsized influence, so there may be a nationalist bias. Furthermore, a number of major films have had similar allegations levied against them, yet those allegations are seldom included in Wikipedia articles (they really only should be included if they are a major part of the way the work is perceived, yet that isn't true here). The actual similarities are vague, far from the "remarkable parallels" mentioned in the article. Both Spielberg and Ray designed aliens that were alien-looking… how scandalous.

That last paragraph about Lisa Litchfield is also very random and insignificant.

I'll also add that the plagiarism allegations raised by Ray are already mentioned in other articles which are mentioned in the previous talk page discussion on this topic if there are inclusionist fears. RyanAl6 (talk) 22:24, 30 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Accolades chart moved from article

Per a recent discussion, this chart may be WP:UNDUE and is missing needed citations. After fixing issues, if inclusion is deemed necessary, consider creating a standalone list article and linking via a hatnote from the Accolades section. --GoneIn60 (talk) 18:23, 9 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]


Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Results	Ref.
Academy Awards	April 11, 1983	Best Picture	Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy	Nominated	^[1]^[2]
		Best Director	Steven Spielberg	Nominated
		Best Original Screenplay	Melissa Mathison	Nominated
		Best Original Score	John Williams	Won
		Best Cinematography	Allen Daviau	Nominated
		Best Film Editing	Carol Littleton	Nominated
		Best Sound Effects Editing	Charles L. Campbell and Ben Burtt	Won
		Best Sound	Robert Knudson, Robert Glass, Don Digirolamo and Gene Cantamessa	Won
		Best Visual Effects	Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Muren and Kenneth F. Smith	Won
British Academy Film Awards	March 20, 1983	Best Film	Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy	Nominated	^[3]
		Best Direction	Steven Spielberg	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Melissa Mathison	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Allen Daviau	Nominated
		Best Editing	Carol Littleton	Nominated
		Best Makeup and Hair	Robert Sidell	Nominated
		Best Original Music	John Williams	Won
		Best Production Design	James D. Bissell	Nominated
		Best Sound	Brian Chumney, Tod Maitland, Andy Nelson and Gary Rydstrom	Nominated
		Best Special Visual Effects	Dennis Muren and Carlo Rambaldi	Nominated
		Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles	Drew Barrymore	Nominated
		Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles	Henry Thomas	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards	January 29, 1983	Best Picture – Drama	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won	^[4]
		Best Director – Motion Picture	Steven Spielberg	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Melissa Mathison	Nominated
		Best Original Score	John Williams	Won
		New Star of the Year – Actor	Henry Thomas	Nominated
Directors Guild of America Awards	March 12, 1983	Outstanding Directing - Feature Film	Steven Spielberg	Nominated	^[5]
Writers Guild of America Awards	1983	Best Drama Written Directly for the Screenplay	Melissa Mathison	Won	^[6]
National Board of Review	February 14, 1983	Top Ten Films	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won	^[7]
New York Film Critics Circle	January 30, 1983	Best Film	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Runner-up	^[8]
New York Film Critics Circle	January 30, 1983	Best Director	Steven Spielberg	Runner-up	^[8]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association	December 11, 1982	Best Picture	E.T. the Extra Terrestrial	Won	^[9]^[10]
		Best Director	Steven Spielberg	Won
		Best Music	John Williams	Nominated
		New Generation Award	Melissa Mathison	Won
Cinema Writers Circle Awards	1982	Best Foreign Film	E.T. the Extra Terrestrial	Won	^{[citation needed]}
Turkish Film Critics Association	1984	Best Foreign Film	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Nominated	^{[citation needed]}
Grammy Awards	February 23, 1983	Best Instrumental Composition	"Flying - Theme From E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial"	Won	^[11]
		Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: Music from the Original Soundtrack – John Williams	Won
		Best Arrangement on an Instrumental Recording	"Flying - Theme From E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial"	Won
	February 28, 1984	Best Recording for Children	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Quincy Jones (producer) and Michael Jackson	Won	^[12]
People's Choice Awards	March 17, 1983	Favorite Motion Picture	E.T. the Extra Terrestrial	Won	^[13]
Saturn Awards	July 30, 1983	Best Science Fiction Film	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won	^[14]
		Best Actor	Henry Thomas	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Dee Wallace	Nominated
		Best Director	Steven Spielberg	Nominated
		Best Writing	Melissa Mathison	Won
		Best Music	John Williams	Won
		Best Special Effects	Carlo Rambaldi and Dennis Muren	Won
		Best Poster Art	John Alvin	Won
	May 18, 2003	Best DVD Classic Film Release	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Ultimate Gift Set)	Won	^[15]
Young Artist Awards	November 21, 1982	Best Young Motion Picture Actor	Henry Thomas	Won	^[16]
		Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Robert MacNaughton	Won
		Best Young Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Drew Barrymore	Won
		Best Family Motion Picture: Animated, Music or Fantasy	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won
American Cinema Editors	1983	Best Edited Feature Film	Carol Littleton	Nominated	^{[citation needed]}
Golden Reel Awards	1982	Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won	^{[citation needed]}
Awards of the Japanese Academy	1983	Best Foreign Language Film	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won	^{[citation needed]}
Awards of the Japanese Academy	1983	Most Popular Performer	E.T.	Won	^{[citation needed]}
Blue Ribbon Awards	1982	Best Foreign Film	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won	^[17]^[18]
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	February 6, 1983	Best Film	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won	^{[citation needed]}
		Best Director	Steven Spielberg	Won
		Best Cinematography	Allen Daviau	Won
Cinema Writers Circle Awards	1983	Best Foreign Film	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won	^{[citation needed]}
César Awards	February 26, 1983	Best Foreign Film	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Nominated	^{[citation needed]}
David di Donatello Awards	1983	Best Foreign Director	Steven Spielberg	Won	^{[citation needed]}
David di Donatello Awards	1983	Best Foreign Producer	Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy	Nominated	^{[citation needed]}
Fotogramas de Plata	1983	Best Foreign Film	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Won	^{[citation needed]}
Heartland Film Festival	1982	Truly Moving Picture Award	Steven Spielberg	Won	^{[citation needed]}
Hugo Awards	1982	Best Dramatic Presentation	Melissa Mathison, Steven Spielberg	Nominated	^[19]
Jupiter Award	1982	Best International Film	Steven Spielberg	Won	^[20]
Kinema Junpo Awards	1983	Best Foreign Language Film	Steven Spielberg	Won	^{[citation needed]}
Kinema Junpo Awards	1983	Readers' Choice Award - Best Foreign Language Film	Steven Spielberg	Won	^{[citation needed]}
Golden Trailer Awards	2002	Best Animation/Family	The Ant Farm	Nominated	^[21]
GoldSpirit Awards	2002	Best Edition of a Classic Soundtrack	John Williams	Won	^{[citation needed]}
GoldSpirit Awards	2017	Best Edition of an Existing Score	John Williams	Won	^{[citation needed]}
International Film Music Critics Association	2017	Best New Release, Re-Release or Re-Recording of an Existing Score	John Williams, Michael Matessino, Bruce Botnick and Jim Titus	Nominated	^[22]

