More interesting things I found on IMDB
On the VHS version when E.T. is watching the Tom and Jerry cartoon, he gasps and starts yelling. The original version and 20th anniversary have him scream like he’s scared after the gasp.
In the original theatrical release of this film, in the scene where E.T. is drinking and getting Elliot drunk, Elliot used chalk and began drawing on thin air. This scene was later cut from video and subsequent theatrical releases, but is pictured in The E.T. Storybook.
In the original cut, Elliot and his mom go to the principal after the frog incident. The principal was played by Harrison Ford, the screenwriter’s husband. Allegedly the scene was cut because too much attention was brought to Ford, and not to the scene. The scene is not restored in the 2002 edition.
In the original VHS copy of the movie (the classic black and green plastic) as well as television broadcasts, the now infamous terrorist line was simply supplanted with “You can’t get dressed up like THAT” and not the terrorist line OR the hippie line of the 20th anniversary edition.