O’Donnell pulled her to safety at 7:55p.m.on Octo-
ber 16. Miraculously, Jessica sustained only minor
wounds and, for the most part, came out of the or-
deal with only superficial scars. Her most significant
injury was sustained when gangrenous portions of
the toes on her right foot had to be removed.
Impact Baby Jessica exited the national spotlight al-
most as quickly as she had entered it. With the excep-
tion of her participation in a Fourth of July parade in
Washington, D.C., and attendances at a handful of
small events in her native Texas, Jessica’s public ap-
pearances were limited. Interviewed a year after the
event, Baby Jessica’s parents said that the toddler re-
membered little of the incident and, aside from the
physical scars, suffered no lingering effects.
Ever ybody’s Baby, a made-for-television movie
about the event, aired in 1989. The production not
only dramatized the rescue of Baby Jessica but also,
through its title, indicated how television had trans-
formed the local, small-town incident into an event
that played out on the national stage, capturing the
attention of the entire country.
Further Reading
Garner, Joe.Stay Tuned: Television’s Unforgettable Mo-
ments.Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel, 2002.
McClure, Chip.Halo Above the City.Flint, Tex.: Still
Sprint, 1997.
Matthew Schmitz
See also Cable television; CNN; Journalism; Tele-
vision.
Back to the Future.
Identification Science-fiction comedy adventure
film
Director Robert Zemeckis (1952- )
Date Released July 3, 1985
Back to the Futureblended lighthearted adventure with a
science-fiction time travel plot, appealing to a broad audi-
ence and becoming a major hit. The blockbuster, which
spawned two sequels, was the first of director Robert
Zemeckis’s spectacle-driven, effects-laden films, and was co-
executive produced by Steven Spielberg.
InBack to the Future, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is a
high school senior from a dysfunctional family and
friend to eccentric scientist Doc Brown (Christopher
Lloyd), who has been buying nuclear fuel from Lib-
yan terrorists to power the time machine he has built
out of a DeLorean car. When the terrorists shoot him,
Marty escapes back to 1955 in an attempt to warn
him. He meets the younger Doc Brown and also as-
sists his parents in the early stages of their courtship.
He initially endangers their relationship, almost eras-
ing himself from existence, but ultimately changes his
personal history for the better, causing his family and
himself to have a better life in 1985.
The movie won a Hugo Award, awarded by atten-
dees at the annual World Science Fiction Conven-
tion, as the year’s best science-fiction film. It grossed
$210 million in its initial release, the most of any
movie that year. The film seemed to strike a chord
with 1980’s culture, as tales of time travel, especially
those in which the protagonists fixed problems in
history, were widespread in the decade. These sto-
ries formed the subjects of the filmsTime Bandits
(1981),Peggy Sue Got Married(1986), andStar Trek IV:
The Voyage Home(1986), as well as the television se-
riesVoyagers!(premiered 1982) andQuantum Leap
(premiered 1989).
Impact As one of the most widely seen films of
the decade,Back to the Futureinfluenced the catch-
phrases of 1980’s American culture, and it was re-
ferred to in sources as diverse as television com-
mercials and President Ronald Reagan’s 1986 State
of the Union address, in which he quoted a line from
the movie (“Where we’re going, we don’t need
roads”). The film had not been conceived as part of a
franchise, but its success and the popularity of the
other time-travel films and television shows resulted
in the simultaneous filming of two sequels to be as-
sembled and released separately—Back to the Future
II(1989) andBack to the Future III(1990)—as well
as the release of comic books, novelizations, video
games, toys, and an animated television series.
Further Reading
Clute, John, and Peter Nicholls, eds.The Encyclopedia
of Science Fiction. London: Little, Brown, 1993.
Gipe, George.Back to the Future. New York: Berkley,
1987.
Kagan, Norman. The Cinema of Robert Zemeckis.
Landham, Md.: Taylor Trade, 2003.
Klastorin, Michael, and Sally Hibbin.Back to the Fu-
ture: The Official Book of the Movie. London: Ham-
lyn, 1990.
Paul Dellinger86 Back to the Future The Eighties in America