Biggest ripoff copy since the Lion King - Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) Discussion

[–] King_billi 18 years ago

I've never seen nor heard of Nadia so that means nothing to me...

How is The Lion King a rip off?

"Never let the bastards grind you down"

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[–] isabellaelise 18 years ago

The Lion King is 30% Hamlet, 70% Kimba the White Lion, which was a very popular Japanese television series/movie/manga which ran mostly in (I believe) the 70's. Everything from the crazy bamboon wiseman to the bird advisor is exactly like Kimba.

I have never seen Nadia myself, but I have seen the character designs and the similarities are....a little scary. The similarities between the two movies/shows are so frequently discussed that I'm sure there's more to it than just the look, though.

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[–] mamacaraig 18 years ago

Don't see the Nadia imitations at all.
The anime fanboys love to accuse everyone of imitating some obscure piece of anime to try to give the genre some legitimacy.

Both Nadia and Atlantis take a lot from Jules Verne and from New Age teachings about the power of crystals and hidden knowledge of vanished civilizations.

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[–] geearf 18 years ago

Well even one of the guy working on Nadia said it was a rip off, but that it was fair, because they starting their own work by looking at disney's work (like the big eyes, they said, which are fairly common in Disney too), so it's just a big circle in the end ... no offense.

Still yes, this movie was heavily based on Nadia, but not all.

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[–] big_ringer 15 years ago

Word. This movie is more of a Stargate knock-off than anything.

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[–] Alexej 14 years ago

This movie is more of a Stargate knock-off than anything.

That's what I was thinking, too!

My name is Colin Creevey
and I'm a photoholic.

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[–] Kuratowa 14 years ago

No go guys. Stargate: Atlantis came out three years after this movie, and the inclusion of Atlantis into Stargate's storyline did not take place until a season before that. The Disney movie came first.

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[–] AFairlyLargeCup 14 years ago

I reckon Kuratowa knows this and is joking, but for those who don't, the 'Stargate' this movie is 'paying homage to' is the awesome '94 sci-fi Movie on which the Stargate Series (all three) were based: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111282/

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[–] grrrdevin 14 years ago

The anime fanboys love to accuse everyone of imitating some obscure piece of anime to try to give the genre some legitimacy.

I think I love you.

"I've been living on toxic waste for years, and I'm fine. Just ask my other heads!"

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[–] Ether101 13 years ago

Anime isn't a genre, its a form of media. Get you facts straight, little kid.

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[–] e25171971 11 years ago

Build Credibility: Call other people "little kids".

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[–] actionkamen (23176) 4 years ago

But what if he is indeed a little kid? That would be appropriate.

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[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] YankeeDood 18 years ago

I hated this movie because it was grossly politically correct (i.e. the man-hating Mexican girl) and the animation sucked too.

-L31

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[–] hotactors4ever 17 years ago

the man-hating Mexican girl? who says she hated men? and who says she was mexican? just cuz she said she used to steal lunch money from guys like milo, doesn't mean she hates men.

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[–] ruined_mannequin 17 years ago

hey, i liked that girl.. she was cute +funny, +had a strong personality. although i liked the demolition guy better.. vinny, i think was his name. the animation is a little scary tho, especially Kida's face.. her lips take up about half of it, she looks anorexic.

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[–] 000-ben 17 years ago

if you don't think the lion king was a rip off take a look at this site http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm and think again

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[–] simonsimonfoundation 17 years ago

Audrey's not a man-hater, as evidenced by the fact that she hangs around men all the time, and doesn't seem to have a problem with it, and also seems to like it. You called her a man hater mainly because she is not attracted to Milo. (Wheras Milo, at first, anyway, was attracted to *her*. He was attracted to Helga, too. He's a nerd who spends all his day in a university basement, so trust me when I say this -- he would be attracted to *any* reasonably attractive woman who a) showed up, and b) showed a tiny bit of interest. He got third time lucky when he met Kida, who actually liked him back!)

She's a tomboy, that is true. But that doesn't necessarily mean she's a lesbian.

