32 Facts About Your Favorite Non-Human Movie Characters

Damn these clumps of material for getting us so emotional
32 Facts About Your Favorite Non-Human Movie Characters

How did these crafty filmmakers do it? They built some puppet or animatronic thingamabob and had us caring about it as if it were a living, breathing being. Castaway had us crying over a volleyball for chrissakes! 

Part of us feels bad that we’re drawing attention to the fact that Kermit is just some green felt with a hand up his butt who gets put in a crate like a limp prop when the shoot day wraps. The other part of us loves how movies are made, so let’s get past all that emo junk and get to the facts!

Here are a bunch of facts about your favorite non-human scene partners…

Roger Rabbit from ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’

Bob Hoskins learned how to hallucinate. WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? To play opposite Roger Rabbit, Hoskins said that he studied his daughter playing with her imaginary friend, Jeffrey. Не said he would hallucinate Roger bouncing all around him to play it as real as possible. CRACKED.COM

Howard from ‘Howard the Duck’

Howard the Duck may have destroyed Lea Thompson's career. HOWARD THE DUCK That's in her own words! Still, she loved performing with Ed Gale as Howard, and said that Howard fans are her favorite fans. She's actually pushing to direct a sequel. CRACKED.COM

Flubber from ‘Flubber’

Robin Williams had a lot in common with Flubber. FLUBBER Joking that he too was bouncing off the walls, Williams said he especially enjoyed being bounced high in the air repeatedly for the basketball scene. CRACKED.COM

Groot from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

The Flora Colossus from Planet X made the ultimate sacrifice. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Voiced by Vin Diesel, Groot was played by Krystian Godlewski in a motion capture suit, and Baby Groot had house plant stand-ins. The loveable character gave actors and fans some epic, hilarious, and truly heartfelt moments. CRACKED.COM

Maine Coons from ‘Pet Semetary’

Eight different Maine Coons PET SEMATARY (2019) CRACKED.COM Director Kevin Kölsch wanted his spooky cat to mimic the cover of the original Stephen King novel, but Maine Coons can pretty much only learn one trick each. For each action, they had to bring in a new cat and let it sniff around and get acclimated: They were like this pack of divas on set.

Dobby from ‘Harry Potter’

Little people made it much easier for little wizards. HARRY POTTER Voiced by Toby Jones, Dobby was originally played by tennis balls, dots, and numbers before being physically played by Dianne Gibbons. Fans and the cast loved the little elf either way. CRACKED.COM

HAL 9000 from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’

Talking to HAL 9000 was slightly better than talking to a brick wall. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY In 2001: A Space Odyssey, astronaut David Bowman (Keir Dullea) had HAL's lines fed to him by various actors, since voice actor Douglas Rain was hired in post production. CRACKED.COM

Orangey the Cat from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’

Orangey the Cat had over a decade of acting experience before he was in Breakfast at Tiffany's. The cat was in demand for his ability to sit still. However one executive called him the world's meanest cat, known for attacking human costars. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

Hooch from ‘Turner & Hooch’

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO... Hooch TURNER & HOOCH CRACKED.COM Beasley the French Mastiff lived to the age of 14 --twice the average lifespan of the breed. Henry Winkler, who was originally slated to direct the film, once said he left the project because he got along better with Hooch than I did with Turner.

Willy from ‘Free Willy’

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO... Willy FREE WILLY CRACKED.COM Keiko the whale was rescued from a dumpy aquatic park when he was cast in the film. A prompt at the end of the film actually raised enough funds to free Keiko, and he was released back into the wild. But he never quite got the hang of socializing with other whales, so he didn't exactly thrive in the last few years of his life.

Crystal from ‘American Pie’

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO... Blink-182's monkey AMERICAN PIE CRACKED.COM If you need a monkey in your film, Crystal is your girl. She's appeared in The Hangover Part II, as well as every Night at the Museum and Eddie Murphy Dr Dolittle.

