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28 Inspirations Behind Popular Movies and TV Shows

Inspiration comes in many forms

28 Inspirations Behind Popular Movies and TV Shows

August 23, 2023

Many of your favorite movie moments, characters and even narrative twists are influenced by unexpected sources. For instance: Did you know that Fight Club was the inspiration for the cult comedy Old School? We’ve got plenty more where that came from, too, including 27 more fascinating inspirations for pop-culture classics below…

28

101 Dalmations

101 Dalmatians was inspired by a real-life Cruella de Vil-type remark. Disney 101 DALMATIANS Writer Dodie Smith had nine Dalmatians, and a friend of hers once said Those dogs would make a lovely fur coat -- which ended up inspiring a novel (that later turned into a movie). CRACKED.COM — Disney

27

Heat

The iconic Robert De Niro shot in Heat was inspired by a 1967 painting. To director Michael Mann, the painting showed somebody who was involved in some life of aggression and action and yet contrast within the mental state because here was a moment of inner loneliness, so he basically made it a shot. CRACKED.COM — La Trobe University

26

Barry Lyndon

CRACKED.COM Barry Lyndon While the movie doesn't recreate any articular painting, it does draw a lot of its visuals from 18th- century British artists such as Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, and William Hogarth. — Phaidon

25

COMMANDER CODY, MEET COMMANDO CODY. You were probably puzzled by the fact that there's a random clone trooper called Cody in Revenge of the Sith. Не is a tribute to Commando Cody -- hero from 1950s science fiction serials. CRACKED.COM — 12 Bizarre Inspirations Behind Star Wars Movie Characters

24

Quentin Tarantino's movies kind of ended up inspiring Birds of Prey. Neu Director Cathy Yan said that the structure of the film was a bit like Pulp Fiction meets Rashomon. CRACKED. COM — Source

23

BoJack Horseman

Raphael Bob-Waksberg based BoJack Horseman on how he felt after moving to Hollywood. Не felt isolated and alienated because he didn't go out too much, and that dichotomy of being simultaneously on top of the world, and also never more alone, was really the beginning of thinking about this character of BoJack. CRACKED.COM — The Hollywood Reporter

22

Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues wasn't inspired by any kind of real experience. Recorded LiveAl To! OUT Pr ISON 4-44513 JOHNNY CASH FOLSOM PRISON BLUES - W THE FOLK SINGER Cash got the idea from the Hollywood movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison. CRACKED.COM — TPR

21

Us came from a persistent fear that Jordan Peele had been having. He'd imagine seeing his own doppelganger on the subway, across the platform, and he would smile at Peele. That was the seed for the movie. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Cameron Crowe

Cameron Crowe's Oscar-winning movie, Almost Famous, is heavily based on his escapades as a CRACKED.COM teenage rock journalist in the '70s. Just like the film's William Miller, Crowe was hired by Rolling Stone to travel with bands like Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. And, uh, he really did lose his virginity to a bunch of groupies. — 22 Eyebrow-Arching Ways Creators' Lives Influenced Their Work

19

KEN LEVINE based the creepy Motorized Patriot in Bioshock Infinite on an old porcelain doll in his childhood home. It scared the f*ck out of me, he said- and it also gave him nightmares where the doll killed his mom. CRACKED.COM — Engadget & Official GDC on Flickr

18

The Good Place is heavily based on a 1944 existentialist play by Sartre. His No Exit is about three people who can't stand each other trapped in the afterlife together, with nothing to do but to talk to each other forever. CRACKED.COM — Den Of Geek

17

South Park

South Park's Kenny was based on a Kenny from Trey Parker's childhood, who also wore an orange coat and always mumbled. Не went missing all the time, and other kids would be like, What happened to Kenny? Is he dead? CRACKED.COM — 22 Real-Life Inspirations For Your Favorite Movie & TV Moments

16

CRACKED COM Movie: The Purge Inspiration: A drunk driver (and a vengeful wife) Director James DeMonaco tells the story of the time a drunk driver almost killed him and his wife by cutting them off on the road. They confronted the driver, but he showed no remorse. My wife was so worked up over this guy's attitude... and said, 'Wouldn't it be great if we all had one free one a year?' I'm like, 'That's so fucked-up, honey,' but it stayed with me. Now there's your movie. — 12 Bizarre Influences Behind Famous Movies And Shows

