Harry and the Hendersons

Harry and the Hendersons
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam Dear
Written byWilliam Dear
William E. Martin
Ezra D. Rappaport
Produced byWilliam Dear
Richard Vane
Starring
CinematographyAllen Daviau
Edited byDonn Cambern
Music byBruce Broughton
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures[1]
Release date
  • June 5, 1987 (1987-06-05) (United States)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[1]
Box office$50 million[2]

Harry and the Hendersons is a 1987 American fantasy comedy film directed and produced by William Dear and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, David Suchet, Margaret Langrick, Joshua Rudoy, Lainie Kazan, and Kevin Peter Hall. Steven Spielberg served as its uncredited executive producer, while Rick Baker provided the makeup and the creature designs for Harry. The film tells the story of a Seattle family's encounter with the cryptozoological creature Bigfoot, partially inspired by the numerous claims of sightings in the Pacific Northwest, California, and other parts of both the United States and Canada over three centuries. In conjunction with the film's setting, shooting took place at several locations in the Cascade Range of Washington state near Interstate 90 and the town of Index near US 2,[3] as well as Seattle's Wallingford, Ballard and Beacon Hill neighborhoods and other locations in or around Seattle.

Harry and the Hendersons grossed $50 million worldwide. It won an Oscar for Best Makeup at the 60th Academy Awards, and inspired a television spin-off of the same name.[4] In the United Kingdom, the film was originally released as Bigfoot and the Hendersons, though the television series retained the American title. The DVD and all current showings of the film in the UK now refer to the film by its original title.

  1. ^ a b c d "Harry and the Hendersons (1987)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  2. ^ "Harry and the Hendersons". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  3. ^ Varriano, Jackie (October 22, 2019). "Leaving Seattle for a weekend adventure via Highway 2? Stop for elk burgers, milkshakes and Bigfoot lore". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  4. ^ Richmond, Ray (January 20, 1991). "'Harry' Spinoff Is 'Alf' For The '90s". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2010.