E.T.'s new look: computer graphics help make the classic film and its star a little brighter.

When E.T. phoned home in 1982, the space ship sent to retrieve him did so without the help of computer graphics. At that time, CG visual effects were nearly as alien as was the odd little extra-terrestrial three-toed botanist himself. Twenty years ago, E.T.'s space ship was a stage model, not a NURBS model.

Bill George, a relatively new employee at ILM in 1981, built the prototype for that space ship. This year, as visual effects supervisor at ILM, George has come full circle--leading an effects team for the re-release of Steven Spielberg's E.T. And this time, computer graphics played a big role--from the first scenes of the space ship landing to the last good-byes. "We ended up redoing all the effects from the first film," says George. "Of course, there were only 40. It was a very small movie, a very low budget film."

That low-budget film became the fourth top-grossing movie in the US, earning over $700 million at the box office. So why touch it? To fix shots that bothered Spielberg.

For example, in space ship shots, the team brightened the ship, replaced static, miniature trees with real bluescreen trees that reacted to the force of the ship's landing, added low-lying smoke, and recomposited the scenes using Discreet's Flame, matching colors more exactly to the live-action footage than before. For some scenes, they even filmed new kids to add action.

The team also brightened E.T.'s performance. In the ...