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Displaying Artifacts From The Future: The Planet Hollywood Collection

Recent interest in Back to the Future props and costumes has been quite strong with the release of Profiles in History’s Icons of Hollywood catalog. For many fans purchasing these items is sometimes not a reality; however one corporation Planet Hollywood has been publicly showcasing Back to the Future props and costumes for the last 2 decades.  BTTF.com is pleased to have an exclusive behind the scenes look into Planet Hollywood’s Back to the Future collection.

Former Planet Hollywood designer Bryan Ebenhoch, took time out of his busy schedule to discuss his involvement with the Planet Hollywood collection and his designs of many  Hollywood themed displays  around the world.  Ebenhoch was responsible for the famed  large New York Back to the Future display at Planet Hollywood Times Square.  Ebenhoch also had a hand in restoring props, costumes and even ILM models from the Back to the Future film trilogy. Even though Ebenhoch is no longer employed with Planet Hollywood, his insight and personal stories will enlighten many about the process in selecting and prepping props for mass display.

How did you get involved with helping Planet Hollywood with their collection?

I was working for a design firm, managing the design and development of displays, exhibits and theme park theme elements.
We would produce prototypical models and finished pieces for new construction projects for the likes of Walt Disney Imagineering, museum projects in development, such as Smithsonian and the National Museum of Industrial History (NMIH). The executives had decided to take some shortcuts undermining project deliverables that resulted in a loss of clients so I decided to move on to other avenues of work.
I had called the memorabilia department at Planet Hollywood to inquire about their design sources.  I ended up having a great invitation to discuss possibilities to develop designs for their Times Square location which was scheduled to open in 2000 after a conversion process of the existing All Star Cafe restaurant.

Being a film follower and having a library of entertainment design resources myself, I connected well after identifying many of the pieces in their inventory and immediately offered possible applications of such pieces in new ways, beyond the plastic boxed forms they were utilizing previously. They wanted to go into a new direction with technology that worked with the exhibits.
 
Were you involved in collecting movie props on your own before hand?

Actually, I was more of a researcher, and collected a library of publications on design and filmed entertainment related content. That started many years previously after first being impressed by the work of Syd Mead, George Lucas and Ray Harryhausen. I collected a great deal of the obscure material as well that was not found in publications such as candid imagery, blueprints, production material. I had a particular interest in the production design of Blade Runner, The Black Hole, Alien, Aliens and Tron among many others.

As for props, I collected some, mainly miniatures and design maquettes.

Are you a fan of the Back to the Future series?

Yes, I very much admire the franchise and the talented team that brought it to life. I am a fan of Ron Cobb and Andrew Probert’s design work, so naturally the Delorean mod left an impression.

I have seen you’re in depth reporting of the Spinners from Blade Runner.  We have an upcoming interview with Gene Winfield (builder of the Spinner) and he of course mentioned that one of his Spinners was used in the film Back to the Future Part 2.  Do you have any stories or information about the Spinner being used in BTTF 2? 

Thank you for the acknowledgment on the work covering the Spinner. You can read some more on that in Paul M. Sammon’s Future Noir The Making of Blade Runner expanded edition book. He interviewed me on that and we discussed it a bit further. He’s a terrific guy and admires the vehicles as well.

In regard to BTTF2, other than what Gene had told me that he coordinated the use of the car for the production, I believe it was my conversation with the late Bob Butts of Fantasy Cars in EL Cajon that was owner of that particular car at the time. Bob had mentioned some things regarding its production use, but nothing much that I recall in memory. After production wrapped, it went back to Bob’s museum in that wild orange & black paint job where he had it on display in that condition before selling it off later.

When you got hired to work at Planet Hollywood was it mostly in a designer’s role?

