Doc Brown

**Doctor Emmett Brown** known more commonly as **Doc Brown** is the meet-and-greet character at Universal Studios Florida from *Back to the Future*.

Dr. Brown is a mad scientist, with rather quirky and emotional manners, but also a very kind person. He invented the flux capacitor, that makes time travel possible, and built a time machine out of a DeLorean car. Despite its ingenuity, his invention caused many problems and often changed the History of Hill Valley, the film's setting.

## History

### Background

*Following Doc Brown's history as presented in the parks and adjacent continuity. While some easter-eggs may have lore connotations, references to visibly different continuities such as the Simpsons may not be taken as cannon.*

#### Origins

Doc Brown was an eccentric scientist in Hill Valley, obsessed with developing a means of time-travel. Doc Brown worked out of the garage of his burned down family mansion and created inventions for the townsfolk while seen as a madman. One of Doc Brown's earliest inventions was an automated flapjack maker capable of making over 300 pancakes an hour. However he also used an experimental sawdust pancake batter which prevented the automated flapjack maker from catching on. In 1955, he invented a brainwave analyzer allowing him to read the thoughts of others.

In 1955, Doc Brown met teenager Marty McFly who was a good friend of his from the year 1985 who had been stranded in the year 1955 by Doc Brown's time machine the DeLorean. While Marty was fading out of existence due to having potentially altered the time stream, Doc assisted him in getting the energy needed to power the Delorean by using energy from a historic lightning-bolt which was bound to happen that Marty knew about. The two were successful in getting Marty back to the future.

Another invention of Doc Brown's was the, "Canine Cafeteria" which had a timer to feed dogs experimental sawdust dog-food. He also made a static machine which causes hair to stand up for easier cutting during hairdresser sessions. Doc Brown used this method on his own hair for years and it may have been responsible for his odd looking hair. He also created a dynomatic spray gun instant bronzing of clothing and accessories as a holiday gift-idea.

By the 1980s, Doc ran *Dr. E. Brown Enterprises*. By the time Marty was actually born and grew up, Doc became a good friend and mentor of his while. Doc Brown also had a pet sheepdog named Einstein (named for Albert Einstein).

#### Back to the Future

In 1985, Doc Brown invented a DeLorean car able to travel through time by using a, "Flux Capacitor". After making the car and showing it off to Marty McFly, Doc Brown was seemingly shot dead by members of a gang who he was in debt to. Marty went back in time to 1955 to escape the gang, and worked with Doc Brown's past self to travel back to his present. Marty also left behind Doc a letter explaining the events of 1985, motivating Doc Brown to wearing a bulletproof vest to save himself where he reunited with Marty.

After this, Doc Brown travelled to the advanced high-tech future of the year 2015, where he equipped the DeLorean with hovering technology. He then returned to 1985 and picked up Marty to take back to the future in order to prevent Marty's son, Marty Jr., from going to jail for Griff Tannen and destroying the McFly family. During this incident, an older version of Griff's grandfather Biff Tannen overheard this and secretly hijacked the Delorean to go back in time and create an alternate timeline where he was a millionaire from predicting games to bet on.

Doc and Marty found themselves in this timeline, where Doc found that his counterpart had been institutionalized by Biff. Doc and Marty then returned to 1955 to prevent the older Biff from giving a sports almanac to young Biff, during which time Doc met and assisted his 1955 self in the machinery needed for the Delorean to get Marty to the future. While this plan to foil Biff, was successful it also stranded Doc Brown in the year 1885 where he posed as a blacksmith while attempting to repair his DeLorean. Doc used the Western Union to deliver a message to Marty at the exact moment after Marty would have perceived this, as a kind of SOS.

Marty travelled to the 19th century to save Doc Brown, where Doc Brown had saved then fallen in-love with a woman named Clara Clayton. Doc was conflicted on whether or not he could travel to his own time and leave Clara, and was later taken captive by Biff's outlaw ancestor Buford Tannen. Doc and Clara also saved Marty by using a hijacked train to push the DeLorean to the necessary speed to travel to the future, while Doc and Clara stayed in the past. However, Doc and Clara married, had two children named Jules & Verne, and managed to turn the train into its own time machine which they used to travel to the 20th century and visit Marty.

#### Institute of Future Technology

In 1985, Doc Brown unveiled the DeLorean Time Machine to the rest of the world. Using his DeLorean, Doc Brown met various inventor/scientist idols of his from across history including Thomas Edison whom signed his lightbulb, to witness the first flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903. Doc also met with Albert Einstein in New York on March 16, 1953 where he was present alongside New York attorney general Nathaniel Goldstein for the presentation of the *Albert Einstein College of Medicine*. Here, Doc Brown introduced the historic Einstein to his sheepdog, also named Einstein after the scientist.

After this, Doc Brown was recorded attending a speech of then president Richard Nixon where he silently mocked Nixon with knowledge of the man's corruption. Doc Brown went on to visit 1964, where he photographed the Beatles arriving to the USA. A newsreel video was made of Doc Brown's historic adventures called, "Doc on the March".

Doc Brown opened up the, "Institute of Future Technology" in 20th century Orlando, Florida. A newspaper article was released on this event had the title, "CRACKPOT SCIENTIST OPENING NEW VENTURE".  Here, Doc Brown created a version of the DeLorean to seat eight people at a time.

