Trivia for
Back to the Future Part III (1990)

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• A horse dealership in 1885 is own by the Statlers. In Back to the Future (1985) there is an ad on the radio for "Statler Toyota" in 1985. In 1955, "Statler Motors Studebaker" is visible near the Town theatre.
  
  
• The name on the manure wagon in 1885 reads "A. Jones". In Back to the Future (1985), the name on the manure truck from 1955 reads "D. Jones".
  
  
• Filmed at the same time as Back to the Future Part II (1989). In the five years since the original was made, Michael J. Fox had forgotten how to ride a skateboard.
  
  

• The editor of Hill Valley's newspaper in 1885 is "M. R. Gale", a tribute to trilogy screenwriter Bob Gale.
  
  
• In Back to the Future Part II (1989), Biff watches Per un pugno di dollari (1964) in the alternative 1985, in which Clint Eastwood's character uses steel plating underneath his poncho. Marty (calling himself "Clint Eastwood") uses the hatch from a stove under his poncho in 1885. The sign at the train crossing in 1985 identifies the location as "Eastwood Ravine".
  
  
• "Mad Dog" is the name of the chief villain of Wild Gunman (1984) (VG), the western arcade game Marty McFly plays in Back to the Future Part II (1989).
  
  
• In Back to the Future Part II (1989), upon returning to 1985 from the future, Doc mentions that he left Einstein in a suspended animation kennel in 2015. In BTTF III, when Doc returns to 1985 in the train-based time machine with Einstein, Clara, and sons Jules and Verne, he tells Marty that he "had to pick up Einstein", indicating that he'd done other time traveling before returning to 1985.
  
  
• Throughout the trilogy, the Delorean and its duplicates created via time travel make 15 trips through time. They are: - 1) Doc's dog, Einstein, is sent one minute into the future to test the machine. - 2) Marty travels back to 1955 from 1985. - 3) Marty returns to 1985 from 1955. - 4) Doc travels past 2015 from 1985. - 5) Doc travels to 2015 from the future to find the beginning of the unraveling of Marty's family. - 6) Doc returns to 1985 from 2015. - 7) Doc takes Marty and Jennifer forward to 2015 from 1985. - 8) Biff travels from 2015 to 1955 to give himself the sports almanac, thus creating an alternate timeline. - 9) Biff returns to 2015 from 1955. - 10) Doc, Marty, and Jennifer return to the alternate 1985 from 2015. - 11) Marty and Doc travel back to 1955 from the alternate 1985 to get the sports almanac from Biff. - 12) Doc accidentally travels from 1955 to 1885 when the Delorean is hit by lightning. - 13) Marty travels from 1955 to 1885 to rescue Doc. - 14) Marty returns to 1985 from 1885. It could be argued that the Delorean made a 14th trip through time: being placed in the mine by Doc in 1885 for Marty and Doc to find in 1955. However, it did not actually time travel (i.e. "skip" any period of time) in that instance. - 15) Doc and his family travel from the future to 1985 to introduce Marty and Jennifer to Jules and Verne, and to give Marty an undamaged photo of he and Doc Brown in front of the clock. Additional off screen time traveling has occurred as stated by Doc Brown, when he tells Marty that he has "already traveled further ahead into time to see what else happens" in Back to the Future Part II (1989).
  
  
• The train station is near the site of the station built for Pale Rider (1985), another Clint Eastwood movie. The two halves of the "Pale Rider" station became new buildings in "Hill Valley". One can be seen at the north end of town by the corrals and tracks, and the other at the south end by the waterwheel.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Robert Zemeckis] [citation] When Marty walks along the railroad tracks and finally reaches the town, he comes to the railway station. Then he walks into the town, while the camera slowly rises up above the station and finally shows Marty at a large distance walking into the town. This scene is shot exactly the same way as the scene in C'era una volta il West (1968), when Jill arrives at the station.
  
  
• ZZ Top has a cameo as the band in 1885. They also wrote some of the music for the movie.
  
  
• When Doc and Marty are at the drive-in preparing the DeLorean for the trip to 1885, Marty mentions Clint Eastwood and Doc replies, "Clint who?" In this shot, there is a movie poster on the drive-in's wall showcasing the movie Revenge of the Creature (1955) and Tarantula (1955), both of which feature an appearance by a young Eastwood.
  
  
• Executive Producers Trademark (Steven Spielberg):[stars]: When Doc and Clara kiss whilst looking at the stars.
  
  
• Before sending Marty back to 1885, Doc mentions that he uses the drive-in theatre so Marty doesn't run into a tree that existed in the past. In the first movie, one of the first things Marty does in 1955 is run into farmer Peabody's pine tree that existed in the past.
  
