It
DVD cover
Directed by	Tommy Lee Wallace
Produced by	Mark Basino Allen S. Epstein Jim Green
Written by	Stephen King (novel) Lawrence Cohen Tommy Lee Wallace
Starring	Harry Anderson Dennis Christopher Richard Masur Annette O'Toole Tim Reid John Ritter Richard Thomas Tim Curry
Music by	Richard Bellis
Cinematography	Richard Leiterman
Editing by	David Blangsted Robert F. Shugrue
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Television
Release date(s)	November 18, 1990 (USA)
Running time	192 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

It (also referred to as Stephen King's It) is a 1990 horror miniseries based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, the film stars Tim Curry as It (Pennywise the Dancing Clown), Richard Thomas as Bill Denbrough, John Ritter as Ben Hanscom, Annette O'Toole as Beverly Marsh, Harry Anderson as Richie Tozier, Dennis Christopher as Eddie Kaspbrak, Richard Masur as Stan Uris, and Tim Reid as Mike Hanlon. The younger actors playing the flashback versions of the older characters were, respectively, Jonathan Brandis, Brandon Crane, Emily Perkins, Seth Green, Adam Faraizl, Ben Heller, and Marlon Taylor. Image File history File links ItDVD.jpg‎ [edit] Summary DVD cover of the horror film It (1990). ... Tommy Lee Wallace is a film producer and director. ... For other persons named Stephen King, see Stephen King (disambiguation). ... The Larry Cohen Collection Larry Cohen (born 15 July 1941, Kingston, New York, USA) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. ... Tommy Lee Wallace is a film producer and director. ... Harry Anderson (born October 14, 1952) is an American actor and magician. ... According to the IMDB, Dennis Christopher is an actor whose roles included Jack of All Trades in the Profiler TV series and Eddie Kaspbrak in Stephen Kings It. ... Richard Masur (born 20 November 1948, New York, New York) is an actor who has starred in over 80 movies during his career. ... Promotional photo from www. ... Tim Reid (born December 19, 1944 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an African American actor and film director best known for his roles in prime time television programs. ... John Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor best known for his role of Jack Tripper in the sitcom Threes Company. ... Disambiguation: for other people of the same name, see Richard Thomas. ... Tim Curry as a clown from the movie It Timothy James Curry(born April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, a district of the town Warrington, Lancashire, England) is an English actor, singer and composer perhaps best known for his role as mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Warner Bros. ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article is about the year. ... DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. ... For other persons named Stephen King, see Stephen King (disambiguation). ... It is a horror novel by Stephen King, published in 1986. ... Tommy Lee Wallace is a film producer and director. ... Tim Curry as a clown from the movie It Timothy James Curry(born April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, a district of the town Warrington, Lancashire, England) is an English actor, singer and composer perhaps best known for his role as mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror... Disambiguation: for other people of the same name, see Richard Thomas. ... John Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor best known for his role of Jack Tripper in the sitcom Threes Company. ... Promotional photo from www. ... Harry Anderson (born October 14, 1952) is an American actor and magician. ... According to the IMDB, Dennis Christopher is an actor whose roles included Jack of All Trades in the Profiler TV series and Eddie Kaspbrak in Stephen Kings It. ... Richard Masur (born 20 November 1948, New York, New York) is an actor who has starred in over 80 movies during his career. ... Tim Reid (born December 19, 1944 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an African American actor and film director best known for his roles in prime time television programs. ... In literature and film, a flashback (also called analepsis) takes the narrative back in time from the point the story has reached, to recount events that happened before and give the back-story. ... Jonathan Brandis Jonathan Gregory Brandis (April 13, 1976 – November 12, 2003) was an American film and television actor, the only child of Greg and Mary Brandis of Danbury, Connecticut. ... Emily Jean Perkins (born May 4, 1977) is a Canadian actress, born in Vancouver, British Columbia. ... Seth Green playing Scott Evil Seth Green (born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. ...

As in the novel, the central character of the film is the writer Bill Denbrough, a thinly-veiled analogue of King himself. One of Denbrough's novels, The Glowing, is seen on display in the Derry public library; this is a reference to King's novel The Shining. The Shining (1977) is a horror novel by American author Stephen King. ...

