Trivia
Jump to:
Cameo (2)
Douglas Adams' head appears as a planet during Slartibartfast's (Bill Nighy's) tour of the galaxy.
The producers have stated that this movie was not a literal translation of the books (just as the books were not a literal translation of the original radio show), but all of the new ideas and characters came from Douglas Adams. The hired writer simply came aboard to improve structure and make the screenplay more coherent.
Deep Thought (Dame Helen Mirren) explains the significance of the number 42 at forty-two minutes into the movie.
As the Heart of Gold spaceship travels through "Improbability" it quickly transforms into many strange shapes (including a rubber duck). In the final transformation at the end, it quickly transforms into the face of author and Creator Douglas Adams.
Easter Egg: The DVD includes an "Improbability Drive" item on every menu. Clicking this leads to a random point in one of the bonus features. Used several times leads to a strange cartoon, which is the same one Deep Thought (Dame Helen Mirren) watches.
Belgium (which, according to the original radio series, is the most unspeakably rude word there is) can be heard in the movie three or so times.
According to the DVD commentary, the animators who created the animated Guide entries would occasionally sneak in hidden in-jokes into their animations that were deemed too inappropriate for a family movie and had to be removed. One of these jokes which wasn't removed is an animation explaining the Babel fish and how a farmer becomes repulsed when he learns that a cow is somewhat aroused by being milked.
The old lady sitting at the streetside table, oblivious to, or uninterested in, what's going on around her, was Douglas Adams' mother. Director Garth Jennings didn't give any acting directions to her or anybody else in the scene for what they were suppose to do to simulate chaos, so she just sat there reading a newspaper.
This movie was in "development hell" for over fifteen years. At one point, Douglas Adams insisted it would be made "sometime before the last trump". Just prior to his death, a deal was almost in place with Jay Roach directing and starring Hugh Laurie (Arthur), Jim Carrey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), and the late Sir Nigel Hawthorne (Slartibartfast).
According to Douglas Adams' notes, he wanted the name of the character "Slartibartfast" to sound extremely rude, but still pass BBC's rules on what could be broadcast. He actually started with "Phartiphukborlz" and changed it, bit by bit, until it was acceptable.
When the Heart of Gold heads for Magrathea, the Infinite Improbability Drive changes it into a bell, some cherries, a melon, and a lemon - all common features on a slot machine, emphasising the randomness of the process.
The nightgown/bathrobe Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) wore was the most expensive and difficult of all of the costumes, including Zaphod Beeblebrox's (Sam Rockwell's) heads and Humma Kavula's (John Malkovich's) eyes. The fabric had to be sewn on-stage and was flown in from Turkey.
Faint screams can be heard a moment before Mr. Prosser (Steve Pemberton) speaks. In the book, Mr. Prosser is a direct male-line descendant of Genghis Khan, the reason why he wears little fur hats and often hears a thousand hairy horsemen shouting in his head.
As the emergency escape pod crashes on Vogsphere, the sound made by it is the same as the plane from the end of "In the Flesh", the first track on Pink Floyd's album "The Wall". Douglas Adams was a personal friend of Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and even played at one of their shows.
The car that Ford Prefect "introduces himself to" is actually a Ford Prefect, from whence Ford got his "Earth name". Despite being a Ford, the car was never manufactured or sold in the United States, but produced in Ireland, the U.K., Malaysia, and New Zealand, and sold in Europe, Asia, and Australia between 1938 and 1959.
The movie was first optioned in 1982 by producers Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck, and Michael C. Gross. Douglas Adams wrote three drafts for them per his contract. During this time, Medjuck and Gross were considering Bill Murray or Dan Aykroyd to play Ford Prefect, but then Aykroyd sent them his idea for Ghostbusters (1984) and they did that movie instead.
The names of all five books - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life the Universe and Everything, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, and Mostly Harmless - are each mentioned throughout the course of the movie. The last, however, is only in the deleted scenes.
