ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

[Krel]

It is stated in the movie that Morbius is a loving Father. So he would, both consciously and unconsciously, want his Daughter to be safe. If they were any native wildlife that could be a danger to Altaira, then she would need a protector. And a Bengal Tiger makes one hell of a protector! Even if there were no native wildlife that could be a danger, he would still want a protector for any unforeseen danger. Little Altaira is heading for the chasm, the tiger heads her off, and herds her back to the house. The kid ain't getting past a tiger that weighs several hundred pounds.

Or it could just be that his subconscious thought his little girl would like a pretty stripped kitty along with her other playmates. It's just a what-if exercise.

I admit that my views are colored by having read the novelization, several times. I wonder if they ever filmed any scenes were they find out the animals were Morbius's creations.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

[Krel]

I'm perfectly fine with Morbius not consciously knowing that he made the animals for Altaira. As for why he was comfortable with child Altaira interacting with a 200 to 600 pound tiger that suddenly appeared, it's because he subconsciously knew that he had them created, and his strengthened subconscious would further alleviate any concerns he had. His subconscious would not let him be concerned, nor would it let him remember the things it did that violated his morals.

Different subject. Where did Morbius keep all the results of his research? Is is possible that Robby was his repository? If so, than the United Planets are going to get a big jump in knowledge when C-57-D gets back to Earth.

David.

[Gord Green]

Bud, I think your take is pretty much accurate.

How much of the input in the movie was Hume's and how much was Block and Adler's….even the director Wilcox's can only be surmised. I've never seen Hume's treatment for FATAL PLANET, so I just have to wonder.

However, the bottom line comes down to Morbius's denial of his part in the appearances of the animals and the Id Monster.

One thing I've wondered about too is how he constructed Robby and why. Robby is totally anthropomorphic. That is he is created as a Human form, not a Krellian form or even a strictly mechanical form. There wouldn't have been a blueprint handy for the construction.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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You've got several great ideas here, and they inspired some interesting speculation.

[Eadie]

[Eadie]

Alta evening publicity new:



Alta plays with fallow deer:



Andy Shawcraft home-made toy:



BTS cannon repair:



Christmas stocking:



Altair IV vegetation study by David Cummings sponsored by NASA and UCLA:



Just what was on the ends of the other sofa?:



Return to the Forbidden Planet done in the style of Star Trek:



Forbidden Planet if done by Disney:



A LP vinyl record:



French poster unused concept:



George J. Folsey, Jr & Cinemascope 55™ Camera:




Irving Block C-57-D landed on Altair IV:



Irving Block C-57-D take-off:



Italian novel cover:



Jeep leaving C-57-D cut scene:



Krell chair front:



Krell House Keeping Magazine:



Lab 3 by Irving Block:



Licensed toy:



Close-up of panels:





The Perry Como Show Kraft Music Hall:













Script original opening dialog:



"Robot Delambre" mash-up:



Sascha Brastoff's Id concept:



Sascha Brastoff's Krell concept:



The shaft light:











Robby in TV show Stacked Gavin's Pipe Dream:



Star Trek - Deep Space 9 Whispers ship list:





Tanner & "Buddy" Gillespie:





Tanner & Alfred Hitchcock. Who's the meanest lion?:



The UPF book in the movie:



My best re-creation:



The Forbidden World by Systemcat:



The monkeys listed in the novelization:



Could someone Post these to Imgur™ so we could have larger and clearer pictures?:












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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

[Maurice]

[Maurice]

[Bud Brewster]

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This is a revised version of yesterday's post, so if you read it yesterday . . . this one is even better!

Over the years I've tried to come up with ideas for a sequel to Forbidden Planet.

Such a sequel wouldn't necessarily have to be so ambitious that it somehow saved Morbius AND Altair 4 . . . but I'd sure love to think of a way to do that.

One idea I have involves the Krell machine's ability to perform those miracles involving "creation by mere thought". It occurred to me that in the last instant of Morbius' death, his mind would have sent out a mental blast of fear at the thought of dying, along with his deep regret at having to leave his daughter.