Yes, that was the primary role, additionally I covered many tasks beyond that which were related to the process. I had the responsibility to evaluate the use of the collection for various applications of exhibits and look at each piece individually to determine alternate ways of display methods, while being subject to spatial limitations. In the process, I always researched the items to determine their use in the film as it relates to the display, description and graphics. There were many times I would speak to production members from the film that either designed or produced the pieces.

I managed projects from concept to completion and was the only member there during most of my term accommodating all that. In addition to working with architects, engineers, welders, cabinetry builders and suppliers, I had to lead teams on installations and removals and plan any applicable shipping logistics. The scope of work varied per location, many new locations were designed as well as remodels. In many cases, work was related to returns of items on loan, and replacements were required. PH rarely changed out their own pieces, but on occasion I did manage to get many things updated.

The workload consisted of design of the exhibits by referencing the collection database and facility plans. Primarily, AutoCAD was utilized for casework designs, space planning, fixture and mechanical feature design. In addition to that I used Photoshop to develop concept renderings and production files for the printing of environmental graphics and display backdrops. I also kept a master schedule for tracking the design process, exhibit prep and shipping time and anything else that was a factor in getting items to their final place.

There was a lot involved in the process of selecting each item for their final placement. Several guiding factors beyond the facility spatial limitations had to be considered. Each item was inspected individually on the best way of placement whether it was a cased or a mounted application. Risk assessment for condition of the piece was also a factor to ensure it wouldn’t come apart during shipping or while displayed. If it was a large item, the path within the facility for the placement area had to have proper clearances for size and weight and include any applicable lifting equipment. Each location and item have their own stories.

For the large projects we did utilize additional supporting members to accommodate various production efforts. The conversion of the Aladdin Casino required a great bit of work since that location had over 2500 suites needing memorabilia and graphic elements.

How did Planet Hollywood acquire items in their early days?

At the time they had a direct connection already with Hollywood. Movie producer Keith Barrish was the founding member that had the idea of the restaurant. They would utilize purchases from special effects firms, auction houses, and private collections. In addition, studios would also provide items, usually on a loan basis.

What are some of the highlights of the Planet Hollywood collection from the Back to the Future Series?

At the time they had a great deal of production hoverboards. Some foam, some wood and some with other mods for various use. They had all of character’s boards. They had Griff’s Pit Bull hoverboard but sold it off through their early launch phase of the .com entertainment site. They had retained the others.

They had a great deal of paper-based items. Some newspapers had feature stories that didn’t end up in the productions. One had a headline and image of “old man Peabody” and detailed a change that would most likely have been referenced in BTTF2.

Were you involved in hanging the wrecked DeLorean from the ceiling of Planet Hollywood Hawaii?

That was before my term of employment, but was aware of it and the process of getting it installed upside down on the ceiling.

The New York Planet Hollywood Times Square BTTF display was amazing, can you give me some insight into how you decided to display the props?

That was an evolving process that ended up as a solution to a challenging set up. Planet Hollywood had chose to approve an unpractical case design from an outside firm to exhibit various pieces for change outs on a frequent basis. These cases were curved in a crescent shape and had Plexiglas floors that were lighted from below. This caused many complications, first off, Plexiglas will scratch and having it illuminated makes it worse. The ceiling was Plexiglas as well and all of the cases were different sizes in length, width and height. So for installation of anything, it was always a spatial and weight related evaluation.

The solution I had was the development of an installation standard. What I had designed at the time would utilize an aluminum rail on stand-offs for hanging exhibit pieces and having items pre-mounted to graphic panels for ease of shipping and installation. This made it most effective for savings of install labor time as well as minimal obstruction of the floor lighting. At the time, the contractor had installed sub-standard halogen high temperature lights within the cases which were a poor choice for such content. I would utilize the floor lighting as much as possible to avoid using the lighting fixtures. So in the end, the graphic panels were the best solution. Getting the graphics produced didn’t take long once I designed the layout for the pieces. I had to scan the source artwork to produce an effective result for the print. The Back to The Future II poster art was used to produce the main side.

