0:00

At Kroger, we know the minute a tomato

0:02

is picked off the vine, the fresh timer starts.

0:05

The sooner we get our produce to you, the fresher it is.

0:07

That's why we've completely overhauled our process

0:10

to shorten the time from harvest to

0:12

home for our tomatoes, strawberries,

0:14

and salads. Because we know how much you love

0:17

fresh produce, we give you more time

0:19

to enjoy your tasty fruits and veggies at

0:21

home. So whether you're shopping in-store, picking

0:23

up, or prefer delivery, we're committed

0:25

to bringing you the freshest produce possible.

0:28

Kroger. Fresh for Everyone.

0:34

Ladies and gentlemen, please take your

0:37

seats. Our show is about to begin.

0:40

Even though E.T. contains a fantasy

0:43

premise driven by filmmaking wizardry

0:45

and groundbreaking visual effects, its

0:48

opulent orchestral film score

0:50

succeeds because of the story's

0:52

emotional honesty.

0:55

This is The Soundtrack Show.

1:28

So,

1:31

we could have a little kind of windy thing before the

1:33

cut which would lead the cut. Well, that's why E.T.

1:35

turns... When John Williams saw

1:38

E.T., you know, he was really happy with the film.

1:41

And I can tell when John's happy with the film because we don't

1:43

have a lot of musical discussions. You

1:45

know, he already has themes running through his mind.

1:48

Just so you know, we added a lot of stars at the beginning of the

1:50

movie before the camera pans down

1:52

to the forest. I remember that I left

1:55

him alone and one day he called me and said,

1:57

I want to play you some of the stuff on the piano.

2:01

Welcome

2:01

back to The Soundtrack Show. I'm your host David

2:03

W. Collins and this is our second look

2:05

and listen to the score for E.T.

2:08

the Extra Terrestrial. A film from 1982

2:11

by Universal Pictures written by

2:13

Melissa Matheson directed and

2:15

conceived by Steven Spielberg with

2:18

a film score by John Williams. In

2:21

the last episode, we looked at E.T.

2:23

as a whole from the top down, its

2:25

conception, its execution, and

2:28

its emotional resonance. But

2:30

from here on

2:31

out, we're going to start in on the finer

2:33

details of this movie classic and by

2:35

doing so, we'll discover just

2:37

why E.T. as a whole is

2:40

greater than merely the sum of its parts,

2:42

score included. We'll take

2:45

it from the top of the movie and

2:47

work our way through the musical and

2:49

emotional magic. But first,

2:52

a couple of things that I want us to keep fresh in

2:54

our minds. In the last episode,

2:57

I gave four reasons why I believe

2:59

E.T. is such a classic film containing

3:01

one of the greatest film scores of all time.

3:04

Reason one is that it is very

3:06

cinematic. We'll explore that right

3:08

at the very beginning.

3:10

I also gave a second reason.

3:12

This movie is deeply personal.

3:14

We'll discover that very early on in the movie

3:16

as well.

3:18

Reason three is that the movie has

3:20

a very music-forward director at the

3:22

helm, which we will also continue

3:24

to discuss. Reason four

3:27

is intertextuality.

3:29

Oh, are we going to get some great examples of that? But

3:32

I'd like to add a fifth reason to

3:34

this discussion. And here it is. Reason

3:37

five for why E.T. is such a classic.

3:40

Flawless execution.

3:43

To explain what I mean by this, I think it's

3:45

very important for all of us as fans of this

3:47

or any other movie to know that when

3:50

a movie is this good, it's

3:52

because so many

3:54

things have gone right, which is tough.

3:57

I mean, think about it. Oftentimes, when just a movie is this

3:59

bad, it's just this bad. Just one thing falls down, it

4:01

can really affect the overall quality of the movie,

4:03

but everything seems to have gone right

4:06

with ET. The script, the

4:08

art direction, the costumes, the lighting,

4:11

successful shoot day after successful shoot

4:13

day, which by the way, things always go

4:15

sideways while you're shooting, but they were able to make their

4:17

days and capture magic. And then there's

4:19

everything that happens in post-production, the

4:21

picture editing, the visual effects, the

4:24

sound design, and of course,

4:25

the music.

4:27

With ET, everything was firing

4:29

on all cylinders,

4:30

including what I think absolutely

4:32

makes the movie,

4:34

the casting. This movie

4:36

includes jaw-dropping, remarkable

4:39

performances from a lead cast

4:42

of children.

4:43

I think it's important to acknowledge this, even

4:46

in a show about the film's music, because truly

4:48

ET features what

4:50

may be the greatest performances from

4:52

child actors ever captured on

4:55

Celluloid.

4:56

Drew Barrymore, Robert McNaughton,

4:59

and in particular, Henry Thomas

5:02

as Elliot deliver performances

5:04

that, and I'm really taking nothing away from

5:06

the Goonies or Stand By Me here, that

5:08

have such a huge emotional

5:11

range that they have to deliver for performers

5:14

that young.

5:15

You know, it occurs to me that this is why

5:18

the music hits us so hard. To

5:20

explain, I want to illustrate this point with one of

5:22

my favorite pieces of film music, which happens to

5:24

be from The Empire Strikes Back. Yoda's

5:27

theme,

5:27

which conveniently enough we're going to talk about with

5:29

ET,

5:30

but Yoda's theme is one of the most lyrical

5:33

and gorgeous pieces of symphonic music

5:36

I've ever heard for the silver screen.

