Howard the Duck (released in the United Kingdom as Howard... A New Breed of Hero) is a 1986 American superhero comedy film directed by Willard Huyck and starring Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones and Tim Robbins. Based on the Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck, the film was produced by Gloria Katz and written by Huyck and Katz, with George Lucas as executive producer. The screenplay was originally intended to be an animated film, but the film adaptation became live-action because of a contractual obligation. While several TV adaptations of Marvel characters were aired, this was the first theatrical release since the Captain America serial of 1944.
Lucas proposed adapting the comic book following the production of American Graffiti (1973). After multiple production difficulties and mixed response to test screenings, Howard the Duck was released in theaters on August 1, 1986. Upon its release, the film was a critical and commercial failure and was panned for its humor, performances, inconsistent tone, and appearance of the title character, though the cast performances, effects and soundtrack were mostly praised. In the years since, it has been considered among the worst films ever made, but has also developed a cult following. It was nominated for seven Golden Raspberry Awards (winning four), and made about US $16.3 million domestically compared to its US $30–37 million budget.
Plot
On Duckworld, an Earth-like planet inhabited by anthropomorphic ducks, Howard the Duck is propelled out of his apartment building and into outer space; he lands on Earth, in Cleveland, Ohio. Upon arriving, he encounters a woman being attacked by thugs, whom he defeats using a unique style of martial arts. The woman, Beverly Switzler, takes Howard to her apartment and lets him spend the night.
The following day, Beverly takes Howard to Phil Blumburtt, a scientist who Beverly hopes can help Howard return to his world. When Phil is revealed to be only a lab assistant, Howard resigns himself to life on Earth and rejects Beverly's aid. He gets a job as a janitor at a romance spa, but eventually quits and returns to Beverly, who plays in a band called Cherry Bomb. At the club where Cherry Bomb is performing, Howard confronts their manager when he insults the band and plans to coerce Beverly. A fight breaks out, which Howard wins.
Howard rejoins Beverly backstage and accompanies her back to her apartment, where Beverly persuades him to be the band's new manager. The two flirt and get into bed, but they are interrupted by Phil and two of his colleagues, who reveal that a laser spectroscope they were inventing was aimed at Howard's planet and transported him to Earth when it was activated. They theorize that Howard can be sent back to his world through a reversal of this process.
Upon their arrival at the laboratory, the laser spectroscope malfunctions, raising the possibility of something else being transported to Earth. At this point, Dr. Walter Jenning is possessed by a life form from a distant region of space. When they visit a diner, the creature introduces himself as a "Dark Overlord of the Universe" and demonstrates his developing mental powers by destroying the table, utensils, and condiments. A fight ensues when a group of truckers in the diner insults Howard. He is captured and is almost killed by the diner chef, but the Dark Overlord destroys the diner and escapes with Beverly.
Howard locates Phil, and they discover an ultralight aircraft, which they use to search for the Dark Overlord and Beverly. At the laboratory, the Dark Overlord plans to transfer another of his kind into Beverly's body with the dimension machine. Howard and Phil arrive and seemingly destroy the Dark Overlord with an experimental neutron disintegrator, but the creature is merely forced out of Jenning's body and attacks them in its true form. Howard fires the neutron disintegrator at the beast, obliterating him. He then destroys the laser spectroscope to seal off Earth from any further invasions, sacrificing his only way back to Duckworld in the process. In the aftermath, Howard takes on the roles of Beverly's manager and tour partner, with Phil joining them as part of the crew.
Cast
Thomas Dolby, who composed the songs for the film, has a cameo as a bartender. Future Nirvana and Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear appears as an extra.
Production
George Lucas attended film school with Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, who later co-wrote American Graffiti with Lucas. After the film's production concluded, Lucas told Huyck and Katz about the comic book Howard the Duck, primarily written by Steve Gerber, describing the series as being "very funny" and praising its elements of film noir and absurdism. In 1984, Lucas relinquished his presidency of Lucasfilm to focus on producing films. Lucas wanted John Landis to direct the film, but Landis declined. According to the documentary A Look Back at Howard the Duck, Huyck, Katz and Lucas began to seriously consider adapting Howard the Duck as a film, and met with Gerber to discuss the project. Steve Gerber's account differs slightly; he recalls that at the time he was approached to discuss the film, Lucas was not yet involved with the project.
The film was optioned by Universal Studios after a partnership with Marvel Comics. According to Marvin Antonowsky, "Sidney [Sheinberg] lobbied very hard for Howard the Duck", because the studio had passed on previous projects in which Lucas was involved, which had been very successful. Sheinberg denied any involvement in Howard the Duck, claiming that he never read the screenplay. Huyck and Katz strongly felt that the film should be animated. Because Universal needed a film for a summer release and thinking that animating the film would take too long or cost too much, Lucas suggested that the film could be produced in live-action, with special effects created by Industrial Light & Magic.
