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The History of the “I Want to Believe” Poster from The X-Files

Did you know there are several versions of the famous “I Want To Believe” poster? Here’s a thread breaking down the history of the poster and some of the behind-the-scenes and in-show explanations for all these changes!

Here’s a link to the thread on Twitter! Tumblr only allows for a few pictures, so the Twitter version has more examples.

Version 1 (Seasons 1-3)

The poster’s concept art came from series creator, Chris Carter, stating: Let's get a picture of a spaceship and put—Ed Ruscha-like—"I want to believe." I love Ed Ruscha. I love the way he puts text in his paintings. I actually got to say to him, "I was inspired by you."

Here’s an example of Ed Ruscha’s artwork. This piece in particular, “That Was Then This Is Now #1” (1989), was clearly influential in the creation of the iconic “The Truth is Out There” part of the opening sequence.

In the show, Mulder tells Scully that he bought the poster from a headshop [a nickname for stores that specialize in marijuana products/drug paraphernalia] on M Street. The poster is seen during Pilot (1x01), so it can be presumed Mulder bought it sometime prior to March of 93.

In the beginning of season one, the set for Mulder’s office wasn’t firmly established. A lot of elements are familiar, but the iconic set as we come to know it isn’t quite there yet. For the initial episodes, the first version of the IWTB poster can be found near the door of the office

As season one goes on, Mulder and Scully seem to have some fun doing occasional interior decorating in between cases as items are constantly moving. In Eve (1x11) we can see the poster is behind Mulder’s desk, but it’s not quite in the normal position. In “Fire” (1x12) we can see the poster arrangement in the office appears to be getting serious as an abundance of large posters start popping up.

I’m starting to believe that one of them was very pro-Astronaut poster, because in “Gender Bender” (1x14) the IWTB poster is hidden behind other images and placed high on the wall (where it remains for s1)

In the finale of S1, the poster is still hidden high on the wall. Interestingly, when Mulder goes back to the closed-down office in “3” (2x07), the poster is finally in its usual position behind Mulder’s desk.

Did the cleaners move it? Mulder? The righteous hand of symbolism??

By “Firewalker” (2x09), The X-Files department is back, Scully’s returned, the poster is in it’s rightful place — what could go wrong?

When the art department originally presented the poster to Carter, he recognized the photograph of the flying saucer they had used as a cropped version of the famous Billy Eduard Albert Meier's "Photo Nr. 494" (Billy Meier photo 494).

When Carter asked if they had gotten clearance to use the photograph, they replied that they had. Unfortunately, this was not the case, as a few years later Fox Legal called Chris, stating that they had "an intellectual property lawsuit" due to the use of the Billy Meier photo.

As a result, they had to change the poster and this version is only seen during seasons 1-3.

And not only in Mulder’s office! In “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” (3x20), Blaine Faulkner is shown with the IWTB poster in his room -- only he’s taped his to say “I Believe”

The final appearance of this poster is “Talitha Cumi” (3x24).

Version 2 (Seasons 4-5; 10-11)

Due to the rights issues, the art department had to completely change the poster’s look while still keeping it recognizable. They created a new UFO and changed the landscape of the trees among other things.

The first time, from my perception, that we see this new poster is in “Tunguska” (4x08) The characters make no reference to the poster change, within “The X-Files” universe, the poster is the same.

This poster gets to hang around in the background for all of seasons 4 and 5!

It’s common for people to look at the poster introspectively, but this poster features the first textual address as Scully asks Mulder about it in “Chinga” (5x10) Mulder says he got it around five years ago. Since this episode takes place in 98, this confirms it was bought in 93

Unfortunately this poster meets a tragic end in “The End” (5x20) as it gets destroyed when the office is set on fire.

Version 3 (Seasons 6-9)

This marks the first time where the poster needs to be replaced within the world of the show. It takes sixteen episodes for this to happen.

I would like to note that, despite the fact we know they have a dozen posters, they just leave a dramatic empty spot on the wall.

In “Alpha” (6x16), Scully notices that Mulder’s online friend, Karen Berquist, has an IWTB poster hanging in her office.

Later, Karen, knowing her fate, sends Mulder her poster and he puts it up over the aforementioned dramatic empty, poster-sized space. Peace is restored.

It’s slight, but s6 introduces the third iteration of the IWTB poster. The saucer is tilted the opposite direction, and there are minuscule changes to the coloring and borders. It’s believed these are just symbolic changes for the move to L.A.

