Trivia / The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)

• Deleted Scene: The original ending revealed Maria was actually one of the beastfolk, more specifically a feline, as when she and Andrew are being rescued at sea she was shown to have fangs and panther-like eyes. Stills of this ending still exist and the scenes hinting at her nature still persist in the final cut, but for some reason the ending shot of her reveal was cut. Still, sharp-eyed viewers can see something abnormal with her eyes in the final shots of the film; but the camera never focuses on it. The comic book adaptation by Marvel and the novelization both preserved this twist.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: During the fight between the bullman and the tiger, the animal actually took the stuntman's head in his jaws. Luckily he was wearing a fiberglass helmet which protected him.
• Recursive Adaptation: A novelization was released of this film adaptation of a novel.
• What Could Have Been: David Carradine turned down the role of Andrew Braddock.
  • Several different endings exist. As mentioned above, the intended final ending was for Maria, revealed to be a sort of panther-woman, to go feral and attack Braddock.
  • Another was for Maria to remain human-looking, gone back to England, and married Braddock. But upon the birth of their first child, Braddock is horrified to see a newborn cub or human-panther hybrid born.
  • Mi'Ling had a slightly larger role in the original shooting scripts, having a conversation with Braddock at one point. He would have died a Heroic Sacrifice saving Braddock and Maria from a tiger in the finale, which was preserved in the Marvel comic adaptation.

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