30 Wild Stories Behind Hollywood’s Most Famous Movie Props

Roger Christian, set decorator: "When I saw Ralph McQuarrie’s painting, and George’s description of the lightsaber, I knew this would be the symbol of the film. It was obvious. He had invented something that everybody in the world would want.

"But I couldn’t find anything that felt right. It drove me mad. We had to get this prepared, and I was getting worried. The special effects made some [flashlight]-like ones but they just didn’t cut it. George rejected them. I was only looking for a found object, and I couldn’t quite find the weight that I knew this handle had to have.

"In desperation one day,I was making Luke’s binoculars, I found two different camera parts and I stuck them together with super glue. I needed two lenses to stick on the front and there was a photography shop in London which we always rented all our camera equipment for movies for so I went there and was buying a couple lenses and then I asked the owner, ‘Listen, have you got anything that might be interesting -- I need a kind of a handle for a weapon. Have you got anything I could look at?’ And he said, ‘Look over there, there are some boxes that are all covered in dust.’ Literally the first box I pulled out, there were these Graflex [camera] handles, there were about six of them in the box. And this would be like going in slow motion, the music is rising -- I took them out and it was like finding the Holy Grail. They were beautiful objects. They even had a red firing button on it.

"I got in the car and raced back to the studios. I thought, I have to have a handle, I took the same section of rubber I put around the sterling, stuck it as a handle around it. I found a piece of calculator where by the numbers were magnified, and it was like bubble strip -- it perfectly fitted the grip. And I just held it in my hand and thought, this is it. I called George and said, you better have a look. He came and took it in his hand and smiled. And that’s more than approval with George. You’ve hit gold if you get a smile.

"[To make the blade,] a friend of mine who I was doing some art exhibitions with, we painted projection material onto wood and we were using it as a reflector … We took a wooden dowel, drilled out a few of the Graflex light sabers that I had made, stuck it in the end, and he put it slightly off center, the motor, so the blade would give a little bit of a wobble. It picked up light, enough to rotoscope some of the scenes … So the one I made [cost] about $12."

Grant Major, production designer: “Tolkien’s idea of the ring, though highly descriptive in its origin and the terrible power it has over its wearer, was described physically as being a simple golden band. This band is able to expand and shrink to fit the hand that wears it and when heated reveals a phrase in Black Speech: ‘One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.’ “When first tasked with the design of this most important prop for The Fellowship of the Ring, I thought it would probably take forever to agree on its look with the director, producers, the studio, LOTR experts, and fans all weighing in.

You can imagine the visual significance to the film, the marketing, and other spin-offs, and how this iconic object would have to endure all sorts of ongoing scrutiny and re-production. “It’s interesting to understand that, at this phase of development in late 1998, the film project was completely under the radar, with none of the hype that surrounds it now. And Peter Jackson had the last word in all these design decisions. As it transpired, the overall design concept was quick and easy, one of the producers, Rick Porras, was about to be married and the ring he had chosen was identified as a good starting point for ‘The One Ring.’ Its profile was perfectly bulbous and ‘weighty’ and had a significant ‘historic’ look, was well proportioned and simple enough to carry the phrase on its internal and external surfaces.

Alan Lee produced some additional sketches of the ring but it didn’t change significantly from this first idea. A local jeweler from Nelson, New Zealand, Jens Hansen, was chosen to make these ring props. After various prototypes were produced, a final version was chosen and then multiples were made (around 40, I understand) for the actors and doubles in various units, many more were made latterly for publicity and gifts. “There were also versions made for specific moments in the story; an extra large one (way over scale) was used for a super close up when placed on a table (also over scale) in Bag End to achieve a forced perspective effect.

Another version was made from a magnetic metal so that when dropped onto the floor inside the front door of Bag End it would appear heavy and not bounce. From memory, there was never a version with the glowing lettering — this became a visual effect. The lettering itself was a direct copy of that found in the book. But it was such a privilege help to bring this iconic prop to life and see how it has now become the definitive version for this movie phenomenon.”

