6 Amazing Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Steven Spielberg’s ‘Amazing Stories’
Excitement. Horror. Suspense. Adventure. All were part of Amazing Stories, the anthology series created by Steven Spielberg in 1985. The Emmy Award-winning show was a fantastic showcase of tales beyond the realm of imagination. Many also remember how its title sequence incorporated computer-generated imagery, and CGI wasn’t that common back in the mid-80s.
Amazing Stories ran for two seasons, from 1985 to 1987. Afterward, episodes were paired together for a run of TV films. And as incredible as the sights were in Amazing Stories, some of the facts about what happened behind the scenes might shock you. Or, at least, test your knowledge.
1 It celebrates a pivotal publication in the sci-fi genre
The year 2026 will mark the centennial anniversary of Amazing Stories, the magazine that inspired Steven Spielberg’s series. Debuting in 1926 and created by Hugo Gernsback, Amazing Stories was the first American magazine completely devoted to what it called at the time “scientifiction” (a.k.a. science-fiction). The publication heavily featured works by renowned sci-fi authors such as H.G. Wells, Edgar Allan Poe, Jack Williamson, and Edward E. Smith.
2 Clint Eastwood directed an episode written by Spielberg
By 1985, Clint Eastwood had already accumulated several director credits to his name. He had been behind the camera for films like High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Sudden Impact, and Firefox. So, when the chance came for him to direct “Vanessa in the Garden,” an episode of Amazing Stories that Spielberg wrote, the Dirty Harry actor went for it.
The episode is more romantic than action, showcasing a different side of Eastwood’s tough-guy persona as the story follows the storyline of a recently widowed painter (played by Harvey Keitel) who brings his love back to life through his art. The episode also featured Sondra Locke, who, according to Slash Film, was having a relationship with Eastwood at the time.
3 From Amazing Stories To Oscar glory
Amazing Stories handed the camera over to a handful of talented directors, including Joe Dante (Gremlins), Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers), Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), and Lesli Linka Glatter (Mad Men). Even Burt Reynolds and Danny DeVito directed episodes.
Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
Four Amazing Stories directors would go on to win Best Director at the Academy Awards: Martin Scorsese, who finally won Best Director in 2007 for The Departed, directed 1986’s “Mirror, Mirror”; Robert Zemeckis, who won for 1995’s Forrest Gump, directed 1986’s “Go To the Head of the Class,” which featured Cristpher Lloyd; and both Eastwood (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby) and Spielberg (Schinder’s List, Saving Private Ryan).
4 It helped launch an ‘Incredible’ career
A great deal of talent worked behind the scenes at Amazing Stories, including a writer and animator named Brad Bird. Having briefly worked with Disney during the studio’s tumultuous late ‘70s, Bird put together a demo of animation projects, one of which caught the eye of Steven Spielberg.
Bird joined Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and worked on two episodes of Amazing Stories: 1985’s “The Main Attraction,” a comical episode where John Scott Clough’s body gets magnetized; and 1987’s “Family Dog,” the series only animated episode. “Family Dog” was a ratings success, which led to a spin-off series.
Courtesy Everett Collection
In 1993, after years of delays and without Bird’s involvement, the show Family Dog debuted on CBS. The weekly series ran for two months. It was not well-received at all and is often considered one of the biggest bombs in television history.
Bird, at that time, had already moved on: he worked on the first eight episodes of The Simpsons, and soon began work on what would become one of the most revered animated movies of a generation: The Iron Giant. This ultimately led to Bird working with Pixar on The Incredibles and Ratatouille.
5 ‘Batteries Were Included’ in one particular episode
Fun fact: Brad Bird also worked on an episode of Amazing Stories that involved tenants in a run-down building facing eviction from a real estate developer, only to be saved by robotic aliens.
However, Spielberg felt that there was more to this story. He had a handful of writers work on the screenplay, including Bird, resulting in 1987’s *batteries not included.
6 The theme was written by John Williams
The iconic musical intro to the 1985 television series was composed by the legendary music maestro John Williams. A frequent collaborator of Spielberg, having composed themes for some of Spielberg’s most famous films, including Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Schindler’s List.
In addition to the main title sequence, Williams also wrote music for the episodes “Ghost Train” and “The Mission,” both directed by Spielberg.
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