The Black Hole Movie Trivia

This is a list of **trivia** from the film, taken from the IMDB entry. Additions and new trivia will be labelled in **bold**.

* The film was originally supposed to take place in a completely weightless environment. The technical difficulties prompted a re-write of the script so that when the USS Palomino docks with the USS Cygnus gravity returned.

* For film the special effects, Disney originally wanted to rent the Dykstraflex camera system, the first computer-controlled camera, created for *Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope*, from Industrial Light & Magic. The price and rental terms were unacceptable, so Disney created its own version. The result was Disney's A.C.E.S. or Automated Camera Effects System, which was radically superior to the Dykstraflex system, the Mattescan system, which enabled the camera to move on a matte painting, and a computer-controlled modeling stand.

* John Hughes of Tau Films and formerly of Rhythm & Hues, created the "green grid" sequence that appears in the opening titles. It was the longest computer graphics sequence ever to appear in a film at that time.

* V.I.N.CENT was originally supposed to have more elaborate electronic eyes, based on electronic stock ticker-type billboards, which would have given him a greater range of facial expressions. The electro-mechanical eyes didn't work properly, and the effect was abandoned at the beginning of principal photography.

* This film and *Star Trek: The Motion Picture* which was released 13 days prior, were among the last Hollywood films to include an overture, once a common feature of 'major' studio releases. This film's overture is usually cut from television broadcasts, though it's included in showings on Turner Classic Movies and the DVD release. When the film initially received a Blu-ray release from the Disney Movie Club service, it lacked the overture by mistake. This oversight was corrected in future printings of the disc, but unless one buys it directly from the service, there's no way to tell the difference between both discs if one buys it secondhand.

* Like many other science-fiction films released after *Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope*, which had generated a fortune in licensed merchandise, this film had a lot of tie-in merchandise. It didn't sell well. Vintage toys from the film are highly sought-after, and often sell for huge amounts of money.

* The visual effect of the black hole itself was created by forming a whirlpool in a round Plexiglas water tank, and adding different colors of paint.

* Disney regarded the quality of the special effects to be so crucial that it called Peter Ellenshaw out of a 10-year retirement to work on the film.

* This was regarded as the last big special effect production to be made under the "old studio system." All of the elaborate special effects were created within the Disney studio and not farmed out to outside special effects companies.

* A fixture in Disney's special effects department for more than 40 years, Eustace Lycett, then head of the Photographic Effects Department, retired after completing the composite work on this film.

* Harlan Ellison was briefly brought on as a scientific consultant on the film. He was fired on his first day, before lunch was over, because he pitched an animated porno movie starring Disney characters. Roy Edward Disney was sitting at the next table, heard everything, and had Ellison fired on the spot. Ellison insists he was simply joking, but others who were there say he was talking about it sincerely.

* The USS Cygnus was actually a 12-foot-long 3.6 meter) model weighing 175 pounds (79.3 kg).

* The film contains over 550 visual effects shots, including over 150 matte paintings.

* Dr. Hans Reinhardt's ship was originally called the Centaurus. It was renamed Cygnus after the constellation where the first known black hole was discovered in 1964.

* Gary Nelson was not satisfied with the way the model shop made B.O.B., saying that the robot did not look battered enough. He went to the clay model they were using for reference and hit it several times with a baseball bat. They built a new robot based on that model.

* The laser pistols originally had light up tips that would activate when the actors pressed the trigger, giving the animators cues as to when someone was actually firing the guns. The actors would unconsciously press the triggers when they were not supposed to, often inadvertently shooting cast members.

* Alan Dean Foster, who wrote the novelization of the film, was so appalled by the bad science in the script that he provided a list of changes to the producers which he felt would improve the story. Upset by this, the Disney brass actually called a meeting to decide what to do.

* According to press at the time, the film's score was the world's first digitally recorded soundtrack.

* Some leftover sentry robot costumes were later used in Steven Lisberger's test reel for *Tron*.

* The helmets of robot sentinels had a very limited vision, making it difficult to direct and coordinate the actors, particularly when they were firing the lasers.

* Yvette Mimieux was given a short and curly hairstyle to make the scenes where she appeared weightless seem more convincing, since longer hair would have flowed about in zero-gravity.

* Dr. Reinhardt's dying words, "more light," were supposedly Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's final words.

* Almost all of the dialog in the film was re-recorded by the cast during post-production looping (ADR) - with the exception of only a couple of lines.