In one shot, the Apple Mac logo is visible on the side of Deep Thought, the giant computer. Douglas Adams owned the first two Apple Macintosh computers delivered to the United Kingdom, while Stephen Fry (the voice of the Book) owned the third. Both men were or are keen advocates of the Mac. Douglas and Stephen were close personal friends.
Religious leader Humma Kavula (John Malkovich) was created especially for this movie by Douglas Adams. He does not appear in any previous version of the story. However, the Jatravartids, of whom he is the spiritual leader, are mentioned in the books.
The model of Marvin the Paranoid Android from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981) is waiting in line when Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman), Ford Prefect (Yasiin Bey), and Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) are trying to find the correct form to rescue Trillian (Zooey Deschanel).
Several minutes into the credits, a final Guide entry is shown. This is the "careless words/problem of scale" entry, well-known to fans of other incarnations of the Guide.
Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) learns The Guide's sole entry for Earth is "Harmless", and that the updated version was to be "Mostly Harmless". This was filmed but didn't make the final cut (it is included as a bonus deleted scene on the DVD). It would have been seen when Arthur and Ford Prefect (Yasiin Bey) arrive on the Vogon ship.
This is the ninth version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". It has previously appeared as a radio series, two record albums, novels, a television series (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)), a computer game, a stage show, a comic book, a video game (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984)) and a towel. (The game version is not, in fact, a video game, but was an Infocom "interactive fiction" (text only) game, plotted/scripted by Douglas Adams, programmed by Steve Meretzky, which has been available to play free on the BBC Radio 4 website since 2005.)
The Vogon written language seen on their release forms as well as in a bilingual caption in the Magrathean video which says "Information Deleted", is actually a form of English. Pitman shorthand, once taught to hundreds of thousands of office workers mainly in the British Commonwealth, is a series of straight and curved strokes meant to write down sounds much faster than regular writing. As discussed in a book about the movie, the Vogons use a slightly blocky but recognizable form of "Pitman 2000", the most recent version of Pitman shorthand published in 1970. It occurs in the Vogon release forms, posters on the wall which say "Fire Exit Escape Map" (over a hopelessly confusing maze of arrows with a spot at the center saying "You Are Here") and "Are you depressed? Destruction Therapy!"
The fancy dress party contains several references to Douglas Adams' 40th birthday party, which happened in 1992. At the real party, Adams introduced Darwinian Evolutionist Richard Dawkins to the future Mrs. Dawkins, Lalla Ward. In this movie, Arthur is seen reading Dawkins' book, "The Selfish Gene", when he meets Tricia, who is dressed as Charles Darwin. Adams and Dawkins became very good friends after Adams received a fan letter from him.
The relevance of Sector ZZ9 is the fact that in the U.K., if a person has N.F.A. (No Fixed Abode (no place to live)) then the postcode is recorded as ZZ99 3VZ, thus, Trillian (Zooey Deschanel) and Arthur (Martin Freeman) come from Sector ZZ9, and thanks to the Vogons, they are both of N.F.A.
Some additional shots were filmed to fit in with Arthur waking up at the beginning. In one shot (included in an early trailer, but cut from the film, and not on the DVD), Arthur's identification as a BBC employee can be seen. The original Hitchhiker's radio and television versions were produced by the BBC.
The Hitchiker's Guide is a parody of "The Encyclopedia Galactica" from Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels.
The Heart of Gold bridge set had so many light bulbs that the bulbs could only run for eight minutes at a time to prevent the set from catching fire.
Shada, the prison "planetoid" of the Time Lords, can be seen in the background during the factory floor scene on Magrathea. Doctor Who: Shada (1992) was a Doctor Who (1963) story that Douglas Adams wrote but was never completed for television due to a strike at the BBC. Characters and settings from "Shada" appeared in Adams' novel "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency", which recycled ideas from his serial Doctor Who: City of Death: Part One (1979).
A painting of Douglas Adams and his wife Jane Belson appears on the Heart of Gold. Other Adams cameos include a few handles on some cupboards in Humma Kavula's (John Malkovich's) office being shaped like Adams' nose.
