MovieChat Forums > Moonraker (1979) Discussion > Dolly had braces - but why doesnt she we...

Dolly had braces - but why doesnt she wear them on VHS, LaserDisc and later 35 mm copies

posted 5 years ago by Quint (935)
36 replies | jump to latest

Ive checked my VHS version from 1982. No braces. Then I checked my laserdisc version from 1989 and 1991. Both neither had braces. And there was no TV airing before the VHS release. And about this guy with the 35 mm copy of the movie. Its amazing that he got this copy on 35 mm film. Again with no braces. But back then movies had many runs over the years at the cinemas (that was before movies were released on VHS). So he could own a copy of a later run with a new cut.

But we all seen thos braces (yes, some glory hunters try to tell that they didnt seen them - perhaps they should have gotten their glasses a little earlier ;) ). Theres not the smallest discussion about that. No pseudoscience explanations could explain that (neither the geeky Mandela Effect, nor the pointless social memory nonsense (I for myself havent talked about the movie for decades or read articles about it - so what social memory should it have been then :) ? ).

So I see 2 possible real explanations for that fact:

- The director did 2 cuts for this scene. They already thought that presenting a character called Dolly (as in Baby Doll) with early teen like braces would let Jaws appear like a pedo. So they released the cinema version with the braces and then get some negative feedback about that scene and did a recut for the VHS version (that happened back then so many, many times that such occurences are virtually countless :) ).

- Another solution is, that they simply painted them away (cause of the reason mentioned above). That was done in many, many movies (for example Tron was mainly done by cutting masks for the glowing effect - that was really expensive (had to be done for each frame individually) and thats why it was done at a studio in far east). For the digital version they did the same thing digitally (as they did in Who framed Roger Rabbit with Jessica Rabbit).

So I hope that this pointless pseudoscience stuff (ME or social memory) will stop so that we could find out what really happened. The problem is that this movie was done 40 years ago. So almost any production note is already thrown away and most of the staff is already dead.

[–] Quint (935) 5 years ago

- Another solution could be that we saw another movie a few years sooner or later with a beautiful girl with braces which smiled in a ironic scene. In our memories we linked thos two movies together and thought that Dolly wear braces (bout the shaming nonsense: Theres nothing to shame about that, cause thats how the human brain works). That sounds logical from a psychological point of view, but ..... it would mean that almost any Bond fan of that time (and you could easily realize that almost anyone saw Dolly with braces in the cinemas) would have seen Moonraker and that movie. I also tried to remember which movies had braces as an important plot element of that time period. And all I remembered was La Boum. There two teenagers with braces kissing and were bond together after that kiss :) . But firstly, the girl was completely different and second .... La Boum was huge success, but only for teenagers, in europe in the early 80s, but noone at the United States know that movie at all. So what sounded at the beginning as the most likely solution for the missing braces is simply the least likely explanation, cause there must have been a long forgotten second teen movie (which has to be a teen comedy if it contains a teenie girl with braces) every viewer of Moonraker (and I dont think that at least the older guys at the audience has watched that many teen comedies back then at all :) ) also have to be watching. So, right now, I see that explantion as less likely (as long as noone remebers such a teen comedy with worldwide success so that every moviegoer fo Moonraker most likely also have seen that movie).

I would suggest that we use this board as a platform to research what happened back then. From my point of view I would say that they simply painted her teeth white after the cinema release cause they got a lot of negative feedback. Theres even one website which shows the flaws of the painting ....

[–] Quint (935) 5 years ago

.... (the author of the website thought that it was done digitally, but he forgot that simple painting onto movies was a thing since the beginning of the movie era) and thos flaws were so obvious in some pictures that thats the most likely solution right now. The website is http://dolly.barriereader.co.uk/dolly.html . I would say that this is the solution for the missing braces. But there is still one small question: Back then at the late 70s they surely would be ashamed about that change and wont talk about it. But then they made all this extras for the DVD collectors edition. And why didnt they talked about this little accident at the extras? Noone would have given a damn about some movie edit they did decades ago. Its one of the strangest case of edit shaming I know :) .

[–] huwdj (4562) 5 years ago

When we first see Dolly I was surprised there were no braces. It's been decades since I last watched this film but I was expecting some ironware on her teeth. When I googled it there are pages and pages of hits on the subject - nice to see how much the internet allows us to discuss the important issues.

[–] Karl Aksel (1451) 5 years ago

She never wore braces. You have experienced a false memory.

[–] Quint (935) 5 years ago

Me and hundreds of thousands other people worldwide. From completely different regions and at completely different ages. We all got a common false memory. I see your point here. And its the most unlikely one-which indeed doesnt mean that its impossible. But thanks for your contribution!

[–] Karl Aksel (1451) 5 years ago

Yes, you all share the common false memory. As did I. The reason is simple: Dolly had a very girlish look, with glasses and pigtails. I remember freckles, too. And why? Because braces and freckles go with the stereotypical look they went for. Being a stereotypical look, the associations are common, so people seeing the short statured girl with the innocent, naive smile, wearing glasses and pigtails, will also mentally add the rest of the prerequisite appearance: braces and freckles.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I agree.

[–] ebhaynz (3532) 5 years ago

Dolly had braces in the original, it's why we all laughed so hard in the movie theater.

