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Andy Serkis’ cat helped him create Gollum

30 Famous Movies That Drew Inspiration From Unexpected Places

October 05, 2023

When Andy Serkis hit a wall while trying to figure out what Gollum would sound like, he found help from an unexpected source — his cat. More on that and 29 other bonkers influences behind famous movies and shows below…

30

Bugs Bunny was modelled after Clark Gable. In It Happened One Night, Gable's character chomped down a carrot in a way that inspired Friz Freleng to create Bugs Bunny. CRACKED.COM — Characters Based On Celebs, Really

29

ABED NADIR is Dan Harmon's friend ABED GHEITH. He's kind of a kid-like version of me, 4 the real Abed has said of his Community counterpart. Harmon even had him audition for his own part, before Danny Pudi pretty much stole it. CRACKED.COM — Comedy Central (via archive.org)

28

Star Trek

Geordi LaForge was based on a disabled Star Trek superfan. His name was George LaForge, he'd suffered from muscular dystrophy, and he showed up all the time at fan conventions. Не made friends with Gene Roddenberry, and Roddenberry remembered him when he was creating characters for The Next Generation. CRACKED.COM — To Boldly Go: Essays on Gender and Identity in the Star Trek Universe

27

TUSK was inspired by a really weird rental ad. Writer-director Kevin Smith was telling listeners on his podcast about an ad he saw in which the landlord was offering free accommodation, as long as the occupant agreed to dress as a walrus. Smith then asked his listeners to vote on whether they'd want to see a movie about it. CRACKED. COM — Syfy

26

Gollum's voice was inspired by Andy Serkis' cat coughing up a hairball. Не was sure the voice should be generated involuntarily, but he wasn't sure what that would actually mean. Then he watched and listened to his cat cough up a hairball, and the rest is cinematic history. CRACKED.COM — 7 Insane Ways Actors Got The Ideas For Famous Performances

25

Are You of the Afraid Dark? A Nickelodeon show inspired The Sixth Sense. An episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? Called The Tale of the Dream Girl is about a guy who's having a very weird time and, somehow, only his sister talks to him. At the end of the episode, he realizes he's dead and she's the only one who can see him. CRACKED.COM — The 7 Most WTF Origins of Iconic Pop Culture Franchises

24

Robert Pattinson says Willem Dafoe inspired his Batman voice. Pattinson has revealed that Dafoe's voice in The Lighthouse helped shape his character. It is pretty similar, the voice I'm gonna do. Batman has a sort of piratey kind of voice, I think that will really suit it. CRACKED.COM — 15 Iconic Characters' Inspirations

23

Pallet Town POKÉMON CRACKED COM The small town is based on Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri's hometown of Machida, Tokyo. — GameRant

22

Roald Dahl drew on his school experiences for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Не and a bunch of boarding school classmates were test subjects for Cadburys -- they got new chocolates each year, and were asked to review them. That got Dahl thinking about what chocolate factories and the process for inventing new chocolates must be like. CRACKED.COM — RoaldDahl.com

21

The Bates Motel in Psycho was based on an Edward Hopper painting. Hitchcock took a painting of an old house standing on its own next to a railroad, and turned it into the Bates mansion. CRACKED.COM — The Guardian

20

Forrest Gump Borgan Rachael The fictional town of Greenbow, Alabama follows the aesthetics of Normal Rockwell's Americana. A particular painting, Girl With a Black Eye, was recreated on the screen. CRACKED.COM — The Take

19

X-WINGS WERE INSPIRED BY A GAME OF DARTS. Star Wars ship designer Colin Cantwell got the inspiration for the X-Wing fighter from watching a game of darts in a British pub. CRACKED.COM — 12 Bizarre Inspirations Behind Star Wars Movie Characters

18

Man of Steel

DC's Man of Steel ended up directly inspired Marvel's The Eternals. The Eternal Ikaris is basically a riff on Superman, and director Chloe Zhao said that Of all modern interpretations of Superman, this is Zack Snyder's with 'Man Of Steel' which inspired me the most because he approached this myth in an authentic and very real way. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

I May Destroy You is partly based on Michaela Coel's own experiences. On the show, Arabella is drugged and sexually assaulted while writing her second book, and that happened to Coel while she was writing the second season of the sitcom Chewing Gum. CRACKED.COM — Vanity Fair

