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29 Unexpected Inspirations Behind Iconic Movies And TV Shows

Before creating Greendale, Dan Harmon attended Glendale Community College.

29 Unexpected Inspirations Behind Iconic Movies And TV Shows

November 01, 2021

A lot of pop culture creations are somewhat based on real life. For example, did you know Dan Harmon went to Glendale Community College before making Community – a show about a Community College called Greendale? More on that and 28 other surprising influnces behind famous TV shows and movies:

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Sunnydale BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER CRACKED.COM Creator Joss Whedon has said the location was loosely based on Monterey, California, even if from the name alone, it would seem associated with Sunnyvale, California. — Buffy Fandom

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Е.В. White got the idea for Charlotte's Web from a really gross experiment. Не saw an intricate web in his barn, and, weeks later, an egg sac but no spider. So he took the sac to his NYC apartment in a box that he cut air holes in, and put that box on his bedroom cabinet. Weeks later, his mirror, his hair brush and more were covered in spiderwebs - which he left alone until his cleaning lady complained. CRACKED.COM — NPR

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Peter Sellers based Dr. Strangelove's voice on a little-known photographer's. Sellers couldn't figure out what voice to do for Dr. Strangelove, so he eventually based it on the kind of strangled-sounding voice of the photographer Weegee, who Sellers had heard around the set. CRACKED.COM — FilmSchoolRejects

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Bram Stocker's Dracula Dracula's castle is modeled after 1903's The Black Idol, by František Kupka - a Czech painter with a keen interest for the occult. CRACKED.COM — Nick Louras

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CAPTAIN PHASMA IS A TRIBUTE TO A 1979 CULT CLASSIC. If this one doesn't scare you... You're Already Dead! PHANTASM PHANTASM -MICHAEL BALDWIN BILL THORNBURY, REGGIE BANNISTER KATHY LESTER and ANGUS SCRIMM . The Tall Man the DON COSCARELI - DA COSCARELLI PALE PEPPERMAN - FRED MYROW MALCOL SEAGRAVE then by DE R AVEC EMBASSY PICTURES Gwendoline Christie's shiny stormtrooper commander is a riff on the equally shiny Phantasm, one of J.J. Abrams' favorite films. CRACKED.COM — 12 Bizarre Inspirations Behind Star Wars Movie Characters

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Mr. Robot

The first season finale of the show Mr Robot was inspired by Fight Club. Fight Club was one of my big inspirations for the show, said creator Sam Esmail, and The Pixies' Where Is My Mind in S1E9 was a nod to that. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Brad Bird's loss of his sister partly inspired The Iron Giant. She died of gun violence, and he approached the movie from the angle of What if a gun had a soul? The connection was subconscious when he pitched it, but his feelings about gun violence definitely ended up in the movie, he says. CRACKED.COM — IndieWire

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Bond

Canadian spy Sir William Stephenson inspired James Bond. Bond creator lan Fleming met Stephenson at Camp X, an Ontario espionage school -- they became friends, and eventually even bought real estate in Jamaica together. CRACKED.COM — GlobalNews

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Inside Out was inspired by the creators trying to figure out their kids. Specifically, trying to figure out what was happening in their kids' heads as they grew up and changed dramatically in the span of a few years. CRACKED.COM — Source

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CRACKED.COM community WAS INSPIRED BY DAN HARMON'S EXPERIENCES AT GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, WHEN HE WAS IN A BIOLOGY STUDY GROUP WITH TWO CLASSMATES A DECADE YOUNGER THAN HIM. — 22 Eyebrow-Arching Ways Creators' Lives Influenced Their Work

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James Wan

JAMES WAN saw Poltergeist when he was very young, and the movie scarred for life with its creepy dolls. Billy the Puppet in Saw? The scary Annabelle in The Conjuring? Those all come from that childhood movie experience. CRACKED.COM — Vulture

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Hunger Games: Catching Fire was heavily influenced by Breaking Bad. Director Francis Lawrence binge-watched the show while making the movie, and its cliffhangers inspired him to end his own movie on a cliffhanger. CRACKED.COM — Vanity Fair

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Alyssa Milano

CRACKED.COM Ariel, the little mermaid, was based on childhood photos of Alyssa Milano. — 22 Real-Life Inspirations For Your Favorite Movie & TV Moments