  
• During ZZ Top's cameo, they play a version of the song "Doubleback", which they contributed to the soundtrack.
  
  
• Clara can be seen behind Marty and Doc while looking at the map at the train station.
  
  
• The DeLorean used in the filming of this movie is on display at the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is suspended from the ceiling and hung upside down to give restaurant patrons a better view of the vehicle from above.
  
  
• This film marks the only time in the trilogy when Doc Brown interacts with a member of the Tannen family.
  
  
• This is the only film in the trilogy where Marty and Doc Brown exchange catchphrases. Marty says "Great Scott!" and Doc Brown replies "Yeah, this is heavy" while talking about the tombstone photo.
  
  
• The scene where Marty and Jennifer kiss on the porch was the only scene shot while Part II was being made.
  
  
• The locomotives that smash the DeLorean at the end of the film belonged to the Ventura County Railway.
  
  
• The role of Clara Clayton was written specifically for Mary Steenburgen.
  
  
• The clock in the clock tower started running at 8:00 p.m. on September 5, 1885. The date is provided by the caption on the photograph Doc gives Marty at the end of the movie. The lightning strikes the clock tower at 10:04 p.m. on November 12, 1955. This means that the clock tower operated for exactly 70 years, 2 months, 7 days, 2 hours, and 4 minutes.
  
  
• There exist enough clues in all three movies to reconstruct the travels of the DeLorean precisely (to within a few minutes at worst, except 2015 Biff's arrival in 1955 and Doc's personal travels). There are a few interesting things to note: Not counting the time Doc traveled by himself, the DeLorean spent nearly 71 years (on its own time scale) from its first time travel to its destruction. By the time Marty made his ultimate return to 1985, he was approx. 14 days, 3 hours, and 27 minutes older than he should have been; Jennifer, on the other hand, is 7 hours and 26 minutes younger than she should have been. Another interesting conclusion is a point of contention. There are two theories, one of which drops the last item. On November 12, 1955, between the time Biff arrived (or 6 am, whichever came later) and 6:38 pm (the time he left), there were four DeLoreans present in Hill Valley (ordered from its point of view): (1) The instance when Marty was trapped in 1955 in the original movie, (2) the instance when Biff came to 1955 to give himself the almanac, (3) the instance when Marty and Doc came back to 1955 to take the almanac back, and (4) the instance when it was waiting in the abandoned mine. Those who do not agree with (4) argue that according to the "ripple effect" timeline as presented in the films, there wouldn't be a DeLorean hidden by Doc in the mine until later that evening, when the lightning blast would accidentally send Doc back to 1885, thereby altering the timeline. It is *entirely true* that *we* do not ever witness a moment in the films where all four instances coexist, but the text "ordered from its point of view" above should hint at a solution. Once the DeLorean is in 1885, consider what it would detect (if it were in a position to witness the comings and goings of its former selves): over 70 years of peace, then (1) arrives, then (2) and (3) arrive in some order; (2) then leaves at 6:38, (3) leaves around 10 pm, and (1) leaves at 10:04. (4) itself leaves soon after that. If we grant that all three of those instances (1-3) continue to exist in the "final" timeline, then there should be no problem accepting this theory. Still not convinced? Consider the 100-year gap near the end of BTTF III when Marty takes the DeLorean on its final journey. 70 years into it, for a few hours, there are 4 instances of the car.
  
  
• In the scene where "Mad Dog" tries to lynch Marty, Michael J. Fox was accidentally hanged, rendering him unconscious for a short time. He records this in his autobiography "Lucky Man" (2002)
  
  
• First movie to use Universal's new 75th Anniversary opening studio logo. The logo ran until 1997.
  
  
• The drive-in theater was constructed specifically for this film. It was built in Monument Valley, and demolished immediately after filming. No films were ever screened there.
  
  
• The town was in Jamestown, California, and was ironically destroyed by lightning in 1996.
  
  
• Clint Eastwood was asked for permission about his name being used for Marty in the film. He consented and was said to be tickled by the homage.
  
  
• Each of Needle's henchmen comes from one of the other gangs in the trilogy. J.J. Cohen played Skinhead in Biff's gang in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989). Ricky Dean Logan played Data in Griff's gang in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Christopher Wynne played an unnamed member of Buford's gang in the third film. Cohen appears in all three movies.
  
  
• A bottle of Tabasco sauce is visible at the saloon during the "wake-up juice" scene. It has the design consistent with the time period.
  