* The film takes place in 2130.

* This, being one of Disney's first forays into more adult material, was one of the chief inspirations for the creation of Touchstone Pictures.

* Maximilian, is modeled on the satanic demon Chernabog that features at the end of *Fantasia*.

* The model of the Palomino incorporates a door from an 'Eagle' from *Space: 1999*, obviously kit-bashed from an Eagle's MPC 1:72 model kit.

* The poster of the movie can be seen in Sam Flynn's bedroom in the opening scene of *TRON: Legacy*.

* Director Gary Nelson had wanted to give unknown Sigourney Weaver the female lead role, and recalls that the head of the casting department vetoed him due to the unattractiveness of the actress's name. Weaver would become a sci-fi icon when *Alien* premiered seven months before *The Black Hole*.

* As the crew of the Palomino asks how Dr Reinhardt lived alone for 20 years, Dr Reinhardt repeats 20 years as if taken aback. He then says 20 earth years. This leads to a scientific theory that gravity affects time. According to the theory, an object or person at the event horizon of a black hole would experience a time dilation or slowing of the passage of time. This would mean that while 20 years have passed on earth, less time would have passed for Reinhardt and the Cygnus. How much less is not clear.

* Just before B.O.B. shows V.I.N.C.E.N.T. the room where the Cygnus crew gets lobotomized when the light beam starts you can see the actor's face revealing what happened to the crew of the Cygnus.

* At the time, this was one of the most expensive films Disney had ever produced. It was also the company's most expensive failure.

* Whitman produced a comic book adaptation of the film, which was published in two parts as the first two issues of an ongoing comics series. The third and fourth issue, retitled "Beyond The Black Hole", continued the adventures of the characters past the events of the film, but was cancelled before the storyline was resolved. The first three issues (the two-part movie adaptation and the first "Beyond" story) were packaged and sold in a bagged set and are now relatively common on eBay. The fourth issue, however, is very difficult to find and highly collectable, especially in good condition.

* Hanging on Dr. Reinhardt's cabin (though blurred) is a portrait of admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. Although it is curious having the portrait of a British admiral on an American spaceship, Nelson was known in his time to be a revolutionary -and often reckless- tactician.

* Long-time Disney associate Winston Hibler worked on the preliminary stages of production only to retire. However, when the stalled film resumed pre-production in 1976, Hibler was coaxed back out of retirement. One of the first things he did was persuade legendary matte painter Peter Ellenshaw to leave his retirement and work on the film. Hibler died later that year.

* The painting of the U.S.S. Cygnus in Reinhardt's dining room is actually one of the film's early concept paintings done by Peter Ellenshaw.

* Gary Nelson hated the original script, titled "Space Probe-One", but he agreed to direct the film after seeing the concept renderings, which he thought were "magnificent". **Space Probe One was mentioned in the script when V.I.N.CENT read out names of spacecraft when the Palomino detected the unknown ship.**

* When the film was broadcast on ITV in the UK in the late 1980s during the daytime, two scenes were removed: Reinhardt on the mountain-top in Hell and the of an angel flying through the church-window-like portal.

* Originally conceived as a disaster movie a la The *Towering Inferno* and *The Poseidon Adventure* set in space.

* Considered for the role of Reinhardt were Harry Andrews, Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Curd Jürgens, Patrick Troughton, Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasence, Anton Diffring, Hardy Krüger, Max von Sydow and Jeremy Kemp.

* There are several similarities to Disney's *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea*. The smartest crew member Anthony Perkins learning from the world-weary, isolated mad scientist Maximilian Schell is like Paul Lukas learning from James Mason. The ever-reluctant hero, Robert Forster, is the Kirk Douglas character while sidekick Peter Lorre is a combination of Joseph Bottoms and V.I.N.CENT The similarities include the scientist's crew (although they're much different here), and especially the crew-member's burial sequence at sea and in space.

* Maximilian is named so for the actor Maximilian Schell who plays Dr. Hans Reinhardt. It's common to see the robot's name misspelled as Maximillian with two "LL". Preproduction scripts originally had the name as Maximillian, but when Maximilian Schell was added to the cast the robot name was changed to match.

* Dr. Reinhardt was written as a parody of Wernher von Braun, the Nazi scientist **who invented the V-2 rocket**, later worked for NASA and developed the liquid fuel rocket engines that made space travel possible. Von Braun's middle name, Maximilian, was also the inspiration for naming Dr. Reinhardt's evil robot companion.

