Answered 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.

Show generally

Question: In an episode with all Vivian's sisters around she says "the Smith sisters are together again" or something like that. Later in Fresh Prince we meet Will's father, who we hear has the surname "Smith" as well, does this mean Will's dad and Vi shared a surname?

Makungu Tata Kunda

Chosen answer: Yes, though remember that Smith is the most common surname in the United States.

Greg Dwyer

Question: The laws of physics in ToonTown are completely different from the laws of physics in the real world, so when Eddie is recounting his brother's death to Roger, how could the piano have killed him?

Answer: It was never mentioned if it was a toon piano or a real life one. A toony ACME piano would have just non-legally flattened Teddy Valiant and/or just for laughs, have piano keys for teeth. A real life piano would definitely lethally crush someone instantly. So Judge Doom must have gotten a non-toony piano from the human world and brought it back to ToonTown.

Answer: The laws of physics are different for 'toons wherever they are, not different for any and all beings within ToonTown. Eddie's brother was not a 'toon, so the piano killed him like it would any flesh-and-blood man.

Phixius

Except Teddy was in Toon Town when the murder occurred. Later in the movie, Eddie is in Toon Town and when he gets on an elevator, it moves so fast that he gets flattened on the floor yet, he manages to survive even though the force alone should have killed him. Since Teddy's was in Toon Town when the piano was dropped on him, it makes no sense how he died but Eddie was able to survive a very fast elevator ride.

Answer: It seems that intent is necessary for an actual death to occur in Toontown. When Judge Doom arranged for the piano to fall on Teddy it was done for the sole purpose of killing him. However, when Droopy Dog takes Eddie on the elevator ride he's not trying to kill him, merely cartoonishly flatten him for comedic effect.

Show generally

Question: Does anyone know if Robert Maschio's (The Todd) 'DOC' tattoo is real? If so, is there any known meaning behind it?

Answer: No, it was a fake, they used a stamp.

It is real.

Answer: It is revealed in the sequel, Love Never Dies, that when the Phantom disappears he makes his way to Coney Island with Meg and Madame Giry. However, he does stay in Paris for a short amount of time (but it isn't known where) because on the night before Christine's wedding, she finds the Phantom and they make love, but then he flees because he felt ashamed of what he did. This is explained in "Beneath a Moonless Sky."

I was trying to figure this out but how does the song 'Beneath a Moonless Sky' hint where and when the two of them met? How did Christine find him if he left through a secret exit (mirror) after Christine returns the ring?

debbi.ee

Answer: "March of the Swivel Heads" by The English Beat.

Answer: Cal says to Rose that she is his wife "in practice" he is referring to the fact that she is his fiancee and as it would not be appropriate for her to behave that way (dancing below deck, drinking etc) as his wife, it is not appropriate for her to behave that way as his fiancee. So basically "you need to act the same way it would be expected of you as my wife, even though you are just my fiancee right now." When he gives her the diamond he tells her that there is nothing he would not "refuse her", if only she would not "refuse" him. Wink wink. He grazes her cheek slightly when he says this, making it pretty clear that it is a come on. This gesture seems to make Rose uncomfortable. Also in that time it was not acceptable behavior for a girl to be sexually active outside of wedlock. Especially a girl of high standing. Also IMO Jack's demeanor after they had sex in the car was not that of an experienced guy. I don't believe Jack had ever had sex. But it is not addressed in the film.

I think that Rose is already having sex with Cal, due to obligation - she knows that she and her mother need this marriage for financial security. She will do what it takes to please him and make the wedding happen smoothly. I think she is uncomfortable with him because, if they are having sex already, it is not truly satisfying for her. Just a duty.

Question: How many ships were in each of the Rebel Alliance's five squadrons (Gold, Red, Green, Gray and Blue) at the Battle Of Endor?

Answer: The Alliance Navy has 12 fighters to each squadron therefore there were 60 fighters spread among the aforementioned squadrons and over 600 fighters present in the battle in other unnamed fighter groups.

Darius Angel

Question: Where in this movie is 1138 said/shown, if it is?

Answer: The number appears albeit almost invisibly on Boushh's (Leia in disguise) helmet. While visible in photos of the props, it's unclear on screen.

Darius Angel

Question: According to what I've heard, when a Jedi dies and accepts it, their body disappears. (like Yoda and Obi-Wan) Darth Vader accepted that he was going to die, so why didn't he disappear? Is disappearing more complex than that, or did Darth Vader not really accept his death, and if not, why?

Answer: Vader's body, does disappear off-screen and only his armor is cremated. The ability to cause one's body to disappear after death appears to be a matter of choice by the deceased as evidenced in the Sequel Trilogy when Luke disappears after his battle with Kylo Ren, in which he projected himself. Ben Solo and Leia (spiritually within her son) bodies also disappear once Ben gives his remaining life energy to Rey when he force heals her.

Darius Angel

Answer: Plus, this ability to disappear and become a 'Force Ghost' was something which required great skill. The prequel films imply that Qui-Gon Jinn was one of the most recent Jedi to relearn this ability (although his body didn't disappear, as he became a Force Ghost after his death and couldn't form a corporeal 'ghost'). Other sources also state that Vader's organic body DID disappear upon his death, and that Luke only burned his suit and mechanical parts for ritualistic purposes.

Question: During the Battle of Hoth, why is the AT-AT walker suddenly easy to blow up after it has crashed? I thought their "armor was too strong for blasters."

taylordan90

Chosen answer: The weak point of an AT-AT is its neck, which is the point the snowspeeder fires upon when the AT-AT explodes.

