In case you did not know, Spaceballs is a 1987 Science Fiction parody movie directed by Mel Brooks. In the movie a star-pilot for hire and his trusty sidekick must come to the rescue of a princess and save Planet Druidia from the clutches of the evil Spaceballs.
Mel Brooks appeared as President Skroob / Yoghurt (a parody of Yoda), John Candy played the role of Barf (a broad parody of Chewbacca), Rick Moranis played the role of Dark Helmet. Bill Pullman played the role Lone Starr and Daphne Zuniga played the role of Princess Vespa.
There’s probably a lot that you don’t know about 1980s Cult Classic, but today my aim is to change just that.
Here are 22 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know about Spaceballs
1. The Millennium Falcon from Star Wars appears in Spaceballs. It can be spotted in an exterior shot of the Space Diner. George Lucas read the screenplay before production began and loved it, so he had his special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, help make the movie.
2. The movie had a budget of around $22.7 million and grossed $38,119,483 in the United States during its run. It made $6,613,837 during its opening weekend and finished behind the movie Dragnet.
3. In a TV interview back in 2013 (just before he got the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award), Mel Brooks spilled the beans on something interesting. He revealed that he got permission from George Lucas himself to parody anything Star Wars-related in Spaceballs.
There was one catch though – he couldn’t make any merchandise out of the movie. That’s why Yogurt and the Dinks are all about merchandising, and why none of the cool gear we see in the movie was ever actually made or sold to the public.
4. Did you know that iconic scene in Spaceballs where Dark Helmet plays with his dolls wasn’t even in the script? It was actually the brainchild of the film’s writer, producer, and director, Mel Brooks. One day on set, he pitched the idea to Rick Moranis, who then went ahead and improvised the entire scene. That’s pretty cool if you ask me.
5. During his scene, Michael Winslow (known for his role as Jones in the Police Academy movies) did most of the sound effects. In the DVD audio commentary for the movie, Mel Brooks joked that they saved around $1,000 by letting him do this.
6. Did you know that the Barf costume in Spaceballs was operated by three people? John Candy was the man behind Barf‘s tail, which he controlled with a hidden paw control. Two assistants were in charge of moving each ear. So, there was teamwork involved to power the costume, Candy actually had to wear a 13 kilogram (30 pounds) battery on his back.
7. President Skroob‘s name is an anagram of Mel Brooks, the actor who plays him.
8. Dark Helmet‘s voice changes to a lower, more basal tone and African accent when his face is covered, similar to Darth Vader‘s. Rick Moranis came up with the idea for this and interestingly, his Dark Helmet voice is similar to David Prowse, the actor who physically played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy.
9. In the scene where Dark Helmet is searching for Lone Starr and the others with binoculars, the vehicle he was in was actually on top of a platform surrounded by mirrors, This made it look like the vehicle was floating.
10. The original title of the movie was Planet Moron, but the filmmakers had to change it after they found out about a British sci-fi spoof with a similar name. Mel Brooks, Ronny Graham, and Thomas Meehan brainstormed ideas and decided to add “Space” to a word.
After spilling a drink, Mel Brooks shouted, “Balls!” and Ronnie Graham said, “Spaceballs!” which became the movie’s new and final title. The idea for the villain’s ball-shaped helmets also came from this. Interestingly, the name of the game played by the morons in Morons from Outer Space was also called “Spaceball.”
11. Tesla Motors was inspired by the starship speeds in Spaceballs (Light Speed, Ridiculous Speed, Ludicrous Speed, and Plaid Speed) and used them to name their acceleration modes. Tesla has Ludicrous Mode for acceleration beyond its Insane Mode, and Plaid Mode, which is even faster than Ludicrous Mode, as a tribute to the movie.
12. Spaceballs: The Book, the novelization by R.L. Stine, reveals the names of the Dinks to be: Rinky Dink, Blinky Dink, Stinky Dink, Pinky Dink, Finky Dink, and Winky Dink. One of the Dinks was played by Tony Cox, who also played an Ewok in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983).
13. “The Schwartz” in Spaceballs is not just a replacement for “The Force,” but also has a special meaning to the production. It is named after Mel Brooks’ legal representative for the movie, which gives the catchphrase “May the Schwartz be with you” a deeper significance beyond just a reference to Star Wars.
14. Lone Starr‘s statement that he was born “somewhere in the Ford Galaxy” is a double reference to the Ford Galaxie 500 car model and Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo in the Star Wars movies.
15. Spaceballs helped fulfill a longtime wish of Mel Brooks: in his high school yearbook, he said his ambition was to become President.
16. Princess Vespa‘s name is a joke in and of itself. Vespa is the Italian word for a wasp and is also a scooter. In North American, the term “W.A.S.P.” stands for “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant”.
17. The original script for Spaceballs was 247 pages long. The first cut was roughly two hours and twenty minutes long before being trimmed to the current ninety-six.
18. Stand-up comedy legend Joan Rivers plays the voice of Dot Matrix, a parody of Star Wars droid C-3PO. Rivers was not in the actual suit. Mime artist Lorene Yarnell performed the droid’s movement.
19. Lone Starr takes a nap with his hat over his eyes in the film. This is a tribute to Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’ character Indiana Jones (who often sleeps in the same pose).
20. Dom DeLuise plays the role of Pizza the Hutt (a parody Star Wars‘ Jabba The Hut). DeLuise is a frequent Brooks collaborator who appeared in six of the director’s films, starting with Twelve Chairs and ending with Robin Hood: Men In Tights.
21. The studio preferred either Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise for the role of Lone Starr, but Mel Brooks, after witnessing Bill Pullman’s performance in the play Barabbas, chose the relatively unknown actor for the lead.
Brooks expressed frustration with the industry’s tendency to prioritize big-name stars, stating, “They were pushing for Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks—anyone named Tom with a $2 million price tag. That’s a flaw in this industry; if it becomes a ‘Tom’ movie, it ceases to be a parody and becomes a ‘Tom’ movie.”
22. In 2017, Bill Pullman disclosed that he had not watched the original Star Wars before shooting and didn’t believe it was necessary.
Regarding Star Wars, he commented, “I didn’t catch it when it first came out. I simply relied on Mel to brief me on the storyline. Watching Star Wars wasn’t essential for me to grasp the entire concept.”
Well, there you have it, 22 facts you might not have known about Spaceballs. If I’ve left out something important, feel free to comment below. Feedback is appreciated and welcome here.
If you’re not familiar with the film, check out the trailer below:
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