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 cultural influence. The film became the highest-grossing release of its era and remains a defining work of American cinema, blending science fiction with genuine emotional weight. Its imagery entered the popular consciousness almost immediately, and the production is widely studied for its practical effects, John Williams score, and its unusually child-centered perspective.

This cell, titled E.T. and Elliott Flying, captures three consecutive 35mm frames from the film's most recognized sequence. Elliott pedals across the face of a full moon, E.T. riding in the bicycle basket beside him, with a tree silhouette visible at upper right. The progressive repositioning of the figures across the frames documents actual motion from the original camera negative, preserving one of cinema's most enduring images in its most direct physical form.