WEBVTT - How Alien Got Made and the Man in the Xenomorph Suit 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:07.200 Warning warning, deep space sirens are going because this episode 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.600 contains spoilers for Ridley Scott's nineteen seventy nine sci fi 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:12.039 classic Alien. 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:29.160 Hello. 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.199 My name is Rosie Knight and I'm Carmen Laurent and 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.320 welcome back to x ray Vision, the podcast where we 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:38.360 dive deep into your favorite shows, movies, comics, and pop culture. 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:42.360 Welcome to another installment of xenomorph Week, a full week 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:46.159 of alien focused episodes leading up to the release of 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:50.760 Alien Romulus. Carmen is one of our wonderful producers here 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:55.280 at x ray Vision and is also an Alien super fan. 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:59.920 So today we'll be co hosting this very fun omnibus with. 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:03.680 Me, and then after we talk Alien, we'll hear from 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:07.840 our friend James F. Wright about Belaji Bedejo, the man 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:16.280 behind the original Alien suit. Rosie, I'm a huge fan 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.600 of the Alien franchise. Now, have we already gotten your 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:21.279 alien backstory before? 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:24.039 I don't think so. I don't think I've shared my 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:25.839 alien origin story. 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.280 Tell us about your alien origin story, Rosie. 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:33.240 Okay, so my alien origin story is very specific and 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:37.160 very terrifying to me personally. When I was a little kid, 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:41.839 I got to go to Disney World with my mom 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.080 and a family that she cleaned their house and they 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.960 invited us and said, come to Disney World. And I 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:52.400 went on a ride that they had at what was 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.600 at the time called MGM Studios, and it was a 0:01:55.720 --> 0:02:00.680 ride that went through the history of Hollywood, but randomly 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.560 just after you know, going through the Western World and 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:07.160 the Wizard of Oz. They just had a room where 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:10.720 you were on the Nostromo and his zenomorph came out. Oh, 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:14.120 that's no joke. It was like, legit, one of the 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.880 scariest moments of my life. But then, of course, because 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:19.959 I was a morbid child with a taste in the 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.400 dark side, I then became obsessed with the alien and 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:26.400 had to know what it was, and I learned about 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.480 the movie. And I don't know about you, but one 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.160 of the first ways that I really got into horrorism, 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.560 just like reading the backs of vhs or DVDs in 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:37.480 like the video shop. I'm old, but I would definitely 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.480 be reading all of the kind of backs like oh 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:44.120 what happens in Alien? And then that was definitely where 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:48.840 my interest and love for the franchise began. 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:54.720 Wow, well, that is definitely a lot cooler than my story. 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:58.520 You got to go to Disney World and see the 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:02.600 Nostromo in person. That's pretty cool. I am also a 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.680 child of morbid curiosity, was a child with morbid curiosity. 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.079 I was definitely attracted to the dark side. You'd call 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:11.600 me like I was a little goth baby at the time. 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:13.240 Yeah, so we have that. 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:16.800 So we have that same shared backstory there. And my 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:22.799 dad had a huge, massive DVD collection, oh wow. 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:24.840 And prior to that it was VHS. 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:27.240 But then, of course the age of DVD came in 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:29.560 and my dad was always at the pawn shop and 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:32.920 he would come home like maybe once a week with 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:37.840 like a brown paper bag filled with bootleg DVDs from 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:38.520 a pawnshop. 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.040 I love that. And he had he had like. 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.280 Literally like two thousand something DVDs, and at one point 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:47.800 in my childhood I had to catalog all of them 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:51.280 and everything and put them in alphabetical order and everything too. 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:56.840 But he had the Alien VHS box set with the 0:03:56.880 --> 0:04:00.480 first three movies as well as a box set with 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.360 I believe it was all four of the movies at 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:07.040 that point, with Alien Resurrection included. And I was one 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.960 of those kids that was very into box art and 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:13.440 definitely judge books by the cover because I saw that 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.880 egg with the green neon blue coming out of it, 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:22.800 and it fascinated me, so I, I, you know, got 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:24.160 to sat down and watch it with my dad, and 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:26.279 the rest is history from them. 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:28.960 I love that we both had dads who definitely showed 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.440 us horror movies too early. I definitely I have a 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:37.800 really distinct memory of watching Scream two on VHS with 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.240 my dad and my sister, who's like four years younger 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.640 than me, and we would definitely like, no, I don't 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:45.799 I'd watch slasher movies at that point. But Imber, my sister, 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:50.839 still has very unfond memories of that. 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:54.400 Gosh, yeah, that's that's a lot, a lot for a 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:54.840 little kid. 