Bill Murray, Robert Downey, Jr., Will Ferrell, and Johnny Depp (a huge Douglas Adams fan) were also considered for the part of Zaphod Beeblebrox. But after Sam Rockwell's audition, Director Garth Jennings immediately chose him.
The passage of October 10, 2010 (10/10/10) publicized the fact that, 101010, a binary equivalent of the number 42, is the number that received considerable attention in popular culture because of its appearance in Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" as the answer to "the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything".
When Ford Prefect (Yasiin Bey) and Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) first greet each other on the Heart of Gold, Zaphod calls Ford "Ix" and then quickly corrects himself. In the novel, Ford is from planet Betelgeuse Seven, which was destroyed during the unspecified "Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster of Gal./Sid./Year 03758". "Ix" was a nickname that Ford's childhood schoolmates gave him, which, according to the book, translates as "boy who is not able satisfactorily to explain what a Hrung is, nor why it should choose to collapse on Betelgeuse Seven."
The "babel fish" translator that Ford puts in Arthur's ear inspired the Babelfish web page (first on Altavista, now on Yahoo), which provides translations to and from different languages. The name "Babelfish", in turn, was named after the Tower of Babel in the Bible's Book of Genesis.
In a chaotic scene shot in London, fans can spot Douglas Adams' brother James Thrift, sister Jane Garnier and daughter Polly Jane Rocket Adams rushing about in the general panic, as Earth is destroyed by the Vogons.
Sam Rockwell has said in interviews that his portrayal of Zaphrod was influenced by three people: Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley, and Vince Vaughn. Many viewers find a resemblance to George W. Bush as well. Rockwell portrayed George W. Bush in Vice (2018).
One major change originally made for this movie (and apparently the only one not originating from Douglas Adams) was that Trillian (Zooey Deschanel) was to have been revealed as being only half-human. This plot point was referenced in pre-release publicity, including the movie tie-in reissue of the original novel, cast and director interviews, and the official "making of" book. Before release, however, this plot point was deleted from the final cut.
Both actors who played Marvin in this movie (Alan Rickman as his voice, Warwick Davis as his body) portray Hogwarts professors in the Harry Potter film franchise. Rickman was Severus Snape, Davis was Filius Flitwick. Richard Griffiths, who voiced Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz in this movie, played Harry Potter's uncle Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter film franchise. Bill Nighy (Slartibartfast) also appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (2010) as the Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour.
When hurriedly giving possible questions to what the answer 42 might mean, Arthur suggests "How many roads must a man walk down?", the first line of the Bob Dylan song "Blowin' In The Wind".
The hymn sung by the Jatravartidian followers of Humma Kavula (John Malkovich) was recorded at St. Martin's Church, Highgate, London on June 19, 2004. The hymn was sung by several hundred untrained members of the public invited to the recording via a call for singers circulated on the Internet.
Jack Davenport was considered for the role of Arthur Dent, but in the end, it was decided he was simply too good-looking for the role of the ultimate everyman Dent. Douglas Adams had originally wanted Hugh Grant to also play Arthur, but the idea was nixed.
The pub, to which Ford Prefect (Yasiin Bey) takes Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) in the beginning, is the Beehive Pub of Hertfordshire, England.
"Journey of the Sorcerer" is the song that plays when the book is first introduced (floating in space), It was originally performed by The Eagles, and used for as the theme music for the original radio series.
Thomas Lennon was originally considered for the role of Ford Perfect before eventually being cast as the voice of Eddie the Computer.
Douglas Adams once stated that the only character that absolutely had to be English was Arthur Dent. The fact that Ford was played by African-American actor, Yasiin Bey, is not a significant deviation from the source material. Very few details are given about Ford's physical appearance in the book. Additionally, Zaphod and Trillian (who is described as vaguely Arabic looking) are played by American actors Sam Rockwell and Zooey Deschanel.
Around 1990, a then-unknown Tim Roth was seriously considered to play Arthur Dent.
When the Vogons are preparing to destroy Earth, a large radio dish can be seen (surrounded by a sheep paddock). It is the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope in Cheshire, England.
