The Case of IT (1990)
It’s Frightening February which means we get to spend this whole month just scaring the crap out of Adam. And this week, we decided to expose him to one of the most famous stories in the horror genre: Stephen King’s It. And because we’re suckers for nostalgia, we’re focusing on the 1990 two-part mini-series based on the novel.
In 1986, the unofficial “King” of horror (Stephen King) unleashed what would become one of his quintessential stories. It was a saga about a group of outcasts that bands together to survive–and then later–take down a horrifying monster that feasts on children. The book’s title, IT, played on one of the key ingredients to a truly terrifying villain: not knowing what it is.
Only a couple years later, ABC was considering making a made-for-TV film based on the novel. The task was ambitious to say the least, since the source material is over a thousand pages long. The network also faced the challenge of towing the line between being a faithful adaptation and getting past the TV censors.
So, let’s head into the town of Derry, Maine, and learn more about the 1990 mini series based on Stephen King’s novel, IT!
Summary
There’s something evil plaguing the town of Derry, Maine. It resurfaces every 27 years (30 years in the mini series), terrorizing children and causing unfathomable grief. One summer, a group of kids called “The Losers Club” uses their bond of friendship to take down the monster (sometimes known as Pennywise the Clown). They make a pact that if “It” ever comes back, they will also return to kill it for good…
Sure enough, IT does return three decades later, and so must the losers club. This group of adults must face their internal demons and repressed childhood memories in order to stop this monster for good.
Making of
In the late 1980s, producers Frank Konigsburg and Larry Sanitsky approached screenwriter Lawrence D Cohen about writing a script for “It.” Cohen had a lot of experience bringing Stephen King stories to the screen, as he was the screenwriter for Carrie and The Tommyknockers.
Cohen accepted the challenge, and teamed up with legendary director George Romero to create an epic, eight or ten hour version of the book. The two collaborated on episode treatments, hoping that ABC would allow an 8 episode mini-series.
But, ABC said no. They agreed to produce four hours, and George Romero left the project. Later on, writer Larry Cohen said that he believes that it would have been as huge as Game of Thrones had they been allowed to make it. *A moment of silence for what could have been.*
When director Tommy Lee Wallace was asked to take on the project, he hadn’t read the book. At this point, the first part of the mini series had been completed by Larry Cohen, and Wallace decided to accept the job after reading the screenplay.
Cohen’s seven-act first episode really captured the tone of the story. Wallace thought it was the most unique thing ever written for TV. Each act focused on one of the main characters and their personal experience with Pennywise, a form often taken by the monster.
However, part 2 of the series wasn’t finished. Cohen had to leave the project to work on another film, and Wallace was left to re-work the ending of the story himself. It was clear that the childhood part of the story (part 1) was more meaningful and interesting, and that’s why Cohen and Wallace decided to intersperse moments with the adult actors with the childhood scenes.
Wallace was drawn to the fact that the story involved a team of people. He had an affinity for films that assembled teams of characters. He also liked the root of the story, that it wasn’t just shocking horror fiction, but that it was about childhood abuse and trauma and how we want to return and understand it better as adults.
The series was filmed at The Bridge Studios in Vancouver, CA. Filming there was much cheaper than in California, and the location was an abandoned shipyard. Although studios had been filming there since the mid-80s, the popularity of IT helped put the location on the map.
Once filming began, it became clear that there wasn’t a lot of room in the budget. Production had to stretch costs wherever possible.
Because of this, they had to get creative during the scenes that required special effects. At times, this worked in the series’ favor, as less can often mean more in horror. For example, for many viewers, the scariest form of the monster was a clown with sharp teeth.
Fantasy II was the special effects team for the mini series.
In the final face-off, we see IT’s true form–a large spider-esque creature. The team had, quote, “champagne ideas on a beer budget.” It took 12 weeks to build the spider. It was interspersed with a stop-motion animated version during the final battle. Special effects artist Brent Baker was inside the monster. When it fell to its side in the final battle, he fell too and was covered in bruises.
The most memorable scenes are in the beginning, when we see two children get eaten by the monster. First is the little girl that signifies the return of IT. The second is Georgie Denbrough.
Both scenes were filmed using rain machines. Tim Curry as Pennywise didn’t act opposite the little girl in her scene because the production knew it would scare her too much.
In Georgie’s scene, Tim Curry spoke into a nearby manhole so that the young actor could hear his voice. The set designers built the sewer so that Tim Curry could stand and look out of the opening.
