An exploratory study investigated preoperational children's understanding of the fictional movie character E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial). Of 40 participating children (ages 40 to 66 months), 85 percent indicated they had seen the movie. Data were collected according to an interview method, and responses were recorded on audiotape, transcribed, and analyzed in terms of frequencies and percentages. Questions concerned direct aspects/qualities of the fictional character (e.g., Is E.T. alive? What does E.T. look like? Is E.T. an adult or a child? What is E.T.'s sex?). Although an initial examination of the data indicated 50 percent of the children believed E.T. was alive, when responses were inspected by subject's age, it was found that older children were less likely to attribute life to the character. This and additional findings are discussed in reference to the kinds of support children gave for their responses, their tendency to center on a single behavior and perceive it as highly salient, and the egocentric nature of their thought. (RH)