The 1982 film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director and won a variety of other awards. According to director Steven Spielberg, the scene in which the mother of Elliott, the main character, opens a closet and sees E.T. disguised as a toy among other stuffed animals was thought up by director Robert Zemeckis after he read Spielberg's script. A scene was filmed in which actor Harrison Ford had a cameo as Elliott's schoolmaster, but the sequence ended up on the cutting room floor.