  
• Originally, Buford Tannen was supposed to shoot Marshall Strickland in the back, killing him. His son was present at the time. This was edited out of the final cut as it was deemed too depressing. This is why Strickland's deputy arrests Buford at the end of the movie rather than Strickland himself. This scene can be seen on the DVD.
  
  
• It was originally intended that Buford would be arrested for killing Sheriff Strickland, not for robbing the stage, and that's how the scene was shot. The deputy's words were re-looped when they decided to remove Strickland's murder scene.
  
  
• Actor and former President Ronald Reagan was originally approached to play the part of Mayor Hubert because of his fondness for the first film in the trilogy. He reluctantly turned down the role, and the part went to Hugh Gillin instead.
  
  
• In Back to the Future (1985), Doc tells Marty that he was inspired to create the Flux Capacitor after hitting his head on the bathroom sink while trying to hang a clock over his toilet. In Part III, when Doc freaks out after seeing Marty in his house and runs into the bathroom, you can just see the clock hanging above the toilet he slipped on.
  
  
• Marty uses a Frisbie pie plate to knock a gun out of Mad Dog's hand. In 1871, the Frisbie Pie Company started in Connecticut. Their pie pans were thrown on the campus of Yale and these eventually lead to the invention of Frisbees (tm).
  
  
• The second and third Back to the Future movies were shot consecutively over the course of 11 months (with a three week break between Parts II and III).
  
  
• For approximately three weeks Robert Zemeckis would fly to L.A. after his day's filming of the train climax of Back to the Future Part III (1990) to approve the sound dub that Bob Gale had been supervising of Back to the Future Part II (1989). He would then get up at 4:30am the next morning to fly back to the Northern California set to continue with his filming for that day.
  
  
• In the course of the year that it took to film Back to the Future Part II (1989) & Back to the Future Part III (1990), Michael J. Fox lost his father but gained a son.
  
  
• Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis figured that for Back to the Future Part III (1990) they had already done all that they could with Marty's family, so the focus of the film was shifted to Doc Brown.
  
  
• Mary Steenburgen's children were the ones who persuaded her to be in the film.
  
  
• To demonstrate Doc's fondness for Jules Verne, his locomotive time machine was designed to resemble the Nautilus from the 1954 Disney film 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).
  
  
• The death of Michael J. Fox's father delayed filming for two weeks.
  
  
• According to the book "Billy Gibbon: Rock & Roll Gearhead", ZZ Top was hanging around the set and was asked to be the town band. During one take, the camera broke. While waiting for the camera to be repaired, Micheal J. Fox asked if they would play "Hey Good Lookin'" which they did. Afterwards, more requests were played. Two hours later, someone inquired if the camera had been repaired. The director replied that it had been fixed for quite a while, he just didn't want to stop the party that had evolved.
  
  
• Doc Brown states his German ancestors' surname was "von Braun". This is a reference to Wernher von Braun, one of Germany's leading rocket scientists, who fled to America following World War II and assisted greatly in the NASA program.
  
  
• Mary Steenburgen in Time After Time (1979) also fell in love with a time traveling scientist and joined him on his journey through time.
  
  
• The steam locomotive used in this movie is called Sierra No. 3, painted to look like an 1880's steam locomotive. This type of locomotive was actually created in 1896.
  
  
• In 1996, Lego released their line of time travel themed sets. As part of the promo for both the Time Cruisers and the Wild West sets being released, the comic section of the Lego magazine did a two part piece sending a character to the Wild West.
  
  
• When ZZ Top recorded Doubleback for the movie, they did two versions. The rough cut is the version heard during the dance sequence, then the full version during the credits.
  
  
• Burton Gilliam who played the Colt salesman also parodied the Western movie genre as Lyle in 'Mel Brook' 's Blazing Saddles (1974).
  
  
• The three old timers in the saloon were played by Dub Taylor, Pat Buttram and Harry Carey Jr. who played sidekicks, town drunks, and colorful townsfolk in hundreds of westerns and television shows.
  
  
• The character of Clara Clayton is in reference to Clara Clemens, Mark Twain's daughter. Clara Clemens went on a sleigh ride with her future husband, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, the horse took fright from a wind-swept newspaper and bolted while the Gabrilowitsch lost control. At the top of a hill, next to a 50 foot drop, the sleigh overturned, throwing Clemens out. Gabrilowitsch leaped to the ground and caught the horse by the head, stopping it as it was about to plunge over the bank, dragging Clemens with her dress caught in a runner.
  
  
• Thomas F. Wilson who plays Buford Tannen, performed all his horse riding stunts himself. He also did the trick where he lasso's Marty just before we meet the 1885 Doc.
  
  
• The photographer at the festival is the film's director of photography Dean Cundey.
  
  

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