The production first considered stage and screen actor Harvey Fierstein to play the part of the heinous monster, Pennywise the Dancing Clown. But ultimately the role went to Tim Curry, an actor known for his intensity and charm.
The casting directors had seen Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show and felt that he might have a knack for horror.
Curry had just finished a film where he had to wear heavy prosthetics, and he insisted on not wearing too much make-up for IT. Tommy Lee Wallace agreed, and struck a deal with Curry that allowed him to wear basic clown make-up in most of his scenes. The only addition was a forehead extension that elongated his face.
Curry himself had never found clowns to be threatening, but the fear of clowns was becoming much more common in the late 1980s, especially after the 1970s serial killings by John Wayne Gacy. Gacy was a serial murderer that targeted young men and boys. He also happened to be a clown performer.
The general fear and discomfort of clowns seemed to reach its peak in the 1980s, and Stephen King really tapped into that with IT. In a way, clowns represent innocence, as they are more often performers for children. The idea of something so seemingly harmless attacking unsuspecting children was horrifying.
Besides the common uneasiness that some people feel around clowns, there are also those that suffer from Coulrophobia (the fear of clowns).
Tommy Lee Wallace referred to Tim Curry as “a director’s dream.”
He had such great instincts that he hardly needed direction.
Although Pennywise is the main antagonist of the story, Henry Bowers leaves a lasting impression as the intimidating childhood bully. Bowers is the ultimate representation of how mankind is its own breed of monster. His cruelty stems from the abuse that he has endured his entire life, although this is hardly explored in the mini-series.
Bowers was played by Jarred Blancard, who also appeared in the ‘90s show Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.
The children cast to play The Losers Club were mostly new to acting. Casting directors were looking for three main characteristics in the kids: humor, being able to handle painful scenes, and the ability to act scared. The children and their adult counterparts would spend time together and try to match up mannerisms so that the audience could see how the children and adults were the same people.
The kids’ scenes and the adults’ scenes were filmed almost simultaneously, with the kids filming mostly during the day and the adults in the evening. The young and older versions of the Losers Club would spend time together and bonded over playing the same characters.
Jonathan Brandis played the young Bill Denbrough. Brandis was already a TV actor when he got the part of Bill, and he went on to become a TV and film star throughout the 80s and 90s. Brandis was famous for productions like Seaquest DSV and the film Sidekicks.
Marlon Taylor played Mike Hanlon, age 12. Taylor later appeared on the TV show Sister Sister, where he got to act with Tim Reid, his former IT co-star.
Brandon Crane played Ben Hanscom, age 12. Crane went on to appear in The Wonder Years and also had a cameo in the 2019 version of IT: Chapter 2.
Seth Green played the young Richie Tozier. He has had a successful film and TV career, appearing in films like The Italian Job and Can’t Hardly Wait.
Emily Perkins played Beverly Marsh, age 12. She has appeared in series like Supernatural and When Calls the Heart.
Adam Faraizl played Eddie Kaspbrak, age 12. He appeared in a few other made-for-TV movies in the early 90s.
Ben Heller played Stanley Uris, age 12. Although he went on to become a producer, the 1990 IT mini series is one of his only acting roles.
Many of the adult actors cast in IT had worked together before except for Tim Reid and Richard Thomas, who played Mike Hanlon and Bill Denbrough respectively. The actors made it a point to spend time together outside of work so that they could form a stronger bond onscreen. Richard Thomas is possibly best known as John Boy from The Waltons, while Tim Reid is known for shows like Sister Sister and WKRP in Cincinnati.
John Ritter, known for shows like Three’s Company and 8 Simple Rules, played the adult Ben Hanscom. Ritter was a huge Stephen King fan. His favorite book by King was The Stand.
Ritter insisted that the series include a scene where he explains his weight loss. The director didn’t think it was necessary, but the other actors backed him up, and the scene was added, using dialogue almost directly lifted from the book.
Ritter also wished that the series included Maturin, the giant turtle arch nemesis of Pennywise. Unfortunately, it wasn’t included. In the 2017 film version of IT, Maturin is briefly referenced but never explained. Because of this, much of the lore behind Pennywise and how the Losers Club is able to defeat him is known only by the fans of the book.
Director Tommy Lee Wallace encouraged the actors to bring pieces from their own lives to the characters. Dennis Christopher, who played the adult Eddie Kaspbrak, brought in his own vitamin bottles as props for his character.
Harry Anderson played the wise-cracking Richard Tozier. Anderson was possibly best known for playing Judge Harry Stone on Night Court.