5:49

And yet, Yoda's theme doesn't

5:52

bring me to the verge of tears every

5:55

single time the way ET does.

5:58

Well, why is that? especially

6:00

considering the musical similarities to the flying

6:03

theme in E.T. to Yoda's theme, which we'll

6:05

discuss in a bit. I would argue

6:07

that it's because of the following. In

6:10

spite of an out-of-this-world

6:12

story premise, in spite

6:14

of cutting-edge visuals and

6:17

lush orchestral music, the

6:19

flawless execution of E.T.

6:22

is rooted in total emotional

6:25

honesty.

6:27

There's not one second of this movie where

6:29

I don't believe those kids when they're on screen.

6:32

It feels so real.

6:34

Their performances are a slice of childhood

6:37

just seemingly captured, like a documentary. And

6:40

it's filled with difficult emotion

6:42

that seems to barely break the surface. They're

6:45

always keeping it under wraps as the

6:47

family copes with separation and divorce.

6:50

But it's the arrival of E.T. and in lockstep

6:52

with that arrival, the film score by

6:55

John Williams that continually breaks

6:57

that emotional surface. E.T.

7:00

and the film score is when our characters get

7:02

real. And in this way,

7:05

the music serves as a much needed

7:07

emotional release

7:09

driven by youthful performances that make our hearts

7:11

swell to the point of bursting. We

7:15

will hear as we go through E.T. not only

7:17

how the music is used brilliantly to tell the film

7:19

story,

7:20

but also how in this film in particular,

7:23

that effect is emotionally amplified

7:26

by its flawless execution.

7:29

We're going to start at the beginning and move forward

7:31

through the story to hear it unfold. My

7:34

hope is that in this way, we

7:36

will achieve a better understanding of not only how

7:38

this score is structured, but

7:40

exactly why it brings us to

7:42

tears every single

7:45

time. And now for a brief intermission.

7:49

National Geographic presents. What

7:51

I'm asking you to do is dangerous. You

7:53

need to take your time to think it through. No,

7:56

I don't. What do I do? You can't

7:59

save everyone. Look, if I don't try,

8:01

I don't think I'll be able to live with myself. What

8:03

are we supposed to do? Some stood by.

8:06

Anything. You have to. She stood

8:08

up. There has to be a line. Belle Paoli

8:10

is me, Geeze. There has to be me

8:12

for this to work. A Small Light,

8:14

Limited Series premieres Monday, May 1st at 9.

8:17

Stream on Hulu and Disney+.

8:20

We return now to The Soundtrack

8:23

Show.

8:26

And we eventually get into this key with

8:28

this one. I loved it.

8:38

It was great. And I could not wait for the scoring

8:40

session. I could not wait for the day he scored. ET

8:43

opens on a silent MCA Universal

8:45

logo, and all fades to black. As

8:48

the opening title appears, we hear

8:51

an eerie, bowed gong, immediately

8:54

setting a mysterious mood

8:57

as the credits slowly fade in and out

8:59

on screen. A mysterious,

9:01

even ominous beginning to our story.

9:05

Then, as we covered in the last episode,

9:07

a sky full of stars as

9:09

we hear the call theme on solo flute

9:12

twice. As we

9:14

discover the spaceship

9:15

in the forest, the orchestra

9:18

moves

9:18

in octaves through minor intervals,

9:21

giving us a dread-inspiring, almost

9:23

gothic horror vibe. This

9:34

is a first statement of what Mike Mattassino

9:36

calls the alien creature theme,

9:38

which will show up again later in the film.

9:42

The eerie

9:43

sounds of movement and critters through

9:45

the forest reinforce this mysterious

9:47

alien

9:48

feeling. And

9:51

then, we see and hear little

9:53

creatures in silhouette. As

9:57

we go into the spaceship's interior, The

10:00

orchestra's strings drip with a

10:02

portamento, or slide, to

10:04

give us an eerie alien vibe.

10:09

And owl hoots, and everything

10:12

stops. Their

10:13

hearts light up in red, which

10:16

is how they seem to communicate with each other, almost

10:19

signaling that they'll soon need to depart. We

10:22

then cut to a lone alien examining

10:24

what looks like a baby tree with

10:27

great care. This one

10:29

lone extraterrestrial wanders through

10:31

giant redwoods by himself.

10:42

The

10:42

orchestra gives us their towering

10:44

majestic grandeur.

10:48

As the alien makes its way to a vista,

10:50

where he sees,

10:52

well, us, suburbia.

10:58

The music up to this point has been mysterious,

11:01

but also somewhat enchanting, even

11:03

religious in a way. But here,

11:06

the mood is broken, as giant,

11:09

chevy ORVs come roaring into frame

11:11

with their headlights.

11:15

They are like frightening monsters, and

11:18

the sound effects editors even cut in the sounds

11:20

of animal growls as the vehicles pull

11:22

up to reinforce this.

11:27

This is where we are seemingly introduced

11:29

to our stories villain, who is credited

11:32

as being named Keys.

11:34

Why?

11:35

Because throughout most of the film, he is

11:37

only shot from the chest down, as

11:40

most adults other than the mom are, and

11:42

he is given a signature look and

11:44

sound, based on the jingling key

11:46

ring at his waist.

11:48

And more importantly to our discussion,

11:50

we are given a villainous theme, first

11:53

on contrabassoon,

11:54

which we'll call the Keys theme.

11:57

And it goes like this.