Robin L. Miller, property master: "Wilson was in the script because, as I remember, [writer William Broyles Jr.] was down in Mexico and literally found a volleyball on the beach. Later we were told by psychologists that people, when they're stranded and in moments of isolation, usually choose an inanimate object to talk to because they can't handle being alone. The odd part of this was that the name 'Wilson' was in the script, and so I approached Wilson the company to make me volleyballs. Wilson wasn't interested, at that point. Moviemaking had nothing to do with them. But I was very fortunate to find a woman there who, after I explained I was working with an Academy-Award-winning actor and an Academy-Award-winning director, the ball was called Wilson, for godsakes, and I needed blank ones, so I could make the face with Tom's handprint. She got me 20 -- only 20.

"I blew through 20 in a heartbeat. He went through all these incarnations, plus ones I could use for take after take after take. There were only five [hero props] used in the movie for up close shots.The aging on him changes over the course of the movie. His hair gets wrecked by the end. But we made them all last. I guarded them with my life. We were in Fiji, and then traveling to some island an hour and a half away from Fiji. The other nightmare was all those FedEx boxes -- they fell apart in the humidity, so for all those takes, we were gluing them back together take after take. They were cardboard turning into soggy graham crackers. But the Wilsons were locked up. I practically took them to bed with me. They took a long time to fabricate, with the hair and the aging.

"When Tom made the original one, I put red tempera paint on his hand and he made the pattern on the ball, not on camera. He tried it and... it didn't look great. So we did it again and again and again, and when we got one with enough room for the face, that became the template. We redid it on camera, and then we knew where we were headed because we came up with the concept three months earlier: how far his fingers needed to spread, what lines it needed to reach on the ball. Then the others were all hand-sewn, the hair was put in, and a scenic painter made five perfect matches, and then we had others for second, third, and fourth unit. Wilson had to be on every raft, and I wasn't going to give them my best ones!

"The challenge was they all had to match. Towards the very end, the one that sinks, it's so sad and so dirty. The hair is messed up. The one that ultimately sank, there were two (and remember, I only had five), but the effects department had to weight them to get pulled underwater. That was special -- it aged the most. I don't think we did many takes of that scene. It was the end of his journey."

Indy’s hat wasn’t just any fedora; it was custom-made by Herbert Johnson Hatters in London to look rugged but cool. Harrison Ford’s insistence on wearing it all the time led to it becoming as iconic as his whip. The original hat has been auctioned off, with some replicas and originals selling for over $500,000.

Bond's original Aston Martin DB5 is not just a car; it's also a spy gadget. It's equipped with bulletproof windows, revolving license plates, machine gun front fenders, tire cutter wheels, and even an ejector seat. The world's most famous spy car is estimated to be worth about $4 million. The only problem is that it's been missing since 1997 after being stolen from an airport hangar in Boca Raton, FL.

There was an extensive search for the famous Aston Martin, but it's feared that the car may have disappeared forever.

The eerie, cage-like mask that confines Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs has become a symbol of the character's terrifying presence and the unsettling nature of his crimes. Its design serves a practical purpose within the film's narrative, protecting others from Lecter's cannibalistic tendencies while allowing him to breathe and communicate. The mask's open eyeline adds to its unnerving effect, enabling Lecter to maintain his piercing gaze and assert his psychological dominance over those around him.

The prop's ability to dehumanize the character paradoxically heightens his menace, transforming him into a caged beast whose intellect and cunning remain undiminished by his physical restraints. This iconic status of the mask is further cemented by its prominent role in the film's sequel, Hannibal, where it serves as a chilling reminder of Lecter's past and the lingering threat he poses to society. Lecter's use of the mask symbolizes the complexity of his character, blurring the lines between humanity and monstrosity.

