Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

Answer: It appears a number of factors led to its demise. It was originally intended to air for 65 episodes, but its popularity extended that. However, there were continual production quality problems, issues regarding whether the content was suitable enough for children, as well as financial considerations that finally led to it being ended.

raywest

Question: What does the skeleton bar joke Jack's uncle says mean? Was it just supposed to be nonsense and not make sense?

Answer: The joke in its entirety is "Skeleton goes into a bar. Orders a beer, and a mop." What the joke means is, since the skeleton is just bones and has no body, the beer would just pass through the skeleton's body and then spill all over the floor when it tried to drink. The skeleton would then have to use the mop to clean up the spilled beer.

Casual Person

Question: What was Jack's original plan for robbing the bank in the beginning of the movie? Cause when the safe gets stuck and the building starts moving he says "this was not part of the plan."

Answer: It was never specified what his plan was, nor was it important to the overall story, but whatever it was, he never expected the building to start moving. The entire scene is merely a plot device for Jack's entrance into the story in a typically flamboyant manner.

raywest

Question: What does the Environmental Protection Agency billboard say before they paint it black?

Answer: It's never shown or suggested what the billboard used to say - it looks like the whole thing (including the mention of the EPA) was mocked up, printed and pasted up over an existing or blank billboard by Project Mayhem.

Sierra1

Question: Why is it that everyone is in the exact same position at the gazebo when Alice left to follow McTwisp when Alice returns? Clearly, some time has passed while she was in Wonderland, so it's confusing how it would still be the same day at around the same time.

Answer: It could be time moves differently in Wonderland, than in the real world. In many time machine movies, the Hero goes off on his adventures, then returns as if no time has passed.

Answer: Yes, it was a variation of him.

Question: What was the reason for Peyton getting Ernie Hudson in trouble? I can understand her annoyance with Claire and Michael, but he did nothing to her apart from see her breast feeding?

Answer: She wants to prevent him from exposing who she is and what she is doing. By setting up a premise that he did something wrong, it is easier to discredit anything truthful he says and also get him fired, which is what she did.

raywest

Answer: It does not appear that she was involved. Robert even tells Charles at the end that she had nothing to do with it. The entire plot seems to have been spontaneous on Robert's part as no-one expected the plane to crash or for survivors to be stranded in the wilderness.

raywest

Answer: I thought it was he deliberately lied about Weird Al so Bobby wouldn't look up to and try to imitate him.

Answer: Hank is out of touch with pop culture and Yankovic had kind of faded from the public view in 1997. Hank's just confusing him with some other obscure singer.

Brian Katcher

Question: Can 12 horses really pull a huge building like that? Cause I know they put wheels on the thing in real life, so wouldn't that mean that the horses couldn't actually pull the building and so it was very fake?

Answer: No, they could not. Even if the building was light enough for the horses to pull, it would have to be one so flimsy as to be unstable and it would almost immediately disintegrate.

raywest

Answer: Depending on the weight of the building and if you were using Draft horses, they would be able to at least make it move a little bit. They certainly wouldn't be able to canter (or trot for that matter) as depicted in the film however! 12 Draft horses weighing the average of 2200 pounds each can between them pull just shy of 2 tonnes of dead weight (something without wheels for instance) with ease. They can pull heavier loads (up to around 5 tonnes) but it would be extremely detrimental to the horses' health.

Question: In the first It, Pennywise was defeated by the Losers because they were no longer afraid of Pennywise, which weakened him. How was he able to become strong enough to return?

Answer: Simply put, the Losers incorrectly believed Pennywise would starve during his hibernation because he couldn't eat them. This is apparently not the case and in the 27 years he was sleeping, Pennywise gained enough strength to eat the wounded Adrian Mellon when he wakes. After claiming Adrian, Pennywise was strong enough to resume his normal activities. Overcoming their fears was only good enough to win the battle with Pennywise, but it wasn't enough to kill him. In the book the Losers have no idea whether or not they have killed Pennywise, and this coupled with the fact that they get lost in the sewers causes them all to panic. The fact that Pennywise sleeps for 27 years leads them to believe that he is dead over time and all but Mike forgets about him and the rest of the Losers entirely. The film is identical to the book in the regard that Pennywise awakens after 27 years with just enough strength to murder and eat Adrian Mellon.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Why did all the bank patrons look annoyed when the bank robbers used the jingle that Harry and Skip used?

Answer: The robbers' performance was poorly done and unrehearsed as opposed to Skip and Harry's performance from earlier in the film, which was enjoyed and even applauded by the bank customers.

zendaddy621

Answer: Yep. https://thestacks.deadspin.com/inside-the-punishing-dictatorship-that-was-james-camero-1821382488. He has a famous reputation for being hyper-demanding on set. Not necessarily unreasonably so, more expecting the absolute best from everyone 24/7.