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CRACKED.COM Movie: Pan's Labyrinth Inspiration: Francisco Goya Director Guillermo del Toro drew a lot of inspiration from Goya's work in the film, but none more so than the scene with the Pale Man. There is a scene in which the Pale Man bites the heads off the fairies. That comes straight from Goya's painting of Saturn devouring his son. Or what we like to call, Things Nightmares Are Made Of. — 12 Bizarre Influences Behind Famous Movies And Shows

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The DUCKTALES reboot was influenced by X-MEN. Showrunners Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones have said they took cues from Chris Claremont's X-Men comics, with their self- contained stories that feed an ongoing narrative. CRACKED.COM — Vulture

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A Dutch-American painter gave Paul Verhoeven inspiration for RoboCop. Piet Mondrian's paintings consist of squares interrupted by black lines, which gave him the idea to interrupt RoboCop's narrative with in-world news segments. CRACKED.COM — The Hollywood Reporter

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There was a Muppet that was inspired directly by Michael Cera. It's Walter, and his puppeteer said They told me to think about Michael Cera-that if he was a puppeteer he would already have the job. CRACKED.COM — Vulture

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James Cameron came up with a key part of Terminator 2 while high and listening to Sting. High on Ecstasy, he was listening to a Sting song with the lyrics I hope the Russians love their children too, and decided to put John Connor as a child in the movie. CRACKED.COM — Entertainment Weekly

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Tonya Harding, sadly, really was forced to pee on the ice as a small child. Like in I, Tonya, she wasn't allowed to step off the ice-her mom yelled I paid for you to practice, so you're going to stay on the ice and practice. CRACKED.COM — Slate

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CRACKED.COM Harry Potter Hermione Granger is based on a young J. K. Rowling. Hermione is a caricature of what I was when I was 11, a real exaggeration... I hope I wasn't that annoying. (We have to wonder what Hermione would tweet today, and how annoying that would be.) — Accio Quote!

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THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Sam Rockwell says his Zaphod Beeblebrox is a combination of Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley and a little Brad Pitt. CRACKED.COM — Characters Based On Celebs, Really

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POPEYE WAS BASED on A REAL GUY. SP His name was Frank Rocky Fiegel, and he was a tough guy from Popeye creator Е.С. Segar's hometown. IMPER Не was known for always being prepared to dish out an ass-whooping, and to This drawing taking on several opponents is even on his at the same time. tombstone. comic CRACKED.COM — 8 Characters You Won't Believe Are Based on Real People

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SHERLOCK HOLMES is a (barely) exaggerated EUGÈNE VIDOCQ. A former criminal turned police informant, Vidocq was the world's first private detective, and also invented modern criminology. CRACKED.COM — 9 Absurd Movie Premises That Actually Happened

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Cookie Monster was created for an ad for Munchos potato chips. ncho In the ad, he ate up a whole bag of the chips, to the slogan of There's more to a Muncho! Later, he made his way to Sesame Street and found a love of cookies rather than chips. CRACKED.COM — The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It

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THE BLOB was based on a strange police report. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article in September, 1950, about two police officers who encountered something that fell from the sky resembling purple jelly. The blob seemed to be pulsating and was about 6-feet in diameter and nearly a foot thick at the center. Other officers were called in, and when someone touched the gelatinous thing, it started to evaporate. Years later, writer Irvine H. Millgate remembered this bizarre report, and wrote the iconic sci-fi horror movie. CRACKED.COM — 6 Movies You Won't Believe Are Based on Insane True Stories & Mysterious Universe

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The tunnel scene in 2016's Blair Witch was inspired by the Aliens scene in which Bishop crawls through a tube. Writer Simon Barrett says that that scene always really bothered me as a kid. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

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Iwan Rheon based Ramsay Bolton on Heath Ledger's Joker...and Dennis The Menace. Rheon said that doing all those horrible things with childlike glee simply worked for the character. Не also channelled Liam Gallagher's attitude and walking style. CRACKED.COM — 15 Iconic Characters' Inspirations

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Riverdale WELCOME TO S. ARCHIE FRANCHISE RIVERDALE. CRACKED.COM Publisher John L. Goldwater claims the town is based on his hometown of Hiawatha, Kansas, while artist Bob Montana said that it's based on his hometown Haverhill, Massachusetts. — Romper

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