For the exhibit content, I evaluated the available pieces from the three films and selected the ones that would best work with space and design. Weight was also a concern mounting to panels. Most of the hoverboards were wood and resin based fabrication, with one being foam. I wanted a hero side and a villain side. It worked out well I think. The villain side ended up being the dark side of the case so to speak where there was a little less of a guest view from the main dining area but they were still able to view closely without looking over someone’s dinner by walking around it. Most of the other cases in the facility didn’t feature the graphic panel mounting method of presentation due to the oversize nature of artifacts. The Titanic exhibit that is still there was something I came up with as alternate pre-formed custom themed base structure for grouped collections.

You mentioned your helps restore some of the ILM models, can you explain some of the models you worked on?

There were two particular models produced by ILM, one was a model of the red flying car which was shown full size in the automated Texaco station scene. The other was the miniature illuminated “skyway” sign shown early the film. Both had sustained some issues such as release of adhered parts. I had planned to use both in the Times Square display, but in the end left them out.

The model car had lost all the wheels after hanging from a mechanical mobile in Times Square, despite my request to have that particular item replaced before that occurred. I ended up getting the wheels and sign restored myself. After some research in gathering reference materials, I fabricated the wheels from resin after producing two sizes of turned-clay master patterns and silicone molds. The sign was just a matter of reassembly really. It is the same sign pictured on the back cover of the Cinefex issue 43.

Did PH used to display a BTTF 3 train wheeled DeLorean Model that was returned to Universal Studios for the Archive Show?

I don’t recall the Delorean train car model, but PH did have the train miniature on display at one time before Universal’s archives representatives made their request for return of all their loaned pieces. I was involved a great deal in working with them in getting items returned. I did make a visit to their facility after getting many pieces sent their way from the Canada Niagara Falls location and they had the train there visible in the crate.

Sometimes studios do loan items and then get them returned after being on display.  Is the returning of items entirely based on the original agreements?

It depends on the situation. During my term there, the studio partnerships ended over a period of time. The last delivery of strike contents of a production occurred in 1998. 20^th Century Fox had a request for return of many of their pieces since they were the largest source of loaned pieces. There weren’t any major acquisitions after 1998. Of the pieces that were exhibited from new productions beyond 1998, they were more of a promotional arrangement and would be returned to the studio after their promotion ended. This applied to many of the main display cases in Times Square. In developing those displays, I worked with the studios directly. In some rare cases, items were exchanged (from loan to permanent acquisition) for costs related PH’s expenses to support their promotional endeavors. As far as borrowing, nothing that I recall although they would make requests if a sequel of a specific production was in the works.

When New Line was producing Blade 2, they had requested reference images of Blade’s Dodge Charger from the first film so they could produce a new one while filming in Prague. I had the car pulled outside and shot all the reference images so they could get that accomplished. We put the car back in storage and far as I recall, they have never exhibited the car even though I had made and effort to promote the idea of a movie car show.

On a related request, Fox had wanted to use reference images of the Hunter Grazner Auriga filming miniature from Alien Resurrection. That one has a sad story. The model suffered some severe damage as result from mishandling by a facility manager during an unapproved removal procedure at one of the units.

I believe it was in Baltimore at the time. When it arrived from the unit, the condition brought tears to your eyes, knowing how many talented people worked relentlessly to get to the level of detail and craftsmanship it had. In the end, I don’t think Fox used any of the images.

In Planet Hollywood  Dubai, there is a Mattel hoverboard with skateboard wheels.  It has lots of rainbow reflective material on it.  Do you remember this prop?

I do recall seeing the inventory record and image of the item.

If you do remember this prop was that how it came into the Planet Hollywood collection?  The original designer of the hoverboards John Bell said in an upcoming  interview with us that the original material was similar to what is on the hoverboard at Dubai.

