C-57D

The United Planets Cruiser C57-D is a fictional starship featured in MGM's 1956 science fiction movie Forbidden Planet. The design of the C57-D is a flying saucer, inspired by of the spate of UFO sightings at that time, and which itself inspired the interior design of another iconic starship, Star Trek's USS Enterprise.[1]

Contents

Forbidden Planet production

In the movie's screenplay, the ship carries no name, only the designation "United Planets Cruiser C57-D".

The C57-D has a lenticular profile. Above there is a flattened dome, approximately a third of the lens diameter. Below there is a very shallow cylinder of about the same diameter, and a somewhat smaller dome that ostensibly houses the ship's engine and the central landing pedestal. The precise contours and proportions differ between the models, sets and matte paintings used in the movie. On landing, a stairway and two conveyor-loading ramps swing out from the base of the lens.

The original movie blueprints for the ship's command deck[2] show it to have a central circular "navigation center", reminiscent of the console in Doctor Who's TARDIS, with a transparent globe centered on a small model of the C57-D. Around this central space are a number of wedge-shaped rooms, including:

On a mezzanine level there is an instrument station and other rooms that aren't seen in the movie.

The movie studio created a stage set of the ship's interior command and mezzanine decks and a 60-foot (18 m) semicircular mockup of the landed ship's lower half (with the landing pedestal and ramps). The sets suggest that the ship is between 100 feet (30 m) and 175 feet (53 m) feet in diameter.

Three miniatures were used, of 22 inches (56 cm), 44 inches (110 cm), and 82 inches (210 cm) or 88 inches (220 cm) in diameter, and costing an estimated $20,000. The largest miniature, constructed of wood, steel and fiberglass, and with the internal movement mechanisms and red neon engine light, weighed 300 pounds (140 kg).

Around 1970, MGM sold off the large miniature at a studio auction, but there was no record of who bought it. However, in 2008, a North Carolina man who had had the prop stored in his garage and hadn't realized its market value, put it up for auction. It was sold for $78,000.[3][4]

Appearances in The Twilight Zone

The C57-D props were later used in several episodes of the 1959 Twilight Zone TV series, sometimes altered, and never using the original C57-D designation.

Model kit

The C57-D was recreated in 2001 by Polar Lights incorrectly labeled C-57D in a 1:72 scale injection-molded, all plastic model kit which is 28 inches (71 cm) - a scale 168 feet (51 m) - in diameter. Some fans and modelers have noticed inconsistencies in the scale, the size of the Robby the Robot model indicating a scale of 1:56, giving a scale size of about 130 feet (40 m).[5]

Polar Lights re-issued the kit in 2009, adding figures of the C57-D's crew, Altaira, and the monster from the id.[6][7]

Tribute

The search and rescue ship found on the planet Miranda in the Joss Whedon film Serenity (2005) has the codename C57D in tribute.

References

  1. ^ Mania.com, "Forbidden Plastic: Part 1" (retrieved 2010-02-22)
  2. ^ [1] (provenance unknown; retrieved 2010-02-23)
  3. ^ Los Angeles Times, "The lost saucer of 'Forbidden Planet' reappears" (retrieved 2010-02-22)
  4. ^ NJ.com, "Amazing the things that are for sale!" (retrieved 2010-02-22)
  5. ^ CultTVman's Fantastic Modeling Forum, "Forbidden Planet C57-D" (retrieved 2010-02-23)
  6. ^ Model Kit Central, "Model Kits: Drama on Altair 4 (in Glorious 1/72-Scale") (retrieved 2010-02-22)
  7. ^ Round 2 Models, "Forbidden Planet: C-57D Spacecruiser" (retrieved 2010-02-22)

External links