Book #178: Back to the Future by George Gipe

 Back To The Future

George Gipe

 Released: July 1st, 1985

My 44th book for 2026 was George Gipe’s Back To The Future.  

I figured that as long as I'm running through various series, I might as well do the Back To The Future ones.

I've always loved Back To The Future (BTTF).  Marty McFly is such an iconic character.  I always remember watching the cartoon when it aired in early 1991.  Yeah.  BTTF had a cartoon.  Fun fact.  Go watch it.  Here's a preview:

Back to the Future Cartoon Promo Commercial Retro Toys and Cartoons

Alrighty, so basically BTTF is this classic story.  Doc Brown invents a Time Machine out of a DeLorean.  The night he plans to test it out, he asks Marty to come help him with it.  As he explains the information to Marty, a rouge terrorist organization that Doc stole plutonium from is out for murderous revenge.  After blowing away the Doc with a machine gun, they set there sights on Marty who ducks into the DeLorean as a means to escape.  After hitting 88mph, Marty travel back in time to October 15th, 1955.  As he adjusts to his new surroundings, he make some errors as he struggles to blend in.  One of them being saving his father from being hit by his grandfather.  After coming to at his mother's house, he sets out to find the Doc Brown of 1955.  He learns from him that preventing his dad from being hit caused his mother to fall for him, which slowly erases him and his past from the confines of history forever.  Marty must now get his parents to get together and with the Doc's help, find a way to generate the power using 1955 methods to take him Back to the Future (get it?).

The story is solid, and it's easy to see how this became one of the highest grossing films of the 1980's, and one of the most heralded of all time.

When I was a kid, my parents love the 1980's.  Everything was fun, the music was rockin', everything was wild, flashy, and fun.  I've always envied their stories.  I've always wondered what it would have been like to go back and see how their formative years were first-hand.  I think a lot of people think similar thoughts, and that is why this film worked on many levels.  Michael J. Fox was becoming bigger by the day (more on that in a few).  Christopher Lloyd was an established actor.  Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover were solid upcoming actors.  The story was golden.  

I'm not going to lie there is an unintended effect here.  Thanks to his performance in this movie, I cannot look at Christopher Lloyd as the Klingon Commander Krull with a serious face anymore.  All I think the entire time is: "Doc Brown Klingon".

Anyways, Michael J. Fox was blowing audiences away weekly on Family Ties.  Fun story, I was watching BTTF back in 2012 when I lived with my buddy Andrew.  I got home late from work and decided to watch BTTF.  Afterwards, I was reading a bio on MJF when I found that Family Ties was streaming on Netflix.  I jumped into the first episode and was intrigued from the start.  I watched the next episode and kept binging it over the next year.  I would do several episodes a day.  I relished every season.  Alex P. Keaton has become my favorite sitcom character of all time, passing Uncle Jesse on Full House.  So if you're looking for legendary MJF beyond BTTF, check out Family Ties.  Worth It!

Even crazier fact that I didn't even mention in my original Family Ties review, I have an APK collection.  I was at Emerald City Comic Con a few years ago in Seattle when I couldn't decide what art I wanted to buy in Artist Alley.  So I randomly selected a photo in my gallery and it was a picture from an outtake of Alex P. Keaton drinking orange juice and splashing it all over himself.  I have gotten many different artists to draw it.  My favorite is a tie between Danielle, and Michael Duran.

I love how this review has virtually nothing to do with the book, and me just spewing love all over the place for this movie.  But the book is essentially the movie with minimal difference.  Well worth it for readers and fans alike.

Here is what I learned:

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• Marty’s class watches a video on Atomic Power.

• Mr. Arky is the Social Studies teacher.

• Marty McFly is a student at Hill Valley High School.

• Marty is dating Jennifer Parker.

• Gerald Strickland is the school’s disciplinarian.

• Marty told Doc Brown never to call him at school.

• The Twin Pines Mall was built on what was formerly the Peabody Farm.

• Marty makes up a story about an aunt and uncle who live in Wisconsin, crippled by a car accident a decade ago.

• “Bull Droppings” is a clean substitute for “Bullshit”.

• Strickland sees Doc Brown as a child who never grew up.

• Strickland sees the McFly’s as slackers.

• Anyone caught with a radio in school receives detention for one week.

• Marty and his band have an audition for the YMCA Dance at 4:00pm.

• Marty sets off the fire alarm by shooting a matchbook under the smoke alarm with the sun lighting the matches.

• Marty’s band is known as the Pinheads.

• George McFly is Marty’s father.

• George is a bit of a pushover.

• The Hill Valley Preservation Society wants to save and repair the Hill Valley Clock Tower.

• Jennifer’s grandma’s telephone number is 243-8480.

• Dr. Emmitt Brown is 65-years-old.

• October 25th, 1985 is the day he invented Time Travel.

• The Twin Pines Mall is located in Hill Valley.

• The McFlys own a 1979 Plymouth Reliant.

