MGM’s 1956 sci-fi classic “Forbidden Planet” was an anomaly for the Hollywood dream factory that was known for its lush Technicolor musicals, adaptations of literary works and star-driven dramas and comedies. It represented the studio’s first foray into the sci-fi genre.
“It was rare enough that any of the major studios made sci-fi,” said Oscar-winning sound designer Ben Burtt (“Star Wars,” “Wall-E”), who saw the film as a boy in 1956.
Burtt and Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Craig Barron (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) are hosting a sold-out digital screening of “Forbidden Planet” Saturday evening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Linwood Dunn Theater. Before the movie, the two will discuss the secrets behind its production.
The event also kicks off a free exhibition in the lobby of the Linwood Dunn, “Forbidden Planet: Artifacts from the Krell,” which features concept art, miniatures, a hand blaster and the film’s endearing and enduring Robby the Robot. Barron and Burtt will offer a gallery talk on the exhibition at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Robby the Robot and Anne Francis in "Forbidden Planet" (Los Angeles Times archives)
Directed by Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume, “Forbidden Planet” has been described as Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” set in outer space. It revolves around a United Planets mission in the 23rd century to a mysterious planet called Altair-4. The crew, lead by a pre-comedy clown Leslie Nielsen, discovers Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter, Altaira (Anne Francis), the lone survivors of an earlier space mission. During his years on the planet, Morbius has uncovered the secrets of an extinct race, the Krells. Meanwhile, the crew is being picked off by the silent and invisible “id monster.”
“One of the things that Craig and I found out [during research] was that it started out as a lower-budget film with some real restrictions on it,” Burtt said. “But the departments got very excited because this was something fresh and new — a fresh way to express themselves artistically. They got more passionate thinking through how to do things that hadn’t been done. So it got a little bit more expensive.”
Bebe Barron, composer whose score for "Forbidden Planet" was the first use of electronic music in feature films.
Burtt will be discussing the innovative electronic score by Louis and Bebe Barron. “Certainly the most unique thing looking back at the film is the sound in the movie,” he said.
Though there had been experimental electronic scores using a theremin — most notably by Miklos Rozsa for 1945’s “Spellbound” and Bernard Herrmann for 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still” — there had never been anything like the Barrons’ score for “Forbidden Planet,” described by Burtt as “weird electronic sounds” that function both as sound effects and music.
The film earned an Academy Award nomination for special effects, losing to “The Ten Commandments.”
Besides Robby the Robot, who was created by several craftsman at MGM, the most impressive aspect of the special effects was the “id monster,” which is slowly revealed — first by its footsteps, then roaring to life in the force field.
“They were very careful to suggest the monster,” Barron said. “The cliche in movies at the time was the bug-eyed monster with a big eyeball, played by a guy in the suit. That is not the kind of thing they wanted. They wanted it to be something more you felt. That is what makes it more exciting and frightening.”
The monster was created by visual effects artist Joshua Meador, whom the studio borrowed from Disney. “This is a time when artists had very specific skills,” said Barron. “What Josh specialized in was creating visual phenomena like crackling electricity or blowing leaves or icicles forming, which he would draw by hand. He was well-versed in the understanding of crackling energy and performance.”
– Susan King
RECENT AND RELATED
The lost saucer of “Forbidden Planet” rediscovered
From November: Leslie Nielsen dead at 84
Emma Peel’s mod moment: A look back at “The Avengers”
“Metropolis”: “A torrent of creative energy”
“Bride of Frankenstein,” an electric moment in horror
EXCLUSIVE: “Lost” treasures from 1954′s “20,000 Leagues”
Comments
Print
Read Later
Our legion of super contributors is led by Hero Complex editor Gina McIntyre and 
Forbidden Planet has to be one of the best movies of the 20th centuries. The movie is so memorable with Robbie the Robot, interesting scenery on the planet, superb script and fantastic music. I think this movie was ahead of its time.
I agree. One of the best SciFi every filmed. Hope no one ever remakes it (like how they destroyed "The Day the Earth Stood Still" a few years back).
1951s " The Day the earth stood still" remains a classic. The recent re-do was terrible not even close to the drama projected in the original. The story line was weak and even with todays' special digital effects, not contest. Its all about the right actor to play the part and the story line. In todays' sci-fi there is too much of the same, blowing things up and mere destruction. The same happened to the re-do of War of the worlds, although the original was not as an effective sci-fi as TDTESS. Where are the good writers?
Ack, I always miss the good stuff. I would have given my right nu—, oh never mind. I would have loved to have been there though. I'm extremely fascinated with the music scores that Louis and Bebe Barron did. It would have been a blast to have met their son and actually seen some of the original equipment that they used to effectively create their 'Electronic Tonalities'. I've tried like heck to replicate their work, and let me tell you its hard. I have a much to learn, and long way to go in understanding their work. Bob Tarmac http://soundcloud.com/bob-tarmac