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Novel
- Accidentally Correct Zoology:
- In "Cetology," Ishmael states that dugongs and lamatins (manatees) are not whales, which is true. But his explanation focuses mostly on how "contemptible" they are, rather than on valid biological indicators. (In Melville's defense, his tongue is planted firmly in cheek as Ishmael writes this)
- Despite writing before evolution was even theorized, Ishmael's hypothesis that whales are larger than they have ever been is still correct hundreds of years later. It's not, as he says semi-comically, because all animals slowly get bigger over time as proven by the fact people in the past were shorter.
- Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Ahab's last words are commonly believed to stop at the "For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee" part. He also says it before harpooning Moby Dick rather than after he's tied to him.
- Creator Killer: Melville was a pretty successful author between 1845 and 1850. Unfortunately, after Moby-Dick tanked (yes, this classic of English literature was an abysmal failure both critically and commercially), he never truly recovered and his work during his last 30 years was largely ignored and unknown. Reportedly, this caused a Creator Breakdown.
- Referenced by...: Has its own page.
- Science Imitates Art:
- Not surprisingly, Melville's work has been of inspiration for a few prehistoric whale names. Albicetus oxymycterus — "sharp-nose white whale", named despite, obviously, only being known from fossil bones — is a very early sperm whale named after the great cetacean himself. Livyatan melvillei, a very large predatory sperm whale, was instead named in the author's honor.
- Voeltzkowia mobydick is a type of skink named due to a number of its traits, namely its absent hindlimbs, flipper-like forelimbs, reduced eyes, and pigment-less skin, putting its discovers in mind of the white whale.
- Science Marches On: Melville was very knowledgeable about cetology, using the most up-to-date science of the time. Nowadays, the science he used has not aged well."Be it known that, waiving all argument, I take the good old-fashioned ground that the whale is a fish."
- More of a case of definitions march on. "Fish" originally just meant "animal that lives exclusively in water". Melville recognizes that whales are warm-blooded, breathe air, and bear live young, but just doesn't think that a sufficient reason to redefine what "fish" means.
- He classifies whales primarily according to their size, which is now considered one of the least useful diagnostic features for taxonomy. It results, for example, in him grouping sperm whales in the "Folio," which are otherwise all baleen whales (a monophyletic group that does not include sperm whales).
- He also mentions phrenology and physiognomy, both now considered pseudosciences.
- Chapter 105 poo-poohs the notion that whaling might endanger the whale population.
- Detailed In-Universe, too; Basilosaurus turned out to be a mammal, not a reptile, hence the incorrect suffix.
1956 Film
- California Doubling: The Port Town parts are set in Massachusetts, and were shot in Ireland and Wales.
- Cast the Runner-Up: John Huston once considered casting Orson Welles as Captain Ahab.
- Channel Hop: The film was financed by Moulin Productions. When the film went overbudget, it was sold to United Artists in order to recoup some of the Mirisch brothers' debt. The rights would later revert to MGM starting in 1981. Warner Bros. still distributed the film, corresponding to their original licensing agreement; when the agreement ended, United Artists took over the film's distribution rights
- Creator Backlash: Gregory Peck disliked his own performance as Ahab so much that he refused to allow footage from the film to be used in Jaws for Quint's introduction.
- Creator Breakdown:
- Orson Welles was actually battling depression at the time of filming, and had to be coached through his lines by John Huston.
- Ray Bradbury wrote a memoir of his experience writing the movie and his relationship with Huston called Green Shadows, White Whale: one chapter details a lunch with the director, where Huston openly questioned Bradbury's commitment to the project, nearly reducing the writer to tears. He proceeded to write a story where a Prima Donna Director is carried off by a banshee.
- Dawson Casting: Although Ishmael is supposed to be in his twenties, Richard Basehart was actually forty when the film was made — two years older than Gregory Peck.
- Hostility on the Set: According to the biography The Bradbury Chronicles, there was much tension and anger between John Huston and Ray Bradbury during the making of the film, allegedly due to Huston's bullying attitude and attempts to tell Bradbury how to do his job, despite Bradbury being an accomplished writer.
- No Stunt Double: Gregory Peck didn't have a stunt double. As a result, he injured his kneecap from hobbling on his fake knee and got washed out to sea.
- On-Set Injury: Gregory Peck, who did not use a double, injured his kneecap, Richard Basehart broke his ankle while jumping into a whaleboat, and Leo Genn slipped a disk and caught pneumonia before shooting had finished
- One for the Money; One for the Art: Orson Welles later used the salary from his cameo to fund his own stage production of Moby-Dick, in which Rod Steiger played Captain Ahab.
- Playing Against Type: The primary reason that the film wasn't well-received initially was that audiences weren't comfortable seeing Gregory Peck as a villainous character (albeit an Anti-Villain). Patrick Stewart and William Hurt faced no such problems.
- Same Language Dub: John Huston dubbed the voice of Joseph Tomelty (Peter Coffin), because his Irish accent was thought to be too strong. He also dubbed the voice of the lookout who falls to his death.
- Troubled Production: Filming was delayed by cast injuries and bad weather which caused the budget to overrun. And then there was the white whale. A 90-foot model was built for $30,000. A tug pulled it out into the Irish Sea and, after two shots were completed, the towline snapped and the whale quickly sank. A second whale was built on a barge but a storm also sank it without a trace. Finally a third whale was built and again the towline snapped. John Huston had had enough. He climbed into the whale and shouted, "Lose this whale and you lose me!" He stayed aboard as two crew members swam under the whale, grabbed the line, and reconnected it. In his autobiography, Huston called this, "The most difficult picture I ever made".
- Uncredited Role: Roald Dahl did some reworking of the script.
- Underage Casting: Gregory Peck acknowledged that he was too young to play Captain Ahab at 38, when he's supposed to be an old man at the end of his career.
- What Could Have Been:
- John Huston originally planned to cast his father Walter Huston as Captain Ahab, but he died during development. Other candidates included Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, Errol Flynn, Burt Lancaster, Fredric March and John Wayne. Gregory Peck felt that Huston himself should have played Ahab.
- Montgomery Clift was interested in playing Ishmael.
- Written By Castmember: Orson Welles wrote his own scenes.
Adaptations in general
- California Doubling: To date, none of the film and TV versions have been shot in Massachusetts, in large part because the real New Bedford is far too developed and moder-looking to realistically pass for its 19th century self.
- Billing Displacement: Ethan Hawke was billed over William Hurt for playing Starbuck in the 2011 miniseries.
- Fake American:
- The various film versions cast British actors as the mostly-American crew of the Pequod.
- Ahab is played by the British Patrick Stewart in the 1998 miniseries.
