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.

Question: Does anyone know what Dorothy's last name was? As far as I know I haven't seen it mentioned in the movie.

Answer: It's 'Gale', and it is mentioned in the movie when Dorothy tells the Good Witch 'I'm Dorothy Gale, from Kansas'.

Blibbetyblip

Question: We see Harold playing the guitar and singing in Anna's house. What is the name of the song which he is singing?

Scrappy

Chosen answer: It's called "Whole Wide World" by Wreckless Eric.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

Show generally

Question: Is it just me, or does the way Stewie says "Laugh and cry" in the opening titles change in different episodes? In some episodes it sounds like he's saying something like "Leff en cry" but in other episodes it sounds like "Laugh and cry".

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: In the first two seasons, the words "... Laugh and cry" sound to many like "effing cry" (or, "f-ing cry"). Aware of this confusion, Seth McFarlane re-recorded the line for the third season, enunciating more and emphasising the hard "L" sound in the word. From the fourth season, when the show was revived, it reverted to the original way.

Question: There is one point in the movie where Satan is carrying a demon-like baby. Who is the baby meant to be, or what does the baby symbolise?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: The baby is meant to taunt Jesus; to show him that Satan cares for his children while God sends His to be tortured and killed.

Phixius

Question: When Jesus dies, we see a birds-eye shot of Satan screaming. Is Satan meant to be in Hell in that shot? Wherever he was, it didn't look Earth-like.

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: In the movie, this scene is portrayed as hell. "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:10 NIV) "The lake of burning sulfur" is hell, and he will be thrown into hell by God himself for all of eternity.

If you look carefully it is the same area where Jesus is crucified. After Jesus dies and offers up his spirit the camera shows a birds eye view of the area through a rain drop that eventually falls to the earth. It appears that the same birds eye view is being shot with Satan screaming. I believe it's a portrayal of the spirit realm which is in the same vicinity of the physical realm, hence that's why the crosses and people are not in the shot.

The "lake of burning sulfur" is not hell. It's the Lake of Fire. Revelation says that death and hell will also be cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. Hell, in the Bible, is a temporary place of torment for the unrighteous dead where they're held until the Great White Throne Judgement then cast into the Lake of Fire.

Chosen answer: While there is a not uncommon misconception that Christ is simply a surname, it is, in fact, a title. It's based on the Greek word "Christós", which literally translates to "The Anointed One". Via its Hebrew equivalent, "Mašíaḥ", we get the word "Messiah".

Tailkinker

Question: Who moved the mannequin to the snare trap? Was it Will Smith's character who did it, but couldn't remember because of his fragile mental state or was it someone else?

Answer: The creatures, or at least the creature that seemed to be in charge, and copied what Will Smith did earlier, did it. This showed that his theory of them being mindless was wrong.

pross79

Question: Can anyone tell me exactly how much the American remake follows the original Japanese film? I have seen all of the Japanese movies, but only a bit of the American remake, and for some reason, I am having trouble finding it at local video stores.

Answer: It follows it fairly closely, but removes some Japanese cultural references. All of the names are changed, the psychic powers of some characters are removed, and all references to "sea goblins" are gone. Samara is a young girl (not a grown woman like Sadako) and speaks to victims on the phone, rather than the phone call only having strange noises. The lead character is more heroic and investigatory and there are more special effects (for example, the victims' bodies are deformed).

Moose

Question: Am I mistaken or does Malfoy mean Bad Dragon?

Answer: According to Language Realm - Malfoy can be taken as "mal" and "foi" or translated to "bad faith or evil belief". Draco, of course, is akin to the Greek "drakon" for dragon. So where Draco refers to a dragon, the name Malfoy itself, does not mean Bad Dragon - but Bad Faith (which in itself makes sense in the Rowling realm).

Zwn Annwn

Question: In the flashback that shows Josie at her house before prom, how could Billy have called her right before his limo appeared in front of her house? The year would have had to be 1990 or 1991, when Josie was a senior (or earlier, if she was younger but senior Billy asked her to prom). Were cell phones common during that time?