From my personal review of the hover boards in the PH collection, they were all produced for the production; many still had Universal archives tags. Some of wood had mounting holes for rigging from cables and Velcro applied for foot traction while others were of combination of vacuum-formed raised details and foam sandwiched between styrene silk-screened/painted overlays. When utilizing them for an exhibit, I had to devise mounting fixtures that wouldn’t damage the props to maintain their original form. We wouldn’t modify such props.

In case of alterations, it would be of a repair nature if a repair was necessary, original sources would be utilized to establish the fixes. Modifications to props were mainly left to the hanging of full-size vehicles. Drive trains and gas tanks would commonly be removed and rigging point hardware would require some alterations for secure attachments.

Do you recall which Planet Hollywood  locations  some of the key BTTF props ended up going to?

The most ever utilized at one time were for the exhibit I produced for Times Square which I mentioned here previously. I had planned to utilize more for that exhibit, but was limited on space. I had planned to use one of Michael J. Fox’s costumes and a police officer costume as well as the ILM miniatures I mentioned previously. I did have Doc Brown’s shirt sent to a unit in Europe. I believe one hover board was never recovered from the Vancouver location when we closed it. There were a few pieces missing there that I recall mentioning in the police report.

Did Planet Hollywood  get a good number of DeLorean related props from Jay Ohrberg Star Cars?   

Not really, just one car and a Mr. Fusion assembly. The car purchased was the remains of the prop car hit at the end of BTTF 3. It did however have original pieces attached to the hood and such.

Were you involved with designing the Planet Hollywood  Hotel Resort rooms in Las Vegas?

Yes, I had produced a great deal of concepts over a two year period.  Many themed “signature” suites as I called them had many pieces from a particular film, studio, or performer. I did reach out to a few studios during the design phase for input for clearances, but due to costs associated and the desire to move in another direction, many of the plans were abandoned. I did produce the set up and graphic design of the exhibit tables and the original casework plans & prototypes for the current suites. I spent a week out there with the team setting up one of the mock-up suites with the exhibit items. In addition there were plans for large exhibit walls near the elevators on all the floors. I had produced a BTTF concept for one. We staged and prepped the props in advance in the casework mock-up prior to shipment to Vegas.  In addition to the suite design concepts, I produced the wall-based graphics and canvas prints. One of these was a Back to the Future Trilogy piece.

Do you recall which BTTF props Planet Hollywood has and might never have put on display?

Most of what they have has at one time been on display if not currently. They did end up producing a Back to the Future suite at the Las Vegas hotel where many items our featured. I don’t recall them using the second female police officer costume from BTTF 2 as well as many if the paper-based props such as various newspapers, props and set dressing pieces. As far my research extends, all of the hoverboards were on display at one time or another at various locations.

Do you think that Planet Hollywood currently cares about preserving its  props?

It’s been a couple months since I have been in one of their remaining establishments, but the last time there, the items were neglected, dusty and falling over within their casing, so apparently they still aren’t very attentive to the care of their collection. First and foremost they are a restaurant chain. So their priority for survival these days is sales of food and merchandise. Maintaining exhibits and producing casework is costly. Having qualified staff that care about the memorabilia was a big challenge while I worked there.

In the past, PH did acquire some pieces and had them restored, but that wasn’t a common occurrence. I took part in some projects when the opportunity arose if the situation involved a piece needing restoration in order for it to be useable. In some cases I objected to using things because of their condition or the safety risk that may have applied. Care for each item was evaluated independently based on what it was.

While there I did propose that there be a policy and budget in place to preserve and maintain the collection and steps in place to avoid continuous damage, but that pretty much fell on deaf ears. In the end I left the company over their disregard of the handing of the items in their collection and those on loan by others among other operational things that occurred there.

So back to your question, it doesn’t appear anything has changed to advance proper handing of their collection. I feel that the studios take better care of the pieces they end up keeping in their own facilities. I have seen such facilities personally and can tell how well a facility and inventory is organized and cared for. Storing and maintaining pieces can be a challenge when they are all shapes, sizes, weights and types but the process to preserve things for our future should be the core mission to keep these artifacts intact and original in the best way possible.