Radio Times magazine in 2004 held a survey for the scariest programme aired on television, in which It came first. The X-Files came second. Others on the top ten list included Twin Peaks, Ghostwatch and Tales of the Unexpected. The Sci Fi channel annouced a 4 hour remake of the film which will appear in the year 2007 or 2008. Current Radio Times logo Radio Times is the BBCs weekly television and radio programme listings magazine. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The X-Files is an American television series created by Chris Carter. ... Twin Peaks was an American serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. ... The BFI DVD release cover Ghostwatch was a controversial British horror-mockumentary television programme which was produced by the BBC and aired on BBC One on October 31 (Halloween), 1992. ... Tales Of The Unexpected is a British television series that originally aired between 1979 and 1988, made by Anglia Television for ITV. The series was an anthology of various different tales, initially based on short stories by author Roald Dahl that were sometimes sinister, sometimes wryly humourous and usually had...

Storyline

Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown

It aired as a two-part television minseries on November 18, 1990 on ABC, and loosely follows the plot of the novel. The first half of the film, set in 1960- and not 1958, as in the novel-, introduces the group of social outcasts, the "Losers", as they meet and form a tight-knit group in the face of a cruel and intolerant world. They each individually come into contact with the child-killing monster haunting their hometown of Derry, Maine, which they name "It". It usually appears as Pennywise the Dancing Clown before taking the form of whatever its child victim most greatly fears. Image File history File links Pennywiseclown. ... Image File history File links Pennywiseclown. ... Tim Curry as a clown from the movie It Timothy James Curry(born April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, a district of the town Warrington, Lancashire, England) is an English actor, singer and composer perhaps best known for his role as mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... Derry Welcomes You sign from the 1990 film It Derry, Maine is part of Stephen Kings fictional Maine topography, and, like Castle Rock, it has served as the setting for a number of his novels, novellas, and short stories. ... For the Stephen King creature, see It (monster). ...

Spurred on by Bill Denbrough's desire for revenge on It for killing his younger brother Georgie, the Losers resolve to locate Its home in the sewers and destroy the threat to Derry once and for all. Despite managing to inflict serious injuries upon the monster, they fail to finish the job, allowing It to escape and recover over the years.

The second half of the film, set in 1990- and not 1985 like the novel-, focuses on the now-adult Losers who reluctantly agree to return home (all of them except Mike Hanlon have left Derry) to locate and destroy It once and for all. The Losers must again face not only the terrible creature and the diminishing of their circle after the suicide of Stan Uris, but also Henry Bowers. The bully who made their childhoods miserable and is now an incarcerated madman under Its influence, Bowers is determined to kill them all.

Novel vs. Miniseries

Main article: It (novel)

A "Derry Welcomes You" sign seen in the film

The television miniseries was done on a fairly modest budget, and thus events in the book had to be ignored, especially if they would have required expensive special effects. Wallace, the director, notes on the DVD commentary that he was unhappy with the final result of the spider-like "true" form of It. Many parts of the book are twisted, either changed completely, or have different characters. It is a horror novel by Stephen King, published in 1986. ... Image File history File links PDVD_042. ... Image File history File links PDVD_042. ... This article is becoming very long. ... A major selling point of DVD video is that its storage capacity allows for a wide variety of extra features in addition to the feature film itself. ...

Omitted elements

The following elements that were important to the book's plot are all either removed or represented very differently in the film.

Violence: Many of It's extremely graphic and gory attacks are merely implied in the film, and are not shown onscreen. The Losers' findings of many mutilated corpses are also omitted, as are several instances of cruelty to animals, such as when Patrick Hocksetter suffocates many animals inside an abandoned refrigerator, and Henry Bowers poisons Mike Hanlon's dog, Mr. Chips. Violence is any act of aggression and abuse which causes or intends to cause injury, in some cases criminal, or harm to persons, and (to a lesser extent) animals or property. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Disfigurement. ... Cruelty to animals refers to treatment which causes unacceptable suffering or harm to animal. ...

Homophobia: In the book, It's first attack during its modern cycle is not on a little girl on her front lawn, but on a homosexual man named Adrian Mellon who had just been gay bashed. The movie drops this scene entirely, and never refers to it at any point. Other scenes involving homosexuality are left out, including a bar named the Falcon, rumored to be a gay bar, and when Patrick proposes to perform oral sex on Henry. Homophobia is the fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals. ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... The persecution of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals is the practice of attacking a person, usually physically, because they are or are perceived to be lesbian, gay or transgender. ... Oral sex (from Latin os, oris mouth) consists of all the sexual activities that involve the use of the mouth and tongue, to stimulate genitalia. ...