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.520 I think the youngest scary movie I ever watched was Leprechaun, 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:01.920 and that absolutely free me out as a child. 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.960 The power of imagination is truly a terrifying thing. 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:06.640 It is, it is. 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.760 But we're not here today to talk about the traumas 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:12.960 of horror movies that we faced as a child. 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:14.360 That's for a different episode. 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.000 Yeah, that's for a different episode. 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:21.200 We're here to talk today about how the first alien 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.360 movie was made. And I wanted to ask you before 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:25.320 I get into it, Rosie, do you know anything about 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:28.080 this origin story of the first Alien movie. 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:33.120 I was a fan of reading a lot of Empire 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.880 magazine and movie stuff, so I've definitely heard the general story, 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:39.800 and I do know a lot about the production art 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:41.599 because it was done by some of my favorite people. 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:44.359 But I want you to tell the people and to 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.360 refresh me. I'm going to get to be on this 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:49.560 journey of alien origin with you. 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.200 Okay, awesome. Well, I'm really excited to get into it 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.840 with you today. Before we can even talk about how 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:58.480 we got the first Alien movie, we have to first 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.320 talk about a movie that was never made, and that 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:04.679 was Alejandro Hodorowski's Dune movie. 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:08.359 Wow. Yes, one of the most famous unmade movies of 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:08.800 all time. 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:14.600 Yes, absolutely. Alejandro Hodorowski, famous for his films The Holy 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.640 Mountain in nineteen seventy three and also Santa Sandre in 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:22.360 nineteen eighty nine. He wanted to make this very very 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.800 ambitious adaptation of the of the Dune books, which had 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:28.240 never been made into a movie at this point, and 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:30.479 it is one of those movies that we lost to 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:35.080 production hell because the production phase never ended and they 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:39.200 were unable to find adequate funding to produce this mega 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.400 movie that they had cooked up. Apparently it was supposed 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:47.039 to be like a fourteen hour movie. Originally sounds very Jodorowski. 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.240 Yes, very very Geniowski. 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:51.640 Oh and before I get into this, I do want 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:55.080 to call out that there are two documentary films that 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.039 kind of touch on this, and one of those being 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:00.880 it's literally a movie you can find in HBO Max 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:04.960 it's called Hodorowski's Dune. And then there's another movie which 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:07.359 is harder to find on streaming, but it's called Memory 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:10.520 and it's the origin of the first alien movie. And 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:14.440 both of those documentaries explore this topic pretty in depth. 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:19.720 But the first Dune movie that was never made. Production 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.360 of that started in nineteen seventy one, and he had 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:27.600 this huge, amazing cast of collaborators that he pulled together 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:31.560 to make the movie. He had big prog rock bands 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:36.400 of the day, Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, and Magma, and 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.440 he eventually landed on Pink Floyd as being the band 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.040 that was going to do the soundtrack for this movie. 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:45.360 Evenly already the most famous band out of the three, 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.640 even though I will say Tangerine Dream they have done 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:53.280 some truly fantastic film soundtracks. I believe they did one 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:57.360 of the Legend soundtracks. There's two different versions for Legend, 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:01.040 another Ridley Scott movie. Yeah, and yeah, they are wonderful. 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:02.960 But I mean, Pink Floyd, you're talking about heavy his 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:04.080 right there. 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:07.520 Absolutely absolutely. I mean, already we're off to a great 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:10.760 start here with some amazing bands of the day. But 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:15.560 then he pulls in set and character designers hr Geeger, 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.160 who we hadn't really heard much. He wasn't really like 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:24.200 very well known at this point, and Mobius aka Jean 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:29.080 Gureaux with special effects by Dan O'Bannon. Now Dan O'Bannon 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:33.880 will come into play later on. Now that already already 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:38.800 a really fantastic group of collaborators right there. Then we 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:43.200 get into the cast of characters who was set to 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:47.840 play in this Dune movie. So we have surrealist painter 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:53.720 Salvador Dali just casually, yeah, just casually in there, or 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:59.880 author and director Orson Wells, old Hollywood starlett Gloria Swanson, 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:05.160 David Carradine, which you know from Kill Bill, one of 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:09.800 the Rolling Stones, the Big Rolling Stone, Micjagger, the Biggest Hello, 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:15.560 German actor Udo Kier oh wow. And then my favorite 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:17.840 and the reason why I wish we could have seen 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.720 this movie come to life, is that the disco queen 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:26.160 herself A Mandelaer, is set to play daughter of Salbad 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:29.280 Dolly's character, who is remind me that character's name again? 