10 Popular Hollywood Movies That You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Anime

10 Popular Hollywood Movies That You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Anime 10 Popular Hollywood Movies That You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Anime

By big - Sep 12, 2017 12:09 PM EST

Filed Under: Other

10 Popular Hollywood Movies That You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Anime

Hollywood is better at thieving than we give them credit for. Just kidding, but a lot of the popular movies that we know and love draw heavily from anime genre. Of course some movie comparisions Hollywood will lie about, but others are so blatent (number 7), movie directors won't even hide the fact that they were inspired by an anime.

Check out our top 5 in the video below or click on for the full list of movies that were inspired by anime. Did we miss any? let us know in the comment section below!

Inspiration: Neon Genesis Evangelion - Mobile Suit Gundam - Gigantor

Even though Guillermo Del Toro said that Gigantor was the main influence for Pacific Rim, it is hard to believe him. The feature film had a ton of Japanese Mecha influence in it and Del Toro watches a lot of anime, so it is hard to say what really influenced his film. If Gigantor was the only influence then the drivers in Pacific Rim probably wouldn't be telepathically connected and share thoughts.

All in all the big robot angle has been ripped off in Japan so many times it is really hard to count were one influence begins and the other ends. Who else is ready for Pacific Rim Uprising?! To bad we have to wait til 2018.

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9. Atlantis: Lost Empire

Inspiration: Nadia - Secret of Blue Water

This is one of those cases were Hollywood and more specifically Disney deny having any ties to an original anime. While it is possible that it was more based on 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (just like Nadia), the similarities between Atlantis and Nadia are still there. Especially when it comes to the characters featured in the shows.

At the time there were people at Disney working both working and not working on the Atlantis project who are big Miyazaki fans. Nadia was a Miyazaki project. The debat is still out there whether or not Disney really knew about the anime.

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8. Looper

Inspiration: Akira

Unlike Atlantis, Rian Johnson, the director of Looper, freely admits that there are connnections between Akira and Looper. Looper also shares some similarities to Terminator, but that isn't why you are here.

Besides the time travel aspect of the film, there is also a pyschokinetic kid whose abilities leads them down a dark path that ultimately leads them to being a monster.

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7. A Requiem For A Dream

Inspiration: Perfect Blue

It is no secret that Darren Aronofsky, director of A Requiem For a Dream drew heavily from the anime Perfect Blue. He fell so in love with the anime that he bought the rights to it in order to base two movies off of it. A least he did it the right way, unlike other Hollywood feature films. Perfect Blue director Satoshi Kon even met with Aronofsky back in 2001. It is a really poorly held secret.

All you have to do is look at the picture above and it will tell you all that you need to know about the two films. The other feature film Aronofsky made based on Perfect Blue was Black Swan back in 2010

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6. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

Influence: Naruto

Director Edgar Wright drew upon video games and martial arts movies for the films genetic makeup, but there are a lot of "Naruto" undertones in the film that can't be ignored. Bryan Lee O'Malley's (the original comic creator) style and formatting was that of a Japanese manga.

Yes, the final boss fight between Scott Pilgrim and Gideon Graves had a lot of 8-bit Street Fighter and Mario Bros in it, but the boss uses hand signs straight from the manga/anime to muster up his digital sword.

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5. The Matrix

Influence: Ghost in the Shell

The Matrix is another film that was proudly made due to the influence of Ghost in the Shell. Hollywood directors Lana and Adrian Wachoski at one point had to ask the creator of Ghost in the Shell if they could keep filming the movie. They pitched the feature film by showing 1995's Ghost in the Shell anime. They wanted to create a live action Ghost in the Shell. Come to think of it, maybe all live action anime films need to be "re-branded" in order for it to succeed. After the live action Ghost in the Shell movie tanked hardcore.

The directors even used some of the finest Japanese directors to help create The Animatrix to bring the series back into the anime world. From the green digital typography used to get into the virtual world to the ports in the back of someone's neck, the influences are there.

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4. Van Hellsing

Influence: Vampire Hunter D

There really is one similarity when it comes to Van Hellsing. In the movie Hugh Jackman's character sports a costume that looks a lot like the one used in Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D. When the movie came out, it seemed like that was the only thing they could talk about. Had they been paying attention they would have noticed Kate Beckinsale was also in the movie.

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3. Lion King

Influence: Kimba The White Lion

Disney has a problem when it comes to fessing up about taking elements of shows and making it their own. Such is the case with the Lion King and Kimba the White Lion. Kimba was first created by Osamu Tezuka as a manga way back in the 1950's. The animated series came later in the 1960's, which made its way to the U.S. There are so many similarities between Disney's Lion King and Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion, it isn't even funny.

From Mufasa on Pride Rock, Mufasa appearing to Simba in the sky and many others, it is hard to deny that Kimba's existance didn't influence Simba's. Mathew Broderick thought he was working on a version of Kimba when he signed up. C'mon Disney you are better than this!

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2. Inception

Influence: Paprika

According to sources, Christopher Nolan was heavily influenced by Paprika when he was making the Inception movie. Yes, you can say that there were other influences floating out there that Nolan may have drawn upon, but he has aknowledgecd that Satoshi Kon's Paprika was a source of influence for the Inception movie. Both movies have devices that allow people to access other people's dreams.

Wolfgang Peterson (The Perfect Storm) announced that he was working on a live action Paprika film prior to Inception coming out. It was so similiar that we haven't heard a peep about a live action Paprika film since.

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1. Avatar

Influence: Princess Mononoke

There was no other movie that came under bigger scruteny for thievery than James Cameron's Avatar. Even before the movie hit the big screen people were comparing the movie to Ferngully and Pocohontas, but when it comes down to it, Avatar is really channeling Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke.

There are so many parallels to Avatar and Princess Mononoke. Each film has a human entering a wilderness civilization, who then become the chosen one and falls in love with a mighty heroine. Not to mention the chosen one eventually turns on those who used to side with.

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10 Popular Hollywood Movies That You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Anime

10 Popular Hollywood Movies That You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Anime 10 Popular Hollywood Movies That You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Anime

10 Popular Hollywood Movies That You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Anime

10. Pacific Rim

9. Atlantis: Lost Empire

8. Looper

7. A Requiem For A Dream

6. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

5. The Matrix

4. Van Hellsing

3. Lion King

2. Inception

1. Avatar

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