P.P. The Planetary Pal (lost unreleased feature length E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial spoof, 1983-85)
P.P. The Planetary Pal is an unreleased parody film that was directed, written and produced by Paul M. Sammon that served as a spoof of Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. [1]
Plot
The film begins when an alien ship, The Spore Buddy, carrying representatives of Cozmo Beer, “the cheapest beer in the galaxy.” lands on earth and accidentally leaves one of their crew behind when the creature wanders off to lake a leak. The creature meets teenage boy, Helliot (Steve Bailey), who proves to be a sadist who delights in torturing the creature.
Production
Sammon used his own money for financing, with additional support from a few private investors. Paul Sammon began work on the film initially planned as 10 minute short before deciding to expand the project to feature length (estimated 90 minutes). Sammon formed his own company, modestly dubbed Awesome Productions, to make the film, done between his work at Universal as film publicist on CONAN and DUNE. Working out of a rented storefront in a San Diego shopping mall called Glasshouse Square, Sammon assembled a local crew (at one point over 25 people were involved on the project) and personally oversaw every phase of the production, including pitching in to help build props. A full-scale spaceship interior 25 feet high and 18 feet across was erected for a weekend's shooting in the dead of winter in the Laguna Mountains. During the shoot a film cartridge froze in-camera, requiring re-shooting six months later.
Cast
- Steve Bailey as Helliot
- Michael Stuart as P.P.
- Nanci Hunter as Mom
- Sally Marsh as Dead Little Kathy
- Tony Marcus as Knees
- Paul M. Sammon as Mr. Pescado
Crew
- Director/Writer/producer: Paul M. Sammon [2]
- Producer/story by: Sherri Sires
- Cinematographer: Jerry Sykes
- Production Designer: Larry Ortiz
- Creature Designer: Peter Wine
- Model Makers: Jim Dore and Dave Goldberg.
Gallery
From left to right: Director Paul Sammon, P.P. alien designed by Peter Wine, Helliot actor Steve Bailey.
The Spore Buddy, designed by Michael Stuart and Larry Ortiz, on a table-top set.
References
Availability
While the film was completed, during negotiations with a distributor based out of Europe, said distributor was involved in some questionable activity and absconded with the film from the United States. Sammon has parts of the original negative and soundtrack in his possession, but the actual movie itself is lost.