1.
David Bowie —> Tamatoa (Moana)
Lin-Manuel Miranda informed Folks that he determined to jot down Tamatoa, the enormous treasure-obsessed crab from Moana, as a tribute to David Bowie following his loss of life in 2016, partly as a result of Jemaine Clement, one half of New Zealand comedy-music duo The Flight of the Conchords and a formidable Bowie impressionist, was solid within the function.
(You would possibly discover in that image that Tamatoa has otherwise sized pupils. This is because of a situation referred to as anisocoria, which Bowie himself had.)
Within the Individuals interview, Miranda mentioned, “As quickly as they mentioned Jemaine Clement I bought actually excited. … [Flight of the Conchord]’s Bowie tribute, which they did again on the Aspen Comedy Pageant [where Miranda opened for them with his group Freestyle Love Supreme in 2004] was so sensible, I mentioned, ‘Oh, I’m writing that.’ The world had already been mourning Bowie, I’d been listening to Bowie on a loop. I used to be like, nicely I’m writing a glam rock tune for this crab, this jewel-encrusted crab.”
Clement himself informed Yahoo Motion pictures that it was “Lin’s concept” to make the character an homage to Bowie, and that on Miranda’s demo of Tamatoa’s tune “Shiny,” listeners “can inform that he’s doing an impression of my impression of David Bowie.”
2.
David Bowie (Pt. 2) —> Lucifer Morningstar (The Sandman)
Talking of Bowie: In a Self-importance Truthful video, Neil Gaiman, the author of The Sandman comics and govt producer of their Netflix adaptation, mentioned that each the unique and on-screen Lucifer Morningstar have been impressed by an “androgyny based mostly round early David Bowie, Bowie when he was a curly-haired folks singer with a perm.”
Gwendoline Christie, who performs Lucifer within the sequence, informed Tudum, “And this concept of Lucifer being a junkie angel, that was straight impressed by David Bowie.”
3.
Ray Bolger —> The Joker (Joker)
Joaquin Phoenix informed the Related Press that he drew inspiration for his dancing in Joker from Ray Bolger, who might be finest recognized as we speak because the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
Phoenix mentioned, “There was a specific tune referred to as ‘The Previous Tender Shoe’ that [Bolger] carried out and I noticed a video of it and there’s this odd conceitedness nearly to his actions and, actually, I fully simply stole it from him.”
He went on, “This choreographer Michael Arnold confirmed me that and tons of movies and I zeroed in on that one. That was Joker, proper? … That was most likely the best affect.”
4.
Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead —> Ursula (The Little Mermaid)
Some of the well-known instances 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.
In keeping with 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 appears to be like like a Miami Seaside matron.” Along with his work on the film’s music together with his collaborator, Alan Menken, Ashman supplied steering 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, informed Hazlitt that Milstead “would have needed to play the half himself,” if he’d had the chance.
5.
Alyssa Milano —> Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
Throughout an interview on The Wendy Williams Present, Alyssa Milano mentioned that unbeknownst to her, Ariel’s character design was based mostly on “photos of me from after I was youthful.”
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 Guide)
In keeping with The Impartial, the 4 singing vultures in The Jungle Guide have been modeled after The Beatles, however the band members themselves declined the chance to voice them. It is rumored that John Lennon himself informed their supervisor to show down the gig.
Jon Favreau, the director of the 2016 live-action remake, informed the Radio Instances 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 mentioned, “We do not have the Beatle-vultures. I did discuss making an attempt to get Paul and Ringo into the movie, as a result of they needed the Beatles for the unique, however I could not get them.” He famous that he and the opposite filmmakers “got here to the thought too late.”
7.
Tom Cruise —> Aladdin (Aladdin)
The artistic group behind Aladdin initially designed the primary character to be younger and boyish. Within the documentary A Diamond within the Tough: The Making Of Aladdin, supervising animator Glen Keane famous that they aimed to create a protagonist extra compelling than the everyday Disney archetype of “the boring hero, the Prince Charming.” To realize this, it was determined that Aladdin ought to be drawn as a “little man,” not a “tall, strapping hero-type.”
Nevertheless, Keane defined that when then-Disney chairman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, noticed Aladdin’s design, he mentioned, “, I simply do not consider that man and Jasmine could be collectively.” Co-director and producer John Musker recalled that Katzenberg in contrast Jasmine to Julia Roberts and mentioned that Aladdin wanted “extra Tom Cruise” integrated into his look to be plausible as a romantic curiosity for her.
And in a 1992 interview with Leisure Weekly, Keane mentioned that at Katzenberg’s suggestion, he watched Tom Cruise’s films whereas creating Aladdin. He mentioned, “There is a confidence with all of his attitudes and his poses.” The movie’s artists used pictures 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 “whole exuberance” of rapper MC Hammer.
8.
Jimmy Fallon —> Aaron Samuels (Imply Ladies)
Jonathan Bennett, who performed Aaron “Did not Know It Was October third” Samuels in Imply Ladies, informed HuffPost that he was solid a minimum of partly as a consequence of his resemblance to Saturday Night time Reside alum and late night time host, Jimmy Fallon.
About this, Bennett mentioned, “She [writer and costar Tina Fey] mentioned that is precisely one hundred pc true.”
9.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson —> The Boulder (Avatar: The Final Airbender)
And at last: In her first look in Avatar: The Final Airbender, Toph fights a wide range of Earthbenders with exaggerated personas, in a contest paying homage to an expert wrestling match. One of many Earthbenders, The Boulder, is clearly an homage to none aside from ex-wrestler, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
In keeping with the Avatar: The Final Airbender trivia tidbits referred to as “Avatar Extras,” the present’s created group even tried to get Johnson himself to voice the character, nevertheless it did not find yourself occurring. Perhaps within the live-action model coming to Netflix?
Mick Foley, one other ex-wrestler, voiced The Boulder as a substitute.
