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FILM · 1983 · USA

Something Wicked This Way Comes

24 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

24 Interesting Facts About Something Wicked This Way Comes

Interesting Facts (21)

  1. #001

    Ray Bradbury first wrote Something Wicked This Way Comes as a screenplay in 1952, after watching Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain (1952), which Bradbury considered the best musical ever made. Bradbury showed the screenplay to Kelly, who was so impressed that he wanted to make it his next film. When Kelly pitched the story to potential backers in 1958, he could not raise any money for the project. After that failure, Bradbury rewrote the story as a novel, incorporating some elements from his 1948 story "Black Ferris"; the novel was published in 1962 and dedicated to Kelly.

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  2. #002

    A special effects sequence at the beginning of the film was cut shortly before its release. In the sequence, a carnival emerges from the smoke of a train, the smoke from the engine "turns into ropes and canvas tents," tree branches grow together to form a Ferris wheel, and a spider web becomes a wheel of fortune. The sequence was the first time computer animation was used to animate organic material and was combined with traditional animation. Disney executives found the scene unconvincing and removed it from the film at the last minute. The deleted scene was described in an issue of "Twilight Zone Magazine" published the same month as the film, and it was assumed the scene would appear in the final cut.

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  3. #003

    In the spider scene, the children look noticeably older because the scene was reshot after the rest of the production was completed. It was used to replace a large mechanical hand that was considered too hokey, like the carnival's animated appearance, and was later cut from the film.

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  4. #004

    The film's score was originally composed by Georges Delerue but was rejected by Disney executives in favor of a less somber score by James Horner. Some of Delerue's music can still be heard in the film's theatrical trailer.

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  5. #005

    The carnival is named "Mr. Dark's Pandemonium Carnival." The word "Pandemonium" (Greek for "all demons") was coined by John Milton in his poem "Paradise Lost" as the name of the capital of Hell where Lucifer holds court.

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  6. #006

    Stephen King wrote a rejected adaptation.

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  7. #007

    Kirk Douglas bought the rights and initially intended both to produce and to play the father. His son, Peter Douglas, stayed on the project as producer.

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  8. #008

    This was the last Disney film released under the "Walt Disney Productions" banner. Later in 1983, the banner was replaced by "Walt Disney Pictures."

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  9. #009

    James Stacy, who played the bartender Ed, lost his left arm and leg in a 1973 motorcycle accident that also killed his girlfriend.

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  10. #010

    Ray Bradbury asked both David Lean and Steven Spielberg whether they wanted to direct the film.

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  11. #011

    The lines "And in despair I bowed my head; 'There is no peace on earth,' I said; 'For hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, good-will to men!' Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: 'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men'" are from "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," a Christmas carol based on the 1863 poem "Christmas Bells" by the American poet (from Maine) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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  12. #012

    Mechanical effects designer Isidoro Raponi made fake tarantulas to supplement the 200 live tarantulas used in the spider attack scene.

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  13. #013

    On distributor Anchor Bay's DVD, the end of the theatrical trailer (showing the film's title) was trimmed. Although most of the trailer is in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the final shot is in roughly 2.35:1, which caused confusion among fans. This aspect ratio change in the trailer was created by Disney to mask the names Disney and Buena Vista (Disney's original distributor). Disney also did not allow its name to appear anywhere on the DVD packaging.

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  14. #014

    Edward James Olmos was offered the role of Mr. Dark but turned it down.

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  15. #015

    Mr. Dark's Pandemonium Carnival covered two acres of Disney's Golden Oak Ranch property in Newhall, California.

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  16. #016

    The town square with the wrought-iron arbor is the same set used in Mr. Boogedy (1986).

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  17. #017

    Jason Robards was Ray Bradbury's only choice for the role of Charles Halloway.

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  18. #018

    Lee Dyer took over directing the extensive reshoots and re-edits that followed Jack Clayton's removal from the film.

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  19. #019

    During the spider swarm scene, James Horner's music bore many similarities to his score for Aliens (1986).

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  20. #020

    John Mortimer and John Culhane contributed to the screenplay without receiving credit.

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  21. #021

    Most of the filming took place between September and December 1981.

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Production Story (1)

  1. #022

    Sam Peckinpah briefly flirted with the idea of filming Ray Bradbury's story, but he was unable to secure the necessary financing.

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Characters & Cast (1)

  1. #023

    Ray Bradbury's novel had already been adapted as a low-budget British film, Something Wicked This Way Comes (1972), which changed the names of most of the characters — for example, Mr. Dark and Mr. Cooger became Mr. Black and Mr. Puma. The short story that formed the novel's core was later adapted for television as The Black Ferris (1990).

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Deeper Meaning (1)

  1. #024

    The source novel is set in Green Town, Illinois, the setting of several Ray Bradbury stories based on his hometown of Waukegan.

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Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • IMDb IMDb title page (trivia)

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