IMDB trivia for "2001" (extremely long)

Films/DVD Asylum

Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star.

Only for diehard fans. like me.
Trivia for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
According to Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman), Nigel Davenport and Martin Balsam were hired and later replaced before Douglas Rain finally landed the role of HAL. Nigel Davenport was actually was on-set in England during filming, reading HAL's lines off-camera so that Dullea and Gary Lockwood could react to them. Apparently, Kubrick thought that Davenport's English accent was too distracting, so after a few weeks he dismissed him and for the remainder of the shoot HAL's lines were read by an assistant director who, according to Dullea, had a cockney accent so thick that lines like "Better take a stress pill, Dave" came out like "Better tyke a stress pill, Dyve". Later Martin Balsam was hired and recorded HAL's voice in New York but again when Kubrick heard his lines he wasn't satisfied so he finally got Douglas Rain to re-record everything during post production. For the sequel, Peter Hyams' 2010 (1984), the opposite process was used: Douglas Rain recorded all of HAL's dialogue during pre-production prior to principal photography. That's why, to this day, Keir Dullea and Douglas Rain have never actually spoken directly to each other or met in person.

Stanley Kubrick initially approached Arthur C. Clarke by saying that he wanted to make "the proverbial good science-fiction movie". Clarke suggested that "The Sentinel", a short story he wrote in 1948, story would provide a suitable premise. Clarke had written the story for a BBC competition, but it didn't even make the shortlist. "The Sentinel" corresponds only to the relatively short part of the movie that takes place on the moon.

The screenplay was written primarily by Stanley Kubrick and the novel primarily by Arthur C. Clarke, each working simultaneously and also providing feedback to the other. As the story went through many revisions, changes in the novel were taken over into the screenplay and vice versa. It was also unclear whether film or novel would be released first; in the end it was the film. Kubrick was to have been credited as second author of the novel, but in the end was not. It is believed that Kubrick deliberately withheld his approval of the novel as to not hurt the release of the film.

Stanley Kubrick planned to have Alex North (who wrote the score for Kubrick's Spartacus (1960)) write a musical score especially for the film. During filming, Kubrick played classical music on the set to create the right mood. Delighted with the effect, he decided to use classical music in the finished product. North's score has subsequently been released as "Alex North's 2001" (Varese/Sarabande 5400).

Douglas Rain (the voice of HAL) never visited the set.

Originally, the Discovery was to have traveled to Saturn, but the special effects crew was unable to make convincing-looking rings around the planet. Effects artist Douglas Trumbull eventually perfected a technique for making the rings after production was completed, and promptly used Saturn's rings to great effect in his directorial debut Silent Running (1972).

Stanley Kubrick had several tons of sand imported, washed, and painted for the moon surface scenes.

According to Douglas Trumbull, the total footage shot was some 200 times the final length of the film.

Daniel Richter, who plays the ape Moonwatcher, choreographed most of the Dawn of Man sequences.

The monolith was originally to have been a black tetrahedron; however, it did not reflect light properly. Kubrick then decided to use a transparent cube; however, that proved to be too difficult to use, because of the reflections created by the studio lights. Next came a rectangular monolith cast from Lucite that looked unconvincing, and finally the familiar black slab.

Originally, Stanley Kubrick had planned to shoot 2001 in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. After consultant Robert Gaffney convinced the director that Super Panavision (aspect ratio 2.2:1) was a more visceral experience, Kubrick agreed and got MGM to pay for the photographic process. Since shooting a 70mm space film with monaural sound was frowned upon, Kubrick decided to mix the soundtrack in stereo sound.

All of the special effects footage had to be printed on the original negatives. Stanley Kubrick thought using copies of the negatives would harm the visual quality of effects shots.

Marvin Minsky, one of the pioneers of neural networks who was also an adviser to the filmmakers, almost got killed by a falling wrench on the set.

The entire centrifuge section of the Discovery spacecraft was constructed as a single set. It was designed to rotate for shots such as the "jogging Frank" sequence, so that the actor remained on the bottom.