The note that Ford uses in the pub to buy six pints "and keep the change" is a fifty pound sterling Bank of England note with the engraving of Sir John Houblon on the back. In the original 1978 radio version and on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981), it was "a fiver".
Stephen Fry, who inherited the role of the Guide from the late Peter Jones, was a close friend of the late Douglas Adams. They were also both graduates of Cambridge University, although Fry was five years younger.
The initial dolphin dance scene was filmed in the "Loro Parque" Zoo, in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain, the only place in Europe to feature an "Orca Ocean", and site of the world's largest parrot collection.
After Jay Roach decided to pass on directing the movie, he brought the property to Spike Jonze. Jonze also passed, but suggested Nick Goldsmith and Garth Jennings (also known as Hammer and Tongs, also soon-to-be former music video directors), who accepted.
When Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) and Slartibartfast (Bill Nighy) move from the loading bay on their way to the factory floor, another carriage is seen entering the room and a klaxon sounds. This is the same klaxon that sounds at U.K. fairground rides (such as the ghost train) to signal the start and end of the ride.
The song "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish" was on the longlist for nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but was ultimately not nominated.
The Magrathean holomessage appears as if it would become three dimensional with red/blue 3-D glasses, but it is actually more of a Convergence calibration issue. It doesn't actually become 3-D. He's only rimmed with red and blue, as he would if the convergence was aligned off-center. If it were a real 3-D effect, his whole face would be blurred with red/blue overlays.
Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings was based on real-life poet Paul Neil Milne Johnstone. He asked Douglas Adams to alter the name for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy franchise. The original Johnstone name appears only on the radio show and in the 1979 printing of the novel. Jennings appears everywhere else including here.
When rescuing Trillian on Vogsphere, anytime someone has an idea or thinks, they get smacked in the face. Except the Leader of Vogshpere when he says "I think I'll have soup today."
Despite the fact that this was filmed in Super 35, "Filmed in Panavision" is listed in the end credits.
The robot shown in the waiting line on Vogsphere is the same robot used for Marvin in the 80's Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy TV series
In the fourth book of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book series, there is a character named John Watson, which is the name of Martin Freeman's character in Sherlock (2010). Another Sherlock Holmes connection, Stephen Fry (the narrator of the Guide) played Mycroft Holmes in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson, respectively.
There is/was a Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy appreciation society called "ZZ9 plural Z Alpha". They had meetings, called "slouches", mainly in Slough, in pubs, and often frequented by Douglas Adams.
This is the second science fiction comedy movie in which Alan Rickman and Sam Rockwell appeared since Galaxy Quest (1999).
Bill Nighy previously appeared as Samwise Gamgee in the BBC Radio drama of The Lord of the Rings. Also appearing in that production was Jack May, who appeared on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981). Martin Freeman played a Hobbit in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), which also featured Stephen Fry.
Oliver Postgate auditioned for the voice of the Book.
At 6m 12s, J.J.Coughlan is a real life civil engineering contractor, with it's own fleet of vehicles and plant.
Ford Prefect (Yasiin Bey) says that when he first arrived on Earth, he tried to shake hands with a car, thinking that automobiles were the dominant life form on Earth. Interestingly, the Disney/Pixar Cars (2006) film franchise takes place in a world entirely populated by anthropomorphic vehicles.
Martin Freeman played a young Bilbo Baggins, a role previously played by Sir Ian Holm. Holm appeared in his own movie about space travel, Alien (1979).
Cameo
Su Elliot: When Ford Prefect (Yasiin Bey) and Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) drink at the pub early on, a middle-aged blonde can be seen watching them. According to the DVD commentary, she played Trillian in the London stage version of the story, a fact of which director Garth Jennings was unaware until the day of shooting.
Simon Jones: The original Arthur, handpicked by friend Douglas Adams for the radio show and television's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981), makes a brief appearance as the Magrathean "greeting/threat" holomessage. This marks another slight deviation from the other Guide incarnations, as all of the other versions used Slartibartfast's likeness for the holomessage.
