What would Spielberg’s ‘E.T.’ be like today?

would have made phoning home a whole lot easier.

• E.T. hiding from Elliott’s mom in a closet filled with dolls, including a Raggedy Ann and mostly generic stuffed animals, has been re-created as a monkey, a lion, etc.

Today, you might have a My Little Pony or Tickle Me Elmo — product-placement a la the Reese’s Pieces that E.T. liked so much. Speaking of Reese’s Pieces ...

• The oft-told tale of M&M’s parent company turning down the chance to be in “E.T.” paved the way for Hershey to say “yes.” The deal, according to several sources, was that Reese’s Pieces would be used, and in return, Hershey’s would spend $1 million in advertising to promote the film and be able to use E.T.’s image in its ads. Within weeks of the movie’s premiere, sales of Reese’s Pieces jumped sky-high — estimates ranged from 65 percent to 85 percent jumps.

Today, M&M’s would have said “yes.”

• The beautifully shot “ride in the sky” has E.T. magically elevating the kids and their bicycles high in the air to escape the ground pursuit of adults. It produced the memorable image of Elliott and E.T., in his bicycle basket, silhouetted in front of the Moon.

Today (and perhaps even then), the science-and-milit a r y operatives who wanted to get their hands on the alien would have employed helicopters, drones . . . all the technology in their arsenal. The getaway, however, remains a thrilling piece of fantasy and a memory that needs no enhancement.