Trailer
Plot summary
Slumlord Huckleberry P. Jones hides heroin in the basement of one of his empty houses. He stumbles through a strange door into the Sixth Dimension, flees, then returns for the drugs and sells the house to the Hercules family. Frenchy Hercules, her brother Flash and their friend Squeezit Henderson meet on their way to school, where Squeezit tells them he has seen a vision of his sister René, who has fallen into the Sixth Dimension. Frenchy comes home and goes through the basement door, and the Princess brings her before the king and queen, Fausto and Doris.
Cast
- Gene Cunninghamas Pa Hercules
- Marie-Pascale Elfmanas Susan B. 'Frenchy' Hercules
- Virginia Roseas Ma Hercules
- Phil Gordonas Flash Hercules
- Hyman Diamondas Gramps Hercules
- Brian Routhas Harry Kipper
- Martin von Haselbergas Harry Kipper
- Jan Stuart Schwartzas Bust Rod, the Servant Frog
- Gisele Lindleyas The Princess
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Forbidden Zone (1980)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Hervé Villechaize, who played King Fausto, kicked his paycheck back into the production and painted sets on weekends; Phil Gordon, who played Flash, was the only paid actor, because the other SAG actors put their money back into the film.
- Forbidden Zone was criticized for its brief use of surreal blackface, and in 2020 Richard Elfman digitally removed the blackface images and replaced them with "clown-face".
- Co-writer and co-star Matthew Bright was sitting on set in costume when a lighting stand fell on his head, cracking his skull; he was rushed to hospital and came back the next day with a mild concussion and whiplash but kept filming.
- The production took three years, from its original 16mm roots to its finish, and cast and crew members slept on the film's stage wearing spare gorilla suits to stay warm.
- Director Richard Elfman went bankrupt during the production of Forbidden Zone and had to assign the rights away in order to finish the film; he regained the full rights in 2015.
- Forbidden Zone was the first film scored by Danny Elfman, who went on to score Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- Because of the film's low budget, then-unknown animator John Muto created all of Forbidden Zone's animation sequences himself, making frequent use of airbrush techniques to give himself a distinctive style.
- The film's theme song was eventually reused by Danny Elfman, who rearranged it as The Dilbert Zone for use as the theme of the television series Dilbert.
Stills
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