Toto from ‘The Wizard of Oz’

The dog who played Toto in The Wizard of Oz earned $125 a week For comparision, the Munchkins were reportedly paid $50 a week. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

Pizza the Hutt from ‘Spaceballs’

Anthropomorphic food Pizza the Hutt from Spaceballs Admit it. Part of you is disgusted by the goopy nature of a mob boss made of pizza. The other part wants to just dive into his guts to indulge the little piggy within. CRACKED.COM

Gollum from ‘Lord of the Rings’

Gollum was sometimes the best and sometimes the worst. LORD OF THE RINGS At times, we never knew if Gollum was friend or foe, but at least actors in LOTR and The Hobbit got to act face to face with Andy Serkis instead of a tennis ball on a stick. CRACKED.COM

E.T. from ‘E.T.’

Elliott (Samuel Ludlow) and the world fell in love with 3 different actors and 3 mechanical puppets. E.T. SFX artist Carlo Rambaldi took 6 months and $1.5 million to create the puppets and a costume for a 12-year-old without legs, and a mime (voiced by 3 separate actors). CRACKED.COM

Chewbacca from ‘Star Wars’

Han and Chewie's chemistry helped build the world by humanizing a Wookiee. STAR WARS When Peter Mayhew passed away in 2019, Harrison Ford said, We were partners in film and friends in life for over 30 years, and I loved him. CRACKED.COM

Wilson from ‘Castaway’

Tom Hanks made us sad about a volleyball. CAST AWAY Wilson was technically Chuck Noland's blood relative, and Hanks was so convincing, we too started thinking of him as family. The ball actually sold at auction for $85k! CRACKED.COM

The Horses from ‘The Lord of the Rings’

Viggo Mortensen loved the LOTR horses so much, he bought three of them. LORD OF THE RINGS Не said, It's like talking to a real actor. You always get a couple of actors who think too much of themselves. But these were all kind, gentle, loving people and I had the best time. CRACKED.COM

The Muppets from ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’

Michael Caine loves The Muppets THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL Не said, It's like talking to a real actor. You always get a couple of actors who think too much of themselves. But these were all kind, gentle, loving people and I had the best time. CRACKED.COM

C-3PO and R2-D2 from ‘Star Wars’

C-3PO R2-D2 STAR WARS CRACKED COM Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker had some major beef kind of like their characters, but without the chummy banter. Daniels (3PO) used to call Baker (R2) little man, and once said Baker was only credited as a good luck charm, claiming he was rarely on

Yoda from ‘Star Wars’

Yoda was partly based on Stuart Freeborn, the guy that brought him to life. Freeborn was a Hollywood makeup artist who had worked on the Star Wars franchise and had helped design Yoda, basing him on himself and Einstein. CRACKED.COM

Slate

The Gremlins from ‘Gremlins’

Warner Bros. wanted FEWER GREMLINS CRAGA in Gremlins. Luckily, Steven Spielberg's sarcastic response: Well, we could cut all the Gremlins out and cal

Gizmo from ‘Gremlins’

Gizmo from Gremlins is adorably sweet. In the original script, he was also evil. The first draft of Gremlins was considerably darker than the final mo

Carnivorous Aliens from the Proposed ‘E.T.’ Sequel

E.T. Spielberg is sitting on a script for E.T. Il: NOCTURNAL FEARS, about E.T. saving Elliott from a spaceship full of carnivorous aliens. But he sa

Spa’am in ‘Muppet Treasure Island’

The creators of Spam sued Jim Henson Productions for using the name Spa'am. CRACKED.COM The judge dismissed the suit for failure to prove damages from the pig character in Muppet Treasure Island, noting, one might think Hormel would welcome the association with a genuine source of pork.

NY Times

The Dracula Musical Puppets in ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’

THE DRACULA MUSICAL PUPPETS were made by JIM HENSON'S CREATURE SHOP. The puppeteers also helped train Bill Hader and the cast on how to work the puppets. BEHIND THE SCENES | FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL CRACKED.COM

Source

Audrey II in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’

CRACKED.COM LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS SIX PUPPETS OF AUDREY II WERE MADE. Six different animatronic puppets were used to show the growth of the mean green mother from outer space. The smallest Audrey II was four inches tall, and the largest was 12 feet tall.

Source

The Pale Man in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’

32 Facts About Your Favorite Non-Human Movie Characters

The Raptors in ‘Jurassic Park’

The raptors in Jurassic Park weren't CGI. Those were men in costumes. John Rosengrant was the main raptor Suit performer. To make his movements convin

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