Production designer Peter Jamison and director of photography Richard H. Kline were hired to give the film a look similar to that of a color comic book. Throughout the shoot, Huyck shot multiple segments establishing Duckworld, designed by Jamison. In the opening shot, the skyline displayed could easily be New York City, but the two moons visible in the sky (at similar angles from one another as the two suns of Tatooine in the original Star Wars film). Howard the Duck's apartment is filled with detailed props, including books and magazines featuring duck-oriented puns. Because Lucas often worked with dwarf actors, he was able to hire several extras to work on these sequences.
Though Gerber's schedule generally prevented him from being present during the shooting, he chose to miss the deadline on the first issue of The Spectre so he could watch the final day.
Development Huyck and Katz began to develop ideas. Early on in production, it was decided that the personality of the character would be changed from that of the comics, in which Howard was rude and obnoxious, to make the character nicer. Gerber read over the script and offered his comments and suggestions. In addition, Huyck and Katz met with Gerber to discuss a horror sequence with which they were having difficulty.
During the screenwriting process, a stronger emphasis was placed on special effects, rather than satire or narrative. The tone of the film is in diametric opposition to the comics, which Gerber described as an existential joke: "'This is no joke!' There it is. The cosmic giggle. The funniest gag in the universe. Life's most serious moments and most incredibly dumb moments are often distinguishable only by a momentary point of view. Anyone who doesn't believe this probably cannot enjoy reading Howard the Duck."Mediascene #25. Regarding the film's approach to the source material, Katz declared, "It's a film about a duck from outer space [...] It's not supposed to be an existential experience [...] We're supposed to have fun with this concept, but for some reason, reviewers weren't able to get over that problem." Despite this, after shooting had wrapped, Gerber stated that he felt the film was faithful to both the spirit of his comics and the characters of Howard and Beverly.
An early proposed storyline involved the character being transported to Hawaii. Huyck states that this storyline was considered because "we thought it would be sort of fun to shoot there". According to Katz, they did not want to explain how Howard arrived on Earth initially, but later rewrote the screenplay so that the film would begin on Howard's homeworld. Huyck and Katz wanted to incorporate both lighter, humorous elements and darker, suspenseful elements. Katz states that some readers were confused by the sexual elements of the screenplay, as they were unsure as to whether the film was intended for adults or children. Huyck and Katz wrote the ending, leaving the story open for a sequel, which was never produced.
Adaptation The film was originally intended to be animated based on the character created by Steve Gerber and quoting scripts by Bill Mantlo. In particular, the "Duckworld" story of Howard the Duck magazine #6 was to serve as a basis for the script. A contractual obligation required Lucas to provide a distributor with a live-action film, so he decided to make the film using live actors and to use special effects for Howard. Katz said that an animated film "would have taken too much time and too much money."
The script significantly altered the personality of the title character, played the story straight instead of as a satire, removed the surrealist elements, and added supernatural elements that could highlight special effects work done by Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic. The filmmakers consulted with Disney's lawyers to make sure Howard did not resemble the Disney character Donald Duck too closely. Howard's appearance was redesigned several times during the process, including his clothes and the shape of his bill.
The film's screenplay was adapted into comic book format by the writer Danny Fingeroth and artist Kyle Baker for Marvel Comics. The adaptation appeared in both Marvel Super Special #41 and in a three-issue limited series.Howard the Duck: The Movie at the Grand Comics Database
Casting After auditioning several actresses, singers, and models for the role of Beverly Switzler, including Tori Amos, Lea Thompson was cast due to her appearance in Back to the Future. Thompson purchased clothing from thrift stores because she wanted to appear at the audition as "a cross between Madonna and Cyndi Lauper." During the shoot, Thompson complained that the filmmakers chose to shoot Howard's close-up before hers. Thompson also states that she regrets not wearing a wig, as her hairstyle took two hours a day to prepare. Jeffrey Jones was cast because of his performance in Amadeus. Although Tim Robbins had no prior film experience, Huyck and Katz were confident that he was right for the part of Phil Blumburtt.
Robbins said in a later interview that he doesn't look back negatively at the film as he "got this big job that was paying a really decent salary and it was for George Lucas [...] so it was a huge deal at the time. And then it wound up going over its shooting schedule, and I ended up getting paid twice for that movie because of all the overtime." Robbins admitted that he thinks more about the money he made than the quality of the film.
To play the physical role of Howard, Huyck and Katz held casting calls with dwarf actors, eventually casting child actor Jordan Prentice and hiring Ed Gale, who had been rejected because he was too tall for the role, to perform stunts and play the role during evening shoots. Prentice found the shooting conditions to be too difficult to handle, and the film's editors were unable to match day and evening sequences because of the difference in the two portrayals. Because Gale also served as an understudy, he took over the role.