Profanity: Vulgar dialogue is omnipresent throughout the entire novel. It also features an aspect of characters developing their own abilities to curse. The amount of profanity is significantly lowered in the film, and many parts of dialogue are altered to become less harsh. For instance, Eddie yells "This is battery acid, you slime!" while spraying his apirator in It's face, as opposed to "BATTERY ACID, FUCKNUTS!" in the novel. Look up Profanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Racism: Racism, particularly towards the Hanlons for being black, is a significant issue almost entirely ignored in the film. Despite establishing Henry Bowers and other characters as racists, the film does not feature some of the novel's racist attacks, such as when Henry drenches Mike in mud in order to make a "tar baby", or a thorough analysis of the word "nigger". In additon, Stan being a Jew results in some stereotypical views of Judaism in the novel, though this issue is also never analyzed in the film. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... It has been suggested that Nigga be merged into this article or section. ... In modern usage, a stereotype is a simplified mental picture of an individual or group of people who share a certain characteristic (or stereotypical) qualities. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ...

Sexuality: One of the most blatant omissions in the film is the treatment of sexuality. In the novel, before the young Losers successfully escape from the sewer after encountering It, Beverly Marsh has sex with the boys. She also has sex with Bill earlier as an adult. It also makes some appearances in which it threatens the children with sexual assault. These scenes are dropped entirely from the film, as well as characters' viewings on sexuality as children, and details of their sex lives as adults. On the DVD audio commentary Reid Wallace states that he did not want to get into these sexuality issues. This article is about the issues and phenomena pertaining to human sexual function and behavior. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Drugs: Many of the Losers in the novel smoke cigarettes while in their clubhouse. Beverly's protective father also shows some concern about her daughter drinking alcohol, claiming "everyone knows what a girl like that will do!" Many drugs are provided in tablet form. ... A cigarette will burn to ash on one end. ... In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. ...

Characters

The following characters were omitted from the film

• "It"'s natural enemy, the "Turtle"
• Dorsey Corcoran and Eddie Corcoran, victims of "It" (Dorsey indirectly)
• Mrs. Marsh, Beverly's mother
• Vincent "Boogers" Taliendo, a rumor-spreading boy in the Losers' class
• Patrick Hocksetter's younger brother Avery, whom he murders by suffocation
• Henry's insane father, Oscar "Butch" Bowers, whom Henry kills by a knife to the throat (he's only mentioned by Henry, very briefly in passing).
• Beverly's friend Kay McCall. Beverly's husband Tom attacks her, demanding to know where Beverly is.
• The parents of many of the Losers
• Eddie's wife
• Adrian Mellon, a homosexual who is Its first victim in the cycle in 1985.
• Dave Gardener, the man who finds Georgie's corpse. His son Harold, who is also omitted from the film, is a witness during the murder of Adrian Mellon
• Victor Criss (in the film Patrick Hockstetter acts as Victor from the book)

Suffocation can mean two things: Suffocation, or Asphyxia, is a medical condition where the body is depraved of oxygen. ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ...

Attacks

While many of It's attacks are represented accurately in the film, some never appear in Stephen King's novel at all, and are completely unique to the film. These include the following.

• Pennywise coming out of a pipe while Eddie is taking a shower.
• Ben seeing his father, who died while serving in the Korean War, near the Barrens. Pennywise appears in his father’s place, and almost succeeds in dragging Ben into the swamp.
• As adults: Ben beginning to kiss Beverly, who later turns into Pennywise and yells "Kiss me, fat boy!"

The following attacks were removed from the film: Combatants UN combatants: Republic of Korea United States United Kingdom Canada Australia The Netherlands France Philippines Communist combatants: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Chung Il Kwon Douglas MacArthur Mark W. Clark Matthew Ridgway Kim Il-sung Choi Yong-kun...