• George is 47-years-old.

• Biff Tannen is 48-years-old.

• Biff was drinking and driving.

• Biff is George’s supervisor.

• George envied macho types.

• George had a high school friend named Billy Stockhausen who was bullied.

• Howard is the McFly’s neighbor.

• Howard is 40-years-old.

• Marty has an older sister and an older brother.

• Dave is 22 and works in fast food.

• Linda is 19 and wears too much makeup.

• Lorraine McFly is 47-years-old

• The McFlys watch The Honeymooners because George likes it.

• Uncle Joey didn’t get a parole.

• Grandpa hit George with the car.  That’s how Lorraine and George met.

• George and Lorraine’s first date was to the Enchantment Under The Sea School Dance.

• There was a thunderstorm the night of the dance.

• Doc Brown has a car phone.

• The Pinheads have submitted to R&G Records.

• Doc Brown keeps a spare key under his potted plant.

• Doc Brown has built his Time Machine from a DeLorean.

• Temporal Experiment Number 1 takes place 1:19am Saturday October 26th, 1985 at the Twin Pines Mall.

• Einstein is the world’s first time traveler.

• The returning Einstein is one minute younger that present time.

• Einstein received a milk bone for becoming the first time traveler.

• Doc Brown invented time travel November 5th, 1955.

• "I was standing on the edge of my toilet, hanging a clock. The porcelain was wet. I slipped and hit my head on the sink to my left. And when I came to, 1 had a revelation—a vision that was absolutely perfect picture in my head of everything I needed to do and how I could do it."  He gestured to the car. "Believe it or not, I saw this," he continued.  “My dream or hallucination or whatever it was contained a picture of this."

• The flux capacitor makes time travel possible.

• Doc Brown has been working on time travel for 29 years, 11 months, and 355 days.

• This excludes vacations and illnesses.

• Hill Valley used to be all farmland.

• The DeLorean runs on plutonium.

• A nuclear reaction is needed to produce the 1.21 Gigawatts of electricity needed.  The flux capacitor stores it, then discharges it all at once, like a gigantic bolt of lightning. It’s really quite efficient.

• Plutonium is illegal.

• Sam has been an international terrorist for 30 years.

• Uranda is a twenty-five-year-old ex-fashion model from Damascus who got her kicks by pumping bullets into other people’s bodies.

• Doc Brown was hired to build a nuclear bomb.

• He stole the plutonium and replaced it with old pinball parts.

• Doc Brown carries a .45 revolver that may not even work.

• Marty crashes on Otis Peabody’s Farm.

• The farm is the site of the current day Twin Pines Mall.

• Otis is 45-years-old.

• He has been married to Elsie Peabody for 17 years.

• A 4-years battery is $14.95 in 1955.

• Martha Peabody is his 14-year-old daughter.

• Sherman Peabody is 11-years-old.

• The Peabodys are one of the last families in the county to have a TV.

• President Eisenhower had a heart attack in office.

• Peggy Ann McVay got an A for her report on it.

• Sherman reads Tales From Space comics.

• Sherman is currently reading about space zombies from Pluto who take over brains.

• Marty killed one of Peabody’s Pines.  (Future Altered).

• Marty destroyed the Peabody mailbox.

• Marty lives in Lyon Estates.

• Marty views Eisenhower as “A nice enough guy who didn’t do much except give Nixon his chance.”

• A new 1956 Ford pickup truck cost $1454 in 1955.

• The locks on the McFly house have not changed in 30 years.

• Biff Tannen bullied George in high school.

• George was born August 18th.

• George’s mom is Sylvia.

• George’s day enlisted in WWI as a 16-year-old and was shipped back when they found out.

• Goldie Wilson is a busboy at Lou’s Cafe.

• “Everybody’s bigger than you when you’re on your knees.”

• Marty blurts out that Goldie will become a future mayor which inspires him to run for public office. (Future Altered).

• George is not religious.

• George is superstitious.

• George grew up on Sycamore Street near 2nd in Hill Valley.

• The Sycamore Street neighborhood was once beautiful in the 1950’s, but had grown seedy by the early 1970’s.

• George is a Peeping Tom.

• Marty shoves George out of the way, and gets hit by his grandfather’s car.  (Future Altered).

• The 1920’s in Hill Valley were the “flapper days”.

• Lorraine Baines is the maiden name of Marty’s Mother.

• Stella Baines is Marty’s maternal grandmother.

• Stella was 40-years-old in 1955.

• Sam Baines is Marty’s paternal grandfather.

• The Baines’ have meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and macaroni & cheese for dinner.

• It was the same thing Marty had the night before in 1985, suggesting Lorraine Carrie’s that meal on to her own family.

• The Baines’ enjoy watching Jackie Gleason.

• Gleason was Buford T. Justice.

• The Baines and Marty watch the “Man from Space” episodes of The Honeymooners.