With that in mind, consider this.

If the Krell machine could sense Morbius' deepest emotions, then his emotions at the instant of his death would definitely get through to the Krell machine loud and clear! The machine would understand that Morbius was dying . . . and that he desperately wanted to escape death!

Based on events in story, we learned that the machine doesn't just create objects on demand, it also carries out actions which serve the user's intentions.

For example, the Id monster was not something specific which Morbius had to imagine in order for the machine to create it. Therefore, the machine obviously has the ability to create whatever it determines will serve the intent of the user.

Another example is the way Morbius was troubled by the fact that Adams was going to contact Earth for special instructions. In response to Morbius' subconscious resentment of this action, the Krell machine sabotaged the klystron frequency modulator, a key component . . . and a device which Morbius was not even aware of!

Therefore, all the machine needs to do is understand the user's intentions, and it will do whatever is needed to accomplish the task.

That's a very important point. Hold that thought as you read the rest of my proposal for this sequel.

The self-destruct mechanism was timed to detonate 24 hours after Morbius died, and as far as we know, Morbius' body was left in the Krell lab, which became his tomb until he was cremated in the hottest funeral pyre in the galaxy!





So, while the C-57-D was leaving the star system, I can't help wondering what the Krell machine was up to. Remember, Commander Adams said that the Krell could mentally command the machine to "instantaneously project solid matter to any point on the planet . . . in any shape or color they might imagine . . . for any purpose".

We know for a fact that this ability included the creation of living tissue, because it created Altaira's pets. In the novel by W.J. Stuart, he described Doc's autopsy results from the monkey which the tractor ran over. The monkey had a heart, lungs, muscles, bones, and a circulatory system. But anything the "monkey" didn't need to seem alive was just fibrous filler material. No digestive system, for example.

It the Krell machine could create a convincingly real monkey and all the other animals, it could have repaired whatever injuries were caused by Morbius' terrifying confrontation with the Id monster!

Just for the record, the most likely cause of Morbius' death . . . is a common heart attack! He was not somehow killed by the Id monster.





With all that in mind, picture this:

Adams and Altaira order Robby to bring his car around to the front entrance, and in it they race to the ship, leaving the slower tractor behind with Doc's body inside, knowing that both he and Morbiuus will be cremated when the planet blows up.

A few minutes after the couple leaves, Morbius suddenly regains consciousness!

The pain that racked his chest several minutes earlier is now gone. His heart has a strong and regular beat . . . compliments of the Krell machine, which has "projected" the rebuilt organ right into his chest!

Morbius slowly struggles to his feet and stares down at the glowing self-destruct switch. His all-consuming thought would be the statement he'd made just a few minutes ago; the chain reaction of the Krell furnaces "cannot be reversed".



However, he immediately realizes he made that statement without taking into account what the Krell machine was capable of doing. And if he could learn how to consciously control the machine, he could command it to stop the chain reaction just as easily as it had brought him back from death!

Guys, it's very important to understand that even though Morbius is a human with an intelligence level far below that of the Krell, this does NOT mean he can only cause the machine to do "low energy" creations. The problem is not with the strength of Morbius' mind, it's the clarity of his thoughts.

For example, the creation of the Id monster was the machine's misguided reaction to Morbius raw anger and savage emotions when the Bellerophon crew tried to force him to leave Altair 4. And this happened again when the C-57-D crew posed the same threat.

As a result, the savage and aggressive thoughts in Morbius' subconscious mind caused the machine to create an invisible, indestructible monster that attacked a fortified starship, armed with powerful weapons!

Later, when Morbius was barricaded in the lab behind a 26" thick door of solid Krell metal, the machine kept drawing more and more power until it melted through it.

In other words, the machine can apply as much power as it needs to fulfill any mental message it interprets as a command — even when the command itself is fuzzy and difficult for the machine to fully understand.

In the climax of this movie, when Morbius faced the heart-breaking thought of his daughter abandoning him and leaving with Adams, the machine responded so violently that the Id monster threatened to destroy both Adams and Altaira!

