Hill Valley

Throughout the movie—not to mention the two sequels that follow it—the town of Hill Valley is every bit as much a character as Marty, Doc or Biff. So why was the story set here and not, say, some urban location? Or in the middle of a farm? Or on the lost city of Atlantis?

The idea was that we were going to be taken back in time to the 1950's. And when we think of the 50's—or at least when we think of the stereotypical, bucolic, whitewashed 1950s—we think cozy, small-town America. Diners and milkshakes and bobby socks and rock n' roll. We would have had a totally different feel if BTTF had been set in the middle of Manhattan, for example.

Why the name Hill Valley? Well, first of all it's pretty generic sounding, which is clearly what they were going for. But it's also… ridiculous. "Hill" and "Valley"? Um, it's got to be one or the other, guys.

The contradictory name was totally intentional: either to poke fun at the silly ways suburbs are named, or just to make audiences do a quick double-take. In either case: mission accomplished.

The most fun part about seeing the same town in two very different eras is that we get to glimpse how the times they are a-changin'. And the filmmakers behind BTTF definitely decided to have fun with it. We see a beaten and battered high school that's suddenly fresh and new, a clock tower that actually used to tell the time, a flourishing neighborhood and then a look at that same neighborhood when it was just under development.

Through it all, even if we didn't personally live through the 1950's (or in small-town America) this town reminds us of our own home. It calls to mind the gradual shift our environment experiences over the passage of time; the new stores and restaurants; the effects of age and love on oft-visited buildings. And the more invested we are in the scenery, the more invested we are in the story.

Town Square

If Hill Valley is our Solar System, then the town square is the sun.

It's the hub of anything and everything of any importance. It's where we find the Clock Tower, which is the only reason Marty's even able to get back to the future in the first place. It's where you'll find the café that is frequented by Marty and all the Hill Valley High kids throughout the movie. It has the movie theater turned "Assembly of Christ" that the DeLorean crashes into on its return journey. And it's where all of those vehicles featuring in-your-face local political advertisements apparently spend most of their time.

So what's the point of having one place that's sort of the center of everything?

Why do we have just one main character? Why is there just one bad guy? Why is there just one best friend, or one major obstacle to Marty's return journey? Having one thing we can focus on helps ground and center everything for us. Town Square becomes the movie's "hero" of locations. We root for it. We get excited when we see Marty zipping around its four corners on his skateboard, and we perk up when we recognize something that changed from from one era to the next.

The setting isn't just there as a background—it's a character in the story, too. Okay, so it may not have gotten its name in the credits, and it probably isn't seeing any royalty payments, but… maybe it should.

BTW, the town square in Back to the Future is also home to the town squares in Gremlins, The Music Man, and basically every CW show ever. If you're into it, you can go visit it on the back lot of Universal Studios.

The McFly Home

Wow. Messing around with time has worked wonders for this place.

The McFly home isn't even built back in 1955, so how did it get such a fabulous makeover?

In 1985 #1, it looks like the place is working hard to get itself out of the seventies. Tacky decorations, a depressing lighting concept… and whose brilliant idea was it to stick the television right in the center of the room?

Flash forward (or sideways?) to 1985 #2, and it looks like some kind of décor wizard came through to work his magic. It's spacious, it's clean, there are no more awful wooden birds lining the shelves. Maybe a few too many houseplants, but we could live here.

If Marty never even touched the house while he was in the past, why's it so different now? The answer, clearly, is that the two people responsible for renovating it—the two people who became changed themselves as a result of Marty's meddling—suddenly had a totally different outlook on life, love, and interior design.

Partly, it's because they became more successful in life, and could afford nicer things. But the house's new look says a lot about the change in George and Lorraine's personalities, too. Because George was suddenly on a path to be less of a dork/pushover, and Lorraine was now convinced she should lay off the firewater, they got their lives together a bit more. And that's reflected in every aspect of their lives; from the clothes they wear to the way they decorate their home.

George even got contacts. That's really saying something.