Hollywood loves drawing from the public domain. It gives you all the benefits of name recognition and not having to write your own stories, without the downside of having to pay for royalties. Of course, what happens is, if someone else gets to it first, you'll find yourself forever being compared. With a slew of revisionist Fairy Tale movies, as well as two dueling Hercules movies, I thought I'd take a look at Hollywood putting their own spin on public domain stories. Which companies have tried to own properties that ostensibly belong to everybody? Which other companies have challenged them for a place in the public's hearts? And which original characters have gone on to be successful?
FAIRY TALES
Trying to Corner the Market
This isn't so hard to get around, Disney has come to symbolize western fairy tales so much, that the name is never far behind the word "Princess". How many corporations get to claim part time ownership of a political title? ABC's Once Upon a Time is also doing its best to ingrain the idea of Disney versions of these stories being the canonical versions.
Other Popular Intepretations
So strong is Disney's grasp on the fairy tale that the biggest rival is perhaps from the franchise that established itself as the anti-Disney Dreamworks's Shrek. Now, most of Shrek's early characters were not actually from existing fairy tales (Though there is a theory Donkey is one of Pinocchio's wayward friends), but weirdly enough, as the series continued, the cast was occupied by recognizable fairy tale characters like Prince Charming, Rumpelstiltskin, Pinocchio, and especially Puss in Boots. (Who became a breakout character and eventually got his own spinoff) It really did kind of come a weird reverse Disney, as Disney takes eventually develop lives of their own, while the Shrek series delved more and more into the fairy tale world. The word "fairy tale" is pretty nebulous, (Some consider the King Arthur retinue to count as "fairy tales") so any folklore recap could count. However, well-loved series like Shelly Duvall's "Fairy Tale Theatre" and Jim Henson's The Storyteller, made their own mark (The latter often directly targeting more obscure stories) There's Also "Into the Woods", one of the most influential Broadways musicals of all time, though that's being brought to stage by, you guessed it, Disney.
Notable Original Generations
This is kind of a tricky one. Since a lot of fairy tales will often have their characters nameless, when Disney adapts a story, they'll give their own name. As a result, characters like Jasmine or each of the seven dwarves become paradoxically both long established characters, and their own thing. (To the point of always confusing people) Perhaps the one they've gotten the most mileage out of has been Jiminy Cricket. The completely original creations, for instance the three talking animals from The Little Mermaid will become famous for a little bit, but kind of disappear. It seems the most long-term iconic characters tend to be the princesses, or the villains. This summer, Maleficent, which was Disney's own name for the evil fairy from Snow White, got her own very successful film. Shrek and Fiona may also count, retroactively. (The latter being established as the daughter of the Frog Prince)
VICTORIAN HORROR
Trying to Corner the Market
Dracula and Frankenstein perhaps remain two of the most promient literary characters with ties to pop culture. (Only Sherlock Holmes is arguably more prominent--and he's a contemporary) However, Universal Studios not only made them famous, but codified visual and verbal signifiers that went way beyond what Stoker and Shelly intended. The red lined cape for Drac, and the flat, bolted neck for Frank, are so ingrained into what we imagine them to look like, that even your discount Halloween directions bear their stamp. I think it says a lot that Universal made such a mark on the concept of monsters as a whole, that Mummies get to be considered Halloween monsters, even though they don't really fit in with most European folklore.
Other Popular Interpretations
One might mention Nosferatu, which was made when the Count wasn't public domain, so he filmmakers basically filed the serial numbers off. Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula was a reasonably popular (if sometimes mocked) take for people. It enforced the idea of Lucy being a redhead, and Dracula's shadow having a mind of its own has caught on. There's also The Phantom of the Opera, which was a successful (though not as broadly popular--probably due to being a silent film) proto-Universal Horror movie, which has become much more well known as a musical. Also, a mention should go out to Hammer films, which took on Dracula and Frankenstein, and became so successful, that Universal stepped in to distribute them.
Notable Original Generations
The Bride of Frankenstein is possibly considered an original generation creation, (Though the novel depicts something of a pre-brought-to-life specimen), and has actually been included in many takees on Frankenstein, even when Universal was not in making it. The Gillman from Creature From the Black Lagoon is something without any literary equivalents, that seems to be brought into the monster fold, although that was a modern day monster movie, not Victorian horror. But one of the more interesting examples is Blade. Created as a supporting character in Marvel's "Tom of Dracula" comics, Blade, for some reason was converted into a cinematic vehicle for Wesley Snipes. This in turn got Marvel's foot in the door of the movie world, leading to X-Men, and now we have the current superhero-laden blockbuster culture.
GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Trying to Corner the Market
This is actually really tough, because there actually hasn't been a truly broad-appeal classic in bringing Greek mythology to modern culture. I mean, if we're going to name a person, it's undeniably Ray Harryhausen, who's works include Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans (And who's Sinbad movies tended to draw from Greek Myth as well). He's basically to classical mythology what DeMille is for the Bible. As for a company, I'm going to give the edge to Warner Brothers by default, even though most of their rights possessions were acquisitions. They were the original distributors of the Steve Reeves Hercules movies, the rights holders to Clash of the Titans, which has kind of become the byword for Greek myth on film, and they are the rights holders to Wonder Woman, even though they've been kind of sitting on that property, and the average person is likely unaware of how much she draws from Greek mythology. There is also 2004's Troy. which has sold the most tickets of any movie using Greek Mythology as its subject matter.
