2015 was a big year for “Back to the Future” fans because October 21st 2015 is the day in the future Marty and Doc travel to in the “Back to the Future Part II”. My younger brother happens to be a big fan, his first car was a Bricklin which isn’t a Delorean but looks a lot like one. Anyway to celebrate we had small Back to the Future viewing party. Obviously this was back in 2015 but it was fun and pretty easy to put together and I’m thinking it would be fun to do again. So I will share with you what I did and whether you are fan or someone you know it is fun reason to watch movies and eat junk food.
the food
George McFly’s peanut brittle
I had trouble finding peanut brittle. Actually I used toffee broken up because I couldn’t find it in the short time I needed it. In the first BTTF in 1985 Marty’s family is sitting down to eat and Marty’s father George pours himself a bowl of peanut brittle. Later I found it is possible to find it. I believe I saw it after the fact at the grocery store Winco Foods so if you are lucky enough to live close to one you may find it there. Some groceries store may carry peanut brittle but it was on Amazon the last I checked too.
Pizza from the Hydrator
In BTTF 2 while in 2015 at Marty and Jennifer’s home, the family is in the kitchen and Grandma Lorraine pulls out a silver package with a Pizza Hut pizza the size of hockey puck and puts into a hydrator and within seconds she pulls out a full size pizza with half pepperoni and the other half looks like green bell pepper. This was easy to recreate, I ordered a half pepperoni and half green bell pepper from Pizza Hut. You could easily recreate this at home if you prefer to make your own pizza or order like I did from your favorite pizza place.
indoor garden fruit
This one may not be completely obvious to everyone right away but I was trying to find a way to bring something a little healthier to the table. This is from the same scene as the pizza from BTTF 2, Marty Jr. is in the kitchen and says “fruit please” and an indoor garden center descends down from the ceiling with he picks off some grapes right from the vine. To create this I filled a bowl with lettuce leaves and put some grapes on the vine in the middle. Even my hardcore BTTF enthusiast of a brother didn’t figure this one out right away but he loved it once I explained it to him.
Tab and Pepsi Free
Yes, Tab is still sold in grocery stores, I don’t know who drinks it but obviously some people do because it is still sold. I have to say I love the pink color of these cans. This is from the first BTTF and he walks into the soda fountain and asks for a Tab.
Man behind the counter “You gonna order something, kid?”
Marty: “Ah, yeah. Give me, give me a tab.”
Man behind the counter: “Tab? I can’t give you a tab unless you order something”
Marty: “Right. Give me a Pepsi Free”
Man behind the counter: “You want a Pepsi, pal you’re gonna pay for it”.
jailbird cake
This cake was actually not too difficult, it is supposed to look hand made anyway. The cake is just a box cake I made in a 9 x 13″ cake pan. I made my own buttercream just because I can’t stand canned frosting, but there is nothing wrong with using it if you like the taste. Beside the white frosting, you will need red, black, light blue & yellow. I colored the light blue frosting for inside the cell myself and used store bought frosting tubes for the other colors. Remember it doesn’t have to look perfect, just go for it. Note: I have a blue bird on my cake, in the movie it was black, I think I ran out of black frosting, but don’t remember exactly why.
the props
This is the fun part, you can use props from the 1880s, 1950s, 1980s or 2015. There are so many great items used is the three BTTF movies you can take a clue from. A skateboard, Dustbuster, sports almanac, binoculars, flask, and so much more. Just take a close look at the window of the antique shop in the year 2015 there are all kinds of fun things to give you some ideas. Look around your home and the home of any family or friends that will let you snoop around for things you can use. Then if needed head to a thrift store and see what you can find, you never know what you could find. I don’t know if you can find them anymore but how many people would want an old Dustbuster from the 80s. Even if it isn’t something shown in the movie but it is reminiscent of one of the decades, use it. If you are planning a large party you could decorate each table in a different decade. 1880’s might be a more difficult decade to dig up antiques from but why not bring in a cowboy theme, with cowboy hats, books, wagons, lassos and horses.
The camcorder is obviously a reminder of the camcorder Marty lugs around in the first BTTF recording Doc as he explains how his time machine works in the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall. This is actually our family camcorder that my parents bought in the late 80s. I checked on Ebay and there are some of these old camcorders that sell for between $30-50, so if you really want one it is possible.
The hoverboard, is my brother’s. I believe he bought the hoverboard sticker online, painted his old skateboard pink and turned his skateboard into a hoover board. The Marty McFly hat is also from his collection.
Table signs
I created the table signs by googling the BTTF logo and an image of the date readout from the time machine. I used word to create pop in the images and text inside a 4 x 6″ box and printed them out on card stock. Cut them out and placed them in cheap acrylic 4 x 6″ frames.
This “Back to the Future” viewing party was so much fun. The only work really evolved besides a grocery trip was making and decorating the cake. In 2015 when we did this I know we didn’t make it through all three movies but it was fun and it brought us together. Hope this inspires you to create your own “Back to the Future” viewing party this October 21st! Let me know how it goes!