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.080 He was he going to be the emperor, Yes, he 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.400 was going to be the emperor. Yes, I don't want 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:39.440 to say Emperor Palpatine and piss off them. But Amandelayer 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.800 was set to play the princess. And it's important to 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.720 note that Amandelayer at that time in the in the 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:50.760 seventies was the muse to Salvador Dolly. So the two 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:54.360 of them together on screen is just absolutely mind blowing. 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:56.640 The concept of that is mind blowing to me. And 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:58.840 then the role of Paula Trds was set to be 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:04.360 played by how Owski's twelve year old son. Now this 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:08.760 obviously never happened. Yes, So, as I mentioned before, Dan 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.440 O'Bannon would come into play later on. He is the 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:14.480 writer of the film Alien, but he was chosen for 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:18.000 this project for this Dune that never happened because he 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.120 was co writing and directing special effects for the John 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:23.880 Carpenter film Dark Star, which. 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:27.640 I love that movie before. Yes, Yes, originally John Coppener's 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:28.720 student film. 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:32.360 I saw that when I was watching the movie, right. 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:37.480 It's really cool, totally great, weird, low key sci fi 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.400 that I think you can really see that how someone 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:44.480 who worked on that could go and create something like Alien. 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:47.880 Absolutely. Yeah, So if you haven't seen Dark Star, check 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:50.959 that out. Definitely an essential watch to help you kind 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:54.480 of gear up for Alien Romulus. But this iteration of 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.160 Dune never happened. We're really sad about it. 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:01.240 Yes, Yes, rip. 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:04.079 To that version, the fourteen hour movie that never happened. 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:08.120 This also left the special effects director Dan O'Bannon without 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:12.960 a job. Now. While he was jobless and also homeless, 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:16.760 sleeping on a friend's couch, he worked on a spec 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.480 script called Memory to sell to studios. It was bought 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.160 by twentieth Century Fox, and Ridley Scott picked up the 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:28.520 movie to direct. Now Dan O'Bannon having worked with hr 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:32.360 Geeger and Chris Foss for six months on Houtrowski's failed 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.680 attempt to make Dune, he pulled in those two artists 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.160 to collaborate with him on this new venture, which would 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:42.120 become the film Alien. Memory was the original title that 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:44.360 was going to be used for the film, but then 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:46.559 they landed on Alien, which I think is a lot 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:50.000 more of a ominous and spooky name. 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:54.360 Correct, And I also think like the simplicity is probably 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:56.320 part of why it's so iconic and why we're still 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.920 talking about it. I mean, we could in a different 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:02.440 time be talking about the Me refranchise, but it's giving cats. Yeah, 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:04.679 I feel like I feel like Alien they made the 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:05.440 right choice. 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:06.440 They really did. 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:08.040 They really did make the right choice, because then you 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:12.040 can have a sequel called Aliens, you know, incredible, incredible, 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:16.600 I mean just amazing sequel naming there. So this movie 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:20.800 Alien would become the greatest sci fi horrory yet. And 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:22.400 it really is, like I just want to take a 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:26.360 moment to talk about how a movie from nineteen seventy 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:31.640 nine is still able to stand up to the test 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:33.959 of time today and you watch it today in twenty 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:37.560 twenty four, and it still feels fresh, It still feels 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:41.679 like completely like ahead of its time. It just it's 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:44.559 it's an amazing movie and it's great storytelling. Can't say 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:45.120 enough about it. 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:48.560 Yeah, I totally agree, And also as well, just the 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.720 visual effects, the fact that they were able to create 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:57.240 something that was so terrifying and unique, and that still 0:12:57.280 --> 0:13:01.320 to this day feels scared. I mean they still show 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:07.960 Alien in LA probably every couple of months, I would say, so, yeah, 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:10.400 they do seventy milimis screenings of it here, And I 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:13.520 think it is because it's not one of those movies 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:15.520 you go and see for nostalgia. It's one of those 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.920 movies you go to experience because it is still that scary. 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.000 Absolutely, it's one of the Yeah, like if somebody watched 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:23.520 it for the first time in twenty twenty four, they 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:26.480 would still be as amazed as the person watching it 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:27.560 in nineteen seventy nine. 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:28.560 So yeah. 