This Month in History - May Roundup

Marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg created the “SpongeBob SquarePants” cartoon series, which debuted on Nickelodeon on this day 21 years ago. It went on to be one of the most successful American animated series in history. The series follows a sea sponge and his friends, and many of the stories are based on Hillenburg’s textbook about undersea life, called “The Intertidal Zone.” It was renewed for a 13th season last year and has spawned three film spinoffs and more than $13 billion in merchandising revenue.

After a 25-year hiatus on production for “Spider-Man,” multiple scripts, and numerous production companies, this summer blockbuster broke weekend box-office records when it finally debuted on this day in history in 2002. Columbia Pictures optioned all previous versions of the screenplay, including elements from an earlier version by James Cameron. David Koepp was hired to finish the script, which was later rewritten by Scott Rosenberg and polished by Alvin Sargent. The story is based on the Marvel Comics character, and the film got two sequels. “Spider-Man” is credited with redefining the superhero genre in film. Cameron, Rosenberg, and Sargent reportedly voluntarily relinquished script credit to Koepp.

David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson are credited with the historical action drama “Gladiator,” which debuted on this day 20 years ago. Franzoni pitched the initial screenplay and wrote the first draft, inspired by Daniel Mannix’s novel “Those About to Die.” After director Ridley Scott was attached, he hired John Logan to fix the dialogue in Franzoni’s script. Two weeks before filming began, a third writer, Nicholson, was hired after actors complained that the screenplay had problems – and lead actor Russell Crowe expressed that frustration loudly. He reportedly stormed off set often, and rewrote many lines himself, at one point attempting to rewrite the entire thing on the spot. Ultimately, “Gladiator” was a huge success, winning five Academy Awards and grossing nearly $460 million on a $103 million production budget.

Stephen Sommers both directed and wrote the 99’ action horror “The Mummy,” along with writers Lloyd Fonvielle and Kevin Jarre. The story is based on a 1932 film by the same name, though many details were changed. It follows an adventurer who accidentally awakens a spirit in the City of the Dead. Critics give the film mixed reviews to this day, but it was a box office success, grossing $416 million worldwide and reportedly coming in under it’s $80 million production budget.

Did you know that the ending in “Friday the 13th” wasn’t in the shooting script, and was a suggestion by the film’s makeup designer? Victor Miller wrote the horror script, which was initially titled “A Long Night at Camp Blood.” The new title, “Friday the 13th,” was director Sean S. Cunningham’s idea. Cunningham had previously worked with Wes Craven and was also inspired by John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” telling Miller that he wanted to give audiences jump-out-of-your-seat feeling, with even more of a roller coaster ride than his predecessors. The movie was supposed to end with Alice floating on the lake, but makeup designer Tom Savini suggested bringing in Jason for more of a “chair-jumper” ending. It’s proof that great ideas can come from anyone!

On this day in history, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin formed one of the most famous comedy troupes of all time, Monty Python. Their sketch series, “Monty Python’ Flying Circus” aired 45 episodes on BBC, and spun off books, musicals, films, and stage shows. The team played with the conventions of comedy and television, creating something new and unique in the process, a style that’s often referred to as “Pythonesque.” While Idle reportedly wrote alone, Jones and Palin and Cleese and Chapman wrote in pairs, and after a few days, the troupe would get together to decide what was funny. Majority ruled. The various sketches are united with the common thread of Gillian’s animations, bridging often disparate storylines.

Happy birthday to Academy Award-winning screenwriter Alan Ball! Ball wrote the screenplays for “American Beauty” (for which he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay), and he also created the series “6 Feet Under” and “True Blood.” Ball is also a director and producer and says his Buddhist faith influences his filmmaking style.

George Lucas turns 76 years old today. Most famous for the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises, Lucas is both a filmmaker and an entrepreneur. He founded LucasFilm, LucasArts, and Industrial Light & Magic, and is one of the most financially successful filmmakers of all time. While he’s been nominated for four Academy Awards, he’s never won a competitive honor. He was, however, awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, an honorary statuette for achievement in creative production.

Fifteen people received what is now known as an Oscar award on this day in history in 1929, at a private dinner hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. That would later be considered the very first Academy Awards presentation, though it wasn’t broadcast via radio until 1930. The first televised broadcast was in 1953, and now, the awards show that honors artistic and technical achievement in film, is broadcast worldwide. To this day, it’s considered one of the most prestigious awards in entertainment.

The animated feature “Shrek” debuted on this day in history, helping to solidify DreamWorks Animation as a worthy competitor against Pixar. The story, written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S.H. Schulman, was loosely based on a book by the same name, written by William Steig. One of the film’s producers discovered the book through his kids and pitched the idea to DreamWorks. “Shrek” was a box-office and awards-season success, winning the first-ever Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

“Do the Right Thing” was written by Spike Lee, who also stars in the film. It’s about a neighborhood in Brooklyn experiencing increased racial tensions, ultimately ending in violence. Lee said he got the idea for the screenplay after watching an episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” that centered around the concept that hot weather brings out violence in people and recent racial incidents in which two African Americans were killed. He wrote the script in just two weeks, and it went on to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards.

Screenwriter Leigh Brackett was hired to write the sequel “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,” but she passed away before she could see the film come to fruition. Following her death, George Lucas outlined the entire Star Wars saga and wrote a next draft of “The Empire Strikes Back” himself, then brought on screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who had just completed writing “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Upon completion, the film was another huge success and remains one of the top-grossing films to this day, adjusted for inflation. The movie proved that a sequel could be as good if not better than an original film. Many critics consider this film, also referred to as Episode V, to be the best in the Star Wars saga.

Though the name might suggest it, screenwriter Randall Wallace is not related to the lead character in his epic drama “Braveheart” in any way. Wallace was inspired to write the story of the medieval Scottish legend William Wallace after visiting Scotland to discover his familial roots. The screenplay caught the attention of the director, producer, and actor Mel Gibson, and the film went on to earn 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Screenplay. It won five Oscars.

Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which debuted in Spanish on this day in history at the Cannes Film Festival. The story is original, but draws on many inspirations, including dreams that del Toro experienced, fairy tales, roman mythology, and themes from his earlier film, “The Devil’s Backbone.” One of the movie’s lead actors describes a meeting with del Toro, where the filmmaker described every detail of the film over two and a half hours, despite there being no screenplay yet. When the screenplay was finished, the actor said it was exactly the same as del Toro’s description a year prior. “Pan’s Labyrinth” was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Screenplay, and won three.

The world met Marlin, Nemo, and many other memorable undersea characters on this day in history in 2003, with the premiere of the animated feature “Finding Nemo.” Inspired by events in his own life, Andrew Stanton developed the story for the film, and he, along with David Reynolds and Bob Peterson, completed the screenplay. Stanton said his experience going to the dentist and looking at the fish tank as a young child, and his feeling of protection over his son sparked the idea for the film. A photo of clownfish in National Geographic Magazine led to the father-son fish characters in the film, Marlin and Nemo. The film was the first Pixar movie to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar at the Academy Awards, and it was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.