Also please note that the climatic assault occurred while Morbius was wide awake and struggling to consciously STOP the attack.



The important point is that ultimately . . . he actually succeeded! He stopped the ID monster's attack by consciously controlling it.

The fact that this elderly man suffered a heart attack when he faced the hideous embodiment of his own savage emotions does not negate the fact that Morbius proved he could exercise conscious control over the machine in those final moments.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, consider the situation when Edward Morbius suddenly regains consciousness in the Krell lab after he'd been left for dead by Adams and Altaira.

Morbius quickly realizes that he's been saved by a technological miracle. But he also knows that he has twenty-four hours to train his mind to consciously control the Krell machine so it can be ordered to stop the chain reaction.

After doing so, he must then command the machine to create a powerful thermonuclear device which will be "projected" to a point several millions miles out in space, so that it will create a convincing explosion which looks like the image below at the exact moment Altair 4 is supposed to explode.



The segment of this hypothetical sequel dealing Morbius' resurrection would begin with selected scenes of Morbius training himself to consciously control the machine. Several hours after regaining consciousness in the lab, dawn would break over the Morbius estate, and we'd see the determined man standing in the dinning room, his face contorted by his fierce concentration as attempts to order the machine to materialize an object.

And suddenly . . . a monkey appears on the table and scampers away!



Morbius' expression lights up, and he turns his attention to the pool patio, his eyes narrowed to slits, his brow furrowed.

Within seconds, a tiger materializes!



As his skills increase, he gets cocky and creates a duplicate of Robby, who then starts lumbering around the house in the usual manner.



At one point we see Morbius testing his new-found powers by conjuring up a duplicate of Altaira — standing right next to him while he studies his creation closely to insure it's perfect in every way.



But this experience proves too painful, because he knows he might never actually see his precious daughter again.



Morbius quickly "wishes" her out of existence and then rubs his temples as if the strain of these endeavors has caused him some pain, similar to his demonstration of the plastic educator, just two days earlier.





After many hours of diligent practice, Morbius becomes convinced he's capable ordering the Krell machine to stop the Krell furnaces' chain reaction.

After he succeeds in doing this, he orders the Krell machine to create a nuclear device, located out in space and set to explode at the proper time so that it convinces the people aboard the C-57-D that Altair 4 had been destroyed.

Remember, the Krell machine considers the intentions of the users commands — the actual purpose of the objects and actions being requested. All Morbius needs to do is tell the machine what he wants to happen. He does NOT need to know how to build a bomb.

The Krell machine takes care of all the details.

After the C-57-D crewmen and Altaira see the explosion, they head back Earth to report that Altair 4 no longer exists. And Dr. Edward Morbius would finally feel free to plan the best way to preserve the scientific treasures of the Krell, while still protecting mankind from the dangers of that advanced knowledge.

What do you think, folks? Have I succeeded in creating a premise for a Forbidden Planet sequel.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Eadie]

New fan art, artist unknown:


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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

[Bud Brewster]

________________________________

So, what's happens next in ths imaginary sequel, Return to the Forbidden Planet?

Click on the image for the answer.

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Having said that, here we go.

Remember how I mentioned that I thought Morbius should have been allowed to lead a team of scientist who'd set up a huge complex on Altair 4 to study the Krell science and make careful decisions about what parts of it to share with Earth?

Well, that would be his "long game".

But if he'd survived after the movie ended, he'd first want to conduct more research on his own, just to make up for the way he overlooked the true nature of the Krell machine for twenty years. In this sequel, however, Morbius knows it might be better to never reveal that Altair 4 still exists if that caused humans to come and discover certain aspects of the Krell science that would be fatally dangerous to mankind.

In other words, his original opinion hasn't changed.

"I have come to the unalterable conclusion that mankind is unfit, as yet, to receive such knowledge — such almost limitless power!"



This proved to be even more true than he realized, but he also knows that Commander Adams will make a full report to Earth about what happened on Altair 4, and the United Planets authorities will know that the Krell knowledge is dangerous — despite being a treasure trove of priceless knowledge.

