Washed Up Superheroes
Over the years in Hollywood, competing studios have managed to release movies dealing with the same subject matter simultaneously. For example, in 1985 we saw Weird Science, Real Genius and My Science Project - movies about teenage nerd scientists - come out around the same time. Then when The Abyss was shown in theaters, The Leviathan was released shortly afterwards. Another example is the Bug’s Life/Antz fuss where Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, no stranger to being copied, accused former Disney executive Katzenberg of stealing his idea and bringing it to his new studio.
Well, Steve Jobs may be learning a thing or two from idea nabbers with his very own The Incredibles set to be released in late 2004. The movie’s trailer, which was first shown on opening day of Finding Nemo, hilariously depicts a retired superhero desperately trying to get his belt around his now portly belly. To me this was something I vaguely remember seeing before. Captain Sturdy, a cartoon revolving around an aging superhero and his obese sidekick, has been airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim for quite some time now. In addition, Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi’s The Ripping Friends, another cartoon about wacky superheroes, is drawn in a similar fashion (big torsos, tiny legs) and has been out for a couple years now.
Oh well, this may well all be a coincidence. I could chalk it up to some sort of “collective consciousness” that produces similar ideas for several people at a given time, but somehow I also have this nagging feeling that some people will always copy others (whether from inspiration or for outright lack of originality) and manage to be dangerously close to being slapped with a copyright lawsuit.
Update: How could I forget? The cartoon Spongebob Squarepants also features aging superheroes: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. Mermaid Man is a pink-slippered Aquaman look-alike. Barnacle Boy is his cranky sidekick in a sailor outfit.
Tags: 1980s, animation, Apple, cartoons, comics, copycat, disney, film, Incredibles, Kricfalusi, pixar, renandstimpy, spongebob, tv