Pizza the Hutt

Pizza the Hutt

Pizza the Hutt is a supporting antagonist in Spaceballs. He is half-man and half-pizza and one of the most notorious Hutt crime lords in the galaxy.

In the movie

While flying in the Eagle 5, Lone Starr and Barf get a call from Pizza the Hutt demanding 1,000,000 spacebucks. His subordinate Vinnie was also there to demand the spacebucks. Soon afterward, King Roland of Planet Druidia asks Lone Starr to rescue his daughter, Princess Vespa, from Dark Helmet. Lone Starr and Barf agree to do so in exchange for 1,000,000 spacebucks.

After Lone Starr rescues Vespa and saves Druidia, he and Barf receive news that Pizza the Hutt ate himself to death when trapped, meaning that they no longer owe him any money. However, after they return Vespa to King Roland, Lone Starr turns down the 1,000,000 spacebucks, as an expression of his love for her.

Trivia

• The Pizza the Hutt costume used pancake batter, not real cheese. But it did use real pepperoni!
• His name is a reference to the restaurant franchise Pizza Hut.
• In the Italian dub, the character's name was changed to Pizza Margherita. The reason is that the franchise Pizza Hut is unknown in Italy.
• Character Actor Richard McCarron originally wore the Special FX Prosthetic and voiced the lines. However, reshoots were needed and he declined to wear the heavy headpiece a second time.
• Creature FX Designer/Performer Rick Lazzarini, who created the animatronics for and puppeteered the ears for John Candy's "Barf" character, stepped in and wore the Pizza headpiece for the reshoots and final released footage.
• There is controversy over whether the final voice was Richard McCarron's previously recorded voice, or re-done by Dom De Luise.
• Spaceballs may have marked the fifth time that Dom DeLuise appeared in a movie directed by Mel Brooks.  DeLuise previously played:
  • Father Fyodor in The Twelve Chairs
  • Buddy Bizarre in Blazing Saddles
  • Dom Bell in Silent Movie
  • Emperor Nero in History of the World Part I
• Six years after Spaceballs, DeLuise played Don Giovanni in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, also directed by Mel Brooks.
• Pizza the Hutt is a parody of Jabba the Hutt from "Return of the Jedi"
• Pizza the Hutt's "tongue" is actually Creature FX performer Rick Lazzarini's chin.
• Pizza the Hutt's death in the movie is coincidental, seeing as how his reputed voice actor, Dom Deluise, died of a heart attack in May 4, 2009 at the age of 75.
• Van Halen's "Good Enough" missing in 2017 cable/satellite airings. Closed captioning still quotes first line "Hello Baby"
• A villain called Pizza Face in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 TV show looks similar to Pizza the Hutt.
• Pizza the Hutt's rank on the 5-Band Band would be the Brute, since he appears to have more strength than any of the series' antagonists (that is, if his height and weight are anything to go by).
• Pizza the Hutt performer Rick Lazzarini's other contribution to the "Spaceballs" was to create his own "Planet of the Apes" prosthetic and wear it while riding a horse in one of the famous end scenes.