12:19

What's so interesting here is that it

12:21

starts with a rhythmic pattern that goes

12:23

like this.

12:25

Huh. Well

12:27

in the last episode we talked a lot about intertextuality,

12:31

and this is, I think, a wonderful

12:33

example.

12:34

While Williams may or may not be conscious

12:36

of any of what I'm about to say, though I would argue

12:39

he most likely was, this

12:40

rhythmic pattern, bum-ba-dum-bum-bum-bum,

12:43

and much of the melodic content of this theme

12:45

that we're about to hear,

12:47

does reference some of his bigger film

12:49

scores from recent years, leading up

12:51

to E.T. This, to

12:53

my ear anyway, bum-ba-dum-bum-bum-bum,

12:56

is the same rhythmic pattern, only a bit slower,

12:58

as found in Williams' theme from Superman

13:01

just three years prior. Bum-ba-dum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum.

13:24

A familiar rhythmic signature for Williams.

13:26

What it means for this story? Well,

13:29

probably not much, except that it's familiar

13:31

to us. But taken with the melodic

13:34

intervals, we are able

13:36

to quickly understand what he's going for here.

13:39

After this melodic pattern, dum-da-dum-bum-bum-bum-bum,

13:41

played on

13:43

the main tonic note, or

13:47

the one, it jumps up

13:49

a fifth. That's

13:52

right, just like the call theme. And

13:57

just like the flying theme. Or

14:01

Star Wars. Or 2001. Or 2001.

14:08

This melody, as we stated about

14:10

almost all of the thematic melodies in this movie,

14:13

starts with a familiar fifth. Only

14:17

this time, as it goes down, it

14:19

lands on the minor third. Then

14:25

the leading tone, which is a half step below

14:27

the I or the tonic. Then

14:30

a flat six.

14:33

Then it jumps up a fifth interval again from the

14:35

flat six up to the minor third.

14:39

Depending on what happens next, sometimes it goes down

14:41

to here, sometimes it goes up to here. But

14:43

this is really, really interesting.

14:46

Huh. Hmm. I

14:48

wonder what other bad guy theme in recent

14:50

years had such similar harmonic and

14:52

melodic content. Hmm.

15:03

Basically, what we have here is a one

15:05

minor chord and

15:08

then a flat sixth minor chord.

15:14

Just like the Imperial March from The Empire

15:17

Strikes Back. What

15:23

kind of effect does this have on us? The

15:25

audience? Well, if the bright

15:28

headlights, the exhaust pipes, the scary men in

15:30

flashlights stomping through puddles and other visual and sound

15:32

effects cues didn't do it for us,

15:34

this music will certainly solidify

15:36

in our minds very quickly that

15:38

these are the villains, the bad guys.

15:41

It's an intertextual Williams trope at this

15:44

point. After Star Wars, Superman,

15:47

Empire Strikes Back, etc. We

15:49

know immediately what Spielberg and

15:51

Williams are trying to tell us here. Again,

15:54

this opening is a shadow play,

15:56

a sequence using cinematic techniques,

15:59

no dialogue.

17:59

than we are watching a Spielberg movie in 1982. I

18:03

mean, don't get me wrong, the almost wordless

18:05

opening of Raiders, the suspense of Close

18:07

Encounters opening in the desert, the opening

18:09

of Jaws even, match what he's doing here in terms

18:12

of overall pacing and story structure. But

18:14

this is next level fantasy

18:16

storytelling, as we're barely even

18:18

looking at characters. It's a story

18:21

told almost entirely with light and shadows

18:23

and music. Holy

18:26

unfamiliar with only the music

18:28

as an anchor to inform us how to

18:30

feel. Very cinematic.

18:34

What follows next is a wonderful contrast.

18:38

We as an audience are dropped right into

18:40

real life, something that even the movie

18:42

will call it later in the script. We

18:45

go into the interior of a 1980s house where

18:48

we see some teenagers playing Dungeons and Dragons

18:50

at a kitchen table. I'm just trying to

18:53

help y'all, man. Don't be so cranky. How'd that

18:55

fell over the pizza, man? Where did

18:57

that pizza, man? Oh,

18:59

I'm ready

18:59

to play. I'm

19:02

ready to play now, you guys. We're in the middle,

19:04

Elliot. Can't you join any universe

19:06

in the middle? A nice detail that writer

19:08

Melissa Matheson picked up by spending time with

19:10

Harrison Ford's son, Willard.

19:12

While the older kids are playing, a younger

19:14

sibling is trying to get in on the game,

19:16

and the mom is next to them doing the dishes.

19:18

No sign of a dad or a domestic

19:21

partner anywhere, just the single parent. And

19:23

notice that throughout the scene,

19:25

other than a distant radio in the background, there's

19:28

no John Williams music.

19:30

What we are immediately given with this contrast

19:33

is a musical association with

19:36

something other than our reality.

19:38

We're subtly setting up a rule here at the top

19:40

of the film,

19:42

the fantastic versus the suburban

19:44

reality. As we've discussed

19:46

in previous episodes of the soundtrack show, it's

19:48

just as important to notice where the music does

19:51

not play

19:52

as it is to discuss where it does.

19:54

Interesting to note how its absence here

19:57

adds credibility to this slice of 1980s

19:59

love.

19:59

life. It feels real.