In this sequel, with Morbius miraculously alive and faced with the task of saving the Krell knowledge for mankind under his absolute supervision, the first thing Morbius would do is . . . bring Dr. Ostrow back to life!

Why? Oh, heck. That's obvious!

The movie established that after his fatal brain boost, Doc was actually smarter than Morbius! Just before he died, Doc said to Adams, "You ought to see my new mind. It's up there in lights. Bigger than his now!"

Because Doc's I.Q. became higher than Morbius', it allowed him to connect the dots and solve the mystery of the Krell machine after Morbius failed to do so. That being the case, Morbius would be eager for the New and Improved Dr. Ostrow to work with him and study the Krell science so that mankind could eventually benefit from it — without being destroy by it.

The only small problem with this plan is . . . Doc is dead.







But wait a minute. Is he really dead?

I was wrestling with the problem of how to bring Doc back to life, but then I suddenly realized . . . I'd already solve it!

Since Doc had suddenly become even more intelligent than Morbius — and since he experienced the same terrifying moment that Morbius did when his mind cried out and begged to escape death — the Krell machine would receive his mental "command" to heal him the same way it did when Morbius died!

Like Morbius, Dr. Ostrow would be unconscious for several minutes after he died and then was resurrected by the Krell machine. During that time, we see Robby place him in the tractor. Since Ostrow died because his brain was damaged by the plastic education, he remained unconscious longer than Morbius.

Hell, even "instant brain surgery" requires a little recuperation time!

Therefore, Doc was lying in the tractor (alive but unconscious), while Adams and Altaira rushed out of the house, boarded Robby's car, and sped off towards the ship.

This new and novel concept means we have to amend my description of what happened when Morbius regained consciousness and emerged from the lab, before he started training himself to focus his mind on the task of consciously operating the Krell machine.

In this new version, Morbius and Ostrow find each other alive and well, and these two geniuses quickly comprehend the amazing situation. Morbius tells Doc about the self-destruct mechanism, and the two men discuss what to do about the fact that the Krell furnaces are approaching a catastrophic failure.

Morbius convinces Ostrow that together they can stop it, and by doing so they'll be able to preserve the Krell science while they also safeguard it from being misused. (Remember, Doc was initially in favor of turning the whole shebang over to the United Planets authorities.)

Imagine the scene in which Morbius takes Ostrow back to the Krell lab and shows him the melted door while he describes the way he managed to command the Id monster to vanish, just before it was about to kill Adams and Altaira.



Morbius is absolutely convinced that one-or-both of them will be able to master a somewhat limited control over the Krell machine and use it to repair-and-reset the reactors. So, he and Ostrow begin a determined effort to do this during the twenty-four hours before the planet is destroyed.

And so, guys, please close your eyes and rerun that scene I described earlier — only this time it isn't just Morbius desperately trying to train his mind to consciously command the Krell machine. It's Morbius and Ostrow!

At first they would both struggle to transmit their thoughts to the Krell machine. But they grow more and more frustrated as they repeatedly fail.

And then suddenly Doc succeeds in making his first creation. After spending several minutes concentrating fiercely on the bowl of fruit —



— a duplicate bowl appears!



Morbius is stunned for a moment, but then he's overjoyed with Doc's success. Doc (being a genius) smiles as he reads Morbius' expression and realizes that the other man is jealous because Doc succeeded before he did.

But then Morbius says, "Very good, Doctor. Obviously I was mistaken when I said your ape's brain couldn't contain the secrets of the Krell."

With a puzzled look, Doc replies, "Wait . . . when did you say that?"

Morbius grins. "Ummm . . . While you were dead."



"Oh." Then Ostrow chuckles. "Well, if you can manage to create the rest of our lunch, we can sit down and eat."

In this manner, the two men quickly develop a strong rapport which will allow them to work well together on the monumental task ahead of them. (And if you think about the situation for a moment, you'll realize just how important it is for them to get along!)

That's all I've got right now, folks, but I think we can all agree that a partnership between Morbius and Ostrow, would make a great sequel to Forbidden Planet, with both men capable of making limited use of the Krell machine in their efforts to protect the greatest scientific discovery in the galaxy.