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[–] koffeenkreame41-1 9 years ago

Audrey's not a man-hater, as evidenced by the fact that she hangs around men all the time, and doesn't seem to have a problem with it, and also seems to like it. You called her a man hater mainly because she is not attracted to Milo. (Wheras Milo, at first, anyway, was attracted to *her*. He was attracted to Helga, too. He's a nerd who spends all his day in a university basement, so trust me when I say this -- he would be attracted to *any* reasonably attractive woman who a) showed up, and b) showed a tiny bit of interest. He got third time lucky when he met Kida, who actually liked him back!)

She's a tomboy, that is true. But that doesn't necessarily mean she's a lesbian.

This LOL, poor Milo . Doesn't mean she hates men, she helps Milo and all of the guys there were her friends. She's most definetely a tomboy, she was a mechanic, not afraid to get her hands dirty.

"I'm the ultimate badass,you do NOT wanna f-ck wit me!"Hudson,Aliens😬

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[–] omgsoemo 14 years ago

and how is it apparently PC to call a girl Mexican just because she steals stuff?

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[–] zeroevildarkcool 17 years ago

CHECKED YOUTUBE FOR THIS NADIA AND JUST SEE LIKENESS WITH THE MILO CHARACTER AND SOME OTHER DUDE OTHERWISE IN THIS WORLD OF ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES U BOUND TO GET THE SAME DESIGN. ORIGINALLY LION KING WAS GOING TO BE DONE THE JAPANESE WAY BUT THEY AMERICANIZED AND THE WORLD LOVES IT BETTER THAT WAY SO JUST SHUT THE *beep* UP.

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[–] garymdupre 17 years ago

::gasp:: The nerdy hero has glasses? The princess is beautiful? There's an international crew?

Noooo...those copycats!

I'm kidding. Those stereotypes are in every single "voyage" adventure story, especially early movies.

And it's not as if the Atlantis crew went to other PLANETS...come on, now.

Like many people here pointed out, both of them take from the same source. So, BOTH are, essentially, copying Jules Verne. Besides, I don't recall Nadia being mainstream enough when Atlantis was in production.

And, while I'm ranting, I'll start in on the Lion King/Kimba thing...

- Simba vs. Kimba - Yeah, the names are similar. Want to know why? "Simba" means lion. "Kimba" is "Simba" with one different letter. So, Disney didn't copy - they were just unoriginal.

-There's a female lion cub/ love interest - Characters aren't allowed to fall in love now? Unless you want some homoerotica...I don't think this should be even considered as a valid argument, yet I see it all the time...

- Humans feature prominently in Kimba - heck, they're THE plot!
Notice that the websites comparing both movies conveniently skip over this rather glaring detail.
Point out a human in The Lion King, and I owe you two grand.

-Similar scenery/camera angles (e.g. - the whole "Opening Sequence" argument - WEll, you ARE in africa, and there's some darn beautiful stuff out there. But what I think is silly is the screenshot comparisons the sites put out. For one...think of it from the perspective of a filmmaker. Yes, beautiful flocks of hundreds of birds fly around there. Yes, Kilimanjaro does exist, and practically screams "film me!" Yeah, there is a serengheti...and lions MAY run across it (amazing...). My point being - the backgrounds are similar, NOT because Disney copied, but because the location in which the story takes place is the same.

-Character similarities - well, they ARE classic archetypes in both stories.

-Black Tufts on ears/the still pictures

-The white lion in early Disney character design - a nice character touch - perfect for an "outsider," or to distinguish one character from another. Little white lion cubs actually DO exist...quite rare, but they do. So...I suppose Father of the Pride ripped off Kimba for making their lions white, too? I love hpw, just because of the ONE PAINTING that people assume that Simba was white.

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:lfwiW7bKuCe6SM:http://www.go.co.za/2003/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_lion

-Both were inspired by...DISNEY'S...Bambi.

There are more, too. Do your research, look for legitimate sources, not fanboys.

Anyway...phew...I'm done. Sorry, but I had to throw all that out there.

Don't get me wrong, I love Kimba. And, the Lion King is my favorite movie of all time, but - MAN, I'm sick of the whining. It's ridiculous, ESPECIALLY when you watch them, and find just the opposite-that there's very, VERY little in common between both Nadia and Atlantis, and the (original) dub of Kimba and the Lion King. Besides, Kimba dealt with some pretty deep stuff, especially concerning human-animal-environment relations. Simba could've pretty much been told with kangaroos and wallabys and still been the same...