Other Popular Intepretations
Like I said, Greek myth doesn't really belong to one pop culture interpretation--it's so strongly ingrained in western culture that it's probably hard to have a monopoly. (Disney's two attempts are somewhat dubious--the segment from Fantasia is know for being racist, and their take on Hercules was Disney's lowest-grossing movie of the 90's) There have been quite a few popular subjects with Greek myth namesakes--Apollo 13, Remember the Titans, Prometheus,The Poseidon Adventure (That is to say, it's very popular to name vehicles and sports teams after Greek Gods), Marvel comics characters like Cyclops and Medusa (Who have nothing to due with their mythological counterparts, even though Marvel also has characters from Greek mythology. It's rather confusing) There was also the popular Hercules series of the 90's which spawned a more popular series.
Notable Original Generations
Xena, perhaps one of the most well-kown female characters in all of popular culture, certainly on the action heroine side. (Buffy and Wonder Woman are probably the only kick-ass femmes more well known by name) Perhaps due to the famed promiscuity of classical deities, it's very popular to give created long-lost children, which basically makes up the premise of the Percy Jackson franchise. Also, on the subject of bastardization, the very popular phrase "Release the Kraken" may be in reference to a creature in Greek Myth, but the name comes from Norse myth, which brings us to...
NORSE MYTHOLOGY
Trying to Corner the Market
I would venture to say that Marvel has left its imprint on Norse myth more than anyone else has left anything else on folklore. This is actually one of the few the few things Disney has never tried to put a spin on. (Except for an episode of the cartoon "Gargoyles", and of course, buying Disney outright) Perhaps nothing says that more than the reintepretation of Thor and Loki as brothers--not an element of the original myth but used in practically every pop culture treatment. While Thor as a long-haired blond instead of a scraggly redhead has been around before the Marvel comics adaptation, the Jack Kirby take on the God of Thunder has probably become the shorthand. Not to mention how Loki is considered the premier villain in the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Other Popular Interpretations
As most of the days of the week in the Western World are named after Norse Gods, I suppose movies like His Girl Friday are kind of based on Norse Myth by proxy, but that's a huge reach. Likewise, Tolkien's works, who in turn inspired the standard mold for fantasy works, have kind of drawn from Norse myth by proxy. But as for the character in general, it's safe to say Marvel has had the biggest impact, almost a monopoly. Perhaps the Mask movies, which I'll get to in a bit.
Notable Original Generations
The Mask, an obscure comic that was made into a rather successful Jim Carrey movie, establishes the eponymous mask as an artifact created by or containing Loki. So you could say he's an original generation addition to the mythology. Perhaps more direct than Christmas elves or Troll dolls. On the other hand, The Mask hasn't so much been remembered as a enduring character per se, but a Jim Carrey vehicle/introduction to Cameron Diaz. Have any characters from the Thor comics become popular in their own right? Moderately. The Warriors Three have been included in the films, but tend to be sidelined. Kat Denning's comedy relief as Darcy was enough to land her a sitcom. And Beta Ray Bill, a horsheaded alien has a strong following. The Absorbing Man was a Thor villain who was made into the antagonist for the 2003 Hulk film, but kind of beyond recognition. However, as mentioned its influence is strong, and Odin, the King of the Gods, has created wildly popular ersatz incarnations, like Gandalf and Santa Claus. Who of course, inspired his own industry.
SANTA CLAUS
Trying to Corner the Market
This is very tough competition, as Holiday specials become ingrained in the popular consciousness, sometimes regardless of quality. To name the various works Santa has been mentioned in has been might be exhausting. So it is no mean that Rankin Bass, with their annual specials of Rudolph, Frosty, and Santa himself, have become the standard for Christmas specials. Likewise, with their special, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, they've started the trend of people trying to create their own Santa origin. None have seemed to have caught on as much as Rankin Bass's take, which remains in rotation long after many other specials have fallen by the wayside. The Will Ferrell movie Elf
openly drew from Rankin Bass for inspiration.
Other Popular Interpretations
Disney's Santa Clause movies were immensely popular in their time, although they haven't really changed how people look at Santa so much, as inspired many "Callow man learns life lesson through being imbued with magic powers", but even then, Groundhog Day preceded that. Miracle on 34th Street is also a very, very iconic movie, and has inspired numerous parodies, probably little from it explicitly added to Santa Claus lore. But hey, it's more than Fred Claus.
Notable Original Generations
Rudolph himself actually qualifies, as he was the first addition to Santa's reindeer staff, and has become the most popular of them all. (The song itself is likely not public domain) From Year Without a Sana Claus, the Heastermeiser and Coldmeiser have grown in popularity to the point of getting their own special in 2009. Also, as the idea of Santa having successors has increased in popularity, people are always trying to give Santa some son or daughter to carry on the family business. None of them have really caught on (Though Arthur Christmas has its fans) Perhaps the most popular figure to claim the Santa hat outside of Santa himself is The Grinch.