In 1939, Dorothy (Judy Garland) was able to return home in The Wizard of Oz by clicking the heels of her unmistakable ruby red slippers. There were probably about six or seven pairs of red slippers used during filming and there are four known remaining pairs today. However, at least one of them is unaccounted for. One of the pairs from The Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota was stolen in 2005.

Theories abounded about the slippers whereabouts. Some speculated the thief threw them into the Tioga Mine Pit Lake. Others believed the criminal sold them on the black market. There were no leads on the slippers for several years, until an Illinois man was allegedly spotted bragging about how he was involved in the heist from the Garland Museum. The cops raided the man's house but didn't find the slippers. In 2015, an anonymous donor put up a $1,000,000 reward for the return of the slippers.

Then, in September 2018 - 13 years after the slippers were stolen - the shoes found their way home. Thanks to a 2017 tip to Detective Brian Mattson, the Grand Rapids Police Department, along with Minneapolis FBI agents, were able to track down the missing shoes. The details surrounding the recovery were not discussed.

James Mazzola, property master: "I was Zoltar. I was inside that machine. I built it for the specs of my body. And I sat in the whole thing and designed it so I could fit in there and do all the little apparatuses. You know when the quarter goes down the chute? I had a screen in front and could look at Tom [Hanks] to see when he did his actions. We designed the thing and our fabricator on 23rd St -- which is no longer there -- built it. It’s all handmade. We actually just cut it up and painted it and taped it and I did the mechanics to it. So you know it was a lot of people involved in the thing, and it came out really well. The timing of that quarter sliding into his mouth was a challenge. Inside I had a whole board with all kinds of levers. I was in good shape and I just knew the systems, so it worked each time and we didn't have to keep doing take after take. I knew exactly what they wanted, so why teach somebody to do it?"

Stuart Craig, production designer: "Like so many things in the Potter world, the concept is really all in the original text, in J.K. Rowling's description. She says the snitch is the size of a walnut. A golf ball is substituted in practice. It has fluttering silver wings, which must be completely hidden while at rest to achieve the small size. Gert Stevens was the concept artist who did the final illustration. Pierre Bohanna's prop making team made it… a really delicate piece of mechanical engineering. The wings were stowed in deep narrow channels curving across the surface, apparently surface decoration but secretly hiding the wings."

Robert Luketic, director: "Amongst the most ludicrous things we talked about on the movie were the color of blonde hair -- what is blonde hair? -- the breed of dog (and when I met Bruiser that was very obvious), and then what this pen was going to look like. This pen was brought to my attention by my art department. My eye went immediately to the pink puffy ball. I had never seen anything like it. That was the pen you bring to the first day of Harvard Law. She did things on her own terms, in her own way and her own world. She wasn't going to conform. That pen said it all. And it's something the writers and I hear about all the time: 'The movie encouraged me to go to law school. Look at me, I can still be who I want to be.' Women say it was empowering and freeing. And [the pen] slapped me in the face. It was so apparent."

Joe Johnston, director (in a letter of provenance written for auction): "Cast foam carry board[s were] used in scenes where the actors (usually Robin Williams) had to walk outdoors or move around in the set with the closed Jumanji game. The hero boards that were used for close shots were made of wood and were quite heavy. To reduce the risk of a hero board being dropped and damaged, a mold was made from one of the hero boards and reduced-weight carry boards were produced. There were also molded rubber stunt boards that were only used when an actor had to run or fall with a closed game board, or interact with it in some potentially dangerous way. As far as I know, there were at least two hero boards constructed, one with a false back to allow the magnetized movement of the game pieces. There were at least three carry boards produced. To the best of my recollection, one of the carry boards was destroyed in the scene where the house splits in two. There were four or more rubber stunt boards."

Robin L. Miller, property master: "Bob [Zemeckis, director] loves Americana. He loves a retrospective feel. A movie we're doing now takes place in 2003 and still he wants the props to feel nostalgic -- we're not cutting edge 2003, but we're in the '90s. It's that kind of comfort.

