Although 2001 inspired a generation of astronauts, its director, Stanley Kubrick, was afraid of flying. He cut the film while sailing to New York on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and later took the train to Los Angeles for the West Coast premiere.

One working title for the film was Voyage Beyond the Stars. Then 20th Century-Fox released Fantastic Voyage in 1966 and Kubrick hated the film so much, he changed the title.

Arthur C. Clarke wrote "The Sentinel" for a BBC contest. It didn't even make it to the finals, but went on to inspire one of the most influential films of all time.

The computer's name, HAL 9000, was created by combining the two basic computer language systems, heuristic and algorithmic.

In early drafts of the film, HAL was named "Athena" and was to have been voiced by a woman.

The song "Daisy," which HAL sings as he is being shut down, was the first song to be taught to a non-mechanical computer.

Actor Gary Lockwood got so used to walking on the centrifuge used for the space ship's interior, that when he finished the day's work he'd catch himself aiming his steps 45 degrees upwards while walking down the street.

The mission control voice is Frank Miller, an actual mission controller for the U.S. Air Force. Kubrick cast him because his was the most authentic voice they could find.

Classical pieces used in the film's score were Aram Khachaturyan's "Gayanah Ballet Suite"; Gyorgi Ligeti's "Atmospheres," "Lux Aeterna," "Lontana," "Adventures" and "Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Two Mixed Choirs and Orchestra"; Johann Strauss' "The Blue Danube"; and, most important, Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra."

Some critics have suggested that Kubrick, who was extremely well-read, modeled the Star Child shown at the film's conclusion on Percy Bysshe Shelley's description of the Spirit of the Earth in Prometheus Unbound: "Within the orb itself, Pillowed upon its alabaster arms, Like to a child o'erwearied, asleep..."

The product placements in the film were both satirical (e.g., Howard Johnsons) and a way of extending the present into the future. By the time the film opened, however, the reference to RCA Whirlpool was already outdated. The company was simply called "Whirlpool" by then. Other companies referenced in the film but out of business or operating under new names by 2001 are Pan American Airlines and The Bell System (long distance calling is now under AT&T).

One placement that's still current: the bags carried by Dr. Floyd's Russian colleagues are marked "Aeroflot" in Cyrillic letters. That remains the name of the Russian national airline.

When 2001 first aired on British television, Kubrick urged the network to use letterboxing to maintain the Super Panavision image. But network executives worried that the space scenes would look silly with solid black bars at the top and bottom of the equally black image, so they had stars painted on the black bars, which looked even worse. They never repeated that error.

FUN QUOTES FROM 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)

"The Ultimate Trip" - Tagline for 2001: A Space Odyssey

"Its origin and purpose still a total mystery." - William Sylvester as Dr. Floyd, describing the monolith.

"Let me put it this way, Mr. Amer. The 9000 series is the most reliable computer ever made. No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error." - Douglas Rain as HAL 9000.

"I just picked up a fault in the AE35 unit. It's going to go 100 percent failure in 72 hours." - Douglas Rain as HAL 9000.

"I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do!" - Douglas Rain as HAL 9000.

"Open the pod bay doors, HAL." - Keir Dullea as Dave Bowman.

"Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye." - Douglas Rain as HAL 9000.

"Look, Dave, I can see you're really upset about this." - Douglas Rain as HAL 9000.

"I honestly think you ought to calm down: take a stress pill, and think things over. - Douglas Rain as HAL 9000.

"I know I've made some really poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal." - Douglas Rain as HAL 9000.

"I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a...fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois, on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you....It's called "Daisy." (Sings while slowing down) Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two." - Douglas Rain as HAL 9000 in his final breakdown.

Compiled by Frank Miller