OVERLAY REPORT

In *Back to the Future Part III* (1990), several notable scenes and lines were improvised or ad-libbed by the actors. Director Robert Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale often encouraged the cast—particularly veterans like Christopher Lloyd and Thomas F. Wilson—to add spontaneous touches to their performances. Below are the specific improvised moments with detail: ### 1. Marty Checking for His Pants One of the most famous improvised moments occurs when Marty (Michael J. Fox) wakes up in the McFly farmhouse in 1885. After being knocked unconscious and rescued by his ancestors, Seamus and Maggie McFly, Marty wakes up in bed. In a deliberate but **unscripted callback** to the original 1985 film (where he wakes up in his mother’s 1955 bedroom), Michael J. Fox **improvised the gesture of checking under the blanket** to see if he was wearing pants. This was not in the script but was added by Fox on the day of filming to mirror the iconic scene with Lorraine from the first movie. ### 2. The Saloon "Old-Timers" Banter The three "old-timers" sitting in the Palace Saloon—Levi, Zeke, and Jeb—were played by legendary Western character actors **Dub Taylor, Pat Buttram, and Harry Carey Jr.** Because of their decades of experience in the genre, Zemeckis allowed them to ad-lib much of their background commentary to give the scene authenticity. * **"He's a little touched":** This line, referring to Doc Brown’s erratic behavior, was an ad-lib. * **The "Dead Chinese" shirt line:** When Marty first enters the saloon in his "fancy" 1950s-style Western outfit, one of the old-timers says, *"Must've gotten that shirt off a dead Chinese."* This was an improvised crack about Marty's brightly colored, floral-patterned shirt. ### 3. Thomas F. Wilson’s "Mad Dog" Ad-libs Thomas F. Wilson, who played Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, was a frequent improviser throughout the trilogy (he famously invented the "Butthead" insult and "Make like a tree and get out of here" in Part I). * **Insults and Threats:** Much of Buford’s rough dialogue during the "dance" scene at the festival was ad-libbed by Wilson to make the character feel more dangerous and unhinged than the previous versions of Biff. * **The "Yellow" Taunt:** While the "chicken" vs. "yellow" theme was scripted, Wilson’s specific physical reactions and the way he spat out the word "yellow-belly" often varied between takes as he improvised the character's level of aggression. ### 4. ZZ Top’s Instrument Twirling The rock band **ZZ Top** made a cameo as the town band at the Hill Valley Festival. During their performance of "Doubleback," they performed a synchronized **360-degree flip of their instruments** (guitars and even the drum). This was not a choreographed instruction from the director; rather, it was a signature move the band did spontaneously on set. Zemeckis liked it so much he kept it in the film, and the camera captures a genuine look of surprise on Marty’s face as he watches them. ### 5. Doc’s "Wake-Up Juice" Physical Comedy During the scene where Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is knocked out by a single shot of whiskey and the bartender prepares "Wake-Up Juice," Lloyd and the bartender (Matt Clark) improvised several of the physical beats. Lloyd’s "stiff-as-a-board" fall and the various facial contortions he made as he was being revived were largely developed through **physical improvisation** during rehearsals and filming to heighten the comedy of Doc’s low alcohol tolerance. ### 6. The "Overly Zealous" Dance Mary Steenburgen (Clara Clayton) noted in interviews that she and Christopher Lloyd were so enthusiastic during the filming of the festival dance that they began **improvising their movements and energy**. This spontaneity actually led to a minor injury; they were dancing so hard that Steenburgen accidentally tore a ligament in her foot, though she finished the scene and the "overly zealous" energy remained in the final cut.