15 Legal And Corporate Snags That Changed Pop Culture
![15 Legal And Corporate Snags That Changed Pop Culture](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/9/765769_320x180.jpg)
Imagine being a writer. You've written draft after draft of a script, it gets some attention of some literary manager who sets you up with a meeting, then you get staffed at a show or offered to write for a major character. You've made it! You're making some great stories! New stories! The ones you would want to read! Then it all comes crashing down.
Creative types dream of working for Hollywood. Just imagine -- the scenarios you dreamed up, fully realized with top-of-the-line special effects; your characters brought to life by A-listers; your creations changed for all kinds of bullshit reasons. That’s the sad reality of it -- when you’re playing for the big leagues, the stakes get impossibly high. Producers, lawyers and stakeholders all get to have a say on what goes, and often you have no choice but to listen to them -- with results such as these…
![X-MEN The energy-sucking Sauron was supposed to look like a bat (because duh, vampire)- but the Comics Code Authority frowned on vampires and werewolves. So Sauron's creators made him the most bat-like creature they could think of: a pterodactyl.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/1/765761.jpg)
Source: Screen Rant
![THE SICILIAN This movie starring Christopher Lambert should be a Godfather spin-off, just like the book it's based on- but copyright issues prevented any connection to Francis Ford Coppola's saga. (Which is lucky, as the movie isn't exactly good).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/0/765760.jpg)
Source: The Directors Series
![TRANSFORMERS The Jetfire toy was a Valkyrie fighter from the Japanese Macross toyline, licensed by Hasbro- -sparking complex legal issues over the rights to the design. As a result, Jetfire was overhauled for the cartoon (and renamed as Skyfire, to boot).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/7/765767.jpg)
Source: Den of Geek
![ERASER In this '9Os action flick, Arnold Schwarzenegger takes on the evil company Cyrez which was called Cyrex, until Texas company Cyrix complained. The change was costly, as the movie was already complete.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/2/765762.jpg)
Source: Los Angeles Times
![TALESPIN Voice actor Jim Cummings did a spot- on impression of King Louie's original actor (and jazz legend) Louis Prima- sO spot-on, in fact, that Prima's widow sued Disney, and the orangutan was exiled from screens for a long time.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/4/765764.jpg)
Source: Legends Revealed
![STRAIGHT OUTTA LYNWOOD James Blunt's record label wasn't OK with Weird Al Yankovic's parody You're pitiful, so he had to put together a different song to take its place in the album. That song was White & Nerdy, which went on to become one of Weird AI's greatest hits.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/5/765765.jpg)
Source: Nathan Rabin's Happy Place
![THE FANTASTIC FOUR In 1978, a Fantastic Four cartoon was made, despite the Human Torch being off limits due to a movie deal. As viewers could count to four, a new Fantastic was created- a completely non-flammable (and not very popular) robot named H.E.R.B.I.E.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/5/765755.jpg)
Source: Inverse
![For A Streetcar Named Marge, the producers couldn't secure the rights to Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire - so instead of a straight staging, the play was made a musical, as derivative songs were allowable (and also funnier). CRACKED COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/6/765766.jpg)
Source: Two Marshmallows
![MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC Creator Lauren Faust couldn't use the '80s ponies, as the trademark for the names wasn't available to Hasbro - so she had to come up with new characters.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/9/765759.jpg)
Sources: Lauren Faust's comment on DeviantArt, Lauren Faust's comment on DeviantArt
![JAMES BOND The rights to SPECTRE were tangled in lawsuits for decades. That's why several Bond movies feature villainous organizations (such as Quantum) that are SPECTRE with a different name.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/3/765763.jpg)
Source: Screen Rant
![THE HOBBIT Gandalf draws a blank when trying to remember the names of the Blue Wizards. That's because their names are only given in material Warner Bros. did not own the rights to.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/7/765757.jpg)
Sources: Film School Rejects, Movie clip (YouTube)
![HANNIBAL Showrunner Bryan Fuller failed to get the rights to Silence of the Lambs- -meaning that Clarice Starling was off limits for the show. That's why the Clarice-like Miriam Lass was introduced.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/8/765758.jpg)
Source: Screen Rant
![EVIL DEAD Sam Raimi didn't own the rights to the first Evil Dead movie - so instead of simply recapping the previous events, he had to change them, substituting Ash's friends with just his girlfriend.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/3/765753.jpg)
Source: Screen Rant
![ARROW The show was ready to introduce the Suicide Squad, when DC revoked their right to do so. So Deadshot and Amanda Waller were unceremoniously killed off, while Harley Quinn could only ever be shown from the back.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/6/765756.jpg)
Source: Screen Rant
![THE NAKED GUN The movie was to be called Police Squad, but Paramount feared it'd be confused with Police Academy. Of the alternate titles, the creators picked The Naked Gun, because it promised so much more than it could ever possibly deliver.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/4/765754.jpg)
Source: Los Angeles Times