* Dr. Reinhardt wears the Order of Canada which is a Canadian national order and the second highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada. It comes second only to membership in the Order of Merit, which is the personal gift of Canada's monarch.

* Tom McLoughlin Tom McLoughlin also coordinated for the mimes who play the sentinels and the humanoids. His wife doubled Yvette Mimieux for stunts.

* There are similarities between the probe ship's journey into the Black Hole and Dave Bowman's through the star gate in *2001: A Space Odyssey*. Both phenomena are wormholes. However, both experiences are ambiguous. It's unknown what exactly Bowman passed through, and this film seems to be implying time travel, although it's unclear why there was emphasis on the characters recalling excerpts of past dialogue.

* Original female lead Jennifer O'Neill made a single test shot for the film before being advised by director Gary Nelson that she'd have to have her hair cut very short as her trademark long hair would not behave weightlessly in the film's supposedly zero-gravity environment. According to Nelson, O'Neill brought Vidal Sassoon to the studio to cut her hair which Sassoon trimmed an inch a time, with O'Neill fortifying herself after each trimming by downing a glass of wine. Driving home post-tipple fest O'Neill - whether coincidentally - was in a car accident which left her unconscious for four hours and hospitalized in intensive care. Although O'Neill would downplay her injuries as only appearing serious, they apparently caused Disney sufficient concert to take her off *The Black Hole*.

* John Barry composed the Overture.

* With the death of Yvette Mimieux on January 18 2022 , Joseph Bottoms is the only living cast member.

* Yvette Mimieux had starred in one previous Disney movie: *Monkeys, Go Home!*.

* USS Cygnus is named after Cygnus X-1, which is the name of the first discovered astronomical object widely accepted to be a black hole.

* Disney promoted this movie on its Sunday evening program, *Major Effects* (1979), in an episode called Major Effects, which aired December 16, 1979. This lighthearted semi-documentary featured Joseph Bottoms as the title character, Major Effects.

* Maximilian Schell turns up 26 minutes in.

* Linda Evans was interviewed for the female lead before the casting of Jennifer O'Neill and - after O'Neill's departure -before the casting of Yvette Mimieux. Her career then at a low ebb, Evans was severely disappointed by being passed over: however a commitment to *The Black Hole* would have precluded Evans shooting the pilot for *Dynasty*.

* John Hough was originally set to direct, but dropped out to direct *Brass Target* instead.

* In addition to his uncredited work on "The Black Hole", Roddy McDowall provided the voice for Chuck the robot in an episode of *Mork & Mindy* called "Dr. Morkenstein", which aired October 14, 1979.

* Reinhardt told Durant to monitor his travel through the black hole as there might be an "Einstein-Rosen bridge". That is also known as a Wormhole. That theory postulates that a theoretical passage through space-time could create shortcuts for long journeys across the universe.

* Reinhardt said, "and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." That line is from the Bible, Genesis 1:2.

* Any sharp-eared viewers who also watched *Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope* might recognize the sound of the spaceships' doors opening and closing - this borrowed sound effect has not, as of this writing, been officially confirmed, however.

* The upward jutting control tower and numerous tall thin spires on top of the gigantic 12 foot model of the USS Cygnus presented an unexpected problem when it came time to ship the newly built model to the filming studio. Typically models were packed into crates and shipped, but it was realized at the last minute that the standard crating technique might damage these small and delicate parts of the model. The builders brain-stormed the problem and soon devised a suspended hammock, comprised of numerous straps in which to cradle the model during its trip. The rigging successfully protected the model during the shipping and the huge Cygnus model arrived unharmed at the filming studio.

* The use of Slim Pickens for the voice of B.O.B. is similar to the country hick voice used by one of the androids in the second rate similar to Star Wars movie from the year before, *Starcrash*.

* When the film was first submitted to the MPAA, it came back with a "G" rating. Swear words were added in order for the film to be given the "PG" that the Disney was hopping for.

* **In the final script, there was no written ending**.

* The trailer showed Durant's death scene, though out of context, so all that is visible is a close-up of Anthony Perkins's face as he screams.

* V.I.N.CENT defeats the robot Maximillian by boring through his mid-section with a high powered drill bit. This is similar to how Maximillian killed Dr Durant, so it would seem an appropriate end for the robot.