1.
David Bowie —> Tamatoa (Moana)
Lin-Manuel Miranda instructed People that he determined to write down Tamatoa, the large treasure-obsessed crab from Moana, as a tribute to David Bowie following his loss of life in 2016, partially as a result of Jemaine Clement, one half of New Zealand comedy-music duo The Flight of the Conchords and a powerful Bowie impressionist, was forged within the position.
(You would possibly discover in that image that Tamatoa has in another way sized pupils. This is because of a situation referred to as anisocoria, which Bowie himself had.)
In the People interview, Miranda stated, “As soon as they said Jemaine Clement I got really excited. … [Flight of the Conchord]’s Bowie tribute, which they did back at the Aspen Comedy Festival [where Miranda opened for them with his group Freestyle Love Supreme in 2004] was so brilliant, I said, ‘Oh, I’m writing that.’ The world had already been mourning Bowie, I’d been listening to Bowie on a loop. I was like, well I’m writing a glam rock tune for this crab, this jewel-encrusted crab.”
Clement himself instructed Yahoo Movies that it was “Lin’s idea” to make the character an homage to Bowie, and that on Miranda’s demo of Tamatoa’s music “Shiny,” listeners “can tell that he’s doing an impression of my impression of David Bowie.”
2.
David Bowie (Pt. 2) —> Lucifer Morningstar (The Sandman)
Speaking of Bowie: In a Vanity Fair video, Neil Gaiman, the author of The Sandman comics and govt producer of their Netflix adaptation, stated that each the unique and on-screen Lucifer Morningstar have been impressed by an “androgyny based around early David Bowie, Bowie when he was a curly-haired folk singer with a perm.”
Gwendoline Christie, who performs Lucifer within the sequence, instructed Tudum, “And this idea of Lucifer being a junkie angel, that was directly inspired by David Bowie.”
3.
Ray Bolger —> The Joker (Joker)
Joaquin Phoenix instructed the Associated Press that he drew inspiration for his dancing in Joker from Ray Bolger, who might be finest identified at this time because the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
Phoenix stated, “There was a particular song called ‘The Old Soft Shoe’ that [Bolger] performed and I saw a video of it and there’s this odd arrogance almost to his movements and, really, I completely just stole it from him.”
He went on, “This choreographer Michael Arnold showed me that and tons of videos and I zeroed in on that one. That was Joker, right? … That was probably the greatest influence.”
4.
Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead —> Ursula (The Little Mermaid)
One of essentially the most well-known circumstances of an animated character being modeled on a real-life superstar is that of The Little Mermaid‘s Ursula and famed drag queen, actor, and John Waters collaborator, Divine, whose given identify was Harris Glenn Milstead.
According to a 2016 article by Nicole Pasulka and Brian Ferree printed in Hazlitt, The Little Mermaid songwriter and producer Howard Ashman was an admirer of Divine, who, like Ashman and Waters, hailed from Baltimore. When Rob Minkoff, the animator who got here up with Ursula’s distinctly Divine-ish character design, confirmed Ashman his work, Ashman responded, “She looks like a Miami Beach matron.” In addition to his work on the film’s music along with his collaborator, Alan Menken, Ashman supplied steerage to the voice actors, together with Ursula’s, the comic Pat Carroll.
Milstead died in 1988 and did not get to see the 1989 movie that he helped encourage. Jeffrey Schwarz, who directed the documentary, I Am Divine, instructed Hazlitt that Milstead “would have wanted to play the part himself,” if he’d had the chance.
5.
Alyssa Milano —> Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
During an interview on The Wendy Williams Show, Alyssa Milano stated that unbeknownst to her, Ariel’s character design was primarily based on “pictures of me from when I was younger.”
Milano solely discovered concerning the connection between her and the Disney Princess, which she referred to as “so cool,” when she was requested to host a behind-the-scenes particular concerning the making of the movie.
6.
The Beatles —> The Vultures (The Jungle Book)
According to The Independent, the 4 singing vultures in The Jungle Book have been modeled after The Beatles, however the band members themselves declined the chance to voice them. It’s rumored that John Lennon himself instructed their supervisor to show down the gig.
Jon Favreau, the director of the 2016 live-action remake, instructed the Radio Times that he tried to get Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney concerned within the movie, 49 years after the primary time the musical icons gave Disney the thumbs down, however the cameos did not come collectively.
Favreau stated, “We don’t have the Beatle-vultures. I did talk about trying to get Paul and Ringo into the film, because they wanted the Beatles for the original, but I couldn’t get them.” He famous that he and the opposite filmmakers “came to the idea too late.”
7.
Tom Cruise —> Aladdin (Aladdin)
The artistic group behind Aladdin initially designed the primary character to be younger and boyish. In the documentary A Diamond within the Rough: The Making Of Aladdin, supervising animator Glen Keane famous that they aimed to create a protagonist extra compelling than the standard Disney archetype of “the boring hero, the Prince Charming.” To obtain this, it was determined that Aladdin must be drawn as a “little guy,” not a “tall, strapping hero-type.”
However, Keane defined that when then-Disney chairman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, noticed Aladdin’s design, he stated, “You know, I just don’t believe that guy and Jasmine would be together.” Co-director and producer John Musker recalled that Katzenberg in contrast Jasmine to Julia Roberts and stated that Aladdin wanted “more Tom Cruise” integrated into his look to be plausible as a romantic curiosity for her.
And in a 1992 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Keane stated that at Katzenberg’s suggestion, he watched Tom Cruise’s motion pictures whereas growing Aladdin. He stated, “There’s a confidence with all of his attitudes and his poses.” The movie’s artists used photographs of each Cruise and Calvin Klein fashions to tell their work on the character, along with drawing inspiration from what Keane referred to as the “total exuberance” of rapper MC Hammer.
8.
Jimmy Fallon —> Aaron Samuels (Mean Girls)
Jonathan Bennett, who performed Aaron “Didn’t Know It Was October 3rd” Samuels in Mean Girls, instructed HuffPost that he was forged no less than partially on account of his resemblance to Saturday Night Live alum and late night time host, Jimmy Fallon.
About this, Bennett stated, “She [writer and costar Tina Fey] said that’s exactly 100 percent true.”
9.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson —> The Boulder (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
And lastly: In her first look in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Toph fights quite a lot of Earthbenders with exaggerated personas, in a contest harking back to an expert wrestling match. One of the Earthbenders, The Boulder, is clearly an homage to none apart from ex-wrestler, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
According to the Avatar: The Last Airbender trivia tidbits referred to as “Avatar Extras,” the present’s created group even tried to get Johnson himself to voice the character, however it did not find yourself occurring. Maybe within the live-action model coming to Netflix?
Mick Foley, one other ex-wrestler, voiced The Boulder as a substitute.
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