Trivia for
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) More at IMDbPro »

• The entire movie was shot against blue screen, with everything except the main characters computer generated. This was one of several movies to take that approach (although which was first is debatable), including: Immortel (ad vitam) (2004), Casshern (2004), and Sin City (2005), the last of which shot on High-Definition digital cameras, like this movie.
  
  
• To increase flexibility with the film's editing process, Kerry Conran shot each of the dozens of extras (who weren't physically interacting with the main characters) individually on the blue screen, so that he could manipulate them in the final shot to his own liking without having to re-shoot the entire scene.
  
  
• The flying robots are inspired by Max Fleischer's Superman cartoon _Mechanical Monsters (1941)_.
  
  
• After seeing the first 6 minutes of the original short upon which this movie is based, Gwyneth Paltrow agreed to sign on at an indie wage without a script.
  
  
• Angelina Jolie's part only took three days to shoot.
  
  
• Because of the film being totally shot against blue screen rather than via orthodox locations and sets, filming was completed in just 29 days. Normally with sets and locations, filming could have taken the best part of a year to finish.
  
  
• The film used a unique combination of Adobe After Effects Plug-ins applied to achieve the film's unique look. No new technology was created to achieve the stylized look of the film.
  
  
• The sound for the beams that the robots use to extract the generators imitates the noise emitted by the death beam in The War of the Worlds (1953).
  
  
• When Polly is on the phone to her editor, reporting the advance of the giant robots, her line is "They're crossing Sixth Avenue... Fifth Avenue... they're a hundred yards away...". This is a direct lift from Ray Collins's lines in Orson Welles's "The War of the Worlds" broadcast of 1938 as Collins plays a reporter on the roof of "the Broadcast Building" reporting the advance of the Martian tripods.
  
  
• The number on Dr. Walter Jennings' door is "1138", a reference to George Lucas's THX 1138 (1971).
  
  
• When Joe and Polly land on the air carrier, they are directed to pad 327. In Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the Millennium Falcon landed on platform 327 in Cloud City.
  
  
• It was originally announced that Casey Affleck was going to play Dex. Ribisi was added to the cast as Dex after filming had begun.
  
  
• An emergency distress call is transmitted to Sky Captain by means of visible radio waves, coming from a radio tower that is unrealistically large and out of proportion in relation to the size of the Earth. This is a reference to RKO Radio Pictures Inc., whose logo features an abnormally large radio tower sitting on top of the Earth, emitting visible radio waves.
  
  
• During the first attack on New York City by the robots, around the 00:14:19 mark, the Empire State Building can vaguely be seen in the background of one of the shots. A closer look reveals a familiar figure from King Kong (1933) climbing on its spire.
  
  
• During the international newspaper montage after the robots attack New York, the Tokyo paper shows a photo of Godzilla attacking the city.
  
  
• WILHELM SCREAM: During the attack of the giant robots in New York City. You can hear the scream in the shot following the shot where the robot squashes a car under his foot.
  
  
• "Dr. Totenkopf", the name of the mysterious scientist, is the German word for "death's head / skull"
  
  
• When Polly and Sky Captain investigate Jennings's ransacked lab, they discover a live, miniature elephant in a glass cage. This echoes a similar scene in Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park which describes John Hammond's proud accomplishment of a dwarf elephant, created by his scientists.
  
  
• The names of people who worked on the film appear several times. On the first issue of The Chronicle shown in the film that reports the docking of the Hindenburg III at the Empire State Building, multiple headlines contain references to Kerry Conran and brother Kevin Conran (headline "Conran Ministry Force Deal"), Darin Hollings ("Dr. Hollings Speaks"), Omar McClinton ("McClinton seeks license to halt sanctions"), Brian LeachZack Petroc ("Leach and Petroc Break Over Budget"), and Stephen Lawes ("Lawes Held Ready to Aid U.S. Peace Action"). In the issue of The Chronicle with the headline "Giant Machines Steal Refineries," the article is shown to be written by Marsha Oglesby, one of the film's executive producers. Although dim lighting makes it practically invisible in the film, there is a list next to the giant wall map in the Flying Legion base, which contains the last names of several crew members.
  