• “It’s all right, Mrs. Baines, my Mom’s used to my staying out late. She won’t even miss me…Yes, ma’am. I could be away for the next thirteen years and she wouldn’t notice.”

• Doc Brown lives on the East side of town.

• “He’s an idiot.  It comes from his upbringing. His parents are probably idiots, too, and maybe even his grandparents. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole family’s nuts.  If you ever have a kid who acts that way, I'll disown you. That goes for all of you.” - Sam Baines.

• Marty was born in 1968.

• His ID will expire in 1987.

• Doc Brown is a Brooklyn Dodgers fan.

• Marty likes the San Diego Padres in MLB.

• Marty likes the San Diego Chargers in the NFL.

• Marty pays $0.50 to see the Atomic Kid on the big screen in 1955.  (Future Altered).

• Green is Doc Brown’s color.

• “It’s the end of the world I’ve known.” - Marty McFly.

• "You've always told me that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything, solve any problem."

• Marty has the potential to alter history with his movie.

• "That's a tiny item but even it could happen. Let's suppose the theater operator is looking at the balance sheet one day and thinking about selling. Maybe that extra fifty cents pushes the receipts from $999.75 to $1000.25. That is, it goes from three figures to four figures. That might be the psychological difference between keeping the theater or selling it. So, influenced by the extra fifty cents, he keeps it. Not long afterward, when the theater would be closed if he'd sold it, a fire starts and some people are trapped inside. One of them is a youngster who's destined to become President of the United States-except that now he's dead."

• “It’s A Wonderful Life” is a textbook on how our little lives influence everybody else’s.”

• Lorraine wants to marry Marty.

• Nerd is a 1985 word.

• An Oedipal situation occurs when an undesirable attraction exists between mother and son.

• "There's that word again.  Heavy. Why are things so 'heavy' in the future? Is there a problem with the world's gravitational pull?"

• The Enchantment Under The Sea dance costs $1 admission.

• George writes science fiction.

• “It was a breakthrough moment. Something in his father's vulnerability and desire to create touched Marty; for the first time in a long time, he found himself not only liking the man but understanding some of his anxieties. Suddenly he wanted to help George McFly not only because it would be beneficial to himself but to George as well.”

• Arthur McFly is George’s father.

• Arthur does not approve of George’s writing ambitions.

• “If he got that kind of support from grandpa, no wonder Dad gave me such rotten advice.”

• Marty uses a Van Halen tape to scare George.

• Marty pretends to be Darth Vader, an extraterrestrial from the planet Vulcan.

• Doc Brown drives a Packard convertible.

• Marty used chloroform on George.

• “Christ, it’s a miracle I was even born.”

• George drinks chocolate milk at the soda shop.

• Lorraine’s friends are Babs and Betty.

• The story unintentionally foreshadows Part III.

• “Biff Tannen and his henchmen were at the door, leering at George, their hands on their hips. Slowly, deliberately, like gunfighters taking over a small Western town, they strode into the store toward George McFly.”

• Biff’s friends are Match, 3D, and Skinhead.

• Marty invents the skateboard by separating the handle from a scooter. (Future Altered).

• Nobody in 1955 blinks an eye when Biff attempts to run over Marty with his car.

• Lorraine pulls a Sadie Hawkins on Marty.

• The Hill Valley Radio DJ is by Bill Sharp.

• Eddie Fisher and Patti Page are 1950’s country singers.

• Doc Brown does $50 bribes.

• Doc Brown is not against indirect incest.

• Marty believes copping a feel on his teenage mother will turn him gay.

• Marvin Berry and the Starlighters are the featured band at the dance.

• Dexter Gore and Deborah Chambers are the school chaperones.

• Marty has never smoked before.

• George one severed his finger in a portable paint mixer.

• Mark Dixon smokes weed in the bathroom.

• Lorraine equates kissing Marty to kissing her father.

• It cost Biff $300 to fix his car.

• The band smokes weed during an intermission in their set.

• “Spook” is a derogatory name for black people.

• Dixon is the guy who cuts in to dance with Lorraine.

• Marty once set fire to the living room rug when he was 8.

• Marty instills confidence in George (Future Altered).

• The Twin Pine Mall is now the Lone Pine Mall.

• Doc Brown tapes Marty’s letter back together.

• Doc Brown has an emergency ignition hidden in the DeLorean.

• Dave is now a businessman who reads Forbes.

• George and Lorraine now play Tennis.

• They have been club doubles champions for 6 years.

• George now radiates confidence.

• Lorraine is slim and dynamic.

• George drives a new BMW.

• George first novel is A Match Made In Space.

• George has been selling stories ever since college.

• Biff now works for George.

• Marty now owns a black Toyota SR5 truck.

• Story is To Be Continued…

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Overall, this is an excellent adaptation of one of the greatest sci-fi tales ever told.  I love this book and the movie.

Highest Recommendation.

On to Book #45: Back to the Future II by Craig Shaw Gardner.

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Need to catch up?  See previous blog post: Salty.