20:03

As Elliot goes to get the pizza delivery from the driveway,

20:06

he hears a noise off-screen. Harvey! A

20:11

distant Papa Umau Mau on the radio

20:13

plays against any suspense-horror vibes

20:15

here that might creep in too strongly. It

20:17

keeps the scene light.

20:23

Besides, we already have a hunch

20:25

about what may happen here, and we

20:28

delight in watching how it unfolds.

20:31

Still, we feel some of Elliot's fears.

20:33

The distant radio fades and gives away to chirping

20:36

crickets. He's alone with who

20:38

knows what in the yard late at night. As

20:41

he throws the ball into an eerily lit shed,

20:44

there's no music. No suspense,

20:46

no anything. And an opportunity

20:49

for music when the ball inexplicably comes back

20:51

to him is also avoided. No

20:53

music is Elliot scared runs back into

20:56

the house to tell everyone what just happened.

20:58

And of course he warns them all, do not go outside.

21:00

And they of course do the exact opposite and descend

21:03

upon the yard. Stop

21:06

now! You guys stay right here! You

21:08

stay here long! We'll check it out! As

21:10

they do, we get a nice intertextual

21:12

nod to The Twilight Zone,

21:14

a

21:18

TV series that ran for five seasons from 1959

21:21

to 1964 and was in heavy syndication

21:23

on television by the early 80s.

21:26

By having the older, cynical boys jokingly

21:28

hum this theme as they go searching for Elliot's most

21:31

likely imagined boogeyman in the backyard,

21:33

we are further getting a sense that

21:35

this is a familiar reality.

21:38

Certainly nothing like what you would see on TV.

21:40

Such imagination is openly

21:42

mocked here. Even as we

21:45

the audience know that it just happened up

21:47

in the redwoods not too far away, mere

21:49

minutes before. The

21:51

search is a bust, the kids all go back

21:53

inside, and Elliot is not taken

21:55

seriously. But as they leave,

21:57

we see E.T.'s hands, and he-

22:00

hear his frightened breathing coming out of the shed.

22:03

Again, no music. Later

22:07

that night, a mundane ticking clock inside

22:09

keeps us in our suburban reality. But

22:12

again, Elliot hears noises coming from

22:14

outside. While there's no

22:16

thematic material here, we do hear more

22:19

of that bowed gong as creepy underscore,

22:22

almost adding tonal sound design to this mysterious

22:25

sequence as Elliot searches

22:27

in the dark for the source of the noise.

22:30

When he finally does see E.T. and both

22:33

characters scream in fright, the

22:36

camera and the editing become incredibly stylized.

22:39

Yet there's still no music. We get

22:41

one, two, three, four, five

22:43

shots of Elliot screaming as he wheels from seeing

22:46

E.T. Then a reverse shot,

22:48

and then a final tracking shot away from Elliot

22:50

as E.T. runs away.

22:52

All of this with no music.

22:55

It's not until Elliot realizes what

22:57

just happened

22:58

and what he just saw

23:00

that the music does kick in.

23:03

The worlds are colliding. Fantasy

23:06

has now met with suburban reality.

23:17

We immediately cut to the next morning and

23:19

the cue that we're treated to is fascinating.

23:23

Since we don't really know Elliot yet or the

23:25

character's true intentions, we are given

23:27

a cue that almost hints at being the keys

23:30

theme as Elliot leaves home on

23:32

his bike, we assume to go out and

23:34

search for the creature. In

23:48

fact, not only does it sound a bit menacing like the keys

23:50

theme, but the visual of the bicycle mixed

23:52

with the cues orchestration to me reminds

23:55

me a bit of Almyra Gulch slash the Wicked

23:57

Witch, like at the beginning of the Wizard of Oz.

24:09

But I digress. Is

24:11

Eliot after E.T. here?

24:13

What does he want with him? What are his intentions?

24:16

Is he like keys? Is he

24:18

a future version of keys? What's

24:21

interesting here is the ambiguity.

24:24

But it slowly melts away as we see him holding

24:26

a bag of candy and we hear, for the

24:28

first time,

24:29

a theme that Mike Mattassino calls

24:32

the suburbia theme.

24:58

Here's a Mattassino quote from the La La Land Records

25:00

release, quote,

25:02

This cue accompanies Eliot's search for

25:04

the strange creature glimpsed in his backyard

25:06

the previous evening.

25:07

Williams utilizes a variation of

25:09

the keys theme in an upper register,

25:12

portraying Eliot like a 10-year-old soldier

25:14

heading off to battle on his bicycle. It's

25:17

as if he's a younger version of keys.

25:19

A link later reinforced when the lead investigator

25:22

tells the boy, he came to me too.

25:24

I've been wishing for this since I was 10 years old.

25:27

As Eliot sprinkles Reese's Pieces around

25:30

the forest clearing, his whistling mingling

25:32

with that of the birds,

25:34

Williams introduces a melody that might be

25:36

identified as a suburbia or

25:38

perhaps a bicycle theme,

25:40

as it's used when wheels remain on terra

25:42

firma.

25:44

It projects a feeling of everyday life,

25:46

with upward leaps capturing every person's

25:49

desire to grow, change, or move

25:51

on to bigger things. Yet it's

25:53

never too far from the keys theme,

25:56

which overlays the new theme's first statements.