Darius Angel

Question: I understand that purists are up in arms over this scene, but why they are very upset on the Han Solo-Greedo scene?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Originally, Han shot Greedo outright. The next releases of the films were altered, the first with Greedo firing roughly a second before Han does, and in the subsequent release, Greedo firing just slightly before Han does. Many fans felt that Han seemingly shooting in self-defence took away from his scoundrel character.

Darius Angel

Answer: It is heavily implied that one who becomes a Force-Ghost achieves an untold level of power upon entering the state. Given that they have become a pure entity of the Force, it seems to back up the statement. Obi-Wan also becomes free to assist Luke in any case.

Darius Angel

In addition to this answer, I think Obi-wan also became powerful because he "let go." He did not feel a need to defeat Vader on this occasion - he was willing to surrender the fight and "move on" to a new state. Something that Vader might not currently understand.

Answer: I agree with Darius Angel's comment. I also think Vader expected a certain sense of satisfaction after defeating his former master. In reality, though, he was still "owned" by the Emperor and was living with the consequences of his choices. Defeating Obi-wan did not change much for him. Obi-wan, however, gained the benefits that Darius Angel mentioned.

Question: I know this is probably one of the most asked questions ever in the Star Wars universe, but I can never get a straight answer. Why doesn't Chewbacca receive a medal at the end of A New Hope. I mean, he was there the entire time Luke and Han were (who did receive medals).

Answer: Star Wars wise, Chewbacca did receive a medal, but his was not presented publicly. Film wise, it was felt that adding Chewbacca to the scene was too cumbersome and detracted from the main characters.

Darius Angel

Chosen answer: It is explained that in a duel between Asajj Ventress and Anakin Skywalker, Ventress manages to strike Anakin across the face, she does this to prove that she could kill him at will (she claims she could have as easily beheaded him) Anakin defeats her however, forcing Ventress to flee.

Darius Angel

Question: When some Jedi die, they disappear (Yoda, Obi-wan). When others die, they don't (Qui-gon, Vader). Why is that? I thought this phenomenon would be explained in this movie, but unless I missed something, no explanation was given.

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: Powerful force users seem to have some degree of control over their bodies even after death. In the later series, Luke's wife Mara Jade Skywalker only allows her body to disappear when her killer, and nephew Jacen Solo arrives at her funeral as a clue. Thus it appears that a powerful force user can simply choose if they wish their body to disappear.

Darius Angel

Answer: Towards the end of the movie Yoda tells Obi Wan that Qui Gon has learned the path to imortality and offers to teach this to Obi Wan. In the Clone Wars TV series we see the journey Yoda takes to learn this power. The power to become one with the force is a power you have to learn as opposed to being achievable to all Jedi. Both yoda and Obi Wan has the years between ROTS and ANH/ESB to fine tune and master this power. It is possible that Darth Vader, having seen Obi Wan become one with the force, spent the following years after A New Hope, studying and learning this skill by himself, hence how he was able to appear as a force ghost towards the end of Return of the Jedi, but not quite skilled enough to dissapear on cue.

Question: Is it possible, or even probable, that Palpatine was somehow responsible for Shmi Skywalker's pregnancy? When talking about Darth Plagius who could create life it's implied that Palpatine was the apprentice and knows the power too.

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: Plagueis taught Palpatine everything he knew, even his knowledge of midi-chlorian manipulation (though Palpatine could not master the skill) and roughly ten years before the events of The Phantom Menace, Palpatine and Plagueis attempted to create a super-being via midi-chlorian manipulation which inadvertently resulted in Anakin's conception (Plagueis theorised the conception was the Force "striking back" for their unnatural use of it) Thus inadvertently Palpatine is indeed responsible for Anakin's conception.

Darius Angel

Question: Why is it that when Palpatine-Sidious gets zapped by his lightning his face wrinkles, but when Luke gets zapped in Return of the Jedi, he remains relatively unscathed?

Answer: Palpatine was using relatively weak (but still painful) bursts of lightning on Luke as a means of torture, wanting Luke to suffer before he died. When he attacked Windu, he used powerful bursts of lightning, trying to kill him and thus ravaged his own body by the reflected attack. Or as some sources indicate, the "damage" was Palpatine's true form, which he had been hiding with the force, and reverted to this form to sell the act that he was "too weak" as he expressed.

Darius Angel

Question: Does anybody know why Mace Windu is the head of the Jedi council? It just seems as though there are or were better or older Jedi who surely would have rose to become head Jedi. I thought at first that he may have a high Midi-chlorian count, but it seems his is quite normal by Jedi standards. No wonder Count Dooku left, he waited until he was seventy and still didn't become head of the council!

Answer: Mace Windu is not the head of the Council. Yoda, as Grand Master of the Jedi Order for all intents and purposes is head of the council, but each councillor is equal in terms of voting power. Though the councillors are all powerful force users, power seems secondary to wisdom as far as the selection process is concerned. Dooku left the Jedi Order not due to issues of rank, but because he had become disillusioned with the council.

Darius Angel

Answer: Mother Gothel said: Where will you go? He won't be there for you. Then Rapunzel said: What did you do to him? So I assume she found out at that time she said that.

Answer: There is a scene where Rapunzel is in her bedroom and has brief flashes of herself as a baby with the King and Queen looking down at her. Also the sun symbol she kept drawing, she began to figure things out. That's when she realised she was lied to.

Chosen answer: She kicks him in the groin when he has her cornered on the stairway.

Answer: I was told that Tim Curry AKA Frank N Furter was also accidentally kicked in the groin in the pool shot. You can see the look on his face. But it's not clear if Susan Sarandon did it or the actor playing Rocky did it.

Answer: It happens on the stairwell during the song, "You Better Wise Up, Janet Weiss".

Charles Austin Miller

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.