With the prices of original props climbing at the auction houses, have you seen a shift with how studios keep and maintain their actual archives?

Yes, most studios have realized the value and that such pieces from one of their productions can be an investment should they desire to develop their own venue. Although they have limitations on storage and the costs associated, the lure for a potential ticket buyer can be there if the film is a blockbuster. As an example, I can reference past situations, Fox and PH would bid against each other at auctions resulting in some issues of respect in the partnership they had.

Fox wanted some pieces for their own archives. Studios see the value in brands more and we see that result with all the sequels and remakes. There has been resurgence in the original sources and many times over and over we see merchandise campaigns tied to the older film when a remake or sequel is produced. I feel that Universal’s Harry Potter attraction has put even more emphasis on how production design and props can really support a brand and sell tickets.

What are your views on studios maintaining their original movie vehicles?  The original spinners look to have as hard or even a worse life than the original BTTF DeLoreans and 2015 vehicles.

I think it’s just by chance that such things occur and whose hands they end up in.

Many film vehicles end up in museums for two basic reasons mainly, the business can handle the expense and the item can sell tickets. Regarding the Blade Runner Spinner cars, they have had a long public display life after the film with promotions and uses in other productions. Unfortunately, they exchanged hands many times after abandonment by the producers after the poor result of the film’s box office results. Their exhibit life was more on-the-road than permanently sheltered facilities, so naturally the result of aging and damage will occur. These vehicles at times were subject to unique situations that were attributed to just careless handling. In the end it was nice to be involved in getting one restored after it originally fell off a truck on a highway for a permanent exhibit within the Seattle Science Fiction museum environment among so many other iconic film pieces.

In the past many such occurrences were common. Such vehicles were neglected and abandoned after production; examples are the Ghostbusters Ectomobile, the Lotus submarine cars from The Spy Who Loved Me and the moon buggy from Diamonds are Forever. Sadly I have seen the moon buggy in its present state after its restoration and previous display in the Las Vegas Caesars Forum shops location and it hasn’t faired well. The owner of the moon buggy prop wanted it returned to him and removed from the restaurant so he could put it on auction. After some research on the prop and a discussion with the original builder Dean Jeffries on what are the best procedures to dismantle various pieces, I assembled a Las Vegas based crew to have it carefully removed from its fixed elevated placement within the building and safely transferred to a shipping container. It made the trip safely with no problems. The prop was then placed on auction at Christies London where PH’s owner purchased it. It was then shipped to their second warehouse in Orlando. During offloading and storage, the vehicle was carelessly handled and all the sheet metal needs replaced due to the extent of the damage and piercing by a fork lift.

Unfortunately I have seen many similar results of carelessness with the PH vehicles. Many vehicles were maneuvered by forklifts with extensive damages to the under carriages and sheet metal or they weren’t secured properly for transport.  I had to have the Ferris Bueller Ferrari prop car repaired after the crew didn’t secure it within a truck so I could get it shipped to Cancun. In the end I brought in a long-time friend that built fiberglass kit cars for the repair. In the majority of cases, most of the vehicles sustained more damage in storage than on public display. It was frustrating wanting to use something only to find it unusable and needing repaired. Ironically I did at one time utilize three intentionally studio-wrecked vehicles for permanent indoor displays in Niagara Falls.

Other situations were unique to their display location, in some occurrences; vehicles were dismantled to remove them from a building. I rode a Judge Dredd Lawmaster motorcycle down the steps of the Trocadero building in London’s Piccadilly Circus because it wouldn’t fit though the elevator and there were no windows to use.

