Claiming that animated movies are a ripoff of other real movies is kind of a subjective thing unless it’s really that obvious. Some movies are easily observed as being almost carbon copies of the movies they take after while others are not quite so easy to spot. Some just take bits and pieces from various movies and are harder to spot, but once you do happen to notice it’s easy to see where they got the ideas to push the story forward. A lot of times it’s fun to see these moments integrated into the movie but if it doesn’t work then it becomes more of a blatant ripoff.
It would seem that even animated features fall prey to reusing the same formula again and again.
5. The Lion King/Hamlet
They might as well have pulled the script of the Lion King from Hamlet entirely and tweaked it just enough to make it worthy of being called a kids’ film. The relationship with Scar, his father dying and Simba becoming melancholy in his exile and his mother’s place at Scar’s side, albeit reluctantly, make for a very noticeable correlation between the two. Disney of course made it possible to enjoy the story as they created colorful characters that were designed for children, but if you look at the two side by side you’ll see it pretty clearly.
4. Cars/Doc Hollywood
A famous up and coming personality with his mind set on the fame and fortune he’s going to amass when he makes his way out to California is suddenly stuck in some little hick town that almost no one knows about. He has to perform community service after wreaking havoc on the town, without intent, and after a while he becomes so enamored of the town that he can’t help but go back.
3. Monsters University/Revenge of the Nerds
It’s the nerds and geeks versus the jocks all over again, only as monsters. Monsters University does have the added bonus that creates in Sully a cocky character not unlike Ogre, who eventually goes over to the side of the nerds. Also in Revenge of the Nerds the main protagonist was never kicked out of school, but there were plenty of moments of correlation to be seen throughout the film.
2. WALL-E/2001: A Space Odyssey
Any future that involves humanity seems to be a bit bleak as one takes into account that humans seem to think that the world will be left as a wasteland that’s completely uninhabitable. But the reliance on machines and the propensity of the machines to take over seems to be another concern that people don’t take seriously enough as they continue to expand and increase the robotic influence in our society.
1. How to Train Your Dragon/Dragonheart
Dragons and humans talking to each other isn’t as common in movies as one might think, but in HTTYD the dragons don’t talk, but they do start to show loyalty towards humans. In Dragonheart the dragon can speak but his loyalty is only gained after he and the knight that he’s been trying to kill. In both movies the dragons and the humans have to learn to coexist, and it’s not easy to start with.
Sometimes ideas circulate and sometimes they’re ripped off.
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