My Cart - Coming up with a brilliant, entertaining and much-loved character that is totally original is a very hard task indeed. Most writers take inspiration from somewhere, and sometimes it’s a pretty blatant. In the first part of this series we looked at the inspirations for the Joker and Jabba the Hutt (yeah, there really was an inspiration for that), and in this part we’ve got a few more.
So sit back, grab your popcorn and get ready to learn about where some of your favourite characters come from.
Shrek was Actually a French Wrestler
Everyone knows Shrek; that lovable ogre that featured in four films (two too many if you ask us) and taught us some soppy moral about how it’s what is on the inside that counts and all that. Shrek has always looked a little different from the mythical ogres that you might find in old fairy tales and the like, and there may be a reason for that.
It hasn’t been confirmed, and Dreamworks haven’t commented on it, but there’s a pretty strong rumour that his model is based on a professional wrestler called the Maurice Tillet, or The French Angel.
Tillet’s story is a sad one; in his late teens he was diagnosed with acromegaly, a condition caused by a tumour on the pituitary gland that results in bone overgrowth and thickening. Within just a few years his body was disfigured. He fled France to become a professional wrestler, where he was recognised twice as the world heavyweight champion. Just like Shrek, he was known to be kind, sensitive and gentle outside of the ring.
Freddy Krueger was (Maybe) a Scary Homeless Man
Okay, so the story behind this isn’t totally sound, but we’ll tell it anyway. As it goes, Wes Craven (the creator of Freddy Kruger), looked out of his window one night when he was 11 to see a disfigured-looking homeless man staring at him. He ducked into the shadows and waited a while for the man to leave, but when he looked back the man was still staring at him. The man allegedly then walked into the apartment building but when Craven’s brother checked the hallway he wasn’t to be found.
The story may or may not be true, but something that is genuine is that Craven had a paper route rival called Fred Krueger who bullied him at school.
Betty Boop was Really a 1920’s Singer
Helen Kane was a popular American singer in the 1920’s and the clear inspiration for Betty Boop. She looked and sounded pretty much the same as Betty, and even had that signature looking-up pose that can be seen in most drawings of Betty. To make it even more blatant, Kane’s catchphrase that she added into one of her songs was “boop-oop-a-doop”.
Kane tried to sue Max Fleischer in 1936 over the likeness of Betty to her iconic style but ended up losing.
So now you’re on the inside with this information and you know where some more of the iconic movie characters came from. Of course it’s always best to watch these characters on a great TV that gives you the full dramatic experience. If you’re looking for an upgrade then don’t just limit yourself to new TVs, buy graded TVs online from us to get a great TV without a huge pay tag. For more information about what we can provide, don’t hesitate to contact us on 0121 327 3273 and a member of our team will be happy to help.
