Spaceballs: The DVD Liner Notes
The Spaceballs DVD has a wealth of information in its liner notes booklet. Here it is.
May the Farce be with you
Produced and directed by Mel Brooks, from a screenplay written by Brooks, Thomas Meehan and Ronny Graham. Spaceballs sets its comedy sights on a really BIG target: space! 'What's bigger than space,' demands Brooks. 'Ask anyone - George Lucas, Carl Sagan, Mr. Spock - they'll tell you the same thing. Space is bigger than all outdoors!'
And from Star Wars to Star Trek, Spaceballs lampoons some of Hollywood's biggest space films. 'You only spoof the thing you love,' laughs Brooks. 'There's no fun [in] ribbing a bad movie. It's too easy. You have to have a target you respect, one that's big enough to stand up to parody.' Armed with that philosophy, the filmmakers have boldly gone where many men have gone before: to space, to epic battles, to the struggle between really nice and really, really rotten!
Suffering from too much Gilt!
Spaceballs' writer-producer-director Brooks all appears in front of the camera, as both the wisened Yogurt and the nefarious President Skroob. Although Brooks enjoyed Skroob's walk on the 'dark side,' he insists that the character of Yogurt 'towers over other roles I've played!' But portraying the diminutive sage of the 'Schwartz' nearly brought Brooks to his knees. The fatigue of working from an uncomfortable crouch with a serious allergy to the golden make-up made it necessary to film Yogurt's scenes completely out of sequence, with several days of other shooting planned between each scene featuring the 'cultured' creature.
Helmet Size Does Matter
The star of such films as Honey I Shrunk the Kids and The Flintstones, Rick Moranis brings his signature zaniness to the role of Dark Helmet, who he describes as a 'nasty, petulant pipsqueak!' From face-planting at 'ludicrous speed' to playing with his Princess Vespa doll, the actor showcases his many comedic talents and....his big helmet. 'This was the first time,' says Brooks. ' I directed a helmet with legs!' But Moranis, not to be outdone, counters; 'Even though I swiped some of Mel's best scenes, I didn't let it go to my helmet'
Candy goes to the Dogs
Half man, half dog, John Candy's Barf is his own best friend. The talented comic, who has performed in such films as Home Alone and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, boned up on his role by studying a lot of pups. Inspired by canine stars like Toto and Lassie, as well as his own yellow Labrador, Kemma, and Brooks' bull terrier, Pongo. Candy finally chose to base his character on a bearded Collie named Bosco. 'Altogether, it was a lot of fun,' deadpans Candy, ' I had my own leash. The catering truck served Ken-L-Rations. And between takes, they let me run in the park.'
Silence is Golden
Joan Rivers provides the voice of Dot Matrix, but the actress inside the golden metallic Yenta is the world-famous mime Lorene Yarnell. To be costumed for the part, the gifted silent performer reported to the set each day an hour before the rest of the cast. 'When I was given an afternoon off,' she jokes, ' I was afraid that, perhaps I'd been recalled to the factory.'
Yogurt in the Land of Oz
Designed to look like a cross between the Temple of Doom and Temple Beth Isreal. Yogurt's chamber was actually built on the same sound stage where, 50 years earlier, Dorothy and friends set off to meet the Wizard of Oz. However, according to Brooks, 'any similarity to any other film about four characters, human and otherwise, on a fantastic journey to meet a sweet, wonderful wise man, is purely coincidental.'
Costume is a Dog-gone Masterpiece
Candy's canine costume is a masterpiece of technical achievement. The furry suit was fitted with a push-button tail-wagging device operated by Candy, as well as radio-controlled ears that swiviled, flapped, stood at attention (and covered Barf's eyes during moments of anxiety). They were controlled by two separate technicians - one for each ear. The power was supplied by a thirty-pound battery worn by the actor.
Yogurt for Desert?
To shoot the scenes for the desert moon of Vega, the filmmaker took the cast and crew to the California desert, just across the border from Yuma, Arizona. Extras were enlisted from the local Marine base to serve as Dark Helmet's Imperious Forces. To avoid the summer heat, shooting was scheduled for mid-October. Unfortunately, at the very moment the cast and crew began trudging through the sand dunes of Yuma, the desert was struck by a heat wave. 'I have a specific question,' said the sweltering Brooks,' At what temperature does Yogurt melt?'
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