5 of the Most Popular Franchises that Might be Rip-Offs

July 9, 2014 By Fred Mitchell Leave a Comment

Originality no longer means coming up with something completely new. That would be impossible. Originality now means taking something that already exists and twisting it in such a way to make it one of a kind. Being first doesn’t even matter anymore, because it’s all about being the first one to be successful. There are many franchises that have graced the movie world, including Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, but new evidence suggests that even these monumental stories might not be as original as people think them to be. Let’s take a look at the 5 Most Popular Franchises that may actually be Rip-Offs.

1. The Lion King

The Lion King is without a doubt one of the most important Disney animated movies of all time. It has moved viewers from all the corners of the world. It seems, however, that the story of the Lion King isn’t original. Many people believe that it is nothing more than a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (it also shares many similarities with the recently released Frozen movie). Anyway, Lion King and Hamlet have many, almost identical, plot details. There is also another accusation which states that the Lion King has actually plagiarized a Japanese anime story called Kimba the White Lion. Although the two stories are very different from an artistic point of view, the two share striking conceptual similarities (including the elaborate sequences, savannah animals which acknowledge the newly born lion cub etc.)

2. Eragon

To be honest, I really enjoyed the Eragon movie, and was extremely sad to hear that there will be no sequel to it (this is because book fans were very displeased with the way that the story unraveled in the movie). The first book from Cristopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle series has several plot points in common with the Starwars Movie and Lord of the Rings events. If you already know the story, just switch around some character names and events and you will obtain a different version of the before-mentioned franchises.

3. The Lord of the Rings

This breath-taking franchise was also not spared from speculation and accusations. Sure, it was the book that started it all (including the Warcraft games and fantastical world of Orcs, Elfs and dwarfs), but recent studies show that it is not 100% original. Have you ever heard about The Ring of the Nibelung story by Richard Wagner. The story of the Nibelungs comes from German mythology, and it tells the story of Fafnir the Dragon, Brumhilda and Sigfried. In both stories, there is a ring that offers great power (including invisibility) to the wielder. They also come at a great price: their sanity. Although the storylines follow different events, there are several similarities: the murder of family members, reforging an old sword and immortals losing immortality.

4. The Hunger Games

Leaving aside the fact that the Hunger Games movies managed to enrage the entire community of book lovers, it seems that the story itself was inspired from the novel Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. Here are a few similarities between the two: they are set in the future, romantic relationships, and the world is governed by tyrannical leaders that force children to fight to the death in a jungle setting. And that pretty much sums up both stories.

5. Star Wars

Even the epic Star Wars Saga seems to have some similarities with a 1958 Japanese movie (“The Hidden Fortress”) by Akira Kurosawa. As a matter of fact, George Lucas admitted that the many parallels between these two stories are no coincidence. The director of Star Wars was actually thinking of casting Toshiro Mifune, who starred in The Hidden Fortress, for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi. While the story lines are not very similar, both movies share several cinematography scene transitions and effects. The biggest similarity, however, is the use of unimportant characters to greatly influence the plot-line.

5 Interesting Facts You Probably Did not Know about ‘The Hobbit’

December 16, 2013 By Fred Mitchell Leave a Comment

To say that Tolkien’s literary creations are a work of genius, would be an understatement. It is not every day that we encounter successful fantasy, but once we do, we never forget it. For those of you who have cherished every moment of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Hobbit” will definitely keep you at the edge of your seats. Just a few days ago, the second part of the Hobbit, “The Desolation of Smaug” was released. The movie may have been nearly three hours long, but to me it seemed like an adrenaline-filled, fascinating and magical adventure that melted into an oh-to-short moment in time.

It is actually incredible how Peter Jackson managed to produce such a complex movie from only one book, and considering that there are only a few dozen pages left to leverage in the creation of movie number three, we might expect a few scenes from Lord of the Rings to unfold in it, to the delight of its fandom. For those of you who have already seen it, the ending was probably not what you had in mind, and the wait might feel like too much to endure, so we have decided to present you with 5 little known things about the Hobbit and LOTR, to pass the time faster.