  
• The first Chronicle newspaper shown in the film contains several actual articles from The New York Times, found in 7 October issues from various years in the late 1930s.
  
  
• The paint job on Joe Sullivan's plane is that of the "Flying Tigers", a group of American fighter pilots (supposedly) paid by the Chinese government to fight the Japanese in Burma. The "Tigers" themselves got the idea from RAF planes based in Africa in the early part of WW II. Joe briefly mentioned flying for them while arguing with Polly Perkins about his sabotaged plane. The Flying Tigers were revealed in 1991 to have been a "black" operation of the US Armed Forces under direct authorisation by President Franklin D. Rooesevelt.
  
  
• While set in a "real" New York City, the history is obviously changed. The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Wuthering Heights (1939) references put the year at 1939. Despite being 1939, there is no sign of Germany preparing for war. There is also no sign that America is in the grips of an economic depression. All-in-all, not only is the technology "fantasized", but the entire history is idealized as well.
  
  
• Early drafts of the script called for Gwyneth Paltrow's character to be covering the 1938 premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) at Radio City Music Hall. The plot was later changed so that Polly Perkins meets with a scientist at the theatre, with the film (Snow White) playing in the background. However, a copyright agreement could not be settled with Disney, so the film was changed to The Wizard of Oz (1939).
  
  
• Lauren Bacall's character in To Have and Have Not (1944) was the inspiration for Polly Perkins.
  
  
• The "Mysterious Woman" (Ling Bai) is a reference to the robot character in Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927).
  
  
• There actually were a few sets built. The only full set constructed was Polly's office, used during the scene where she is confronted by Editor Paley before leaving to meet Dr. Jennings. Dr. Jennings' lab contained many real tables and props, with bluescreen backgrounds, and his office was almost entirely real with the exception of the exterior seen through the window which the Mysterious Woman uses to escape.
  
  
• The first scene filmed was the scene in which Sky Captain enters his office to find Polly waiting for him there.
  
  
• In preparation for her role, Angelina Jolie met with and interviewed dozens of British WWII veterans and pilots in order to adapt the proper mannerisms of her character. She also tweaked the script by adding bits of slang that were used during the era.
  
  
• Polly's article reporting the disappearance of Dr. Vargas reads: "NEW YORK-German Scientist and mechanical engineer Professor Jorge Vargas mysteriously vanished after arriving in New York aboard the Hindenburg III. Prof. Vargas was scheduled to lecture at the American assembly with two other scientists. This marks the third disappearance in as many months of important figures in the science community. Demands have been made for a resolution to this problem. Prof. Vargas was to deliver a paper on efforts in Norway and South Africa."
  
  
• While on their flight to Nepal, Polly describes the mysterious Professor Totenkopf by including lines used by the voiceover in the opening sequence from Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964).
  
  
• WILHELM SCREAM: construction worker on scaffolding destroyed by bat-like flying robots pursuing Joe and Polly through New York City.
  
  
• Cameo: [Matthew Feitshans] Production supervisor, plays the officer who informs Sky Captain of the approaching robots when he and Polly arrive at the Flying Legion base.
  
  
• Dr. Kessler is played by Jude Law's real-life father, Peter Law.
  
  
• The villain, Dr. Totenkopf, is played by Sir Laurence Olivier. After Dex unplugs the holographic image of Dr. Totenkopf, Joe asks him, "Is it safe?" This is a reference to Olivier's famous line in Marathon Man (1976).
  
  
• In the shot where Polly gets out of a taxi at Radio City Music Hall, the film's teaser poster can be seen on one of the building's walls.
  
  
• At one point in the film, Jude Law recites, "And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by." This is a line from John Masefield's poem, "Sea-Fever."
  
  
• Although the Tesla Coils don't do what they do in the movie, in the 1940's Tesla announced to the media that he had developed a "Death-Ray" - supposedly capable of destroying 2,000 airplanes at a 250 mile distance. Although Tesla did allow photographs to be taken of a small-scale prototype in action, he withheld much of the information that would allow others to understand his design; this device could be a scaled down version of that.
  
