Comment on Is there anything like a Beholder monster before 1975?

db2@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

• Mothra@mander.xyz ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  iirc Wikipedia doesn’t mention Big Trouble in Little China as copyright infringement, but it mentions that example as something similar, whereas other media does get mentioned as infringing copyright.

  Apparently the only one who got to use a beholder as such and not get a lawsuit was Pixar, who managed to get permission from WotC. I guess this means both have similarly strong lawyers

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  • scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Did Wikipedia mention that what it sees, Lo Pan knows?

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  • bryndos@fedia.io ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace' (TV, 2000s) also had something similar in the "skipper the eyechild" episode. Nsfw if anyone searches it. I'd be quite surprised if they paid royalties for that.

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    • Mothra@mander.xyz ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      There is plenty of similar, I also recall a Powerpuff girls episode with something like a beholder, also in the 90s I think. No infringement either, because it wasn’t exactly a beholder nor it was called a beholder.

      That Pixar movie did use a proper beholder though.

      Anyway… They’re all after 1975 so…

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      • bryndos@fedia.io ⁨51⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

        Yeah I'm surprised no one has dug up any obscure faerie or troll creature.
        So it does seem to be fairly original thing with maybe some medusa inspiration.

        In the real world some of the drawings of beholders with toothy mouths make me think of angler fish.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_one-eyed_creatures_in_mythology_and_fiction

        There's some cool things in this list, but i don't see anything like it really similar enough.

        Closest in appearance might be this listed as a 1973 comic, so close in time, but maybe too tentacleish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuma-Gorath

        I can't get past this one though:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasa-obake

        They are generally umbrellas with one eye and jump around with one leg . . .

        That should have been in D&D

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