In another situation, a vehicle had to be dismantled to make it light and small enough to carry down steps and out 36 inch wide door because the structure had brick walls and obstacles in place after it was installed. That car was never reassembled.The hero flying red Lamborghini from Judge Dredd was also in great shape when received but was cut in half by a location team to get it out of the Barcelona location and also was never reassembled. There are many success stories though. I am happy to say that the vehicle exhibits I was directly involved with had occurred without any drastic measures or damage from point A to B.  Many times you come across these various vehicles and their interesting history through discussions with the builders and owners. Gene Winfield, Dean Jeffries and Jay Ohrberg among many others had a lot to relay in information as far the history of some these vehicles go.

In your travels and research have you come across some of the other BTTF vehicles?

I do remember reviewing the process car from the first Back to the Future film for possible purchase and use for PH. This was the car that was just a finished interior set for filming on a wheeled framework. I also met up with Jay Ohrberg on a couple occasions and did see one of his BTTF cars and other vehicles.

Your adventures with Planet Hollywood are varied and very interesting.  Is there any one display or project you did with them that you consider a personal highlight?  One of those moments when you think, "it can't get any better than this?"

I have had some really unique experiences, many of which are probably deemed bizarre or unreal. Probably too many to list them all, but will mention a few highlights.

During the set up of the renovation for London, I selected a full size Aliens queen for display. I had to deal with limitations for the display space and in the end had to support the set-up personally which left me straddling her back like a horse for two hours during the installation. I don’t recall anyone else riding an Alien queen anywhere.

In 2002 I worked with Walt Disney Imagineering’s archive team to develop their Hollywood Studios Villains exhibit which was a partnership with AFI. For that I was involved in the selection process of possibilities. For one key piece that is still on display to this day is the Aliens warrior suit. It’s the centerpiece in the exhibit area. I had to get that one in shape for the exhibit. It was missing some major pieces. The front chest and shoulder section is new. I produced that from the original studio molds and got it finished up in a couple days. The mannequin it’s on is a custom build and taller than a stock form.

Additionally, I designed and produced Planet Hollywood’s largest single exhibit of memorabilia on the Star Wars trilogy in both number of pieces and show quality in a museum case presentation. David Prowse and Peter Mayhew were there to view opening day at Downtown Disney.

On other days on projects, I would have cars craned for elevation and placement to and from exhibit areas in operating facilities, some valued as much as half a million dollars due to their unique existence. On one week I was involved in disassembling a full size real airplane for return to Orlando.

Other situations involved carrying Marilyn Monroe’s tiger dress from the Seven Year Itch on a plane for return to the warehouse or Ursula Andress’ bikini from Dr.No to Miami for display. I designed and built the mannequin and display base for Dorothy’s dress from the Wizard of OZ that is on display in Orlando and many other items still out there for the public view.

There were many iconic pieces that included my involvement to facilitate the exhibit phases, all with unique stories. Some with PH and some with other venues.

Perhaps the most cherished was a personal project, of which was probably more of a voluntary arrangement than that of a lucrative initiative. That would be the period working along the presence and involvement of the likes of three of the most talented creative artisans I know in the entertainment world, Custom Car Designer and Builder Gene Winfield, Production Designer Tom Southwell and of course the legendary Visual Futurist, Syd Mead. That was on the Blade Runner spinner car restoration for the exhibit arrangement in the Science Fiction Museum. I collected a great deal of archival material on Blade Runner, and the spinner was a favorite subject. That eventually lead me to supporting the documentary production and being interviewed for the Blade Runner DVD set release in 2007. They listed me as Film Archivist for the documentary, although I was a director of design in the occupational field at the time while they were editing the documentary. It was all good and left some lasting memories among the many I had previously.

Thank you for your time is there any place that readers can see more of your?

Of course, and thank you for the courtesy of asking me these wonderful questions. I had to really think back to some of these experiences. I hope it serves your audience well. For any interest to view examples of my past or present work, you can reach me through my site at www.shapestorm.com.  Thanks to Tom Silknitter and the team at BTTF.com, and to you all for reading. Long live BTTF!

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