Answer: Cell phones perhaps not, but car phones would have been common in limousines.

Sierra1

Question: Why was the playfair cipher on the missing page invisible? Thomas Gates wrote it in normal ink.

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: Thomas Gates didn't write it in normal ink. He wrote in pencil. The cipher wasn't written on that page, it was written on the facing page and minute bits "transferred" onto the page with the names.

shortdanzr

Chosen answer: Because it verifies the story that the Gates family has passed down, that the pages were burned to protect the city of gold's location, not to hide his name as a plotter.

Boobra

Question: What is the name of the song that is played in the boat, while they have a party, at the end of Fantastic Four?

Answer: That song is "New World Symphony" by Miri Ben-Ari.

Question: I heard the reason this movie is so popular and gets shown on TV a lot is that due to a copyright error it is free for TV stations to show. Is this true?

Answer: Essentially, the answer is no. While there was indeed a clerical error in 1974 that caused a lapse in the copyright television stations were still required to pay royalties. While a box-office flop the film was lauded critically from the start and was nominated for multiple Academy and Golden Globe Awards. Its popularity grew over the years as the movie gained the status of a Classic Holiday Favorite and won the favor of new generations through annual airing of the movie and the success of DVD sales.

OneHappyHusky

Question: What is the creature that roars at the maid in the Leaky Cauldron scene?

Answer: We're never told. This scene is not in the book, and it is never elaborated on in the film. It was just added to be amusing.

Phixius

Question: Is there any particular reason why the chorus lyrics were cut from a number of the songs? They used all of the lyrics in the verses, but not the chorus', which I found odd.

Answer: From what I heard, the chorus songs (known as "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd") were cut due to time and inability to make the chorus work on-screen. Actors were set up to play "ghost narrators" at first, so that indicates that the filmmakers did want to include the songs. They were just not able to find a way to make them work satisfactorily for them. Also, I think (can't verify) I also heard that Stephen Sondheim, the show's original creator and composer/lyricist, agreed that these cuts needed to be made for the film to work.

Question: In the scene where Jack, Barbossa, Elizabeth meets with Beckett, Davy Jones, and Will on the little island. Beckett tells Jack that he honored their deal to bring him to the Brethren court and lure the pirates out, but then why does Beckett then hand Jack over to Davy Jones? wasn't the deal that he would keep Jack safe from Jones if Jack led him to Pirate's Cove? He even says "come collect your reward." was he just being sarcastic?

Answer: Beckett's ruthless and untrustworthy. He's simply not keeping to the deal. The reference to a reward is entirely sarcastic.

Tailkinker

Question: What is meant by Crouch Jr's line "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" and Dumbledore's sudden lurch to reveal Harry's scar (The scar that Wormtail makes, not his thunderbolt one)?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: Crouch, Jr. is referring to the fact that both he and Harry now have marks on their arms given in service to Voldemort. At this point Dumbledore doesn't realize that Harry has been cut and had his blood removed to bring Voldemort back. Given his immense knowledge however, Dumbledore is probably aware of the spells that can be used to bring someone back. When Crouch, Jr. says this (referring to his own Dark Mark), it triggers the recognition of what might have happened to Harry and Dumbledore rushes to confirm Harry's forearm scar for himself.

Guy

Question: It's obvious that both Giselle and Edward know that jumping back into the sewer will get them back to where they came from, so why doesn't Giselle jump back in right away when she is first tossed into New York?

Answer: Obviously, Giselle didn't know. She was shoved into the wishing well by the hag and had no idea what had happened to her. Edward, being familiar with his stepmother's magic, was better prepared.

Super Grover

Question: Near the end of the film, what was the "zombie" who was on the roof trying to do? was he trying to get out? Make a bigger hole for others to come in? I didn't get this part.

Answer: He was making a hole big enough for the others to get in. When the final "assault" happens, you see all of the zombie/mutants climbing up the building, presumably to get into that hole.

Gary O'Reilly

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