Far Out Facts About Howard the DuckThe first Marvel character to ever star in a feature length film wasnt Thor or Spider Man, but a jaded, cigar loving space duck named Howard. Who would think to put such a weird character onto the silver screen None other than sci fi visionary George Lucas. Your daily source of hunting and fishing content thats smart, funny, engaging and as outdoorobsessed as you are. Released in 1. 98. Howard the Duck was roasted by critics and, domestically, didnt even make half of its budget back. Since then, though, B movie fans have flocked to the picture, and turned it into a genuine cult classic. JOHN LANDIS COULDVE DIRECTED IT. Howard the Duck began life as a surrealist comic book. Conceived by Marvel writer Steve Gerber, Howard made his debut in a 1. Adventure into Fear seriesand he came with a wild back story Born in another dimension, the anthropomorphic bird ended up getting stranded on Earth, where he didnt exactly blend in. Michael Barrier Exploring the World of Animated Films and Comic Art. Daisy Duck is an anthropomorphic duck created by Walt Disney. She is the girlfriend of Donald. NEWS/OPEN%20ROAD%201.png' alt='Order Duck Duck Goose Movie' title='Order Duck Duck Goose Movie' />Throughout the 1. George Lucas, who decided to produce a movie about him. Originally, Lucas wanted his friend John Landis in the directors chair. A great comedic filmmaker, Landis had helmed Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, and Trading Places, but Landis turned down this particular project. My greatest regret in my career is that John Landis was unable to direct Howard the Duck, Lucas later said. I feel the movie would have been far more successful and saved me the years of hardship following its release. GEORGE LUCAS WANTED THE FILM TO BE ANIMATED. After Landis said no, Willard Huyckwho co wrote the script with his wife, Gloria Katzwas tapped as the films director. Production began in the mid 1. At first, Lucas and his screenwriters envisioned Howard the Duck as an animated movie. However, Universal Studios had other ideas. We really wanted to animate it, Katz said on the DVDs making of documentary, but Universal needed a picture for the summer of 1. Animation is, of course, a lengthy process and a hand drawn film couldnt have been made that quickly. So, George said, Well, we can build a duck. We can do it with the technology that we have, Katz recalled. MARTIN SHORT AND ROBIN WILLIAMS AUDITIONED FOR THE VOICE OF HOWARD. John Cusack also tried out. Ultimately though, it was Broadway star Chip Zien an original Into the Woods cast member who delivered Howards lines. LEA THOMPSON TOOK GUITAR LESSONS DURING PRODUCTION. Both the movie and the comics gave Howard a human girlfriend. In the former, his non avian love interest was played by Back to the Futures Lea Thompson. Noah`S Ark Ipod Movie. Since her character, Beverly, leads a rock band, the actress had to brush up on her musical skills. I had to learn how to play guitar, she told Decider. We shot the movie for six months and I never had a day off. I was always rehearsing, or recording, or doing something. I was so exhausted by the end. TIM ROBBINS THOUGHT THEY GOT THE DUCK ALL WRONG. Its worth noting that Howard the Duck marked one of the earliest film appearances by future Oscar winner Tim Robbins. Earlier this year, when asked if he looked back on the project with any fondness, Robbins replied, Well, I look back at it and I realize that one of the things I think about was, at the time, I got this big job that was paying a really decent salary and it was for George Lucas, who had just come off three Star Wars films. So it was a huge deal at the time. And then it wound up going over its shooting schedule and I wound up getting paid twice for that movie because of all the overtime. So I think more about that than about the quality of the movie. Laughs. I think more about that allowing me the opportunity to do a movie like Five Corners and to produce great plays with The Actors Gang, because of the money I was able to take in on that movie. But Robbins also contended that the movie could have been betterif the duck had been better. I think one of the things that we realized at the time wasat least I did from the very first daywas that the duck was kind of miscast, he said. We got the wrong duck to be in the movie. And I dont mean the people that were inside the suit, I mean kind of the design and concept of who the character was. In the comic book it was this cigar chomping, rude, skirt chasing duck, and it got kind of cute ified in the movie and when I saw that on the set. I was worried. I was worried at the start. THE HOWARD SUIT WAS INCREDIBLY COMPLEX. Unlike most high tech creature suits that had been built in the past, all of Howards wires, motors, and batteries were fully contained within his body. A four puppeteer team was in charge of regulating facial expressions via remote control. Apparently, their individual jobs were quite specific. One person was only concerned about the eyes somebody would be doing the mouth and so forth, Huyck explained. It was a nightmare of coordination. THE DARK OVERLORD MONSTER WAS CREATED BY JURASSIC PARKS DINOSAUR SUPERVISOR. An accomplished stop motion artist, Phil Tippett designed, constructed, and animated the grotesque final form of Howard the Ducks main villain. To see his beast in action, check out the clip above from the films climax. Tippett also provided stop motion monsters for the original Robo. Cop and Return of the Jedi. Years later, he played a huge role in bringing Jurassic Parks massive digital creatures to life. Watch the end credits and youll see that Tippett is listed as a Dinosaur Supervisormuch to the Internets amusement. UNIVERSAL SET UP A HOWARD THE DUCK HOTLINE. In 1. 98. 6, you couldve called 1 9. DUCK and heard Zien promote the movie in character as Howard. Several pre recorded messages were mademost of which involved rather terse conversations between the web footed lead and his human co stars. Sadly, that hotline no longer works we checked, but the recordings have found their way to You. Tube. 9. THE FILM LANDED ONE ACTOR A ROLE IN SPACEBALLS. Chip Zien was the voice of Howard, but who was in the duck suit Most of the time, it was actor Ed Gale. Initially hired as a stunt double, Gale was later asked to take over the role in almost every scene. On set, he became well acquainted with first assistant director Dan Kolsrud. After Howard waddled into theaters, the two reunited at a social function. There, Kolsrud introduced Gale to another associate of his Spaceballs director Mel Brooks. On a DVD bonus feature, Gale says that Mel was looking at him and looking at me and asked Howd you two meet When Kolsrud answered Brooks, the funnyman stood up and said Anybody who was in Howard the Duck can be in my movie. Just like that, Gale was cast as one of the Dinks in Spaceballs. AFTER THE MOVIE TANKED, THERE WAS A SHAKE UP AT UNIVERSAL. Howard the Duck grossed 1. U. S. against a 3. Wave after wave of bad reviews certainly didnt help. Critics widely panned the movie, which went on to make Siskel Eberts Worst of 1. Then came Howard the Ducks four Razzie Award wins, including a tie with Princes Under the Cherry Moon for Worst Picture. Needless to say, Universal wasnt happy. Following Howard the Ducks release, Frank Pricewho chaired the studio motion picture groupresigned. When Variety covered this story, they ran the immortal headline Duck Cooks Prices Goose. IF HOWARD THE DUCK HAD BEEN A HIT, PIXAR MIGHT NOT EXIST. For George Lucas, the utter failure of Howard the Duck couldnt have come at a worse time. In 1. 98. 6, he was still reeling from an expensive divorce and had plunged deeply into debt by building Skywalker Ranch, a scenic retreat with a 5. Hed hoped that profits from Howard the Duck would improve his financial situation. Instead, its horrible box office performance forced Lucas to sell off some assets. At the time, he owned an up and coming computer animation division. With the aid of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, several employees in that department created a spinout corporationtogether, they paid Lucas 1. Nowadays, we know the resultant company as Pixar Animation Studios.