Stanley Kubrick worked for several months with effects technicians to come up with a convincing effect for the floating pen in the shuttle sequence. After trying many different techniques, without success, Kubrick decided to simply use a pen that was taped to a sheet of glass and suspended in front of the camera. In fact, the shuttle attendant can be seen to "pull" the pen off the glass when she takes hold of it.

HAL sings "A Bicycle Built for Two" ("Daisy") as he is shut down; this was the first song ever "sung" by a computer, a IBM 7094 computer at Bell Labs in 1961. Furthermore, the lyrics include the phrase "I'm half crazy".

Stanley Kubrick was very well read. It is rumored that the image of the star-child came to him from the "Spirit of the Earth" in Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound": "Within the orb itself, Pillowed upon its alabaster arms, Like to a child o'erwearied with sweet toil, On its own folded wings and wavy hair The Spirit of the Earth is laid asleep..."

An early draft of the script had narration.

Generally panned by critics when previewed. Stanley Kubrick subsequently cut 20 minutes for its public release, but still failed to win over the film critics.

Incrementing each letter of "HAL" gives you "IBM". Arthur C. Clarke (co-screenwriter) claimed this was unintentional, and if he had noticed it before it was too late, he would have changed it. HAL stands for Heuristic ALgorithmic Computer.

Clarke and Kubrick disagreed on what HAL's birthday should be. Kubrick wanted HAL to be about the age of a child, so his death would have more emotional impact. Clarke insisted such an old computer would not be used for an important mission. In the book, HAL's age was 4 years, while in the movie it was 9 years.

The subsequent novel and the screenplay both give HAL's birthday as 12 January 1997, but the date given on screen is 12 January 1992.

The chess position and moves that we see are from a game played in 1910 in Hamburg between two undistinguished players named Roesch and Schlage. The computer claims that the final position is a checkmate in two moves. Actually, white is not obliged to play the move that HAL suggests (Bxf3), so we have a checkmate in three moves.

Rock Hudson walked out of the Los Angeles premiere, saying, "Will someone tell me what the hell this is about?"

Arthur C. Clarke once said, "If you understand 2001 completely, we failed. We wanted to raise far more questions than we answered."

Among the model-makers was David Peterson, later Wales's foremost sculptor and a prominent nationalist activist.

By the year 2001, some of the product placements had become outdated. RCA Whirlpool, the maker of the zero gravity food preparation unit on the moon shuttle, had become Whirlpool. The Bell System had been divested and the long distance service became AT&T. Pan Am had ceased operations as an international air carrier. (In fact, the Whirlpool change had already happened by the time of the film's original release.)

At the end of the film, the only spacesuit that was never used is the blue one. In 2010 (1984), the blue suit is missing its helmet, apparently because the producers thought that Dave used it in 2001 when disabling HAL. Dave is actually wearing a green helmet, from the green suit which was stowed inside the emergency airlock.

According to Isaac Asimov, Stanley Kubrick wanted to get an insurance policy from Lloyd's of London to protect himself against losses in the event that extraterrestrial intelligence were discovered before the movie was released. Lloyd's wouldn't insure him.

The television interviewer explains that gaps of seven minutes each were edited out of the broadcast as signals raced between Earth and the hugely distant Discovery crew. Given that the resulting interview ran about four minutes and there were 19 such gaps, the interview must have taken about 2 hours 17 minutes to tape.

In the French version, Dr. Floyd's middle initial, R, stands for Richard.

When Bowman is disconnecting HAL, Hal claims that his first instructor was someone named Mr. Langley. In both the novels of 2001 and 2010 and even the movie 2010 (1984), HAL's programmer and instructor is Dr. Chandra.

Evidence of Kubrick's attention to detail: there are visible replacement instructions for the explosive bolts in the ejection apparatus of the pods.

