Serenity Trivia Guide

Some little trivial pieces of information on all things Serenity.

When the Operative reviews Mal's file, it shows his birth date as 9/20/2468. 9/20/2002 is the day "Firefly" (2002) premiered. Coincidentally, 9/20/1968 is "Firefly" writer/producer Ben Edlund's date of birth.
Although only a portion of the animated "Fruity Oaty Bar" commercial is visible in the movie, it was produced in its entirety and is visible as an "Easter Egg" on the DVD. Joss Whedon wanted the commercial to be as odd as possible and admits on the DVD that it is heavily inspired by the "Mr. Sparkle" advertisement from "The Simpsons" (1989) episode "In Marge We Trust."
According to Adam Baldwin, the mini-gun his character Jayne uses at the end of the film is nicknamed "Lux", after the message board handle (LuxLucre) of devoted fan Kerry Pearson. Pearson, who died of complications from diabetes, was best known for creating fan art that featured the characters from "Firefly" (2002) in a "South Park" (1997) cartoon style.
There is an inside joke printed on some of the crates in the cargo bay. Some of the crates have the message "Reusable Container: Do Not Destroy" printed on them (they are visible behind River after the Reaver has been shot). The original set for the ship, from the show "Firefly" (2002) was destroyed (even though creator Joss Whedon swore he'd make use of it again), and therefore could not be reused for the movie (the set had to be rebuilt from scratch).
Fanty and Mingo are named for the pair of mafia thugs from Joseph H. Lewis's The Big Combo (1955).
Universal Studios took the unusual step of allowing early previews of the unfinished film. The first early preview was in November 2004 in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles CA, when the release date for the film was still early 2005. The 5 May 2005 previews were held in 10 cities, the 26 May 2005 previews were held in 20 cities, and the 23 June 2005 previews were held in 35 cities. An early preview was also held on the Gold Coast, Qld, Australia on Friday 22 July 2005.
Two wrecked ships are shown with the registration numbers C57D, a reference to Forbidden Planet (1956). Jayne points out the first one as they explore. The second is the rescue ship, the source of the beacon. Writer/Director Joss Whedon says in the DVD commentary that the name of the world, Miranda, was taken from William Shakespeare's The Tempest, where it is the name of a character who says, "Brave new world that has such people in it." Forbidden Planet was loosely based on The Tempest.
When the crew first arrives on Haven, Jayne is strumming the "Ballad of Serenity" (the "Firefly" (2002) theme) on the guitar.
This is the first film to be released by Universal on HD-DVD (High Definition DVD).
A coffee maker seen in Serenity's dining room/kitchen is an F.A. Porsche Design coffee maker made by Siemens.
The futuristic-looking handcuffs used on River are in fact Clejuso Number 13s, the second heaviest handcuffs currently in production.
From the main menu screen, keep clicking "left" until you light up a triangle with a dot in the centre on the right side of the screen. This icon will take you to the full Fruity Oaty Bar commercial.
Malcolm's Social Control number is 099,836,5,4112.
The keyboard Mal uses to transmit the signal from Mr. Universe's basement is a Micro Innovations Web Office Pro Keyboard.
One of the video clips playing on the monitors in Mr Universe's base is the Blue Sun commercial from the "Firefly" (2002) episode "The Message".
This is the first film for which a digital cinema distribution master was made using the new DCI standards using JPEG2000 compression and a 12 bit 4:4:4 XYZ color space.
The cannon the crew mounts to Serenity is a WW2 German 20mm Flak 38.
Among the buildings shown in the opening sequence (where voice-over narration describes the "terraforming" process) are the Emirates Towers, key features of the skyline of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. A skyscraper in the foreground of the same shot is based on designs by Sir Norman Foster (Lord Foster), including the Commerzbank headquarters in Frankfurt and the HSBC building in Hong Kong.
Morena Baccarin provides the voice ("Parliamentary override. Full access.") for the security terminal in the records room.
The key phrase, that Dr. Simon Tam uttered to put River to sleep, "Eta Kooram Nah Smech!" in Russian means literally "this is for hens to laugh", meaning "this is very ridiculous".
Wash's jacket has a Leonov mission patch from 2010 (1984) on one arm, and a real-world Russian Intercosmos patch on the other.
Concept art for the film reveals that many of the weapons are based on the design of paintball markers. They include such paintball-specific touches as the propellant tank mount point at the bottom of the rear grip, and an "expansion chamber"-style fore grip.
The poem Mal refers to is "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In the poem the Mariner shoots down an albatross, which causes the death of his crew and the destruction of his ship.
Mal's drink of choice, Ng Ka Py, is a Chinese brandy. (It is available in the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly in the Li Po bar in SF's Chinatown and some liquor stores in SF and Oakland's Chinatown.) It is seen in the film in his quarters, and it is also the drink he calls for in the bar in the first scene of "The Train Job".
Summer Glau has said that she pitched to Joss Whedon the idea of her character River becoming a pilot during the "Firefly" (2002) television series. In this film, River finally becomes co-pilot of Serenity.
The original "Firefly" (2002) title theme is played at the end of the closing credits, in a guitar-only version.
Zoe, Mal, and Jayne's guns from Firefly are in a private collection so it became necessary for everyone to have new weapons for the film. The only weapon carried over from the series is Jayne's bowie knife.
The cast had a running gag where they would yell Summer Glau's name whenever she flubbed a line or forgot to do something. It originated on "Firefly" (2002) when she forgot her line at the end of a very long and difficult scene.
According to the director commentary, Mal's line "Faster would be better" was ad-libbed by Nathan Fillion when Joss Whedon told him to "say something Mal would say."
On Miranda, when the crew discovers the dead citizens in the sealed room, right before River starts talking in Chinese, there's a body of an old man in a lab coat wearing golden shoes. The shoes he is wearing are Nike Flightposite III, basketball shoes designed for Kevin Garnett, introduced around 2001.
After they find the first body that's been dead without injuries in the white city you can see a strange kind of stairs with a ramp through it. This is an exact copy of the stairs at the Robson Square in Vancouver, Canada designed by Arthur C. Erickson.
Once Simon has put River to sleep in the bar, on the floor next to her can clearly be seen an Earth Aliance PPG from the series Babylon 5.
Though the Trade Agent (the elderly man in the Trade Station who unlocks the safe) is played by 'Weston Nathanson, his voice was dubbed by Joss Whedon. According to Whedon, several of the stand-in voices from the early post-production stage remain in the final film.
According to the Q&A with Joss Whedon and the cast after the premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, there were at least 20 separate takes of the final make-out scene between Simon and Kaylee in the engine room, with take #20 being the one used in the final cut.
During the funeral scene, Kaylee wears a medallion with the Chinese symbol for joy/happiness/cheer, a symbol often used in weddings.