  
• Much of the production design was inspired by artists from the 1930s, such as Hugh Ferriss, Raymond Loewy, and Norman Bel Geddes. Renderings of New York City by Ferriss were models for the art deco New York City seen in the film, and the Flying Fortress was designed after drawings of ocean liners imagined by Bel Geddes (note the ship-like qualities of the Fortress in the film). Many other objects and settings used the stream-line designs of Loewy's works.
  
  
• In the movie when they show all of the headlines from newspapers around the globe, you can see Godzilla's outline on the Tokyo newspaper. In one of the newspaper shots you can see an "Iron Eagle", which defines the Nazi regime to be in power in Germany, although there is no sign of a preparation for war.
  
  
• While New York is being destroyed by robots, the marquee of a movie theater shows it is playing "Wuthering Heights". Laurence Olivier, who is featured in this movie through the use of archived footage, played Heathcliff in the 1939 version of that film (Wuthering Heights (1939)).
  
  
• The use of Laurence Olivier's image was Jude Law's idea. Law said he had always wanted to work alongside the actor, so Kerry Conran "granted" his wish.
  
  
• The interior of Radio City Music Hall is actually not computer generated; rather, the background is comprised of digital photographs taken by Darin Hollings and Eric Adkins, merged together to create a panorama backdrop. The same was done for the lobby of The Chronicle building, which was actually a combination of multiple different building interiors edited together.
  
  
• The log bridge in the creature-filled jungle is another obvious reference to King Kong (1933). Also, one of the shots briefly shows a body wrapped around in a spider web, which is a reference to the infamous spider sequence that was cut from "Kong".
  
  
• When they come across an abandoned mine, on the top of the mountain there is a sphere-shaped figure with a tall prism next to it. These are the Trylon and Perisphere, which were famous icons in the 1939 New York World's fair.
  
  
• The logo for the Flying Legion is a winged lion with a banner reading "Ille Caelum Fremitus", which is Latin for "Yon roaring of the skies". The Latin form "caelum" is an unusual, poetic contraction of "caelorum".
  
  
• The film originally started out as a six-minute reel put together by Kerry Conran of CGI robots trampling through New York City, The World of Tomorrow (2005) (V). Producer Jon Avnet came across the reel and was deeply impressed, so he approached Conran with the idea of turning it into a full-length production.
  
  
• The scene in which a zeppelin moors at the Empire State Building is in partial homage to King Kong (1933), in which mooring lines can be seen on the building in the final scene. The Empire State Building's spire was actually designed to dock airships. However, this proved to be impossible, as the dangerous updrafts from New York City's canyon-like streets would have torn the airships from their moorings and sent them crashing to the streets below.
  
  
• Kerry Conran never went to New York City while making this film, and had never previously been there. He digitally recreated the entire city by referring to old photographs, some of which are even inserted into the digital environments as backdrops. Originally, the plan was to have every New York City backdrop be a colorized photograph, and that idea remained in effect until mid-production, until it was decided that 3D renderings of the city would allow the camera more of an opportunity to move around.
  
  
• The "World of Tomorrow" portion of the title is a reference to the 1939-40 New York World's Fair, which was named "The World of Tomorrow".
  
  
• In the underwater sequence, Sky Captain and his allies fly past a graveyard of notable sunken ships. Among these is the Venture from King Kong (1933), with the cage used to hold King Kong visible, and the Titanic.
  
  
• The first screening of the finished film was shown to a select audience on 22 July 2004 at the San Diego Comic-Con. On July 24, Jude Law, 'Ling Bai', Giovanni Ribisi, Kerry Conran, Jon Avnet, and Marsha Oglesby appeared in a panel to promote the film.
  
  
• The film was originally slated to be released on 25 June 2004. However, it was moved to September 17th so as not to compete with the summer blockbuster Spider-Man 2 (2004) and to give more time for the production staff to fine-tune the finished product.
  