Although the memories of many Los Angeles residents insist that 2001 opened at the famous Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd., it actually opened at the Warners Cinerama Theater on Hollywood Blvd., and played there for months. It did not play at the Dome for several years.

GyÃ¶rgy Ligeti, composer of much of the music on the soundtrack, successfully sued Stanley Kubrick for using his music without permission. He was especially upset that "Adventures" had been altered for the sequence near the end of the film.

The carry-on bags belonging to Russian space scientists with whom Dr. Floyd shares a drink are marked Aeroflot (in Cyrillic), still today the Russian national airline.

When 2001 was sold to British TV, Kubrick urged that the film be shown in "letterbox" format, with a black area at the top and bottom of the screen. The BBC complained that while this was fine for dialogue sequences, viewers would become confused when the scene shifted to outer space. The BBC's solution, used during the first TV presentation, was to add fake stars to the black areas above and below the picture area. Bitterly opposed by Kubrick, this disastrous experiment was never repeated.

Frank Miller, who plays the mission control voice, was a member of the United States Air Force in real life, and was a real mission controller. He was hired because his voice was the most authentic the producers could find for the role. Inexperienced and nervous, he could not keep from tapping his foot during recording sessions, and the tapping sound repeatedly came through on the audio tracks; Stanley Kubrick folded up a towel, put it under Miller's feet, and told him to tap to his heart's content.

Cameo: [Vivian Kubrick] (daughter of Stanley) Dr Floyd's daughter.

Director Trademark: [Stanley Kubrick] [zoom] as Doctor Floyd reads the zero-g toilet instructions.

Director Trademark: [Stanley Kubrick] [faces] Dave Bowman going through the Star Gate.

The first line of dialogue is spoken by a stewardess, 25 minutes and 38 seconds into the film.

In the novel, TMA-1 (the site of the discovery of the monolith) stands for Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1.

According to Katharina Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick provided the breathing heard in the spacesuits.

The joke working title, "How the Solar System was Won", reflected the original idea for the film. Just as How the West Was Won (1962) was a series of short stories spanning decades, "2001" was going to be a series of stories showing explorations on many planets and moons. The last story would be "The Sentinel" which showed the uncovering of the monolith on the Moon, and the first contact with extra terrestrials.

Originally intended as a road show release, with Overture, Intermission, and Exit music (all with curtain warmers) and a 35mm b/w prolog of interview with experts on the possibilities of extra terrestrial life.

An early (non-joke) working title was "Voyage Beyond the Stars". When Fantastic Voyage (1966) was released, Stanley Kubrick reportedly so disliked that film that he did not want his film to sound anything like it.

The title was chosen because 2001 was both the first year of the next century and the next millennium. In 1999 Arthur C. Clarke held a press conference in which he said has dismayed he was that so many people (including college professors and journalists) were incorrectly calling 2000 the beginning of the 21st century.

Though the Arthur C. Clarke story "The Sentinel" is often cited as the source for the movie, the ape-man segment is loosely based upon his story "Encounter at Dawn".

HAL incorrectly identifies the song he sings as "Daisy". Its actual title is "A Bicycle Built for Two".

Though almost invisible when watching the film on a TV screen, the three satellites in the first space sequence bear German, French, and Chinese markings.

The movie has many instances of product placement for IBM. The most apparent are the computer panels in the spaceplane that docks with the space station, the forearm control panel on Dave's spacesuit, and the portable viewscreens on which Dave and Frank watch "The World Tonight".

According to the dates on the original screenplay the whole was written in a period of only 58 days (from 13 October 1965 to 9 December 1965).