25:59

Keys theme

25:59

again on contrabassoon is heard as Elliott

26:02

spots the investigator nearby With

26:05

the bicycle theme returning as the boy

26:07

paddles away end quote

26:19

And by the way after the first dip

26:22

down a half-step this theme also

26:24

features an interval up a perfect fifth

26:31

There

26:31

it is again,

26:32

that's now four themes by my count that

26:34

begin with a perfect fifth in ET

26:37

Also, I love the descending nature

26:39

of this piece yet the interval

26:41

leaps keep going up. So it's kind of got this

26:44

Opposite motion

26:45

it's sinking down yet pushing up even higher

26:50

Lydian there, but then it drops

26:52

to here but then makes

26:54

a huge Huge

26:56

leap right there the desire

26:58

for flight while being stuck on the ground

27:01

When

27:01

we return to the home interior at dinner

27:03

that night

27:04

The mood is tense. It's

27:06

not that we don't believe you honey It's

27:11

clear that Elliott has tried to tell his family

27:13

about what he saw and

27:14

that didn't go over very well and We

27:18

learn about what's really going on with this

27:20

family After Elliott

27:22

says this Maybe

27:30

you ought to call your father and tell him about it. I Can't

27:35

he's in Mexico with Sally.

27:36

Whoops Mom

27:39

didn't know that dad was in Mexico

27:41

with Sally

27:42

Every person in this family is

27:44

managing some kind of emotional pain

27:47

and dealing with it differently Gertie

27:49

is a bit young and is just kind of confused.

27:52

Where's Mexico? Elliott

27:54

feels totally isolated and alone

27:56

Notice we see all of Mike's friends in the movie,

27:58

but Elliott doesn't really have any clothes

27:59

friends. Well, not yet. And

28:03

Mike is playing the role of protector and

28:05

peacekeeper. A white knight for his mom.

28:07

I'm gonna kill you. And the mom? Mary?

28:10

What is she feeling? Absolute

28:13

heartbreak I imagine. It's not

28:15

enough. It's

28:20

Mexico. This whole exchange

28:22

is music-less and it's just awkward.

28:25

It just hurts. Forgive me

28:27

for indulging in a personal story, but

28:30

I wasn't much older than Elliot when my own

28:32

parents got divorced.

28:34

It was just me, my mom, and my

28:36

older brother, and I clearly remember

28:39

pedaling home on my bike from junior high

28:41

and looking up at my house with dread

28:43

before I took a deep breath and went through the front

28:45

door. I knew that by walking

28:48

in, especially during those dark first days

28:50

when the separation was new, I would

28:52

have to face what I'd been avoiding all day.

28:55

My own pain.

28:57

And the pain of my brother and mother.

29:00

So I relate to the cold reality of

29:02

Elliot's world here, as I'm sure many of you listeners

29:04

do as well.

29:06

When all the friends are gone and

29:08

all is quiet and it's just the three of

29:10

them. At the end of the scene,

29:13

after mom gets upset,

29:15

Elliot goes and starts washing his dinner plate

29:17

in the sink. The camera

29:19

moves to a POV outside the kitchen window

29:22

focused on Elliot and his steam

29:24

rises from the sink and surrounds him

29:27

like a hellish prison of his own pain. He

29:30

gazes up to the heavens and

29:32

Williams gives us the call from Elliot's

29:34

point of view for the first time.

29:38

We transition to Elliot keeping guard

29:40

late at night and we're treated to a new theme,

29:43

which is a collection of intervallic leaps that

29:45

feels somewhat mysterious, yet

29:47

also somewhat neutral.

29:55

And eerie music accompanies the

29:58

first meeting of E.T. and M.E.

32:00

present throughout much of the movie as

32:02

their friendship grows. Towards

32:05

the end of the scene, E.T. gets tired

32:07

as he's been on the run for a couple of days. As

32:10

he gets sleepy, Elliot

32:12

immediately gets sleepy. When

32:14

we see E.T.'s eyes start to shut,

32:17

the strings join the harp and they slide

32:19

down to a resolution like a gentle, rocking

32:22

lullaby.

32:33

This is the beginning of the pair's telepathic

32:36

connection. Elliot feels

32:38

what E.T. feels. But

32:40

more than that, I also

32:42

like to think that as Spielberg lingers on the

32:44

last shot of Elliot falling fast asleep in the recliner,

32:47

with E.T. looking at him peacefully, that

32:50

perhaps Elliot's quick slide into

32:52

a deep sleep is because of a deeper

32:54

inner peace.

32:56

He's no longer feeling alone, and

32:58

as he says later in the movie, he

33:01

came to me, he chose me.

33:03

Elliot feels

33:05

special, and maybe even feels

33:07

a little relief after

33:09

all of life's rejection.

33:13

Meanwhile, in the redwood forest nearby,

33:15

Keys and his crew continue to search for E.T. The

33:19

Keys theme plays again, underpinning

33:21

the danger that E.T. is in. But

33:24

what does Keys find? Reese's

33:26

Pieces candy. We see

33:28

a hand pick them up off of a giant leaf, and

33:31

we hear off-camera the sound of Keys

33:34

eating one himself.

33:36

The first sign, delivered by a sound

33:38

effect, that perhaps Keys isn't

33:40

so different from Elliot or E.T. after

33:43

all. Perhaps

33:46

this

33:46

is some foreshadowing of relatable

33:48

humanity in this mysterious figure that

33:50

we have yet to see. The

33:53

next morning, when E.T. and Elliot awake

33:56

and Elliot pretends to be sick so that he can

33:58

stay home, the friend... The friendship between

34:00

the boy and the extraterrestrial truly

34:03

begins to form. And as it

34:05

does, Williams starts

34:07

to give us hints at the theme that will eventually

34:09

see these two soaring across

34:12

the sky. The Soundtrack Show will

34:14

continue in a moment.