• Mike encountering It as a giant hawk.
• Eddie encountering It as a leper who wants to perform oral sex on him.
• Ben encountering It on the canal.
• Patrick becoming covered in leech-like creatures until It drags him away into the Barrens and eats him alive.
• It leaving the kids a message reading "Stop now before I kill you all, a word to the wise from your friend Pennywise".
• It appearing in the place of a giant Paul Bunyan statue in Derry.
• Bill entering "the Void" while in the Barrens.
• Richie and Bill entering It's lair on Neibolt Street and encountering It as a werewolf.

Hansens disease, commonly known as leprosy, is an infectious disease caused by infection by Mycobacterium leprae. ... Oral sex (from Latin os, oris mouth) consists of all the sexual activities that involve the use of the mouth and tongue, to stimulate genitalia. ... Orders Arhynchobdellida or Rhynchobdellida There is some dispute as to whether Hirudinea should be a class itself, or a subclass of the Clitellata. ... Paul and Babe in Bemidji, Minnesota Paul Bunyan is a mythical lumberjack in tall tales. ... A German woodcut from 1722 A werewolf (also lycanthrope or wolfman) in folklore and mythology is a person who shapeshifts into a wolf, either purposely, by using magic, or after being placed under a curse. ...

Other differences:

• The controversy between Ben and Henry when Ben refuses to let him copy his math exam.
• In the novel, Mike goes to Neibolt Street Church School for religious reasons. In the film, he is shown as a student at Derry Elementary along with all the other Losers.
• The Losers never throw popcorn on Henry Bowers and his friends while at the movies. Their subsequent fight in the cafeteria because of this incident is also not in the book.
• The aspect of the childrens' scars from the attacks they went through as children reappearing as adults is left out of the film.
• The scene where Beverly spies on Henry Bowers and his friends in the junkyard is not in the film.
• Richie never hears Georgie's voice on the radio in the film.
• Stan's severed head, found in the refrigerator, is not that of an adult but that of the boy he used to be. Also, only Mike is there when this happens.
• The children never encounter It in its Pennywise form in the Barrens.
• The various destructions in Derry during the groups' final encounter with It are never shown in the film.
• The structure of the story is changed. In the movie, each of the people who were affected by "It" while they were children receives a phone call asking them to return to Derry. When this happens, they each have a flashback from that year, and so this part of the story is revealed bit by bit. After the adults have all arrived back in Derry, the story is presented in chronological order throughout. Their rearrival in the book is told in between the events of June and July of 1958. The end of the book alternates between the characters going into the Barrens as children and as adults.
• Some of the major characters' backstories are either ignored or changed. In the novel, Eddie Kaspbrak eventually tells his friends that he married a neurotic woman similar to his mother, but in the television miniseries he tells his friends that he is still a virgin, and there is possibly a homoerotic undertone to his character as well.

In literature and film, a flashback (also called analepsis) takes the narrative back in time from the point the story has reached, to recount events that happened before and give the back-story. ... Chronology is the science of locating events in time. ...

Trivia

• According to the commentary on the DVD, Tim Curry's Pennywise was so unnerving that the cast and crew completely avoided him while on the set.
• Richie's worst fear is a werewolf in this movie. Seth Green, who plays young Richie, would go on to play a werewolf in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• Two stars from this movie died in 2003. John Ritter died in September of an aortic dissection and Jonathan Brandis comitted suicide in November.
• Adult Richie Tozier, per actor Harry Anderson, is 6'4". However, Seth Green, who played the young Tozier, only reached an adult height of 5'4".
• On seth Green's t.v show, Robot Chicken pennywise's famous line " everything floats down here" was spoofed.

Tim Curry as a clown from the movie It Timothy James Curry(born April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, a district of the town Warrington, Lancashire, England) is an English actor, singer and composer perhaps best known for his role as mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror... Seth Green playing Scott Evil Seth Green (born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. ... Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American cult television series that aired from March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003. ... John Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor best known for his role of Jack Tripper in the sitcom Threes Company. ... Aortic dissection is a tear in the wall of the aorta (the largest artery of the body). ... Jonathan Brandis Jonathan Gregory Brandis (April 13, 1976 – November 12, 2003) was an American film and television actor, the only child of Greg and Mary Brandis of Danbury, Connecticut. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ... Harry Anderson (born October 14, 1952) is an American actor and magician. ... Seth Green playing Scott Evil Seth Green (born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. ...

External links

• It at the Internet Movie Database
• http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1040248-it/