The French are not the best at saying the word “through” and responding politely to people asking for directions in the street, but France shines internationally in many other areas. As Naps puts it so well in Organized Gang“artistically we walk” and that’s why our films, our novels and our video games have inspired the greatest successes in the world.
1. “Games of Thrones” is inspired by the literary saga “The Accursed Kings”
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Between 1955 and 1977, the various volumes of the novel series Les Rois maudits by the French writer Maurice Druon were published. These historical novels tell stories of rivalry for the succession to the throne of France in the 14th century with endearing characters, family stories and betrayals. George RR Martin himself explained in an interview that Maurice Druon was his hero and that The cursed kings were the origin of Game Of Thrones.
2. The novels of Zola and Balzac were a source of inspiration for the writing of the series “The Wire”
When journalists called his work Dickensian, the creator of the series TheWire, David Simon, rejected this comparison. According to him, this narrative structure and the way of depicting social classes are rather inspired by the novels of Zola or Balzac; authors he greatly admires.
3. Walt Disney was inspired by the illustrations of Gustave Doré to create the forest of “Snow White”
Gustave Doré is one of the most recognized illustrators in the world; he illustrated; this 19th century artist illustrated almost all the classics of Western literature. At 23, he created 75 engravings for Hell by Dante including scenery of forests where the souls live and the Harpies who merge with the trees. Returning from Europe with illustrated works, Walt Disney discovered these images and was inspired by them to imagine the anthropomorphic forest in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
4. The first “Alone in the dark” game inspired the “Resident Evil” saga
Shinji Mikami, the creator of the game saga Resident Evilexplained that if Alone in the Dark had never existed, Resident Evil would have nothing to do with what it is today. A pioneer of 3D video games, the cult game by Frenchman Frédérick Raynal released in 1992 has allowed the creation of hundreds of games inspired by it.
5. Ridley Scott was inspired by a French comic to write “Blade Runner” and “Prometheus”
Mœbius, whose real name is Jean Giraud, is a great French comic strip author who has inspired many artists around the world through his work. When the comic book magazine Screaming metal was exported to the United States, Ridley Scott discovered the work of Mœbius and was partly inspired by his book The Long Tomorrow to realize blade runner and Prometheus.
6. Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’ tells the same story as Truffaut’s ‘The Bride Wore Black’
Quentin Tarantino has never hidden the fact that he draws inspiration from classic stories, or less classic ones, to write his screenplays. For the movie Kill BillTarantino was greatly influenced by The bride was in black, by Francois Truffaut. If you haven’t seen it, it’s the story of a woman whose husband is murdered before her eyes on her wedding day and who decides to find the murderers for revenge. Does not ring a bell…
7. The movie “The King and the Bird” inspired Brad Bird and Miyazaki
The King and the Bird is not the best-known cartoon by the general public, but it has inspired many animation film professionals. This French film by Paul Grimault is notably one of the favorites of Miyazaki, who paid homage to the giant automaton in The castle in the Sky.
The King and the Bird also inspired another genius filmmaker: Brad Bird (the creator of Ratatouille and The Incredibles). He also paid homage to the automaton in his animated film The Iron Giant.
8. The universe of “Fallout” was imagined after that of “The City of Lost Children”
Jean-Pierre Jeunet has always been a UFO of French cinema and that is what Americans like a lot. With Marc Caro, he came out in 1995 The City of Lost Children and the atmosphere of the film will greatly inspire the creators of fallout ; we find there the futuristic universe and even the armor of the bad guys. How can we be sure that there is a link between the two works? Just listen to the narrator’s voice from the intro videos of any episode of fallout : it is that of Ron Perlman, the main actor of the film.
9. George Lucas was inspired by “Valerian” for “Star Wars”
The director of Star Wars never talked about it but his movie saga shares a lot of similarities with the comic book saga Valerian, space-time agent. French cartoonist, Jean-Claude Mézières, revealed in an interview that he had tried to contact George Lucas to discuss it but that the latter never replied.
10. “Finding Nemo” is clearly a plagiarism of “Pierrot the Clownfish”
In 1995, Franck Le Calvez submitted to the SACD the script for Pierrot the clown fish, a children’s book released in 2002. It is the story of a small clownfish who loses his father, eaten by a lionfish, then is separated from his mother, whom he finds at the end of the work. Does that remind you of something ? Amazing. Franck le Calvez attacked Pixar when the film was released The world of Nemo by calling for a ban on the distribution of products derived from the film. Unfortunately for him, Pixar denies the plagiarism of the film and Pierrot the clown fish remain forever unknown to all.
