'Back to the Future' creator, stars celebrate museum exhibit

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The Hollywood Museum unveiled Back to the Future: The Exhibit with screenwriter Bob Gale and cast members Charles Fleischer, Darlene Vogel, Ricky Dean Logan, Donal Fullilove and Elsa Raven in attendance.

The exhibit includes many props, costumes and vehicles from the three Back to the Future films. It also includes memorabilia and some personal items from Gale, including his handwritten notes.

"I gave them the typewriter that I typed the very first draft of the first script on," Gale told UPI on the red carpet at Thursday's opening. "We got hoverboards that were screen used. We've got a Back to the Future III screen used car from the drive-in theater, costumes, blueprints."

The Back to the Future trilogy starred Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, a teenager whose scientist friend Doc (Christopher Lloyd) invents a time machine. In the original film, Marty accidentally travels back and time and prevents his parents (Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover) from meeting. With the help of young Doc, he has to reunite them to guarantee his own existence, and return to1985.

Museum President and Founder Donelle Dadigan said collectors around the world contacted her to contribute Back to the Future items.

"Once they heard that we were doing this exhibit and that the godfather, Bob Gale, had an interest to participate in this exhibit with us, it was extraordinary," Dadigan said. "All he had to do is reach out and ask. I think we might have to do another exhibit, there's so much."

Gale concurred that there's more Back to the Future material out there.

"Once this starts going, I'm sure other people will say, 'Well, wait a minute, I've got some stuff. Let's put that on display,'" Gale said. "When you open up more floor space we'll fill it up."

Fans have celebrated Back to the Future since the first film opened in 1985. Once the sequel, Back to the Future Part II took Doc and Marty into the year 2015, fans awaited the date October 21, 2015, the day Doc and Marty arrive. Even four years after 2015, fans still celebrate October 21 as Back to the Future Day.

"And the fans are getting younger and younger so I think this is going to go on for a long time," Vogel, who played a hoverboarding gang member in Part II, told UPI.

Raven had one scene in the original film. She plays the Clock Tower Lady, collecting donations to save the town Clock Tower which became stopped at 10:04 when it was struck by lightning in 1955. Doc uses that lightning bolt to power the time machine and send Marty home.

"Well, we didn't know how significant it was going to be," Raven said. "We knew it was a good, solid movie. Of course we were delighted when it was such a big success. It's an evergreen. It's not today. It's any day."

Fans of the Back to the Future films attended the exhibit too. Actor Josh Sussman co-founded the Facebook group "1:15 AM, Twin Pines Mall." The group gathers at the Puente Hills Mall, the location of the film's Twin Pines Mall where Doc unveils the time machine to Marty at 1:15 AM.

"A few friends randomly one year decided, 'Let's just go to the Twin Pines Mall at 1:15 AM October 26, the night of October 25,'" Sussman explained. "Turned out there were other Back to the Future fans there and we were like let's make a Facebook group. We've been showing up every year. It's been really special."

The Facebook group celebrates Back to the Future year-round when the film screens around Los Angeles or other dates occur. Or they attend openings like the Back to the Future exhibit where Sussman was excited to meet Gale and discover more about the films he's loved since he was a child.

"I discover new things whenever I watch the movie," Sussman said. "It's layered so well. The movie was written for people watching it on their 10th time. I can't really think of any other movies that are layered that well to still discover new things."

Back to the Future will continue in 2020. Back to the Future: The Musical opens in Manchester February 20. It will include songs from the film and new songs co-written by the film's original composer, Alan Silvestri.

"We're using 'Power of Love' and 'Back in Time' and then we've got, of course, 'Johnny B. Goode' and 'Earth Angel,'" Gale said. "Then we've got a whole slew of new songs written by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard."

If the Manchester run is successful, Back to the Future: The Musical could come to the U.S. too.

"We hope so," Gale said. "We can't predict the future."