U.S. #3190m
33¢ ET
Celebrate the Century – 1980s
Issue Date: January 12, 2000
City: Kennedy Space Center, FL
Quantity: 6,000,000
Printed By: Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 11.5
Color: Multicolored
In 1982, America fell in love with an imaginative movie about a 10-year-old boy named Elliott, who befriends an alien he calls E.T. Directed by Steven Spielberg, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” chronicles how E.T. was left on Earth after authorities discover his spacecraft, forcing a hasty retreat. Initially frightened by the strange creature, Elliott (played by Henry Thomas) lures the hungry E.T. to his home with a trail of candy. There, E.T. meets Elliott’s family.
Elliott and E.T., who displays various psychic powers, develop a close bond. In one scene, E.T. drinks beer, and Elliott, who’s attending school, gets drunk.
E.T. decides to build a communications device from various household items to “phone home.” Authorities raid Elliott’s home, and E.T. becomes ill. After E.T. appears to die, he escapes with the children. In one of the movies most memorable scenes, E.T. makes their bicycles fly into the night to evade capture. Later, E.T. meets a spacecraft and reunites with his own kind.
“E.T.” remains one of the five most successful movies of all time, with profits exceeding $399 million. It received nine Academy Award nominations, winning an Oscar in four categories, including best score, sound, sound effects editing, and special visual effects.