The Elephant Man (film) Hurt) and Best Production Design, and was nominated for four others: Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: There have been many releases of the film on VHS, Betamax, CED, LaserDisc, and DVD. The version released as part of the David Lynch "Lime Green Box" includes several interviews with John Hurt and David Lynch and a Joseph Merrick documentary. This material is also available on the exclusive treatment on the European market as part of Optimum Releasing’s "StudioCanal Collection". The film has only been released on Blu-ray Disc in the UK;
Seeing the elephant entitled "Seeing the Elephant," says the phrase came from a Philadelphia theatre "a few years" earlier. A play their theater was putting on was in need of an elephant but the few circulating circus elephants were not available and so they made a makeshift elephant and put a man inside to control the few movements the animal had to make. The audiences loved it and were extremely responsive. Unfortunately, the man they put inside was fond of his spirits, and one night he became so drunk he walked the elephant off the stage and into the music pit. The audience