  
• Early in the film, Polly runs around a corner. The wall of the building has graffiti which says "Victor Fleming".
  
  
• The devices near the end of the movie that zap the unsuspecting scientist are actual devices called Tesla Coils. Although not used for that purpose, they do arc electicity over the air in a similar fashion.
  
  
• Sky Captain flies a late-model P-40, the six gun version of the P-40N. However, his has a few "Hollywoodifications": - The rear decking behind the pilot's seat, and the fuselage fuel tank under it, were removed in order to add a second seat (for Polly). This was actually done to some real P-40s for flight instruction. - The pop-open bays for the cable launcher and magnet bombs are right in the middle of the centerline fuel tank (which fills the interior of the wing between the main wheel wells). - The small underwater engines under the horizontal stabilizers would retract right into the tail wheel gear well, and into each other. - When going into underwater mode, the ostensibly solid-metal propeller blades collapse down into the prop spinner, and into a different section of space-time. The real plane's prop spinner is a shell that goes around the collars and gearing of the prop hub assembly. - Roughly 5000 horsepower appears to have been added to the 1200hp Allison engine.
  
  
• The design of the "ark" spaceship at the end is taken from When Worlds Collide (1951) and Destination Moon (1950).
  
  
• The scene inside the spaceship "ark" as Joe and Polly walk across the walkway over the vast depth of the lower spaceship, and the lower sections start slamming shut beneath them is a reference to the huge Krell machinery in Forbidden Planet (1956).
  
  
• Kevin Conran originally intended to have the Mysterious Woman character wear an eyepatch, but after Angelina Jolie signed on, it was decided that an eyepatch would look much better on her character.
  
  
• The "hit list" shown near the beginning of the film shows the names of the Unit Eleven scientists to be: Dr. Otto von Funderburg, Dr. Matthias Hargett, Dr. Arler Kessler, Dr. Herbert Braun, Dr. S.L. Aufkäuser, Dr. Jorge Vargas, and Dr. Walter Jennings.
  
  
• According to producer Jon Avnet, the dinosaur-like creatures that Joe and Polly encounter on Totenkopf's island were designed by Stan Winston.
  
  
• During the first robot scene, a movie theater is seen called the Densmore Theater. This is named after Densmore Street in Van Nuys, California, which is where the World of Tomorrow post-production studio was located.
  
  
• Although it is never stated in the film, Dex's last name is Dearborn and Editor Paley's first name is Morris, according to the novelization of the film by Kevin J. Anderson.
  
  
• In addition to the hologram towards the end of the film, the old photographs of Totenkopf are actually of Laurence Olivier. They are modified to add the Unit Eleven logo, as well as to replace Vivien Leigh with Ling Bai.
  
  
• While the project was still in early development, Kerry Conran originally wanted to produce it as if it were a lost serial from the 1930s, with the film featuring unknown actors, shot in black and white, and divided into chapters each ending with a cliffhanger. All of these ideas were subsequently abandoned in an attempt to gain bigger box office appeal.
  
  
• Sky Captain's revolver is an Enfield No. 2 Mk I chambered for .380/200 (aka .38 S&W). The automatic he periodically uses (the one which magically transforms back into the revolver when he loses it on the log bridge) is a nickeled M1911 .45 (most likely a Colt).
  
  
• In the "secret base" hangar, where a lot of junk and other robots are sitting/standing, one of the machines is the main character from The Iron Giant (1999).
  
  
• The average length of a shot is 1.6 seconds.
  
  
• The title character of Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan was partially inspired by both David Niven's performance in A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and Cary Grant's character Geoff Carter in Only Angels Have Wings (1939).
  
  

• SPOILER: After the image of Dr. Totenkopf (played by Sir Laurence Olivier) is deactivated, it is discovered that the real Totenkopf has been dead for quite some time. Joe comments that "We've been chasing a ghost." The irony is that Olivier himself had been dead for over 15 years before the film was created; Kerry Conran achieved this by using CGI-manipulated archive footage of Olivier.
  
  

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