Answer: On Howard Stern's radio show, Bernard Fox who played Archibald Grace VI in Titanic (1997), appeared. Howard asked they same question. Bernard replied, "He was a bit of a strict tough director, but only because he wanted the scene just right." Howard: "So he wanted the film to be exactly the way he envisioned it and wouldn't settle for anything less." I'm paraphrasing those quotes.

Question: Why does Charming claim to be the "rightful king of Far Far Away"? He is not in the hereditary line of succession and failed to marry Fiona, which is the relationship that made Shrek an heir.

Answer: He was arrogant and narcissistic, who believed the throne was his because he was a prince, charming and handsome. A legend in his own mind.

Answer: To start, oftentimes it's hard to establish a Green Lantern character without establishing a vast "universe." You have the Green Lantern Corp filled with thousands of aliens from across the galaxy, the Guardians, a power ring that creates virtually anything, etc. It's easier to do this in animation over live-action. Ryan Reynolds' "Green Lantern" film underperformed and future projects were scrapped, failing to set-up a Green Lantern universe. So when Warner Bros. Set up the DCEU, they went with Superman (from the "Man of Steel" film). After DC's "New 52", Cyborg became a founding member of the Justice League (along with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Green Lantern). So it's not that film makers replaced Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) with Cyborg, they simply left Green Lantern out.

Bishop73

Answer: When Barbara Minerva wished to be just like Diana, she was granted the same strength and powers as Wonder Woman. Barbara additionally became less humane and even more powerful and dangerous after morphing into "Cheetah." Diana needed the armor to outmatch and defeat Barbara. She was also expecting to fight a multitude of soldiers to get to Max. The armor was originally Asteria's, who needed the extra protection when she battled an army to save the other Amazons.

raywest

Question: Can a lifeguard legally throw a kid out of the pool like Wendy did to Squints after he kissed her?

Answer: Absolutely. In addition to having to administer life-saving measures, the lifeguard on duty at a public pool is also responsible for maintaining order. A kid purposefully diving into the deep end of the pool and pretending to drown just so he could kiss the lifeguard puts himself and others at risk. Anyone who doesn't abide by the pool rules can be kicked out by the lifeguard with no warning needed at all.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: I would add to the other answer that inappropriately touching or kissing another person without their consent is an illegal act, giving the lifeguard the legal right to expel anyone.

raywest

I appreciate the answer, but the movie takes place in the 1960s. As much as I agree with you, that sadly wasn't the way things were then.

kayelbe

Even though it was the 1960s, it would still be illegal to touch, grope, or kiss someone without their permission. It would be considered a technical physical assault. Unfortunately, in that era, it was taken less seriously than it is now and the consequences were minor (i.e. a stern warning) to non-existent. The lifeguard was in the position of power at the pool, however, and she had the authority to eject anyone for that type of behavior.

raywest

Not in the 1960s. It was just a kiss from a little kid. It was embarrassing, not illegal.

Question: It was discovered that the only way for the demons to take possession of a living person is either through a kiss or a bite. How could Colin have been turned into a demon when he wasn't bitten or kissed?

Answer: It took Maddie several minutes to climb down to the basement after Colin fell through the floorboards. Those couple of minutes was all the time needed to infect him.

Again, he wasn't bitten or kissed, so he shouldn't have been infected.

That's why he states it took her a good amount of time, as the viewers don't know what may have happened... Plus, technically, he was humped.

That Hope Is You, Part 2 - S3-E13

Question: At the very end of the episode, why does the Discovery warp instead of using the spore drive? Dilithium is still in short supply, everyone's desperate for it, seems daft to warp places which takes time, rather than jumping directly from place to place.

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Discovery had plenty of dilithium from before the Burn, and the implication seems to be that the dilithium planet in the Verubin Nebula has essentially ended the galaxy's shortage, although it will take time to mine and distribute it. That said, I suspect the reason Discovery warps at this point is to test out its new warp drive system, replacing the warp core which was ejected inside the Viridian.

Sierra1

Answer: When Krypton exploded, fragments of the planet went into space. Luthor said it's reasonable to assume some of those particles drifted to Earth. He also thinks the fragments would have a very high specific radioactivity that would be lethal to anyone from Krypton. However, to me everything he says about the effect of kryptonite is a guess and there doesn't seem to be anything in film to suggest the fragments from Krypton would be radioactive or the radioactivity would affect Superman.

Bishop73

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.