MovieChat Forums > Moonraker (1979) Discussion > Dolly had no braces - explained.

Dolly had no braces - explained.

posted 8 years ago by sage2112
14 replies | jump to latest

So this is my theory on why people think they remember Dolly having braces - and I would think many other "Mandela effects" have a similar explanation.

When Jaws meets Dolly, there IS something cute and clever about the scene. It's that HUGE Jaws has found his love in such a TINY girl.
But in the back of everyone's mind, or maybe talked about later with friends, everyone agrees that the scene would've been perfect and more cute and clever had Dolly worn braces.

Then years later when you watch the movie again, the scene is approaching where Dolly is walking up to Jaws. You think "Oh yeah I remember this - there's something cute and clever about this scene. Yeah watch, she's gonna have braces."

It's just a false memory, folks.

[–] Horror_Metal 8 years ago

Exactly. I mean I very clearly remember her having braces as well. I thought that was the whole joke, they both had a mouth full of metal. But upon rewatching it when it came on TV, no braces. I figured maybe it was edited somehow because it made her look too young (like a child) or something but then I watched both my DVD and VHS copies and still no braces. Very odd.

I don't believe in the Mandela Effect as I find the theory of two timelines merging together to be ridiculous (though I will admit that I could have sworn they were called the Berenstein Bears and not Berenstain) and I think it's just our minds filling in the gaps subconsciously. We were hardcore expecting her to have braces so that's just the way we remember it. Human beings all have the same way of thinking more or less, that's why we all remember things like this that never actually happened the exact same way.

Horror_Metal

[–] christomacin (4527) 4 years ago

I used to work at a bookmobile with a bunch of children's books in the collection. I can assure you it was always "Berenstain" and not "Berenstein". I have no idea why they would change it from "stein" to "stain". The whole play on words is in the "Bear" instead of "Bere" I get. I'm not sure what going from "stain" to "stein" does, exactly... but they did change it.

[–] Tom-H3030 8 years ago

No it is def. not false memory, most of us remember her having braces, thats what was funny about that scene that they both had something with their teeth, thats what gave them the connection and why they fell in love.

Take a look at this movie site, scrool down a bit and see how Dolly's character is described: http://www.universalexports.net/Movies/moonraker-cast.shtml

And then also take a look at this video, @ 2:20 notice in the commercial how the girl has braces on her teeth as she smiles back at Richard Kiel (Jaws) - They wanted to imitate / make a parody of that scene from Moonraker where Dolly used to have braces on when she smiled at Jaws.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8pa1cC_QM4

[–] garyb-84741 8 years ago

Take a look at this movie site, scrool down a bit and see how Dolly's character is described: http://www.universalexports.net/Movies/moonraker-cast.shtml

It describes her as having braces but she strangely has none in the picture!
I have an old VHS tape of it... no braces. Although I do remember her having them too.

[–] garyb-84741 8 years ago

Could it be a reverse in the commercial? Kiel has normal teeth in the commercial while the girl has braces, reversing the movie.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] talkinhorse 8 years ago

Dammit, I remember that scene from the original theatrical release, and I specifically remember the braces. This was not a planted or suggested memory; in fact the scene makes no sense without the braces. I don't recall ever speaking of it from then until now, when I happened to hear someone on the radio refer to this weird anomaly.

What can I say? I trust my brain. I trust my memories.

True, the mind is a quirky thing. For example, stage mentalist Derren Brown demonstrates just how susceptible we can be to subliminal suggestion. Here's one of his videos (and there are many more for the curious): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyQjr1YL0zg

Nevertheless, I saw.

Hmmmm. Very strange.

[–] Legendary_Badass 7 years ago

I recalled her hair and glasses, but not clear on the braces. My chief exposure to the movie was from VHS tapings off of TBS circa 1990. I have the tapes around and may be able to investigate.

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[–] SinemaGirl 7 years ago

I asked this question to a film collector friend who knows someone with an original 1979 theatrical print. He took screenshots of Dolly, and she has no braces. So, if the simplest explanation is most likely the truth, her braces are a false memory among many of us.

[–] stazza 7 years ago

the simpleton explanation, yes. because no one dares face the possibility of an alternate explanation that we can not explain.

[–] christomacin (4527) 4 years ago

People's unwillingness to believe they could be wrong is very strong. This doesn't exactly inspire confidence in eye-witness testimony at trials, either.

[–] hyperjet (633) 4 years ago

I don't believe in the mandala effect but I do believe people get programmed. The late 70s-80s had such cheap and obvious humor elements in film and TV, perhaps our brains automatically look for the path of least resistance for cheap humor. In this case metal mouth to metal mouth. I don't remember braces. Just that she was cute and petite compared to Jaws.

[–] christomacin (4527) 4 years ago

She looked like the type of girl who SHOULD have had braces, and her boyfriend famously DID have metal teeth, so I think perhaps people mentally connected the dots. It's an interesting phenomenon, to be sure, but there's nothing going outside of the dimensional realm we are living in..

[–] strntz (10790) 3 years ago

Of all the so-called Mandela Effect examples, this is the *only* one of all the examples on the web where I remember it incorrectly - or "correctly" if you fall for the Mandela Effect crock. I mean, I would have bet real money that when Jaws meets Dolly and she smiles with a mouthful of metal, he reacts when seeing it. Maybe your explanation is correct: we all *expected* to see her smile with a mouthful of metal and our brains have imprinted that.

All the others, like the Berenstain Bears, I remember as it correctly is. I was in grammar school but remember calling the cartoon "Bernstein" until I took a closer look. I distinctly remember having to actually say the name out loud a couple of times to pronounce it correctly as Berenstain just doesn't flow as easily as the far more common Bernstein.