The Newborn in Alien: Resurrection viewed Ripley as its mate – not its mother!

Did you know, the Newborn in Alien: Resurrection was actually intended to view Ripley 8 (Sigourney Weaver) as its partner / mate instead of its mother? Despite Dr. Gediman remarking "Look! It thinks you're its mother..." – apparently not! Not only that, but the original design for the Newborn Alien was intended to feature a dual set of both "working" female and male reproductive organs – a decision which was reverted last minute and cut out using CGI. This is definitely one aspect of the controversial entry in the Alien franchise that's not as well known and thanks to a recent recount of film history from the folks at MonsterLegacy, we have a refresh of this bizarre Alien trivia:

One somewhat controversial element of the Newborn design was its genitalia, something that both Jeunet and Weaver pushed toward. Gillis recalled: “Jean Pierre used to joke that, since he was French, he had to have something sexy in the movie. Sigourney is a daring actress and she and Jean-Pierre wanted to disturb the Fox executives. Sigourney, in particular, was in favor of going further with the sexual attraction between the Newborn and Ripley, to the point where the creature would have articulated genitalia.” The organs were designed to incorporate both male and female anatomy, somewhat blurring the line between sexes. Gillis added: “we wanted to be a little vague about what the sex of the creature is.”

The creature designers at Studio ADI went as far as to give the Newborn a literal, working genitalia. Remarking the construction of the Newborn animatronics and puppets:

Hydraulics were employed for the main armature, which was supported by a boom arm; the very thin frame allowed little space for mechanisms inside. It could perform a full range of motion above the waist, with rod-puppeteered legs.

An additional mechanism in the lower abdomen area allowed the Newborn to have a humanlike erection.

On-film, the employment of such a graphic detail would have played out about as you'd expect – and it was Fox executive Tom Rothman who ultimately put his foot down and removed that aspect from the film:

The Newborn violently rejects its mother by tearing her head off in a single claw swipe. Turning around, it recognizes Ripley 8 as a potential partner, and then devours Gediman’s brains. For this sequence, the main animatronic was intercut with the insert head. The creature is next seen aboard the Betty, and it is there that it “makes love” to Ripley 8. Takes of the creature’s tongue slathering the actress in saliva were considered but left in the cutting room floor.

This sequence would have also seen the Newborn’s genitalia in action. It was at this point that this particular feature was brought into (further) question. Gillis related: “there was also an articulated erection that we built. It sort of disengaged from the vaginal canal and came out. I think [Fox executive] Tom Rothman was the one who said, ‘we’re not having a fucking boner in an Alien movie!’ And, later on, Jean-Pierre confessed: ‘even for me, it was too much.’

It's probably safe to assume, we all agree that would have been too much. As a result, filming was shot around those parts and the only full body shot of the Newborn was digitally altered to smooth out the lower abdomen so the organs were not visible.

We encourage you to read the entire historical piece over on MonsterLegacy, they detail a number of interesting aspects of the Newborn, from its concept designs to its original intended death sequences and how production evolved over time.

What do you think of this original aspect to the Newborn Alien? Would the reproductive organs and interactions with Ripley have been too much? Are you glad they scrapped that Idea? Let us know in the comments!