I'll leave you with this idea. Imagine their discussions about how important it will be for them to remain cordial and cooperative. These two guys know what might happen if somebody gets pissed off!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Eadie]

(Sorry about both the size and darkness of these two but I could not find better copies.) The astrogator plan:


THIS ONE IS VERY IMPORTANT! It will help in the debate over the house lay-out that happened awhile back and may help make things clearer. The house set elevation plan:[/size]



New to us; the study:



Exterior Lab door, stair/ramp & tunnel:



These are from the Bonhams auction. (Butch purchased them.)
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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

[Bud Brewster]

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I found a slightly better copy, but it's still too blurry make out much.

Oh well . . .



I thought of a few questions about the Ancient Rocket Bourbon. First of all, I started wondering just how sure we are that the label on the bottles looked like this.



I mean, how well do we really see the label?

Second, how many of the bottles actually had Ancient Rocket Bourbon labels on them? Would we really be able to tell if the studio just used bottles with their original labels?

I did a little research and found this image on line, a cropped section of a screen grab. It's hard to be sure, but the label does seem to say "Ancient Rocket". However, it doesn't say "Genuine" on the lower half, although it does say "bourbon" at the bottom. And I can make out the circle of the planet Earth faintly on the bottle to the left, and it's barely visible on the right one.



Notice that the font used for the words "Ancient Rocket" is very different on the real ones than on the replica. And I don't see a rocket zipping around the planet, unfortunately, because that part reminds me of All Sci-Fi's logo.



IMDB has this interesting trivia item: The cook drinks "Ancient Rocket Bourbon". This is a play on the real "Ancient Age" bourbon. In the future time of the movie, faster than light travel has made rockets so obsolete that they're referred to as "ancient".

Ah-ha! So THAT'S why the font on the custom-made labels looks a bit more fancy than the ones on the replica! It was meant to emulate the label on the bottles of Ancient Age bourbon.

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Now all I've got to do is get myself two bottles of Ancient Age bourbon, then print out a copy of the replica's label and paste it onto one of them. Then I'll display them both on the mantle over my fireplace.

I made two screen grabs of the moments when we get our best looks at the pile of bottles, and apparently all the bottles did in fact have the custom-made labels — or at least the ones we can see a fair portion of. Perhaps only 20 or 30 bottles actually had the Ancient Rocket Bourbon labels, and the rest didn't show well enough to bother with the custom label.

(The green square below shows the section used in the crop above.)





One thing surprised me when I watched the clip below. Cookie opens a bottle, smells it, and exclaims, "Genuine Kansas City bourbon!"

I looked up bourbon and discovered that true bourbon must be brewed in American (as decreed by an act of Congress in 1964, I swear). The same beverage is "whiskey" if it's brewed anywhere else. And 95% of America's bourbon is made in Kentucky.

But here's curious contradiction. I couldn't find any pictures of bottles labeled "Kansas City Bourbon", but I did find this one.



The contradiction is that it's called "Kansas City Whisky". But if it was made in Kansas City — it should be called "Kansas City Bourbon." Odd, eh?

And yet if you look closely at the bottom edge of the label for the replica bottle in the image above, it does say "Bottled and Bonded in Kansas City".

But since it IS just a fan made replica, that part might not agree with the actual custom labels any more than the font that was used and zipping rocket.

__ FORBIDDEN PLANET- ID MONSTER SNEAKS ABOARD


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But here's the $64 question.

What happened to all the bottles that did have labels? They probably had actual bourbon in them instead of just water, so the studio might have wanted to retain them just because of the expense.

Maybe the studio executives drank 'em all up . . . and threw away the bottles!

However, perhaps Bill Malone managed to find a few and add them to his Forbidden Planet collection.

And finally, what do you think one of those bottles might go for on eBay? I'd love to have one . . . but I'm sure I couldn't afford it.

Guys, I suspect I'll be dead and gone before people like us run out of new and interesting things about Forbidden Planet which can be discovered, researched, discussed, and debated.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)