16

A random conversation on Eddie Murphy's tour bus inspired Coming to America. Murphy had just broken up with his girlfriend, and he talked about how he'd like to find someone who didn't know he was famous and who'd like him for who he was. CRACKED.COM — New York Times

15

Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation was a surprisingly personal project for Sofia Coppola. She had spent a lot of time in Tokyo when she was younger - she ran a clothing company with her friend called Milk Fed that often took her there. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Tina Fey

While talking about writing Mean Girls, Tina Fey said, I revisited high school behaviors of my own -- futile, poisonous, bitter behaviors that served no purpose. UNDSAYLOHAN WATCH YOUR BACK INTHEATRESAPRIL 30 TINAFEY MEANGIRLS She also drew some bits and pieces from conversations she remembered and personal experiences with the people in her life -- one of them being her mom. CRACKED COM — 22 Eyebrow-Arching Ways Creators' Lives Influenced Their Work

13

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12

The big bad's hangout in Loki is based on a real ,castle and Citizen Kane. The Citadel at the End of Time was strongly inspired by Citizen Kane's Xanadu and Xanadu's real-life inspiration, Hearst Castle. CRACKED.COM — CBR

11

Grey’s Anatomy

30 Famous Movies That Drew Inspiration From Unexpected Places — 22 Real-Life Inspirations For Your Favorite Movie & TV Moments

10

CRACKED.COM Show: Westworld Inspiration: BioShock Director Jonathan Nolan explained: I was Ken Levine, the designer of those games...and he was talking about how much craft had gone into all the conversations that the non-player characters had...all their dreams and aspirations. Isn't that sad? And the player just ignores it all. The bastards. To absolutely no one's surprise, there's a BioShock Easter Egg in Season 1, Episode 3. — 12 Bizarre Influences Behind Famous Movies And Shows

9

James Bond's 007 came - from a bus. After author lan Fleming moved to Kent in the 1950s, he would often travel back to London by bus - specifically, the 007 bus. It still runs today, and is very popular with Bond fans. CRACKED.COM — MyLondon

8

Leonardo DiCaprio based a performance in The Wolf of Wall Street on a YouTube video. You know the scene where he's totally smashed and has to crawl back to his Lamborghini? Не watched a video of a drunk guy trying to buy beer at a 7-11 on a loop for hours, and based his acting on that. 06/2009 UVA CH 04 CRACKED.COM — 7 Insane Ways Actors Got The Ideas For Famous Performances

7

Paul Lieberstein's The Office character was based on one of his friends. The friend had scrounged up enough money to live in Hawaii without working and just surf all day-but it didn't work out and, two weeks later, he came back. CRACKED.COM — Vulture

6

Good Will Hunting

A scene in Good Will Hunting was based on Matt Damon's brother's life. all m Dem vill When he was visiting MIT, his brother Kyle wrote an elaborate, fake equation on a blackboard in the hall I and it stayed there for months. CRACKED.COM — Vanity Fair

5

The Mank line Don't worry, the white wine came up with the fish, was real. MARATHON ST. 5400 W. But the real Herman Mankiewicz said it after throwing up at the party of a guy who was really into proper dinner etiquette, making it much funnier. CRACKED.COM — Slate

4

CRACKED.COM Fantastic Four The Thing is a clobberin' Jack Kirby. Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) put a lot of himself into Benjamin Jacob Grimm. Among other things, they both had rough upbrinings as Jewish boys in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and are fond of cigars. — Encyclopedia Britannica

3

CRACKED.COM The DiMeo crime family, from The Sopranos... ...is based on New Jersey's real-life DeCavalcante crime family. — Characters Based On Celebs, Really

2

TWISTY WAS BASED on A REAL SERIAL KILLER. One of the most terrifying characters in American Horror Story: Freak Show was based on a terrifying real person. John Wayne Gacy, who killed at least 33 young males, used to show up at child charity functions dressed as a clown. CRACKED.COM — The Atlantic

1

CRACKED.COM MISS PIGGY is a porcine PEGGY LEE. Bonnie Erickson originally named her creation Miss Piggy Lee, as a tribute to the jazz singer-which she later shortened to just Miss Piggy to avoid upsetting Lee. — Smithsonian Magazine

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