15

Lord of the Rings

CRACKED.COM The Ents in THE LORD OF THE RINGS were inspired by Shakespeare. No, there aren't talking, walking trees in Macbeth - and that pissed off a young J. R. R. Tolkien, who expected that the prophecy about the woods coming against Macbeth's castle became literally true. So years later, he wrote that into his own book. — Tolkien Gateway

14

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln influenced Black Panther. The challenge scene with M'Baku and T'Challa was directly inspired by it -- Ryan Coogler says he liked how Spielberg made political conversations animated and engaging. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

13

12

Mater from Cars is based on an actual person in Sherrills Ford, NC. KEEP NO TRESPASS NE His name is Douglas Mater Keever, a construction superintendent who's the self-appointed mayor - the Cars director met him on a research trip. CRACKED.COM — Entertainment Weekly

11

One of Bombshell's more gross anecdotes is from the original reporting. It's the one about a female employee who is said to have come from a meeting with Roger Ailes with her nose and chin makeup gone. CRACKED.COM — Slate

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10

Seinfeld George Costanza is Larry David. Jason Alexander based his performance on Woody Allen, until he realized George was a self-insert for the show's co-creator. When Alexander questioned a scene, David retorted: This happened to me, this is exactly what I did. CRACKED.COM — Jason Alexander interview (via YouTube)

9

Tom Hardy likes to think he played Christopher Nolan in Inception. CRACKED.COM Не tried to imitate the director's mannerisms for his character Eames. — Characters Based On Celebs, Really

8

Sergio Gutierrez Benitez was a Mexican priest who fought as mysterious masked wrestler Fray Tormenta, then used his winnings to buy food for orphans. When Jack Black played him, he was called NACHO LIBRE. CRACKED.COM — 6 Real People With Secret Identities Nobody Saw Coming

7

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan

ZOHAN really exists, and his name is NEZI ARBIB. Arbib and his brothers (all of them former Israeli soldiers) run a hair salon in Los Angeles. Adam Sandler spent some time with them preparing for the movie. CRACKED.COM — 9 Absurd Movie Premises That Actually Happened

6

Parks and Recreation

They created April Ludgate after a casting director met Aubrey Plaza. The director called Parks & Rec writer Michael Schur and told him I just met the weirdest girl I've ever met in my life. You have to meet her and put her on your show. So Schur met with her, and wrote her into the show. CRACKED.COM — AVClub

5

SAW happened because the writer went to the hospital with a severe migraine, thinking he was dying. Writer Leigh Whannell got the idea for the character of John Kramer (Jigsaw) when he was 24 and mistook his migraines for a possible brain tumor. While at the hospital undergoing an MRI and other tests, he came up with the idea of a psychopath who was told he was going to die of a terminal illness, and then decided to put his bad juju onto other people. CRACKED COM — Screen Rant

4

Logan

James Mangold's father helped inspire Logan's ending. His father, a painter, made two series of paintings that explored the plus and the X symbols, respectively, so Mangold has a very ingrained sense of the relationship of the cross and the X --and that's part of what inspired him to make Laura rotate the grave marker, turning it from a cross into an X. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

3

BRAD PITT EDWIRD NORTON / DAVID FUNCHER FILM CLOB MIS CTU AVHI ME SOAP ERCEHIC ALL adidas KING ... ... PA ... - JUL LIST. PLA - - 40 DESIT e KA Old School is just a comedy take on Fight Club. Writer and director Todd Phillips says he was thinking of Fight Club throughout writing the whole screenplay, and it shows: a ton of scenes are ripped straight from Fight Club with a minor twist or two. CRACKED.COM — The 7 Most WTF Origins of Iconic Pop Culture Franchises

2

Anna Wintour didn't inspire Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada. Clint Eastwood did. Streep based Miranda Priestly's voice on Eastwood, saying that he never, ever, ever raises his voice and everyone has to lean in to listen, and he is automatically the most powerful person in the room. She also used the late director Mike Nichols' sarcastic and dry sense of humor to shape her iconic character. CRACKED.COM — 15 Iconic Characters' Inspirations

1

Angel Grove, California POWER RANGERS Bar CRACKED COM The Power Rangers' hometown is thought to be based on Los Angeles, which is convenient because that's where the series was filmed. — ScreenRant

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