In 1991, Doc Brown was running tours/volunteer-work to the next day within his eight person Deloreans. He contacted some of these recruits through his hover-cam with the sub-ether transmissions, while in hover traffic over Hill Valley in the year 2015. He did this to warn them about how Biff Tannen's where and when-abouts were unknown, putting the volunteers at risk.

One of his deloreans went back to 1955 where Biff Tannen stowed away, then locked Doc Brown in the supply closet of the institute and stole a DeLorean. Doc Brown sent a group of eight volunteers out to stop Biff, while he remote-controlled their vehicle. The vehicles chased Biff across time before knocking it back to 1991 where Biff was apprehended by institute personnel.

#### Losing the Institute

On March 30th, 2007, Doc Brown lost control of his Institute (though appeared to retain *Dr. E. Brown Enterprises*). While the continuity is questionable, it has been repeated multiple times that he lost control to capitalist children's entertainer, Krusty the Clown. Doc may have also lost a DeLorean in a race to Dominic Toretto's Crew. One of the devices which he would be seen with is a kind of bicicyle equipped with a flux capacitor, explained as bringing anything moving at 88 miles per hour to him but which he misplaced whatever he last sent and needed to retrieve. Doc Brown had been spotted a few times in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Doc Brown would go on to be seen with much of his technology and a clip-board with plans to get his institute back. Doc Brown's plans involved using time travel to alter events to restore the institute under his control, including time-travelling to March 28th, 2007 before the institute was shut down and to the year 2013. In 2015, Doc Brown used his DeLorean to talk to many people about how his predictions of the year 2015 were somewhat incorrect.

## Appearances

Doc Brown often makes meet 'n' greet appearances in the parks, sometimes accompanied by his DeLorean. Doc's DeLorean and time travelling train used to appear in Universal Studios Florida, nearby where the Back to the Future ride once stood and sometimes had Doc Brown appear there for meet 'n' greets. Doc made a live appearance for, "Back to the Future Day" in October 21st, 2015 (when the future timeline of the film was set) where he talked about how 2015 wound up being different than predicted and apologized for the lack of hover technology.

### Back to the Future: The Ride

Doc Brown was a major character in this attraction.

### San Francisco

#### Fast & Furious: Supercharged

In the queue, there is a certificate and keys from Doc Brown implying him to have lost the DeLorean in a race. The DeLorean's "OUTATIME" licence plate also appears.

#### Richter’s Burger Co.

There is a black and white photograph of Doc Brown "about to receive" a shock, nearby diagrams of earthquake measuring equipment.

### The Simpsons Ride

Doc Brown makes a cameo in one of the pre-show videos for this ride. It is revealed that Krustyland was built where the Institute of Future Technology once was (tributing how the Simpsons Ride replaced Back to the Future: The Ride). When Professor Frink uses the DeLorean to go back in time and figure out why this, is, he accidentally runs over the lawyer who Brown was signing a deal with, forcing Brown to sell to Krusty the Clown. After this, Krusty tells Doc to get a haircut and work the front-gate of Krustyland park.

### Tribute Store

The Back to the Future area has been themed to Doc Brown's lab with various references to the doctor. On the "Local news" section of the summer Tribute Theater bulletin-board was a newspaper clipping with the title, "CRACKPOT SCIENTIST OPENING NEW VENTURE" and a story about Doc Brown opening up the Institute of Future Technology in Orlando, Florida. The 2023 Holiday Tribute Store had business cards from Dr. E. Brown Enterprises. One of the packages present at the post office was a container of plutonium, indirectly referencing Doc Brown.

## Trivia

* For Doc Brown's meet 'n' greet appearances he often has the orange octahedron logo for the *Institute of Future Technology* on his lab-coat.
* One of Doc Brown's idols referenced in the attraction was Thomas Edison, who historically did not actually create many of his inventions (a relevant example being that the lightbulb was invented by Joseph Swan (1828-1914)).
* Doctor Emmett Brown was portrayed by Christopher Lloyd in *Back to the Future: The Ride* and *Back to The Future: OUTATIME* at *Universal’s Great Movie Escape.*
* Back to the Future: The Ride had a visual gag of Doc Brown recreating an Anti-Indigenous racial-caricature of an Indigenous American in an Indigenous war-bonnet for a, "Please stand by" technical difficulties screen.
* Doc Brown losing the institute on March 30th, 2007 references the day that Back to the Future: The Ride shut down.

## References

1. ↑ Back the Future: The Ride pre-show
2. ↑ Date mentioned on meet 'n' greet clipboard
3. ↑ https://touringplans.com/blog/s6\_usfmeetngreet/
4. ↑ https://attractionsmagazine.com/easter-eggs-and-hidden-tributes-in-fast-furious-supercharged-at-universal-orlando/
5. ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2022/05/full-tour-of-classic-movie-themed-summer-tribute-store-featuring-jaws-back-to-the-future-and-e-t-at-universal-studios-florida/
6. ↑ https://touringplans.com/blog/s6\_movie\_theater\_tribute\_store/
7. ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2023/11/holiday-tribute-store-2023-usf-full-tour/