Random Fascinating Stories From Making Of 'Edward Scissorhands' (13 items)

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  (#13) A Producer Of The Film Felt It Was Fox's Answer To 'E.T.'

  The studio released Edward Scissorhands in December 1990, in time for the holiday season. Just before release, Fox Chairman Joe Roth told the Los Angeles Times they had high hopes for the film, even likening it to E.T.: "I hate to use the word 'E.T.' - that’s sacrilege... We have to let it find its place. We want to be careful not to hype the movie out of the universe."

  While the studio opted not to market it as aggressively as E.T., it did go on to be both a critical darling and box office success.
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  (#9) Thompson Partially Based Edward On Her Dog

  Screenwriter Caroline Thompson revealed an intriguing piece of trivia to Variety while discussing the film on its 15th anniversary. "Edward’s character was based on my dog. People love their dogs, so just think of him as the best dog you ever had!," she said. 

  Thompson explained why she based Edward Scissorhands on her Border Collie to Pop Sugar:

  Edward was based on Tim. It's kind of a love letter to Tim, but most of his attributes were based on my dog. I had this beautiful Border Collie mix when I was in college. When I was 18, I took this dog to college with me and she had a presence and a character. I swear to God if she had a larynx, she would've talked. I mean, she was that involved in my success. She was everywhere I was, sitting next to me and enjoying everything I was enjoying, but not able to quite do it because she was a dog. And that's how Edward is. He's just sort of like, 'Uhhh, OK I want to be here, but how?'
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  (#2) While The Film Oozes Quintessential Burton, The Story Was Entirely Conceived By Caroline Thompson

  Screenwriter Caroline Thompson told Dazed about how the story quickly came to fruition over drinks at the Bombay Bicycle Club in Santa Monica, CA:

  Tim told me about a character he had who had scissors instead of hands and I said, 'Stop right there. I know exactly what to do with that,' and went home. At that time, I was more of a prose writer than a screenwriter. I had published a novel that was this weird little suburban Frankenstein story and knew that (Edward Scissorhands) was my next weird suburban Frankenstein story.

  Some things come straight into your head and this one came straight into mine. Within three weeks, I had written a 70-plus page prose version for Tim to read.
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  (#11) The Film Marked Vincent Price's Final Theatrical Appearance

  Director Tim Burton had long been an admirer of horror legend Vincent Price before he worked with him in Edward Scissorhands. 

  Burton was obsessed with Price as a child, and he told the Los Angeles Times about Price's profound impact on him:

  I can’t tell you what [Price] meant to me growing up. This sounds dramatic but he helped me live... When you’re a child and a teenager it’s not unusual to go through a melodramatic phase. Some people find release through heavy metal or whatever. But by watching [Price’s] films, there was a catharsis for me. You’re not just watching a low-budget Edgar Allan Poe movie, there’s something else there that’s not on the screen. I channeled my melodrama into that, as opposed to [self-destruction] probably.

  Burton wrote the role of the Inventor - the man who creates Edward - specifically for Price. It was Price's last role before he passed in 1993 at the age of 82. 
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  (#7) Several A-List Actors Were Offered The Titular Role

  Johnny Depp, who had been pigeonholed as a teen heartthrob thanks to his role on 21 Jump Street, was not director Tim Burton's first choice to play Edward. Fox wanted a big name, like Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks, to draw in bigger audiences. Other big names, like Robert Downey Jr. and Jim Carrey, also became interested in the film. Burton, however, wasn't keen on casting a well-known actor, and after seeing Depp's work, he was sold.

  Even after he was cast, Depp was afraid that other actors who had been put up for the role, like Tom Hanks, would come in and replace him. He recounted how he thought he'd be fired two weeks into filming Edward Scissorhands:

  I can remember when we were doing Scissorhands we were living in this sort of resort, some kind of country club thing, and there was a knock on the door... one afternoon while everyone was off rehearsing. There were two young girls at the door and I thought, 'Oh, they found me and maybe they want me to sign something, I don't know.'

  So, I opened the door and said, 'How do you do?' and they said, 'Hi. Is Tom Hanks here? Does he live here?' I said, 'What? No. Not yet.' And I was convinced that Hanks would be replacing me. I was convinced. It was one of the most frightening moments in my career.
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  (#3) The Film's Color Palette Was Partially Inspired By Leningrad

  Edward's outsider status is amplified by the film's candy-colored palette - literally. The film's art director, Tom Duffield, told Dazed that the film's signature hues were inspired by the chalky candy Necco Wafers.

  Duffield's reason for selecting these colors isn't as sweet as the inspiration might make it seem, however; he and production designer Bo Welch were going for "if Leningrad had an American-type housing complex:"

  That [Necco Wafers] is where we got the basis for the colors for the houses.We wanted to make it a totally controlled neighborhood. Everything was totally controlled: the colors, the look. That’s one of the great things about working for Tim, because he lets you have total control.

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