The full text of the Zero Gravity Toilet Instructions: ZERO GRAVITY TOILET PASSENGERS ARE ADVISED TO READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE USE
1. The toilet is of the standard zero-gravity type. Depending on requirements, System A and/or System B can be used, details of which are clearly marked in the toilet compartment. When operating System A, depress lever and a plastic dalkron eliminator will be dispensed through the slot immediately underneath. When you have fastened the adhesive lip, attach connection marked by the large "X" outlet hose. Twist the silver coloured ring one inch below the connection point until you feel it lock.
2. The toilet is now ready for use. The Sonovac cleanser is activated by the small switch on the lip. When securing, twist the ring back to its initial-condition, so that the two orange line meet. Disconnect. Place the dalkron eliminator in the vacuum receptacle to the rear. Activate by pressing the blue button.
3. The controls for System B are located on the opposite wall. The red release switch places the uroliminator into position; it can be adjusted manually up or down by pressing the blue manual release button. The opening is self adjusting. To secure after use, press the green button which simultaneously activates the evaporator and returns the uroliminator to its storage position.
4. You may leave the lavatory if the green exit light is on over the door. If the red light is illuminated, one of the lavatory facilities is not properly secured. Press the "Stewardess" call button on the right of the door. She will secure all facilities from her control panel outside. When green exit light goes on you may open the door and leave. Please close the door behind you.
5. To use the Sonoshower, first undress and place all your clothes in the clothes rack. Put on the velcro slippers located in the cabinet immediately below. Enter the shower. On the control panel to your upper right upon entering you will see a "Shower seal" button. Press to activate. A green light will then be illuminated immediately below. On the intensity knob select the desired setting. Now depress the Sonovac activation lever. Bathe normally.
6. The Sonovac will automatically go off after three minutes unless you activate the "Manual off" over-ride switch by flipping it up. When you are ready to leave, press the blue "Shower seal" release button. The door will open and you may leave. Please remove the velcro slippers and place them in their container.
7. If the red light above this panel is on, the toilet is in use. When the green light is illuminated you may enter. However, you must carefully follow all instructions when using the facilities during coasting (Zero G) flight. Inside there are three facilities: (1) the Sonowasher, (2) the Sonoshower, (3) the toilet. All three are designed to be used under weightless conditions. Please observe the sequence of operations for each individual facility.
8. Two modes for Sonowashing your face and hands are available, the "moist-towel" mode and the "Sonovac" ultrasonic cleaner mode. You may select either mode by moving the appropriate lever to the "Activate" position. If you choose the "moist-towel" mode, depress the indicated yellow button and withdraw item. When you have finished, discard the towel in the vacuum dispenser, holding the indicated lever in the "active" position until the green light goes on...showing that the rollers have passed the towel completely into the dispenser. If you desire an additional towel, press the yellow button and repeat the cycle.
9. If you prefer the "Sonovac" ultrasonic cleaning mode, press the indicated blue button. When the twin panels open, pull forward by rings A & B. For cleaning the hands, use in this position. Set the timer to positions 10, 20, 30 or 40...indicative of the number of seconds required. The knob to the left, just below the blue light, has three settings, low, medium or high. For normal use, the medium setting is suggested.
10. After these settings have been made, you can activate the device by switching to the "ON" position the clearly marked red switch. If during the washing operation, you wish to change the settings, place the "manual off" over-ride switch in the "OFF" position. you may now make the change and repeat the cycle.
The ape scenes at the beginning of the movie were filmed on a backlot at MGM's Borehamwood Studios in London. If the camera had been moved up a metre, London's famous Red Double Decker Buses would have been clearly in sight.

This was the only film to be pulled from Cinerama venues while it was still making a good profit. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was anxious to release their completed production Ice Station Zebra (1968).

The first film showing a completely revised (and very short-lived) version of the M-G-M lion logo.

At the end of the chess game, Hal states that his next move will be "Queen to Bishop Three." In descriptive notation, Hal would describe the board as seen from his side, and he should say, "Queen to Bishop six." As Stanley Kubrick was an expert chess player, this is not likely to be a mistake; it could be a very subtle hint that Hal was malfunctioning.

There is no dialogue in the first 25 minutes of the movie, nor in the last 23 minutes (excluding end credits). With these two lengthy sections and other shorter ones, there are around 88 dialogue-free minutes in the movie.