But, to be fair, hearing about these conrtoversies made me discover and enjoy the TV shows...and that's not really so bad, is it?

My suggestion to those people - pick up a copy of Hamlet - even the Cliff's Notes, sit down and read it. I GUARANTEE you that that's a lot more similar to the Lion King than Kimba ever was.

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[–] Dsx2006 (181) 3 years ago

People tend to abstain to reply to these long ass comments, haha, so nodbody is going to really debate with guys like that.

For anyone interested, this Issue with Nadia and Disney ripping off anime has been mentioned in other sources besides anonymous posters on the Internet. I especially remember a Spanish magazine called Dokan, and the article was ten years before this post. They also discussed Kimba and whatnot. Very ahead of it's time for hispanic-speaking media.

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[–] simonsimonfoundation 17 years ago

I think it is fair to assume that professional animators know a lot about other animation in the world, especially Japanese animation, which is a huge market. It's reasonable to say that at least one of the many artists working on the film would have noticed, "Hey, this looks a lot like 'Nadia'! Think we might get into trouble for this?" It's reasonable also to say that the Disney execs did not know the similarities at first, and when they did know, they decided it was not worth worrying about.

But ideas come so thick and fast these days, coincidences are bound to happen. Genuine new ideas are harder to come by. Copies or revamps are more likely. For example,

Doesn't 'Treasure Planet' remind anyone of 'One Piece'? A young man, a strong guy, a foxy independent woman, another guy, and a cute sidekick go off in search of the biggest treasure ever known...

...of course 'One Piece' itself reminds us of every cool, pulpy, boys' own adventure made in the last 200 years.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] tappingjeff 17 years ago

Nadia was in turn imagined from Miyazaki's Castle In The Sky, a more popular American movie that is way better than Atlantis. Anyways, they have similiar plots and some think that Atlantis was supposed to be a re-imagined redo of Castle In The Sky

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[–] selkn-asrai 17 years ago

Hemingway once said, "Good writers borrow. Great writers steal."

So either way, pilfered or not, Disney trumps anime. Though I don't believe they did, ESPECIALLY with the Lion King. Of course it's Hamlet, which Shakespeare took from someone else... it's all about recycling. And I can guarantee that Disney has improved upon what I think is the shoddy, insubstantial quality of anime. I agree with the poster who said that anime fans will accuse anything to give the genre legitimacy.

And as others have said, if not "ripped off" from anime, both are ripped off from Jules Verne, who ripped off earlier stories and folktales. You realize it all comes down to basics.

"Now, bring me that horizon."

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[–] ContinentalOp 16 years ago

"Of course it's Hamlet, which Shakespeare took from someone else... it's all about recycling."

Not quite. Hamlet is a legendary character (more correctly Amlóði), though a previous play based on the legend called 'Ur-Hamlet' and a French translation of the tale by François de Belleforest. The oldest recorded version (in 'Gesta Danorum') was by Saxo Grammaticus (or one of them, anyway!).

He is just like a great deal of modern scriptwriters and directors who adapt plays. The play has many original elements and saying that Shakespeare 'took' the story from someone else (e.g. plagiarizing or getting inspiration from another writer) is somewhat incorrect.
Regards,
The Count

The Apple Scruffs Corps, 07

"Imagine"

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[–] saerin 17 years ago

Doesn't 'Treasure Planet' remind anyone of 'One Piece'? A young man, a strong guy, a foxy independent woman, another guy, and a cute sidekick go off in search of the biggest treasure ever known...

Actually, Treasure Planet reminds me a lot more of Treasure Island.

Life *is* pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

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[–] elphaba_green 17 years ago

Actually, Treasure Planet reminds me a lot more of Treasure Island.

In the case that you weren't being sarcastic-
That would be because Treasure Planet actually is and was completely meant to be an animated version of the book Treasure Island.

-Gazelle
They Tell You That The Best in Life is Mental

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[–] saerin 16 years ago

Uhm...yeah, I was being sarcastic.

Life *is* pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

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[–] Racetracks_Main_Girl 15 years ago

That's because that's what TP is based off of. Jim Hawkins, Mr. Silver, etc.

Dear me! What is that unpleasant aroma? I fear the sewer may have backed up during the night.