This third version of the poster stays through the rest of the original series’ run, from seasons 6-9

The last time we see the poster in the original series is on the floor of the emptied out office. Doggett, as always, is the real MVP and rolls it up for safe keeping. Now that’s a true friend. Interestingly, the initial shot of it on the floor is of v.2, but he rolls up v.3.

Version 2.5 (I Want To Believe)

Six years have passed, but have no fear, the IWTB poster is still intact and ready to appear in the aptly titled movie “I Want to Believe” The movie features it’s own style of poster, but only slightly. This is pretty my v.2 (used in s4&5) but without the white border

Within the world of The X-Files, much like the s3 to s4 poster change, there is no indication this is a different poster than what we last saw Doggett carrying.

According to fan, Brian A. Terranova, the switch from v.3 back to v.2 here further suggests that the difference in those two posters is dependent on where they are filming (v.2 tilting to the left when in Vancouver, v.3 tilting to the right when in L.A.)

Frank Spotnitz has said that when it came time to make the movie, they had one of the posters left over from Season 5, and so they used that. The lack of a white border may indicate that this was a draft poster when they were trying to figure out what the new design would be.

Regardless, I think it’s wholesome to operate under the presumption that this is the same poster, because that means Doggett helped them reintegrate back into the area after the On-The-Run era and that he held onto it for them

The Return of Version 2 (Seasons 10-11)

In the revival, we bring back v.2 in full again. Yet again, this contributes to the notion that v.2 = shooting in Vancouver and v.3 = shooting in L.A.

We don’t have to wait long to see the poster again! In “My Struggle I” (10x01), when Mulder returns to the basement office that’s been empty for fourteen years, the poster is right there in the middle of the floor… where it was before Doggett picked it up…

Mulder subsequently kicks the poster and rips it in half. Have no fear though, by the next episode “Founder’s Mutation” (10x02), their office is completely refurbished and it appears that the poster has been taped together. Don’t forget that in S1 we saw that Mulder and Scully dabble in a side gig as interior decorators

“Mulder and Scully Meet the Weremonster” (10x03) features another direct reference to the poster as Scully states that the poster is hers. I think that Mulder regretted ripping his poster and Scully, being supportive and encouraging (in line with this ep) bought him a new one

Breathe in a breath of fresh air, though all the dreams, visions, and lies, continuity continues going from s10 to s11 — pencils and all

Then “This” (11x02) gives us a new revelation — there is another IWTB poster at the Unremarkable House (also v.2)

Hear me out, ignore the fact that IWTB doesn’t have a white border. As mentioned earlier, I believe that in txf universe, the poster was the same as what Doggett brought them at the end of s9.

I believe that Doggett gave them the poster they had in their office from s6-9 (gifted from Karen in Alpha). They keep that one in their house.

I think Mulder (as evidenced in s10) has a propensity to damage his property, so Scully just has a lot of spare posters on hand

So how does that explain why there was a random poster on the floor in “My Struggle I” (10x01)?

Lol who knows. Maybe it was the same custodian who rearranged the poster before putting plastic wrap over everything in S2. He just really wants to believe, okay?

In “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat” (11X04), they bring back Version 1 of the poster as a tounge-in-cheek reference to the real-world X-Files mandela effect where people were confused about the art changes

And the image is Mulder’s laptop background! Because of course it is! Then he gets made fun of via aggressive puns. He deserves it for not having a cute, domestic pic of him and Scully together. Or a hot boudoir pic of Scully. Aka, Mulder, there are other options bro

We first saw the IWTB poster through Scully’s eyes, walking into the office for the first time, so it’s only fitting we last see it at their home in the background behind her

“I may not believe in god, but I believe in you”

The final shot of the poster; “My Struggle IV” (11x10)

The “I Want to Believe” Poster’s Legacy

The only remaining prop poster that wasn’t stolen or destroyed was given by Gillian Anderson to the Smithsonian in 2008. Chris Carter attended the ceremony and donated several other props from the show. The poster is v.3, likely an original prop from L.A. and is autographed

The poster is a pop culture icon and is likely just as legendary as the show. When spoofing txf, using the poster will always set the scene — as evidenced here with The Simpsons and SNL

Recently, Chris Carter donated a screen-used IWTB poster to The X-Files Preservation Collection! The X-Files Preservation Collection also houses Chris Carter’s Zip Disk with the original file of the poster! Reason #1013 for why we all need to go check out @XFilesMuseum in Saratoga Springs, NY!

#x files #I want to believe #the truth is out there #mulder #scully #msr #chris carter #gillian anderson #poster #david duchovny

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