34:16

At Kroger, we know the minute a tomato

34:18

is picked off the vine, the fresh timer starts.

34:21

The sooner we get our produce to you, the fresher it

34:23

is. That's why we've completely overhauled

34:25

our process to shorten the time from harvest

34:28

to home for our tomatoes, strawberries,

34:31

and salads. Because we know how much you

34:33

love fresh produce, we give you more time

34:35

to enjoy your tasty fruits and veggies at

34:37

home. So whether you're shopping in-store, picking

34:39

up, or prefer delivery, we're committed

34:42

to bringing you the freshest produce possible. Kroger,

34:45

fresh for everyone.

34:47

We return now to The Soundtrack Show.

34:50

We're going to hear how intertextuality with

34:52

the 1980s and multiple pop culture

34:54

references really come into play.

34:57

As if Elliot has been just as affected by

34:59

Star Wars, Jaws, and other mega-hit

35:01

movies of the day as we have sitting in

35:03

the audience.

35:04

This hyper-awareness adds

35:07

even more credibility to the story

35:09

of E.T. As

35:10

if we in our real world are having

35:13

our fantasies

35:14

become real. Coke. See?

35:17

We drink it. It's

35:19

a drink. You

35:20

know, food. These

35:23

are toys. These are little men. This is

35:26

Greedo. And then

35:29

this is Hammerhead. Once

35:31

Mom leaves for work, Elliot

35:33

starts showing off his world to E.T. He

35:36

shows him his Star Wars toys, but

35:39

also in a not-so-subtle nod to Jaws,

35:42

shows him a shark head eating fish that

35:44

are swimming around a TIE fighter in

35:46

a little fishbowl. Look, fish.

35:50

The fish eat the fish food, and

35:53

the shark eats the

35:54

fish. But nobody

35:57

eats a shark. E.T. just

35:59

slowly takes the fish. in all of the childlike

36:01

human fantasies with patience

36:03

and a calm curiosity.

36:06

What's interesting here is that though the music

36:08

for this scene works beautifully, this

36:10

cue was actually written for a scene

36:13

much later in the film.

36:15

You can hear it, one for one,

36:17

when Eliot is saying goodbye to E.T.

36:19

after he is flatlined and is seemingly

36:21

gone.

36:41

Originally the music for this scene

36:44

sounded like this. It

36:50

starts with a mysterious ten note theme from

36:52

when Eliot was waiting for E.T. outside the night before,

36:55

as E.T. slowly walks forward

36:58

at Eliot's request,

36:59

but then goes into the friendship theme on

37:01

harp here.

37:11

With some trilling strings in anticipation

37:13

of how this meeting may or may not

37:15

go.

37:21

I've taken the liberty of trying to re-edit this music back

37:23

into the scene. Here is how the scene

37:26

may have sounded had they used this music

37:28

cue as originally intended. Do

37:39

you talk? You

37:46

know, talk? Be

37:50

human. Boy.

37:54

Eliot. Elliot.

38:13

Coke. See, we drink

38:16

it. It's a drink. These

38:21

are toys. These are little men. Screedo.

38:25

And then this is Hammerhead.

38:29

See, this is Walrus Man. And

38:32

then this is Snackletooth. And

38:35

this is little Christian.

38:38

See? And this

38:40

is Boba Fett. Look,

38:43

they can even have a horse. Look at this. Look,

38:51

fish. Fish eat the fish food. The

38:55

shark eats the fish. Nobody

38:59

eats a shark. See?

39:04

This is Pez. Candy. See, you

39:07

eat it. You put the candy

39:09

in here, and then when you

39:12

lift up the head, candy comes out, and

39:14

you can eat it. Want some? It

39:20

says a peanut. You eat it. You eat

39:22

it. But you can't eat this one.

39:25

Because this is fake. This

39:28

is money. We

39:30

put the money in the peanut. See?

39:35

See? This

39:38

is a car. This

39:41

is what we get around in. See?

39:45

It's not as heartwarming, not as quickly

39:47

trusting as the other cue.

39:49

Hey! Hey, wait a second! Who?

39:52

You don't need her. And

39:55

is actually still somewhat alien

39:57

with the portamento strings way up top. Perhaps

40:02

this is why Spielberg chose to replace

40:04

it with a cue from later in the film. And

40:07

it's hard to argue with the choice, as it

40:09

is such a beautiful classic scene

40:11

the way that we saw it. One

40:22

byproduct of this choice, however,

40:25

is that instead of hearing the call theme,

40:28

as it's originally written by Williams, we

40:30

get the flying theme earlier

40:32

in the film than Williams originally intended,

40:35

when E.T. puts a toy car in his mouth,

40:37

signaling that he's hungry. This is a car.

40:41

This is what we get around in. See? A

40:44

car. Hey! Hey, wait a second!

40:46

No! Don't eat her! Are

40:48

you hungry? I'm

40:51

hungry. As

41:00

we mentioned in the last episode, John

41:02

Williams' first intended hint at the flying

41:04

theme was meant to arrive when E.T.

41:06

levitates the toy balls in the air

41:09

for the kids,

41:10

so that he may show them the solar system and where he's

41:12

from.

41:13

So because he used this other piece,

41:15

we get introduced to the flying theme a bit

41:17

earlier than was intended.