The actor that had the least screen time out of the 7 was Richard Masur. He played Stanley Uris who seemed to be the most traumatized even in adulthood by what happened in Derry. Masur has been on Broadway but you may recognize him as either Clark from 1982’s The Thing or as the dad in Disney’s Mr. Boogedy. The scene that he wanted to get through quickly was when he had to be crammed into a small fridge. He had a fake neck on and the rack was cut with enough room for him to slide his head in. Set design then kept putting drinks and things around his head.
Annette O’Toole identified with her part as Beverly Marsh because she recognized that women and girls were held to a different standard during that time. The movie briefly touches on it but her father was judging her and punishing her for her emotional and sexual maturity. Annette O’Toole is known for Superman III (1983) as Lana Lang and Elaine in the movie 48 Hours.
The groups of child and adult actors played well off of each other in their respective scenes. Richard Thomas (who played Bill) said that his favorite scene was the one that takes place in a Chinese restaurant.
This is the first scene where the audience sees all the adult characters together. It was filmed on location in a real restaurant, and took three days to complete. Each of the actors had the chance to improvise as the camera panned around the table to get a shot of each of them. It was consistently a challenge to include all of the cast in a single shot as the camera was formatted for TV and not widescreen.
Puppeteers hid beneath the table to manipulate the fortune cookies that come to life in the scene. The director used a handheld camera to emphasize the panic in the moment as all the adults discover that their childhood fears were still a reality.
Despite cutting several scenes in the film, Broadcast Standards for ABC rejected the mini-series. But producer Jim Green addressed the head of the department and asked for notes on how to get the series approved. He received so many notes, it would have been impossible to get the series approved without completely gutting the story. Green argued that since they had purchased a Stephen King novel, they should expect a Stephen King novel, and this is what the series is. Broadcast Standards ultimately agreed and approved the series without requiring any cuts.
One deleted scene included an officer carrying Georgie’s body to the Denborough’s front door. The scene was likely cut because they were already pushing boundaries for TV viewership. The scene was no doubt devastating to watch.
Another deleted scene was the moment when The Losers Club became “blood brothers.” This scene was removed because of the AIDS epidemic ABC didn’t want to encourage children to transfer blood.
Music
The composer for this mini-series was Richard Bellis. Bellis grew up about the same time as Stephen King and felt connected with the childhood that is portrayed. He felt that the main focus was that kids were in jeopardy.
He won the Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a miniseries or a special in 1991
Reception
Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly in 1990 gave It a B- saying “In addition to It‘s slow pace, I found the ending a big letdown — unimaginative special effects animate the monster in its final incarnation. But the cast is terrific, Curry’s cackle is chilling, and King’s usual buried theme — about the pain adults inflict on children without even realizing it (It?) — is always worth pondering.”
It got played so often on tv that it became bigger, even though most tv movies end up forgotten. It also saw a resurgence of popularity as the series went to VHS. The iconic white cover with Tim Curry and his monster hand scarred any child that saw it in Blockbuster.
The fact that the series aired on TV meant that it was suitable for older kids to watch. For the first time, the story was accessible for younger audiences, and for many it was their introduction to Stephen King.
Fun Facts
John Ritter took home one of the cards from the deck that had Pennywise on it.
IT was supposed to be ten episodes long, but after realizing the darkness of the material and the cost, ABC reconsidered.
The old lady Mrs Kersh was a nod to director Irvin Kershner who was nicknamed “Kersh”.
Beverly’s horrible boyfriend was originally a minor villain, like he is in the novel, for part two.
Pennywise’s true form was originally designed to be bigger, bulkier, and scarier. But during its construction the effects team had to slim it down. Wallace and the cast have since admitted that the ending is a letdown after all the buildup.
Stephen King’s It is for some, the quintessential horror novel. It’s notoriously long, with a complex story that’s incredibly difficult to condense into just four hours. But, the 1990 mini-series managed to convey the tone of the story and its most important themes of friendship and battling your demons.
Whether you think that it’s a great adaptation or a campy dud, the mini series played a huge role in introducing young audiences to Stephen King, generating a new group of horror lovers in the 1990s. It also highlighted Tim Curry’s impeccable talent as the darkly funny–yet horrifying–Pennywise. So if you’re looking for some gateway horror and you’re not quite brave enough to read the novel, give this It a chance. And to be safe, stay away from the sewers.
Sources:
DVD Commentary with director and the adult actors.