1. Characters that Appear in Both Trilogies

The depth of connection between the characters of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit is incredible. Here is some fun trivia for you. Do you remember the scenes from the “Mines of Moria”? It is in that faithful place that the Fellowship of the Ring comes across Balin’s tomb. The same Balin that appears in the Hobbit (white haired, big nose). There is one more character that we see in both LOTR and the Hobbit. We are talking about Ori, the child-faced dwarf, and scribe, who wrote the book from which Gandalf reads in the mines. Thranduil, the high-elf who betrayes the dwarfs in the Hobit, is the same Thranduil who rides the giant Moose* in Lord of the Rings. Oh, and he is also Legolas’s father. Last on our list is Gimli, or more exactly his axe, which he inherits from his father, Gloin. He also has the same eyes… and eyebrows.

*We just found out that Thranduil’s Moose is not actually a moose. According to “Middle Earth’s Biology as Shown in the Hobbit”, it is a different species of deer.

2. The Corruption of Gollum

Tolkien decided to rewrite certain passages of “The Hobbit” to better fit his legendary “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Initially, Gollum was a sweet and lovely creature which willingly offers to give up the ring on condition that Bilbo wins the Guessing Game. He was given a darker side, more suitable for the story, to flesh out the evil of the ring’s corruption. Poor, little Smeagol.

3. The First Hobbit, and his Anemic Dwarf Companions

In 1969 Tolkien decided to sell the screen rights to “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings”, because he had some money issues. This lead to the ecranization of a pathetic Hobbit story, where the elves had German accents, Gollum looked like some new species of toad, suspicious gnomes and a big eyed Bilbo.

4. In case you Were Wondering about the Eagles…

Several times during the movie, I could hear people asking why the pretty birdies did not swopp in to rescue the squad. Truth be told, it would have been a lot easier to pass the corrupted forest on their backs. For those of you who were wondering where Gandalf’s eagles were during the Hobbit movie, here is a little info for you: they did not get involved because our most beloved wizard did not have them at their beck and call. Also, they’re not bloody taxis. And they’re not even eagles for that matter, because they’re anatomy is unlike any eagles, they are Aquila.

5. Bilbo, the Dragon Slayer

Initially, Tolkien considered handing the task of killing Smaug to the leaf-smoking hobbit. He quickly changed his mind, and decided to leave the matter to more capable hands. And to be frank, Bilbo doesn’t really look like much of a dragon slayer.

The Dog Rider Costume: Give Your Mutt a Rider

August 18, 2012 By Vernon Gadson Leave a Comment

Those long-standing boundaries between cool and cute, they’ve just been demolished. The Dog Rider Costume, manufactured by the Paper Magic Group, is a dog harness specially designed to mount your canine companion with a saddle and a rider figurine, giving your furry friend the appearance of a noble steed. The result is as adorable as it is totally awesome. There are six options for riders, as you’ll see above and below: there’s a jockey, a monkey, a cowboy, a mailman, a Lord of the Rings-esque goblin and, for Halloween, the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow.

The harness is adjustable and fits dogs of medium to large size, with a neck that measures 17-20”. It allows you to dress up your dog all nice and pretty without getting into any trouble with the RSPCA. Handily, all Dog Rider Costumes are available on Amazon if you wish to buy one for your beloved mutt, and why wouldn’t you? It’s so cute/cool.

Here’s a tricky question: which rider is your favourite? [Read more…]

The Brave, The Bold, The Incredibly Stupid: 5 “Heroic” Charges That Ended in Disaster

August 15, 2011 By ThisBlogRules Leave a Comment

We’ve all seen it in movies: the good guys appear to be seconds from defeat, surrounded and outnumbered. Then, just when all hope is lost, reinforcements come over the horizon, and the bugler sounds the charge as dramatic music plays and the bad guys get a swift kick to the seat of the pants. Hell, even history, the greatest of all storytellers, is littered with stupidly awesome charges that won the day, such as the story of Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who found himself at the command of the 20th Maine Regiment on Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg, weathering repeated charges by Confederate soldiers. With ammunition supplies almost exhausted, and retreat not being an option, Chamberlain decided to take the fight to the enemy. With Bayonets. [Read more…]