Fun Trivia for this movie
I learned some of this from reading the trivia on IMDB, asking family about it, and also watching the extras on the DVD's.
- Turns out this entire project was a collaboration between Mel Brooks and Rick Moranis (which explains a lot).
- George Lucas actually liked this story a lot, and he and Mel Brooks even sat down and talked over some important aspects of how the movie would be made. The reason for the ridiculous amount of product placements in the story [but not the real world] is, it was part of a deal Mel Brooks made with George when making the film: George let him use ILM to do the major special-effects for the movie, but he wasn't allowed to sell any real merchandise from "Spaceballs," other than, say, video tapes and movie posters. Another part of their deal was that Lucas would not be directly involved in making the movie. He'd let Brooks and his team utilize ILM, and Brooks could use pseudo-versions of Star Wars stuff in his film, but that's the most Lucas did for this movie.
- There are two reasons John Candy's character is very different in appearance from Chewbacca: copyright issues, and Mel Brooks wanted people to be able to see Candy's face because he had some very funny facial expressions to go with his voice and mannerisms. So that's how Barf became an alien known as a "Mog," half man, half dog.
- The actress who played Dot ran into the exact same issues Anthony Daniels did when in the robot costume, particularly when filming in the desert. She also originally did the lines as well as the body-acting for the movie, but Mel Brooks didn't think her voice was funny enough. So he brought in Joan Rivers, had her read out her lines in a recording studio, and then dubbed her lines over the original actress's lines for the movie.
- The actor playing the radar operator on Spaceball One is none other than Michael Winslow, of Police Academy fame. Mel Brooks joked that he saved them a lot of money on special-effects with just his voice.
- The actor who played the Spaceball soldier who said "We ain't found shit!" when combing the desert of the 4th Moon of Vega is a very young Tim Russ, who later went on to play Tuvok on "Star Trek: Voyager."
- The "Druish Princess" gag is a reference to an older comedy trope of "the Jewish Princess," usually a girl from a rich, Jewish family who is spoiled rotten and thinks the world revolves around her (however, you don't technically have to be Jewish to emulate that trope). Mel Brooks also used this trope in "Young Frankenstein" as well, with the character Elizabeth, played by Madeline Khan.
- If you pause the movie at the moment where we see the space diner near the end, you can see the Millennium Falcon is parked there (another nod to Lucas helping out with the movie a little bit).
- The guy who had the misfortune of eating the Special at the space diner, and then to have it burst out of his chest, is the exact same actor from "Alien" who had it happen to his character in that movie, which is why, when he sees the creature, he goes, "Oh no, not again!"
- Prince Valium is apparently a literal interpretation of a sleeping drug called Valium, as well as nod to an old phrase some people used to describe women "sleeping with Prince Valium tonight."