The alien doll in the movie “ET” will be auctioned next Saturday, 40 years after the famous movie made by Steven Spielberg.
The “Julian’s Auctions” auction house is offering the one-meter-long robotic doll, for an estimated price of between two and three million dollars, and it may exceed that much, reports a local Arabic daily.
With its aluminum frame and exposed cables, the tiny doll is a little engineering masterpiece, consisting of 85 mechanical joints that allow movement of the nose, eyes, eyelids, neck, arms… enough to bring this alien to life, whose friendship story with baby Elliot has captivated the entire world.
And the doll, which was moved by about 12 people during the filming of the work, seemed so real that actress Drew Barrymore, who played the role of Elliot’s little sister, believed that it belonged to a type of living being, as explained by the CEO of “Julian’s Auctions” Martin Nolan, in an interview with France Press agency.
At a time when cinema had not yet entered the digital age, Steven Spielberg turned to special effects specialist Carlo Rambaldi.
The Italian, who designed the character “King Kong” (1976) and the alien in the movie “Alien” directed by Ridley Scott (1979), won a third Oscar thanks to the “ET” alien doll. Rambaldi drew inspiration from the eyes of his Himalayan cat, the doll’s large blue eyes.
In addition to the “ET” doll, collectors have the opportunity to acquire unpublished drawings used in the design of the character, or even one of the bicycles (estimated price ranges between $ 30,000 and $50,000) that followed Elliot and “ET” in the famous scene in which they fly towards the moon.
The auction, which will be organized online in Beverly Hills, includes about 1,300 prominent pieces taken from cinematic works that were shown during the past decades.
Several dresses for the icon Marilyn Monroe (estimated prices range between 40 and 80 thousand dollars), the wand used by Charlton Heston in the movie “The Ten Commandments” (estimated price between 40 and 60 thousand dollars), and one of the witches’ brooms that appeared in the “Harry Potter” series will be put up for auction,” (at an estimated price between 30 and 50 thousand dollars).
In addition to these distinctive pieces, items from works by “Marvel”, “Star Wars” and “Terminator” are being auctioned, including, for example, the famous mask from the movie “The Mask”, which is offered at an estimated price of one thousand dollars.