"The box of chocolates had all the selections. Russell Stover Chocolates was an icon. There was the Whitman's Sampler… and I'm not sure why we didn't go with that. Maybe [Bob] didn't like the box. But Russell Stover's was emblematic. Everyone knew it. It didn't stand out, which is actually the best prop in the world.

"What's funny is the studio was adamant of getting the box of chocolates. When you wrap a [movie], everything gets logged in case they have to do reshoots. You give them all the documentation so they can remake it. I gave it to them, and five others, but I told them, you can buy this. That's so rare, actually. The box was the real thing, and hadn't changed in a long time."

Gene Kelly, director-actor-choreographer (in Gene Kelly: A Biography, 1974): "I was running through the lyrics of the song to see if they suggested anything other than the obvious when, at the end of the first chorus, I suddenly added the word 'dancing' to the lyric -- so that now it ran 'I'm singin' and dancin' in the rain.' Instead of just singing the number, I'd dance it as well. Suddenly the mist began to clear, because a dance tagged onto a song suggested a positive and joyous emotion… All that was left for me to do was to provide a routine that expressed the good mood I was in. And to help me with this I thought of the fun children have splashing about in rain puddles and decided to become a kid again during the number. Having decided that, the rest of the choreography was simple. What wasn't so simple was coordinating my umbrella with the beats of the music, and not falling down in the water and breaking every bone in my body. I was also a bit concerned that I'd catch pneumonia with all that water pouring down on me, particularly as the day we began to shoot the number I had a very bad cold, and kept rushing out into the sun to keep warm whenever I could."

Owen Paterson, production designer: “Lana and Lilly [Wachowski] are true geniuses… I would have specific conversations with them about that scene. It takes place in a hotel that is essentially closed down. It’s derelict. They had this beautiful expression [for it], which was ‘putrid decay.’ “I can’t remember what was in the pills, but there were discussions with doctors, so if anyone had have swallowed them by mistake, then it would be safe. It was just something that had to be blue and something that had to be red — I believe we used gelatin caps. It was quite simple the way that was set up. The other really interesting thing was there were certain shots [in the scene] that were physically impossible to do. One is in the spectacles that [Morpheus] is wearing, you’ll notice the left and right hand — and I think the right hand is the red pill and the left hand is the blue pill — but they are held up to the eye… The scene was shot so that the two separate hands were shot and both placed into those glasses. You would never know.”

Dave Rusan, guitar maker (in an interview with Premiere Guitar, 2016): “Prince wasn’t much for small talk. He could certainly express himself if he felt it was necessary, but in this case he didn’t all that much. So he had this bass with him in the store that day — I’d actually worked on it before — and his main requirements were just that the guitar should be in that shape, and it had to be white, and it had to have gold hardware. I think he specified he wanted EMG pickups, but compared to all the conversations you would have with somebody about a custom guitar, there wasn’t anything else he wanted to talk about — the size of the neck, the frets, the playability features, or anything. He did come in once after that, and Jeff [Hill, the owner of Knut-Koupée Music] was able to get him to make a few comments, but I figured if he’s not going to tell me what he wants, I’ll make something I think he’ll like and hope for the best.”

David Zucker the co-director/co-writer of Airplane! says the idea started just from sketching a cliche pilot in blow-up form. The art department then created the models that could be connected to an air machine and blown up/deflated as quickly or slowly as the directors wanted. The idea of the “winking” from the doll came from a grip on set, according to Zucker.

Julie Dawn Cole, actress (Veruca Salt): "They were made of a kind of foil paper, I suppose, a foil-covered paper. They were sort of crunchy, but more substantial than a piece of cooking foil. You had to be a little bit careful. The props men would hand them to you with great reverence: 'Here is your golden ticket.'

