I watched ET again today with Moonbase Junior.
There's just something about this kids film that captures the heart. Yep, I blubbed several times and Junior did too by the end. The universal Spielberg heartstring-puller in full cosmic flow.
Made in 1982 its holds forever in aspic an American way of life that dowdy broke young Brits like me could only dream of. Sunshine, space, pizza delivery, Halloween, large cars, BMX bikes and aliens making friends. Its a zeitgeist that countless modern series and flicks have strove to re-create, Stranger Things being a good example. Imagine now those sunny days before mobile phones and social media when kids and parents actually interacted with each other without taking a picture every few seconds. I know ET's a film but they seemed to be having lots of good ol' fun.
The mention of Star Wars Kenner figures in the flick just makes it even more fun for someone my age looking back. I imagine kids in 1982 were only just realising quite how special the Star Wars universe was. I wasn't even on board that year. It took me ages to realise.
Me and Junior were so upset when the film ended that to compensate I dashed into the attic to retrieve the remaining two ET toy figures from my daughter's old collection from 30 years ago. There was a plush ET like an alien teddy and a stuffed faux-leather ET that was a bit mouldy.
Old mouldy came down and was put to one side for a thorough clean but ET teddy was going home with Junior. He loves it. It just needed a loose arm stitching back on and dust-mite destruction programme since Junior has allergies. We opted for freezing.
So ET is currently being frozen overnight in the freezer. Tomorrow he will be right here but after lunch he's going home with Junior and a whole new generation of Eliotts, not to mention the original owner, our daughter. A full circle or what!
Did and do you like ET? Did or do you have any collectables readers?