[–] Quint (935) 5 years ago

Thats one of the theories. But its not that likely, cause most people just remeber thos braces in the first scene. But she is just as "cute" during all the other scenes. And BTW She isnt cute. She is a grown female. Most of us teenies also saw her huge boobies (take a look again at the scne :) ). And teenegaers dont think of braces and boobies at the same time :) .

So I know this mass false remebrance theory. But its less likely then a simple edited film scene. And there are even artefacts for such a edition of the braces at the movie pictures. The main question therefor is: Why did they change it (one theory is like yours, that she looked too young for a 40 year old guy like Jaws and therefor the braces had to be removed. But why then being quiet about that for decades?), cause the film edit isnt for sur the correct theory, but still the most likely one (cause that happens in the real world really often)?

[–] Karl Aksel (1451) 5 years ago

Thats one of the theories. But its not that likely, cause most people just remeber thos braces in the first scene.

People remember her with braces, period. They don't remember her with braces in that one scene, and then remember her without braces in the others.

And why on earth would an edited scene be more likely? What would the purpose be? If they decided she looked too young, why did they put braces on her in the first place? And why would they put braces on her for just that one scene, according to you?

[–] Quint (935) 5 years ago

Cause they never thought that they would get such an huge reaction from parents watching that movie. Its that easy.

[–] RVS (110) 5 years ago

So far, still no answer on how the braces were removed from existence. We have all seen them, we know they were there, glistening in the sunlight. We saw the ad with Jaws (Richard Kiel) and a checkout girl with braces. We saw books describe Dolly as girl with pigtails and braces, etc. So, what happened to the braces? All we can say for sure is that have been missing since around 2017.

[–] Roguemail (1565) 5 years ago

Surely if they were there originally then someone somewhere would have a copy of the movie and be able to take stills from it to prove she had braces.

Personally I am going with the false memory explanation. I can't remember that far back to my first viewing.

[–] RVS (110) 5 years ago

Well, that's rub, isn't it. When Mandela Effect or whoever is doing this strikes, they wipe out all official versions. You'll never find a copy with braces...although it may be possible that if someone made an unauthoruzed copy of the film or taped it from TV when Dolly still had braces, that copy may have them... It's not a false memory when just about everyone says Dolly had braces.

[–] Roguemail (1565) 5 years ago

But someone somewhere could still have a copy on an old format that they cannot delete or wipe.

I can't believe that in this technological age there is no way to pull a still from something, whatever the format.

[–] RVS (110) 5 years ago

You need to delve deeper in the Mandela Effect as you obviously don't understand what it does.

[–] Roguemail (1565) 5 years ago

You're missing my point. I understand the Mandela effect and I am not saying she did have braces, what I am saying is that if she did have braces when the first prints of the film were released in 79 and they have subsequently been removed since then, someone somewhere would still have access to a copy on an old format.

[–] RVS (110) 5 years ago

I don't understand what you're saying. I already explained that ME deletes all official versions and their copies, so what copy are you talking about?

[–] DrRed (521) 4 years ago

Wait, are you saying the Aliens who are in charge of the ME have the technology to delete the braces from an old official copy of the movie that's been sitting in my attic for 40 years?

[–] kwestmo (4114) 4 years ago

Not only is he saying that, but they don't have the technology to erase your memory.

[–] RVS (110) 4 years ago

Could be aliens, there's no evidence of that though. And no, memory remains, obviously, since most people remember the braces in the movie.

[–] DrRed (521) 4 years ago

I wish I had know about this sooner. I could have asked the Aliens when I stormed Area 51 last year.

[–] RVS (110) 4 years ago

Known about what sooner?

[–] DrRed (521) 4 years ago

O, no. The aliens have gotten to you and erased your memory.

[–] RVS (110) 4 years ago

Is that your final answer? Why are you talking about aliens anyway?

[–] DrRed (521) 4 years ago

All of this talk about changing the past but not changing peoples memories definitely sounds like the work of some advanced race of aliens trolling us humans.

[–] FootOfDavros (6734) 4 years ago

It's not Aliens. It's definitely the result of an experiment gone wrong at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

The devastating results being things like Dolly braces going missing and Interview with a Vampire being renamed Interview with THE Vampire...

[–] RVS (110) 4 years ago

There are thousands of examples. For many, Darth Vader said, Luke, I am your father. Also, Tom Cruise had RayBans on in the dance scene in Risky Business and his shirt was white, not pink.

[–] HorrorMetal (834) 5 years ago

I actually remember her having braces on my DVD of this film, not even joking. I could have sworn she had them the first few times I watched it. It made so much more sense that way. Jaws opens his mouth to reveal his metal teeth and she smiles as her braces glisten in the sunlight, they share something in common and it's love at first sight! I was shocked when I watched it more recently and she wasn't wearing braces.

I don't really believe in the Mandela effect, however. I guess maybe we were all just really expecting her to be wearing braces in that scene and our mind just sort of filled in the blanks or whatever.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

What we have here is a phenomenon known as the "Mandela Effect."

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 4 years ago

I remember her having braces. However, I am willing to believe that I am not remembering correctly. Evidence suggests that my memory is wrong. I think a possibility is that her having braces WOULD HAVE BEEN perfect and it was such a no-brainer that everyone saw it as a missed opportunity by the filmmaker. Then that morphed into a different reality in our minds over the decades.

Either that or a huge chunk of us switched places with our counterparts on EARTH 1.00000002