"We got to handle them twice, because we got them when we found the ticket, in whatever scene that was, in September 1970, and then when we went through the factory gates. As we were going through the gates, it was always like, Be very careful and don't lose this. You're sitting there, holding this thing for ages during shooting, getting a bit bored, thinking, Oh, I better not crease this too much. So I think the one going through the factory gates, by the time it got to the gates, was probably a little dog-eared. That's why they had spares. The actual going through the factory gates, that whole scene, I think we were a week in shooting it, a week of holding onto this one piece of paper.

"The props men would appear and disappear mysteriously, a bit like Slugworth, with the tickets. I would imagine there were a couple hundred made. I had about 10 at one time, and now I still have one framed with a Wonka Bar. I don't think the movie industry recognized the importance of props back then. Nobody did. They were just things that were in the movie. Movies didn't have this longevity and cult status yet. It's still a fairly young industry.
"But this prop has gone down in pop history. People refer to it as, 'Well, he got the golden ticket!' If you hear that on a program, you know where it came from, from Willy Wonka. It's turned into a catch phrase. It's extraordinary."

Roger Shiffman, founder of Zizzle L.L.C. and former President of Tiger Electronics: “I worked directly with John Hughes. He came to my office a few times. His original concept in the script was for Macaulay Culkin to have a gun. I said, ‘Look you can’t have a gun at the airport. It just doesn’t fly at O’Hare.’ So I told him to let me work on it. “We actually designed the Talkboy ourselves, which is why it has the design it has, with the grip where he could slide his hand into and the extending microphone so it looked more lifelike. We had not [done a recorder before that] and what was interesting is how big a deal it was for us and Fox. Fox made the introduction with John, but I made a deal with them for a modest royalty I’d continue to build the brand. We went on to do a tremendous amount of volume — there are videos of people fighting over them — but the big success only came when they sold the VHS tape. It was the largest distribution, I think 10 million tapes, and every one had a printed brochure for Talkboy, saying it was a real product you could get.”

The movie Jaws may have been released more than 35 years ago, but one of its most memorable props is still as popular as ever: a full-size mechanical shark head used in multiple scenes of Steven Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster. The 17-foot prop—nicknamed Bruce after Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer—has become a fixture at theme parks and film exhibitions around the world.

Ray Harryhausen, producer/visual effects director: "Bubo was in the first version of the script that [screenwriter] Beverley Cross showed me around the time of the release of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger [1977]. I had always wanted to do the story of Perseus and the Gorgon, but I could never work out a coherent continuity. Beverley Cross was a Greek scholar, and the owl was a familiar symbol, even used on the ancient coins, so he weaved it into the story as a guide to Perseus. I worked on the design for quite some time, trying to keep it simple and practical, but beautiful in its own way. As far as the noises he makes, what other sound would a mechanical owl make?" Steven Archer, first animation assistant: "Ray’s main instruction to me was to give the figures rounded movements. Occasionally he would tell me to do more of this or less of that, but overall he seemed pleased with my work. The first animation I did was the flying sequences with the tiny Bubo figure, shot against a blue screen. Most people just wouldn’t realize the sheer physical hard work of doing such scenes, with the figure on wires several feet above the stage. I would have to climb a ladder, move the model, climb down and take the ladder away, walk back to the camera and hit the exposure pedal. Then repeat the thing all over again and yet again later when working with the vulture. Doing that day after day was totally exhausting.

“Ray spent a day going through the problems I might face using the rear-screen set-up, and then I also sat in the background for a couple of days just watching him animate. At least the Bubo figure was a lot easier to handle. I had a little trouble with relative size to the background plates and had to re-shoot a few sequences, but it was all part of the learning process. There are so many things you have to consider with the technical aspects, let alone concentrating on the animation movements. It just makes you realize just how brilliant Ray was as an animator." Quotes courtesy of Mike Hankin, author of Ray Harryhausen: Master of the Majicks