References

^ "The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
^ "The Official Academy Awards Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Select "1982" in the "Award Year(s)" drop-down menu and press "Search".
^ "Film in 1983". BAFTA. 1983. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
^ "Winners & Nominees 1983". Goldenglobes.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
^ "The Directors Guild of America today announced its nominations..." UPI. January 31, 1983. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
^ "Awards Winners". wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
^ "National Board Of Review Announces 1982 Award Winners". Nationalboardofreview.org. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
^ "'Gandhi' and 'Tootsie' top Film Critics Circle awards". Reading Eagle. December 21, 1982. Retrieved June 20, 2022 – via Google News Archive.
^ 'E.T.,' Spielberg Honored By Movie Critics
^ "Los Angeles Film Critics Association".
^ Lawson, Matt; MacDonald, Laurence (2018). 100 Greatest Film Scores. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 92. ISBN 9781538103685.
^ "Grammys Ratings Soar, Nab Second-Largest Audience Ever". Billboard.
^ "1983 -NOMINEES & WINNERS". Archived from the original on February 17, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
^ McDonnell, David; Lewis, Denise (November 1983). "Saturn Winners Coast to Coast". Starlog (76): 10–11.
^ "Minority Report & Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Win Big At The 29th Annual Saturn Awards" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
^ "4th Annual Youth In Film Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on March 10, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
^ "ブルーリボン賞" [Blue Ribbon Awards]. allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
^ "Blue Ribbon Awards". IMDb. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
^ "1983 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. July 26, 2007. Archived from the original on May 7, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
^ "Germany's biggest film & TV audience award". Hubert Burda Media. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
^ "Golden Trailer Awards (2002)". IMDb. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
^ "IFMCA Award Winners 2017". International Film Music Critics Association. February 6, 2020.

[1] "The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2022.

[2] "The Official Academy Awards Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Select "1982" in the "Award Year(s)" drop-down menu and press "Search".

[3] "Film in 1983". BAFTA. 1983. Retrieved February 16, 2023.

[4] "Winners & Nominees 1983". Goldenglobes.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2022.

[5] "The Directors Guild of America today announced its nominations..." UPI. January 31, 1983. Retrieved June 20, 2022.

[6] "Awards Winners". wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2022.

[7] "National Board Of Review Announces 1982 Award Winners". Nationalboardofreview.org. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2022.

[8] "'Gandhi' and 'Tootsie' top Film Critics Circle awards". Reading Eagle. December 21, 1982. Retrieved June 20, 2022 – via Google News Archive.

[9] 'E.T.,' Spielberg Honored By Movie Critics

[10] "Los Angeles Film Critics Association".

[lawson-macdonald-92-11] Lawson, Matt; MacDonald, Laurence (2018). 100 Greatest Film Scores. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 92. ISBN 9781538103685.

[12] "Grammys Ratings Soar, Nab Second-Largest Audience Ever". Billboard.

[13] "1983 -NOMINEES & WINNERS". Archived from the original on February 17, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2022.

[14] McDonnell, David; Lewis, Denise (November 1983). "Saturn Winners Coast to Coast". Starlog (76): 10–11.

[15] "Minority Report & Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Win Big At The 29th Annual Saturn Awards" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2020.

[16] "4th Annual Youth In Film Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on March 10, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2011.

[17] "ブルーリボン賞" [Blue Ribbon Awards]. allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved April 26, 2015.

[18] "Blue Ribbon Awards". IMDb. Retrieved April 26, 2015.

[Hugo83-19] "1983 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. July 26, 2007. Archived from the original on May 7, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2022.

[20] "Germany's biggest film & TV audience award". Hubert Burda Media. Retrieved June 24, 2022.

[21] "Golden Trailer Awards (2002)". IMDb. Retrieved June 23, 2022.

[22] "IFMCA Award Winners 2017". International Film Music Critics Association. February 6, 2020.

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