Six Surprising Similarities Between The Hunger Games and Disney

2015-11-18

As the residents of the Capital prepare for the biggest uprising in Panem history, Disney is preparing to take on the final act of one of the biggest film franchises in the past decade. While The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 comes to theaters this Friday, Disney hopes families will stomp to their local theater for The Good Dinosaur. The two films are going head-to-head to claim the number 1 spot over Thanksgiving weekend, basically a fight to the death mandated by their leaders… Who will win? Our guess is that stuffed audience members will choose Hunger Games following their day of feast, but it’s interesting how many things the film series has in common with Disney.

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1) Hunger Games and The Lion King Both “Stole” Their Plots From Japanese Films

Ok, to be fair, neither actually stole their plots, but both have plots that are very similar to Japanese films. The Lion King has many similarities to a 1960s anime film called Kimba the White Lion. Similar enough, in fact, that Matthew Broderick, the adult voice of Simba who was familiar with the Japanese film, initially thought he was making an American adaptation of the film.

More recently, the 2000 Japanese live-action film Battle Royale featured high school-aged students battling to the death until only one remains in a competition staged by the state. Sound familiar???

2) Dreaming of Julianne Moore

President Alma Coin of Mockingjay is portrayed by Julianne Moore in the films. But back in 2008 she teamed with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to create this …

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That’s a Disney Dream Portrait, created by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, in which she portrays Ariel. Other famous Disney Dream Portrait subjects include Beyonce, Scarlett Johansson, Will Ferrell, Taylor Swift and Tina Fey. The series is still going, so it’s not inconceivable that we could maybe see Jennifer Lawrence in a future portrait… we think she’d be a shoo-in to play Merida…

3) Does That Setting Look Familiar?

Most of the Hunger Games has been filmed in North Carolina and Georgia. However, some of the jungle scenes in Catching Fire were filmed in Hawaii including in Manoa Valley. There you can find Paradise Park, an animal sanctuary, where the ABC hit show LOST also set the Others’ polar bear experiment station (it was a weird show).

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4) Nina Jacobson is Their Secret Weapon

From 1998 until 2006 Nina Jacobson was a “hot shot” Disney film executive. She oversaw production on hits like The Sixth Sense, Remember the Titans, The Princess Dairies and the early Pirates of the Caribbean films. Her role with Disney was heavily chronicled in the book The Man Who Heard Voices about the making of the M. Night Shyamalan film The Lady in the Water.  Shyamalan ultimately broke ties with Disney during that production due to clashes with Jacobson. The film went on to be a box office and critical flop showing Jacobson was likely correct.

Jacobson was famously fired over the phone while in the delivery room with her partner who was giving birth at the time. But worry not … Jacobson landed on her feet. She has produced all of the Hunger Games films proving she still knows how to create a film that makes a buck.

5) This Should Be a Ride

No one has turned films into theme park experiences like Disney has done for more than 60 years, completely revolutionizing what an amusement park was. Well perhaps the Hunger Games is set to do that again now. The New York Times ran an extensive article recently detailing plans to bring Hunger Games theme parks to Atlanta and China. To quote The Times:

After passing through the gates, visitors will arrive in a re-creation of the fictional District 12, a mining region where Katniss grew up. There will be costumed characters and real-life versions of Peeta Mellark’s bakery and the Hob black market. A lavish roller coaster will be designed to resemble the movies’ high-speed Capitol trains … [and] A simulator-style ride, similar to Disney’s well-known Star Tours attraction, will take people on a hovercraft tour of the post-apocalyptic nation where “The Hunger Games” takes place.

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6) Jeffrey Wright vs. Himself

Character actor Jeffrey Wright plays 75th Hunger Games survivor Beetee in Catching Fire and the Mockingjay films released on November 20th. Then 5 days later, he will appear as the voice of Poppa when The Good Dinosaur hits theaters on November 25th. That means Jeffrey Wright will star in films that will likely be number 1 and number 2 at the box office Thanksgiving weekend. To quote the phrase from the games, “May the odds be ever in your favor.”

Doobie Moseley
Doobie is a co-owner of LaughingPlace.com having founded the website with his wife Rebekah in 1999. He became a "hardcore" Disney fan in 1995. His favorite Disney film is Snow White and his all-time favorite attraction is the PeopleMover. Having lived near both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, he's visited them literally thousands of times. He currently lives in Nothern California with his wife and teenage son, but looks forward to living in Florida again soon. His absolutely favorite activity is going on a Disney cruise (he's done 12 as of February 2023).