“It’s true that ET is the first character that dad put in front of me, I was 11 at the time. I told him he was ugly but nice with that little donkey butt and that put his mind at ease. He just wanted to know from me if he’s “creepy, then the Steven Spielberg placet”. This is how Daniela Rambaldi, Carlo Rambaldi’s daughter, ANSA commemorates the birth of ET, the most famous creature her father created for Steven Spielberg, with which the American director won his third Oscar. And this on the occasion of the exhibition at the Cineteca di Milano for the 40th anniversary of the film (from November 6th to January 31st) and the home video release on 24 film. Rambaldi, vice-president of the foundation dedicated to her father: “Actually, I was used to certain monsters that my father had made before. I’m talking about King Kong and Alien, I met them every time I walked into his studio, but.” My friends, they never came to play at my house, those things scared them. It could happen that they found a severed head on the table. And for many, it wasn’t fun”.
Among Daniela Rambaldi’s other embarrassments as a child, “it was when I was asked at school what my father made. Could I maybe say he made monsters?”. Was he a big father? “Not while he was alive. His name is definitely more awkward now. At home he was just a normal man outside of the Hollywood system. And now even cumbersome to manage with the foundation, whose president is my brother Victor and to whom my brother is now also the eldest daughter Cristina works, she curates a documentary film about Carlo Rambaldi that is still under construction”. How did the Perception of so-called special effects changed over time? “As long as my father stayed in Italy, he was kind of a side dish, something that ended up being used only with the rest of the budget. ‘I only have that number, can you think of it.’ tear off?’ So the directors asked him and he never said no. Then when he arrived in America my father was able to show all his skills by competing with big budgets”. The secret dream of Rambaldi, father of King Kong, ET and the big worms from Dune? “Definitely Millennium, an interactive and educational theme park that takes you from prehistory to fairy tales like Pinocchio’s. A truly visionary project that he has been trying to implement since the 80s and for which there are models and all projects.” Who was Carlo Rambaldi really? “A man who loved his job, to which he devoted all his time. Of course he wasn’t a father to accompany me to birthday parties but in case he used me to get himself off the parties he hated. Definitely a shy, reserved man I’ve only seen excited at the birth of my children, but totally generous when someone asked him a question. He never said no.”
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