BTTF 30th anniversary with the animated series!!

[Anwar]

nd a new arc about Marty's reaction to being called chicken is suddenly introduced when there was no trace of it in the first film. The original was not made with the sequels in mind, and it should be understood on those terms.

The chicken thing didn't really come out of nowhere. No one in the first movie ever called Marty a chicken, his courage was never in question by anyone (even Strickland only called him a slacker, not a coward).

Notice when Lorraine called Marty a square for not drinking, he immediately took a swig like he was offended?

 

[Christopher]

^No, it doesn't contradict anything, but it wasn't really hinted at before. It's a new addition for Part II, and it always stood out to me as feeling kind of tacked on. It's one of the things that make Parts II & III less than perfectly integrated with Part I. Not that it doesn't work as a trilogy, mind you -- it's just that the original film is such a flawlessly structured story, with nothing wasted and everything fitting together perfectly. Naturally, anything added to it after the fact couldn't feel quite as perfectly integrated, though they did it quite well overall.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I highly recommend the new book "Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History". http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/00...ual history&qid=1445897327&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

It covers all 3 films, the Universal Studios Ride, and the animated series. Not only are there great pictures but great removable prop replicas. Including a holographic one of the picture of Marty and his brother and sister. They disappear when you move it!

It answers the question of why Christopher Lloyd did not voice Doc in the animated segments of the series. He was too busy with his film schedule. All his life action scenes for the first season were filmed in 3 days. Not many people may be aware that those were directed by Peyton Reed who went on to direct Ant-man. He previously worked as minor crew member on the sequels, than directed BTTF The Ride and also a Behind the Scenes tv special on the trilogy.

 

[Christopher]

It answers the question of why Christopher Lloyd did not voice Doc in the animated segments of the series. He was too busy with his film schedule. All his life action scenes for the first season were filmed in 3 days.

Which is still a bit odd, since recording animation roles is a much, much quicker process than filming live action. You don't have to spend time in makeup and wardrobe, you don't have to wait for camera setups and lighting, you don't have to memorize your lines in advance, and you don't even have to come in at the same time as the other actors. So you'd have to be amazingly busy to have too little time to do voice work. You could probably record thirteen half-hour scripts in three days.

Still, it's not unprecedented, I guess. Tim Daly didn't return to play Superman for Justice League because he was starring in a TV remake of The Fugitive. Although I always figured that was because the show was filmed on location across the country, so Daly wasn't physically available to come into the studio. Maybe Lloyd was also shooting a film on a distant location at the time the show was recorded.

 

[Dick Whitman]

You are right, I had the same thought. The only possible explanation is they mention they had all the actors record their lines for each episode in the recording booth together as a group. So they could play of each other. Which is uncommon in animation. So perhaps they thought having him record his lines separately would throw that off???

I got the Animated Series on DVD. There are more bonus features than I would have expected. There is an interview with Producers Bob Gale and John Ludin. Plus a separate one with many of the artists and animators. I was impressed to learn that many of them went on to very high profile jobs on films for Pixar and Dreamworks and other animated features. Also there is galleries of character designs, background paintings. Plus complete storyboards for 2 episodes.

I was 13 years old when the series first started. I saw and recorded most of the first season at the time. I only had seen a small number of episodes from the 2nd season before this.

It was interesting that while there was less time travel in the 2nd season, when it did happen it was mostly to Hill Valley. Like the actual movies. I think the only time that happened in the 1st was to 2091. But looking at an episode guide half of the 2nd season is devoted to time travel to Hill Valley in the 19th or 20th Century.

Of course two of the worst episodes, non time travel, are in that 2nd season. One where video game characters crossover into the real world and another in which the kids create a money tree... Both felt like poor knockoffs of Ducktales episodes.

That book mentions that CBS wanted all the science experiments dropped and an alien added to the cast for the 2nd season! But Bob Gale refused.

 

[Christopher]

It was interesting that while there was less time travel in the 2nd season, when it did happen it was mostly to Hill Valley.

Oddly similar to the Bill and Ted animated series. The first season (produced by Hanna-Barbera and using the movie cast's voices) replicated the format of the original movie, with time travel every week, but the second season (produced by DIC and using the cast of the brief live-action TV series for its voices, even though it aired before the live-action show) had less time travel and more general weird-science plots in the present day. (The live-action series also used that format, presumably to save money.) I wonder if both shows were under the same kind of pressure from the networks, but I'm not sure why the suits would favor general present-day weird-science plots over weekly time travel.

That book mentions that CBS wanted all the science experiments dropped and an alien added to the cast for the 2nd season! But Bob Gale refused.

Good for him. The science lessons were an important part of the show. It was also a career boost for Bill Nye, who hadn't yet gotten his own show at that point.

 

[Corran Horn]

So you'd have to be amazingly busy to have too little time to do voice work. You could probably record thirteen half-hour scripts in three days.

Given what's going on in the VO industry right now w/r/t work time and compensation I think those time estimations are very far off and would be considered pretty harsh working conditions by the talent.

 

[Christopher]

^I had the impression that it wasn't uncommon or difficult to do maybe three episodes per day. I mean, we're talking about 20 minutes of dialogue per episode, maybe a few takes of each line, that might be 60-90 minutes per episode, plus prep time. So I'd think it would be feasible to do several episodes in a single session.