Exclusive: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: Concept Art Revealed

The many faces of an icon

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

by Ian Freer |
Published on

Ed Verreaux is one of the unsung heroes of Steven Spielberg’s pool of artisans. Following an apprenticeship with animation legend Chuck Jones, he joined visual effects company of Robert Abel & Associates as a designer, earning his stripes as one of the earliest artists on Star Trek The Motion Picture.

Yet it is his work with Spielberg as a production illustrator that acted as his calling card for his current career as a production designer (he has just finished Jurassic World), turning the director’s visions into something tangible, a blueprint a film crew could work with.

He worked on all three Indiana Jones movie, Poltergeist and Empire Of The Sun but it is his work on Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial that is perhaps his most venerated. Spielberg famously wanted his title star to be something only a mother could love and went to the lengths of sticking photographs of poet Carl Sandburg’s and Albert Einstein’s eyes on images of an infant to create a mixture of innocent and wisdom.

Running with the idea, Verreaux created a series of sketches that crystalise the various expressions and emotions the character would have to perform.

Steven Spielberg: Director's Collection Blu-ray box set available to order now.

E.T. Concept Art

And, of course, how the iconic creature finally turned out in the movie...

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Steven Spielberg: Director's Collection Blu-ray box set available to pre-order now.

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