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:32.280 Many of the designs that ended up becoming such like 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:36.800 an iconic part of that Alien film were from the 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:40.360 designs that hr Geeger had made when he was designing 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.240 stuff for the film Doune that never happened. So many 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:46.360 of those designs were recycled and they ended up being 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:50.600 used on the Alien set. Now the design itself for 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:54.160 the Xenomorph. Dan O'Bannon made many attempts himself to design 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:57.680 the Xenomorph, but he couldn't land on something that felt 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.040 both alien and scary and out of this world and 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:06.440 unimaginable until the crew saw the nineteen seventy six painting 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:11.760 that Giger created called the Necronomicon four. And so that 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:16.400 is where the design from the Alien comes from. The Xenomorph, 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:18.679 which at the time when the movie came out in 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.720 nineteen seventy nine, nobody was calling it a xenomorph. 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:23.160 They were just calling it an alien. 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:27.200 Yes, absolutely an alien. But yeah, that is the kind 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:31.720 of short and abridged version story of how the failed 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:35.720 Dune project would lead to the creation of the film Alien. 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:37.240 And that was just eight years later. 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.240 Wow, that was so delightful. Common, thank you so much 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:45.560 for telling us that story, and thank you all for listening. 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:49.880 It's very expensive to make a failed fourteen hour movie, 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.440 so if you could support us by understanding that. Now 0:14:53.720 --> 0:15:11.480 we have some messages from us, boss, and we're back. 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:15.200 Welcome to the back Matter, where, just like the last 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:20.400 pages of your favorite comics, we explore one specific moment, matter, 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:25.200 or theme from a fan fay franchise. And today Common 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:28.240 has put together something really cool, a look at some 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.840 of the most interesting thematic moments and easter eggs throughout 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:34.040 the first Alien movie. 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:37.320 Yes, and there's actually a lot of really cool Easter 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:39.440 eggs in this movie. We'll get to which one of 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:42.120 them is my favorite in just a moment. But starting 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:47.720 right out, the entire film, in the entire franchise, contains 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:52.480 a lot of symbolism and references to the concept of motherhood, pregnancy, 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.440 bodily autonomy, you know, stuff like that. You of course 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.480 have the AI computer system on board the Nostromo. Her 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.040 name is Yes. 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:05.600 He was very he said, this is text, this is subtext, 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:12.120 absolutely absolutely so we're literally taking commands from mother and 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.520 she's in control and even has like some secret plans 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:17.280 of her sleeve, which is even spookier. 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:20.480 And also, of course, in order for an alien to 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:24.720 be born, it requires reproduction using a host, so we 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.600 know the face hugger. It attaches to the face of 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:31.080 the host and the host is forced to become pregnant 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:31.920 with the chest burster. 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:33.400 Terrifying. 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:38.920 That is terrifying. Now, Dan O'Bannon could have easily made 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.320 that part of the story something that affected one of 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:46.320 the female characters in the movie, Ripley or Joan Lambert, 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:51.160 but instead he specifically wanted one of the male characters 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:55.200 in the movie to experience this because he wanted to 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:58.840 make men who are seeing the movie feel the same 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.560 exact kind of and all of that that the women 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:04.119 in the audience would be experiencing, which I love. 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.400 I love that too, And I do absolutely think that 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:11.680 if that scene had not been given to the John 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.320 Hut character, if it had not been a man, I 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:17.080 do not know if Hollywood would hold this film in 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.560 the same high regard in regards to how much it 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.800 terrified people at the time. So I really loved that choice, 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.159 and I think it's the beginning of the seeds of 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.159 how subversive this franchise is. 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:30.520 Absolutely Yeah, and we find out later on in the 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.879 franchise that if a female host is used by a 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:36.439 face hugger, then they give birth to a queen's an 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:38.560 a morph. But we're not there yet and the story. 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:38.920 Yeah, we're not that. 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:40.880 Yeah. 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:42.760 So that's, you know, one of the big easter eggs 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:45.439 and kind of like the subtext of the movie. But 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:46.600 then there are some parts of it that are a 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:48.560 little more obvious. Now, I just want to take a 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:51.360 moment to talk about one of my absolute favorite characters 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.600 in sci fi. This is a different easter egg. That 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:58.479 is the character Joan Lambert. Now Joan Lambert is played 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.679 by the amazing actress Veronica Cartwright, which I just want 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:04.400 to take a moment to talk about kind of her 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.440 legacy and the sci fi genre. So if you're a 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:09.520 big sci fi fan like me, you've seen her before 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:13.800 in the nineteen seventies version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.240 which is kind of a similar theme and kind of 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:19.879 a similar concept to what's going on in Alien but 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:23.040 taken to another level. And she also has a recurring 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:26.960 role in the X Files franchise, which I I haven't 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:29.920 talked about this before, but I'm a huge X Files head, 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:35.399 so I immediately connected with that part of the movie. But 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:41.639 she is a multiple alien abductee in the X Files franchise. Now, 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:45.399 the cool part about her character Joan Lambert that I 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:50.080 love is that she is noted as a trans woman 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:52.560 in her on screen bio that is displayed of her. 