While half of the world wonders if biopics and real-life based stories such as ‘The Crown’ of Netflix have any imaginary elements, no one pays attention to the fictional ones. Yes, there are plenty of fictional films and series that included incidents from real life. But only a few brave writers will admit getting inspired by them. Some of them fear that it would put a dent on their creative image. Even the most creative art often has a muse in the form of a person, character, or scene. Here are the famous TV and movie moments that were inspired from real life events.
1. Game of Thrones
One of the most significant elements of Game of Thrones was The Wall. George R.R. Martin was inspired by Hadrian’s Wall on the northern border of Roman Britannia. The ones to live on the other side of this wall were Scots. That’s where ‘S Song of Fire and Ice’ got its famous wall from.
2. 9-1-1
Remember the shocking pilot episode where a baby drowns in the toilet? It was not some fictional imagination dramatized for viewers. This bizarre incident had literally occurred in China. It was based on a young girl’s plight who gave birth to her baby on the toilet seat. She immediately called the emergency helpline who were thankfully able to save the newborn. Imagine surviving it to tell the tale after growing up.
3. To The Bone
The part where Ellen was bottle-fed by her mother was taken from the writer’s real-life experience. Marti Noxon was reportedly suffering from anorexia and penned down his experience.
4. Star Trek
Praxis was the primary source of energy of the Klingon Empire in ‘Star Trek’. It’s the explosion in ‘Star Trek VI’ that marked the fatal accident of Chernobyl.
5. The Little Mermaid
We can’t tell you if mermaids exist for real or not, but we can show you the face that inspired the famous Disney princess, “Ariel”. Actress Alyssa Milano was promoting one of her movies when she revealed that she was the model as a kid to design Ariel’s face.
6. The Shape of Water
The story of “The Shape Of Water” started building in Guillermo del Toro’s ever since he was six-years-old after he watched “The Creature From The Black Lagoon”. But one of the moments in the film where Eliza flooded her bathroom was a chapter taken from the director’s life. He had also filled up his bathroom with water like that as a kid.
7. Thor: Ragnarok
Director Taika Waititi was taken by surprise at the intimidating bouncer’s sweet and polite accent in New Zealand outside a bar. That amusing incident never escaped his mind and years later, inspired him to visualize Korg in “Thor: Ragnarok”. The sweet accent of the huge pile of rocks, given by Taika, was inspired by this bouncer.
8. Star Wars
The idea for Snoke’s cool and snazzy outfit in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” was taken from the legendary publisher of the Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner. They wanted to give the dictator an unconventional look and therefore settled for the real-life mogul’s iconic robes.
9. Grey’s Anatomy
Even though it’s hard to recall every episode from “Grey’s Anatomy” that has over 17 seasons, we bet that you’ll remember this one. One of the patients on the show was suffering sudden bursts of orgasms multiple times in a day. According to the creators, there was a woman with the same condition in real life who was later treated by the doctors.
10. Ghostbusters
Peter Venkman in “Ghostbusters” shocked us with the tormenting experiment that he conducted on students. But it was a reference to Milgram Experiment that used to be conducted at Yale University to determine the factors that affected obedience.
11. Harry Potter
If you were expecting us to inform you that the Wizarding World really exists, sorry to disappoint you (even though a part of me believes it does). J.K. Rowling named Harry Potter after one of her neighbors whose surname was Potter. But the most interesting fact is that the bezoars, the antidotes for poison we studied about in ‘Half-Blood Prince’, do exist. They are very much real and were used in the 18th century.
12. South Park
The mumbling Kenny in the animated show was based on a real Kenny from creator Trey Parker’s childhood. This Kenny also mumbled, wore an orange coat, and kept disappearing every now and then.
13. Back To The Future
Many sources claim that according to Bob Gale, Biff Tannen was based on a real-life famous personality. Even though the movie was made way back, the entire world is well aware of this person now. Yes, it is believed that Bob was inspired by Donald Trump.
14. The Inbetweeners
In one of the episodes, Will snapped at the boys who occupied the front-row seats on a roller coaster but later learnt that the seats belonged to kids with impairments. This embarrassing moment had happened with one of the writers.
