National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Universal Pictures released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in June 1982, with Steven Spielberg directing at the height of his creative powers. The film became the highest-grossing release of its time, displacing Star Wars, and remains a defining work of American cinema — a story of childhood, longing, and connection that resonated across generations. Its practical creature effects, John Williams score, and emotional restraint set a standard that shaped the decade's popular filmmaking.

This cell, titled E.T. and Elliott, captures the two central figures together within a domestic interior, warm light and shelving visible in the background. The strip presents three frames of the same moment, oriented sideways on the 35mm negative — a quiet, intimate image of the film's most essential relationship preserved in original photographic silver.