41:19

But again,

41:20

hard to argue with the results due to such a technicality.

41:24

I mean, worrying about that is a bit of the tail wagging

41:26

the dog. And you know

41:28

what? In a way, it makes the cue feel familiar

41:31

when we hear it again later, which

41:33

has its own heartwarming or heartbreaking

41:36

effect. Eventually,

41:46

older brother Mike comes home from school

41:49

in his football pads. And here's one fun note.

41:51

He's singing, Accidents Will Happen, by Elvis

41:53

Costello.

42:07

And when he swears absolute power

42:10

to Elliot so that he can see his big secret,

42:12

Mike gives an intertextual impression

42:15

of another famous alien moments before

42:17

meeting E.T. This

42:19

moment, improvised by

42:21

actor Robert McNaughton at the suggestion

42:25

from Henry Thomas, got

42:28

a huge

42:39

laugh in the theater when I was a kid and it

42:41

started my friends and me on a journey to doing

42:43

the perfect Yoda impression on the playground.

42:46

It was so relatable to my

42:49

life as a child.

42:50

Again, these characters' understanding

42:53

of 80s pop culture, making E.T.'s

42:55

reveal to Mike feel that much more real

42:58

to us as the audience.

43:00

So later,

43:02

when that documentary-style reality

43:04

is broken with film score,

43:06

and Mike, Gertie and Elliot surround E.T.

43:08

in the closet after a hilarious screaming

43:10

match between Gertie and E.T., we

43:12

don't question it for a second when

43:15

Williams gives us lush, trilling strings,

43:17

arpeggios on Celeste like a child's

43:20

lullaby, with a harp playing a

43:22

very sentimental version of the friendship

43:24

theme, even when it goes soaring

43:26

on

43:26

clarinet. We

43:42

are fully along for the ride

43:44

here, and we're swept up in the

43:46

magic. And,

43:48

just like

43:48

the kids on screen going through a painful time

43:50

in their family life,

43:52

we want this friendship. We want

43:54

to believe. After

43:57

this scene, yet again, we cut to

43:59

the hills. side, and we get another

44:02

intertextual nod to Jaws, a

44:04

dolly zoom shot over suburbia,

44:06

like the one we see on Chief Brody when he sees

44:08

the shark attack on the beach, with a

44:10

camera lens jumping into frame just to complete

44:13

the gag.

44:21

All scored by

44:23

the keys theme. These

44:26

scientists are relentlessly chasing

44:28

E.T. day and night. And

44:30

they're upping their techniques in order

44:32

to find him.

44:34

The scene that follows that is one that

44:36

we played in our first E.T. episode, where

44:39

we hear the first intended outline

44:41

of the flying theme. E.T.

44:43

shows his telekinetic ability to the kids

44:46

for the first time and levitates the toy

44:48

balls and imitation of our solar system, but

44:50

this moment is interrupted by Elliot

44:53

screaming. He,

44:57

and E.T. along with him as he puts his hand on Elliot's

44:59

shoulder, is frightened. They are

45:01

aware that their pursuers are just outside

45:04

the house.

45:07

We hear the keys theme again. The

45:10

threat is getting closer. At

45:15

the end of the night, however, as E.T. is

45:17

teaching himself how to read and speak English,

45:20

he notices the dead flowers. E.T.

45:23

uses his telekinetic ability again to bring

45:26

the flowers back to life. This

45:32

foreshadowing closes the evening's events with

45:34

hope, and we hear both the flying

45:37

theme and the call theme. The

45:42

next day, Elliot has to go to school,

45:45

and E.T. stays home alone.

45:47

The results are interesting.

45:51

It's a long sequence with charming music where

45:53

E.T. gets drunk on beer that he finds

45:55

in the fridge, and therefore Elliot

45:57

gets drunk while he's at school.

45:59

But more importantly, E.T.

46:02

hatches a plan to use household

46:04

devices to build a crude, interplanetary

46:07

communicator so that he may finally

46:10

phone home.

46:12

As the children realize what E.T.'s

46:14

plan is,

46:15

after the shock of hearing him speak for the first time,

46:18

we hear the call theme. E.T.

46:20

Home Phone

46:26

They realize he

46:26

wants to call other extraterrestrials.

46:31

And when that thought lands with the kids,

46:34

we hear for the first time since the beginning of the movie

46:37

the alien motif. Followed

46:56

again by the call. A

47:08

few other things happened that night, too. We

47:14

realize, for one, that E.T.

47:16

may be getting sick. Mike

47:19

is the first one to notice. Oh,

47:23

Elliot. He

47:25

doesn't look too good anymore. Don't say

47:28

that. We're fine. What's

47:30

all this we stuff? You

47:33

say we all the time now. Really, Elliot? I think he

47:35

might be getting sick. Look, he's fine! Okay,

47:37

okay. Forget I mentioned

47:40

it. Grab that

47:42

fuzz buster.

47:43

And we realize as well that

47:45

Keys and his gang are on to the

47:48

fact that the Taylor children are sheltering

47:50

in extraterrestrial right there in

47:52

that house. It seems

47:54

suddenly that making this intergalactic

47:57

phone call is urgent as

47:59

one way or another.

48:00

They're running out of time,

48:02

so the children form a plan for Halloween

48:04

night.

48:05

Now you're going as a ghost, you promised.

48:08

I'm only pretending I'm going

48:10

as a cowgirl.

