OnThisDay American space opera parody film Spaceballs released . June 24, #1987 Co-written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks. It is primarily a parody of the original Star Wars trilogy, but also parodies other sci-fi films and popular franchises including Star Trek, Alien, The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, and Transformers. The film stars Bill Pullman, John Candy, and Rick Moranis, with the supporting cast including Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, George Wyner, Lorene Yarnell, and the voice of Joan Rivers. In addition to Brooks playing a dual role, the film also features Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise and Rudy De Luca in cameo appearances.
When Brooks developed Spaceballs, he wanted his parody to be as close to the original as possible. Even though the Yogurt character (Mel Brooks) mentions merchandising in the film, Brooks’s deal with George Lucas on parodying Star Wars was that no Spaceballs action figures be made.
Lucas later sent Brooks a note saying how much he loved the film, including its story structure, and that he “was afraid [he] would bust something from laughing”. According to Rick Moranis, “In the original script, the description of [Dark Helmet] was that the whole costume was one gigantic helmet. Then it got scaled back to just an exaggerated version of the Darth Vader helmet.”
Pullman got the part of Lone Starr when Brooks and his wife Anne Bancroft saw him in a play—he had never seen Star Wars prior to filming. Brooks had been unsuccessfully trying to sign on big-name actors such as Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks for the film.
Zuniga initially found Brooks’ film parodies “too crass and not too funny”, but after working with Brooks, she said, “I have this image of Mel as totally wacko and out to lunch. And he is. But he’s also really perceptive, real sensitive in ways that make actors respond.”