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[–] OneBadGuy 17 years ago

I watched "Nadia" recently and while there are similarities between the two, I didn't think they were big enough for me to feel the need to point my finger and shout, "Thief!". Besides, "Nadia" itself copied certain elements of it's story from "Castle in the Sky", so it's not exactly off the hook either. As for "Atlantis", I think it's a very good, underrated movie.

Give me the All Spark and you may live to be my pet.-Megatron

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[–] snipamasta 17 years ago

Atlantis was based, suprisingly, off the story of Atlantis. So a team goes there - that's a no brainer as a plot. There's a big power source somehow - that has been closely associated with Atlantis for ages. For instance, play the game "Indiana Jones and the fate of Atlantis" - except in that case the power was actually a machine that turned the Atlantians into gods. Replace that with a crystal and hey presto, you have the story of the film.

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[–] theyellowsign 16 years ago

I've seen Kimba, and it sucks. Hard.
I've seen part of Nadia, and it sucks. Hard.
Lion king is much more like 70% Shakespeare.
Atlantis is based on the works of Jules Verne and a lot of Atlantis mythology that's a heck of a lot older than any anime.
And since most anime is based on (or ripping off) other sources, I don't think its fans should cast stones at others.
As someone said, the people who first started making anime admitted that they were basing much of their work off of Disney. That's why early anime looks so much like early Disney. And frankly, they haven't changed that much in 50 plus years.

"Iacta alea est."

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[–] lutochris 16 years ago

Forget the story, look at the character designs. They are DIRECTLY taken from Nadia and Kimba. There's no way a reasonable person could deny it.

And while the story of Atlantis has been around for centuries, the SPECIFICS of this movies story are directly lifted from Nadia.

There's nothing generic/archetypal about Disney's work here or on The Lion King. It is directly, blatantly, obviously, lifted from the superior Japanese artists. You're blind if you think otherwise.

Even though I nothing learned,
With Strength I Burn...

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[–] theyellowsign 16 years ago

"superior Japanese artists"

I'm sorry. Have you seen Kimba?
I mean, I know art is subjective. And subjectively I think anime looks like total crap. But come one. Kimba is pathetic. It's on the level of the worst crap American TV put on Saturday mornings.

Whatever the case, I've seen the sources you're talking about, and I still think it's a bunch of BS. Am I saying that Disney animators never saw those sources? No. Am I saying there's no possibility they were in some way influenced by them? No. But to claim they're direct rip-offs is BS. And you say any "reasonable person" wouldn't be able to deny it, but only rabid anime fans seem to claim it, and won't listen to any reason.
You are one of the only people I've ever heard from who could even admit that maybe the story could have come from somewhere else.

And what specifics were lifted from Nadia. I only saw part of it.

"No time exist!"

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[–] stephenmonachello 16 years ago

Every movie on IMDB has someone swearing that movie is a ripoff of another. All people do is whine about it. Don't like it, don't watch it that simple. Anyone with any half intelligence knows all creators and artists get inspiration from others. I have a friend at work that cries about this movie all the time and swears up and down about Japanese Anime is the greatest. I don't see it, every movie looks and has the same feel to me. Honestly I only liked Howl's Moving Castle. Fanboys just need to stop.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2604794/

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[–] wtromano 15 years ago

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! FINALY SOMEONE GETS IT! Every piece of art is inspired by something else wether its a conscious decision or not.

First Japanese anime is redundant. If its not japanese its not anime.
And yes I thought anime fanboys are annoying but american animation fanboys are awful.

there is good anime although very few anime (particularly old and very long anime) have the quality of animation as american cartoons.

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[–] Viktoriyachicago 10 years ago

there is good anime although very few anime (particularly old and very long anime) have the quality of animation as american cartoons.

You make me laugh!! Have you seen any of the Ghibli movies??? Any anime not including DBZ or Pokemon! Anime animation quality beat American by many ways!

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[–] Viktoriyachicago 10 years ago

And subjectively I think anime looks like total crap. But come one. Kimba is pathetic. It's on the level of the worst crap American TV put on Saturday mornings.

I wonder what this loser seen besides Pokemon or DBZ...

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[–] Reef-Shark 16 years ago

How could you forget the fact that lots of things such as dialogue are ripped off from Stargate (1994) ? My friends just call Atlantis "Stargate for kids"

When in doubt kill it.

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