48:12

Okay, now you know the plan's by

48:14

heart, don't you? Meet you at

48:16

the lookout. At the lookout. I'm not

48:19

stupid, you know. And there's a lot for them to

48:21

navigate in order to get out of the house. E.T.

48:24

doubles for Gertie in a ghost costume, who

48:26

will then meet up with them up the hill with a bicycle.

48:29

But first, before any of that happens, we

48:32

get the most famous intertextual

48:34

reference of this entire movie.

48:37

As E.T. in his ghost costume

48:40

disguise goes out for Halloween night trick-or-treating

48:42

just before sunset, he sees

48:45

someone in a Yoda costume

48:47

and starts saying, Home, home, home.

48:51

And when he does, John Williams

48:54

playfully uses Yoda's musical

48:56

theme from The Empire Strikes Back

48:59

here.

48:59

Home, home, home,

49:03

home, home, home, home,

49:05

home, home, home, home.

49:07

I got a Yoda costume and didn't tell

49:09

George Lucas I was doing this, to dress someone

49:11

up as Yoda. And I just had this idea,

49:13

it would be really fun, that as E.T. walks

49:15

by, Yoda's going in the other direction.

49:18

But E.T. recognizes Yoda, because of

49:20

course, you know, the galaxy is a rather small

49:22

place among filmmakers. I hadn't seen

49:25

E.T. finished it when we finally finished it. It had a screen

49:27

up here for ILN. Well, Steve

49:29

had warned me that there was something special in it for

49:31

me. Suddenly, Yoda showed

49:33

up in the film. Everybody in the audience cheered, of course,

49:36

because it's an

49:37

ILN screen. But I really loved it. I mean, I

49:39

was amazed and flattered. It

49:42

was a very funny moment. I

49:45

remember George was sitting right next to me and when Yoda

49:47

came on the screen, George gave me a little

49:49

nudge with his arm. I guess it's his

49:52

way of saying that was cool. Now, what's amazing

49:54

about this is not only that E.T.

49:56

and Yoda draw similar comparisons. Both are small,

49:59

both are small.

49:59

with their puppets, but the Yoda theme

50:02

itself is actually very similar,

50:04

musically, to ET's flying

50:07

theme and the call theme.

50:09

Yoda's theme also opens

50:11

with a perfect fifth.

50:13

But instead of going up,

50:16

it goes down. But

50:20

just like the call theme and the flying

50:22

theme,

50:24

Yoda's theme also goes up a step

50:26

in a pseudo modulation to a new major

50:28

key. ["Et

50:34

And it even keeps the root of the original chord in

50:37

the bass, just like the call does.

50:48

Even though this is an intertextual nod to The

50:50

Empire Strikes Back, a movie that debuted

50:53

just two years prior to ET,

50:55

this music cue also serves as

50:57

yet another legitimate statement,

51:00

though

51:00

it's a Yoda-esque variation, of

51:02

the call and or flying theme,

51:04

and is kind of a preparation for

51:07

what's about to happen next.

51:09

And you know what it is.

51:11

The movie's first climactic emotional

51:13

spike

51:14

and one of the most famous scenes in movie

51:16

and movie music history.

51:19

When we meet Gertie up the hill with a bicycle,

51:22

we're still kind of hearing a variation on

51:24

Yoda,

51:25

as Elliot asks Mike and Gertie for help

51:27

to cover for him.

51:29

Be back one hour after sunset, no later. Try

51:32

as fast as I can, Mike. You

51:35

gotta cover me.

51:38

Well, come

51:41

on. This fades into those

51:43

dread-inspiring eighth notes. As

51:48

ET and Elliot pedal off into

51:51

the woods, right when the sun

51:53

is starting to go down, big

52:08

Now,

52:09

we all know what's coming.

52:12

But I just want to lay it all out for us.

52:14

Up to this point,

52:16

we've dealt with a broken home,

52:19

a lost alien,

52:20

and stress coming at us at every angle,

52:23

keeping E.T. a secret from mom, navigating

52:26

a telepathic connection while trying to go to school,

52:29

mounting continuous pressure from

52:31

a scary force that is hot in

52:33

pursuit,

52:34

a friend who potentially is going to get sick,

52:37

and the horrible fear of going

52:40

out alone at night,

52:41

the dangers that may be encountered,

52:43

and the ever-present feeling of being in deep

52:45

trouble even for doing what you know in your heart

52:47

is right.

52:49

But then, in spite of all

52:51

of that, in spite of the mounting

52:53

pressure, in spite of the weariness of navigating

52:56

extraordinary circumstances on top

52:58

of your difficult childhood realities, for

53:01

one glorious moment,

53:04

we are given this.

53:24

Unfiltered musical elation,

53:33

and

53:33

even an hour in, it takes us by

53:35

surprise, just like Elliot.

53:39

This is the highest of highs, and

53:41

we've earned it. earth,

54:00

we are left with our breath taken

54:02

away. As

54:05

E.T. and Elliott go about setting up their communicator,

54:08

we as the audience get the feeling that

54:10

the emotion that this movie is going to evoke

54:12

in us has just begun.

54:15

In our final episode

54:17

on the music of E.T., we'll look

54:19

at a frightening chapter in our story and

54:22

talk about how Williams, Spielberg, and the cast

54:24

constructed. We'll discuss

54:27

the lasting impact

54:28

of E.T. and its music,

54:30

and we'll take one last listen to the score

54:33

as E.T. returns home. Thank

54:37

you.