Forbidden Planet - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Forbidden Planet or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Forbidden Planet

[lena]

When the commander is shooting his blaster at the wall, the pattern is suspiciously similar to the beat of "Jingle Bells".

[maureen]

Robbie the Robot was not able to really carry the Doctor after he was injured. If you look carefully you can see the wires holding the Doctor up.

[dustin]

The green sky paid homage to the 1933 novel "When Worlds Collide" by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer. In it, the sky on the primary alien planet was green. A species of green algae there used sunlight to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen and stored the hydrogen in sacs, allowing it to float in the air.

[tamara]

Altaira Morbius spends the majority of the movie barefoot. She only wears shoes when visiting the site of the C57D landing and at the end as she prepares to leave Altair IV.

[jessie]

The planet on which Edward and Altaira Morbius live is Altair IV, which according to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) is also a Federation planet. Director Fred M. Wilcox consulted with scientists before making the decision that the planet's sky would be green.

[stephanie]

The Spaceship C57D, models and full-size prop was actually used in seven episodes of The Twilight Zone (1959). The list is as follows by season, The Twilight Zone: Third from the Sun (1960), The Twilight Zone: The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (1960), The Twilight Zone: The Invaders (1961), The Twilight Zone: To Serve Man (1962), The Twilight Zone: Hocus-Pocus and Frisby (1962), The Twilight Zone: Death Ship (1963) and The Twilight Zone: On Thursday We Leave for Home (1963). Robby's vehicle does appear in the final scene of The Twilight Zone: The Rip Van Winkle Caper (1961). The crew's outfits were used in a number of episodes, not to mention also in The Time Machine (1960) and The Queen of Outer Space (1958) along with some props. The flickering force-field fence-posts appeared in Atlantis: The Lost Continent (1961) and were last seen being placed at the bottom of the ocean in Around the World Under the Sea (1966).

[phyllis]

MGM had a full animation department at one time but by 1956 it was largely dismantled. Critical animation effects (landing beam, weapons, Robby overloading, the Id monster) were provided by Joshua Meador on loan to MGM from Walt Disney Pictures. Meador's recognizable style can be readily discerned from that of the other three effects animators working on Alice in Wonderland (1951) and in other Disney releases.

[willard]

With the death of James Drury (Crewman Strong) on April 6, 2020, Earl Holliman (Cookie) is the last surviving member of the cast.

[charlie]

Originally conceived and approved by MGM's Dore Schary--no fan of science-fiction--as a "B" picture. The studio's art department, still headed by veteran Cedric Gibbons, pulled out all the stops. The budget ballooned to $1.9 million and its box-office returns barely managed to break even amid a dismal year for the studio. The relative failure of the film was cited as a reason for Schary's ouster soon after.

[ray]

According to the follow-up movie The Invisible Boy (1957), the C57D spacecraft returned to Earth on March 26, 2309 A.D. at Chicago Spaceport.

[beth]

A March 11, 1955," Hollywood Reporter" news item stated that Steve Forrest and John Ericson were suspended from MGM after turning down roles in the film.