Poole (Gary Lockwood) was filmed wearing a helmet on the bridge of Discovery, because Stanley Kubrick initially had doubts over the scientific possibility of a person's survival for even an instant in a vacuum; however, data published at the time indicated that such survival was indeed possible, which allowed the Emergency Air Lock re-entry sequence to be filmed and for scenes to be shot of the astronauts without their helmets.

Much like The Wizard of Oz (1939) and "Dark Side of the Moon", it is said that the Pink Floyd song "Echoes" from the album Meddle can be perfectly synchronized with the "Jupiter & Beyond the Infinite" segment of the film. See links section for details.

In the sequence in which Bowman recovers Poole's body with the pod, the camera was running at four times normal speed so that the resulting footage would be in slow-motion, giving a slow, "drifting in space" look. That means the soft contact of the pod's arms with Poole's body was actually rather rough, and as a result, the stunt man doubling for Poole was badly bruised by the end of the takes.

The re-recording of the score by Alex North which wasn't used was conducted by North's friend, Jerry Goldsmith.

Was voted the 26th Greatest Film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

In honor of the book and movie, NASA named a Mars orbiter: 2001 Mars Odyssey.

Frank Poole and Dave Bowman watch themselves in a television interview on "BBC 12". This was a play on the fact that, at the time of production, there were only BBC channels 1 and 2.

According to Kubrick Biographer, John Baxter, Kubrick decided to use the Sinar Front Projection system for the desert backdrops during the animal/ape scenes. This method was selected because rear projection of the desert scenes would have proved too "murky" for SuperPanavision. The use of the Sinar system explains why in the scene where the leopard is sitting next to the dead zebra (in reality a painted horse) the leopard's eyes glow a bright color. The Sinar system used glass transparencies as backdrops, however the projectors necessary for this system were so hot that a draught or a breath could crack the glass. As a result crew members were required to wear face masks, which started a long-persistent rumor that Kubrick had a paranoia of catching infections.

This film was shot at MGM's Borehamwood Studios next door to where the TV series "The Prisoner" (1967) was being filmed. Prisoner star Patrick McGoohan borrowed some special effects footage of a starry sky for his episode "Chimes of Big Ben". This footage was not used in the broadcast version of the episode but is visible in an early edit that was later released on video.

The phrase "See you next Wednesday" is heard for the first time during the scene in which Poole receives birthday greetings from his parents. The phrase would become a trademark of director John Landis who would use it in many of his movies.

Originally, Stanley Kubrick hadn't planned to show the early man as a hairy monkey. He even had Stuart Freeborn to create a primitive, but more human-like make-up for the actors, but he couldn't find a way to photograph them in full length without getting in trouble, since they had to be naked.

At the "Dawn of Man" part at the beginning of the film, it shows a dead zebra. The zebra was actually a dead horse painted with stripes.

In order to get the relaxed tone for HAL's voice, Douglas Rain spoke his lines bare-foot with his feet resting on a pillow.

Originally, HAL was to be called Athena and have a female voice.

>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.

SPOILER: It is reported that Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke watched an enormous number of science fiction films in preparation for creating this movie and Kubrick himself acknowledged the influence of producer George Pal's films. Pal's Conquest of Space (1955) is referenced several times: a civilian scientist arrives by transport on a wheel-shaped space station orbiting Earth, astronauts watch TV from Earth and watch one-way messages from their loved ones, a spacecraft's mission is prepared in secrecy and its destination changed just before launch, an astronaut is killed while making a repair to a spacecraft antenna and his body must be retrieved, the crewmember in charge of a space mission goes insane and tries to kill other crew and sabotage the mission.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Schiit Audio

Topic - IMDB trivia for "2001" (extremely long) - rico 12:03:50 08/31/05 (3)

Re: "2001's" place in film history - halfnote 20:35:25 09/04/05 (2)

Re: "2001's" place in film history - rico 08:52:36 09/08/05 (1)

Re: Your other selections - halfnote 21:34:10 09/08/05 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.