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:55.720 So there's like a scene that is in one of 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:59.560 the cuts of the films that features the bio of 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.440 the crew mates behind them while Alan Ripley is talking, 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:06.440 and you can see in Joan Lambert's bio that it says, quote, 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.840 subject is a despin convert at birth male to female. 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:15.680 So far no indication of suppressed trauma related to gender alteration. Now, 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:19.480 as a trans woman myself, I absolutely love the fact 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:23.959 that we have a trans female character in a movie 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:28.000 who is literally we only know that by a little 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:30.840 easter egg. We don't know that because characters aren't talking 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:32.400 about it. She's not taught. 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:34.520 It's it's just one of those things that that is. 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:37.600 And it's like and also she's doing great, even the 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:39.400 SI Ship's like, she's doing fine. 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:40.480 She's doing fine. 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.159 She does great with these missions where we you know, 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:45.000 put her in hyper sleep and all of that, so no. 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:45.920 Need to worry about it. 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:50.200 Yeah, So for me, I think that this is one 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:53.520 of the first times that I've ever seen a trans 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:57.080 character featured in a movie where it's not made a 0:19:57.119 --> 0:19:57.560 big deal. 0:19:57.720 --> 0:19:58.040 It's just. 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:03.080 Nine yes, in one of the best horror sci fis 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:03.640 of all time. 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:07.680 That's pretty incredible. Yeah, And so that's my personal favorite 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.800 easter egg in the movie. I also love as somebody 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:15.120 who loves the Blade Runner franchise as it is now 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:20.520 A Francis's really cool. Yes, I love the hint that 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:24.880 Blade Runner and Alien take place in the same universe. 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:28.520 So towards the end of Alien, when Ripley makes it 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:32.040 into her escape pod. She starts up the engines by 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:35.280 turning the blue screen on the computer into a red 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:40.239 purge screen. So later in the movie Blade Runner, we 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:45.480 see that exact same startup sequence when Officer Gaff enters 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:50.120 his flying vehicle and leaves. Ridley Scott has confirmed himself 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.400 that the two movies are indeed in the same universe. However, 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:57.040 Blade Runner takes place in the year twenty nineteen, an 0:20:57.040 --> 0:21:00.359 Alien takes place in the year two thousand, one hundred 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:02.480 and twenty two, so that's like one hundred years they're 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:03.719 still using the same computer. 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:06.000 It is, but I'm seeing I could see like a 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:10.240 replicant alien crossover coming in our crossover obsessed times. 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:15.320 Absolutely absolutely, and I believe there's also like a novelization 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.280 or a extra like Easter Egg scene. On one of 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:21.439 the DVDs they talk about how Dallas actually takes a 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:26.000 paycheck from the Tyrell Corporation, which is another little crossover 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:27.919 into those two franchises. 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:31.120 Common thank you so much for joining me to take 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:33.240 us on this journey. This was absolutely delightful. 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:35.760 It was it was so much fun, and I'm so 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:36.760 freaking excited. 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:38.520 I'm so excited for Alien. 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:41.320 Yes, I am so excited. 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:46.639 Rosie and I have been seeing each other alien memes. 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:49.440 Yes, she's the one who told me about it. 0:21:49.640 --> 0:21:52.560 Yes, we still need to get our Alien popcorn buckets. 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:55.040 Cinemak put one aside for us. 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:57.880 Yes, please, yes, well thank you. 0:21:58.240 --> 0:21:59.200 Yeah, it was a joy. 0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:02.120 That was a fun peek behind the scenes on how 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:04.679 the first Alien film was made. And now we're going 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:08.640 to switch gears and we're going to be speaking with 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:13.080 our friend James F. Wright on Bilagie Thedeho, the man 0:22:13.440 --> 0:22:18.840 in the Xenomorph suit, bom Bomb Bomb. But first a 0:22:18.880 --> 0:22:36.160 message from our sponsors, and we're back. 0:22:37.440 --> 0:22:41.800 With me today is award winning comic book writer James F. Wright. 0:22:42.040 --> 0:22:46.000 He is also Mapal and he is joined today to 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:49.399 tell us all about Belagie Bidejo, the Man in the 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:54.000 Xenomorph Suit. James, could you just start by introducing yourself 0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:54.800 to our listeners. 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:58.880 Hi, I'm James F. Wright. I am a writer. I 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:01.959 work in video games. I'm also I wrote comments on 0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:06.359 a Swayna Rosie, and I'm a big Alien fan, predominantly 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:09.560 exclusively the first Alien movie. I will see every Alien movie, 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:12.960