Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Looking for D&D inspirations in Classic Films

Alexis over at the Tao of D&D was writing about his thought process leading to him implementing a system of cross-class weapons training. Along the way, he mentioned the classic Errol Flynn The Adventures of Robin Hood, and how many younger gamers have probably never even seen it. Well, I've seen it. Have it on DVD even. And it got me thinking of one of MY favorite classic films, the 1924 black & white silent movie The Thief of Bagdad, starring Douglas Fairbanks.

Since it's a public domain movie, it's free to watch online. If the poor quality is a problem for you, well, there is a remastered version, but apparently commentary and a new score was added in order to renew the copyright on it, so you'll have to pay for it.

Anyway, I started re-watching it this evening, and taking notes of elements of the film that seem similar to things in D&D. I know Gygax only listed fantasy fiction as inspirations for the game, but he didn't come up with the idea of the Thief class originally. So maybe, just maybe, this classic film may have led to some of the inspiration for the class. Obviously the published version owes a debt to Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser, and Cugel the Clever. But it seems plausible that The Thief of Bagdad may also have played a part in inspiring the class.

I kept getting interrupted though, so I'm only halfway through the movie and starting to nod off a bit. I'll finish it tomorrow and post up my notes.

And I may make this a thing. I have the 1940 remake on DVD, which is fairly different (and Disney ripped it off hard when they made Aladdin back in the 90's).  And there are a lot of old films, whether from the silent film era or talkies, black & white or color, that I've never seen. Seems like a series of posts that would be good for me. I can rewatch some old favorites, and also take the time to watch some of the classics that I've still yet to see.

So thanks Alexis, for the roundabout inspiration.

8 comments:

  1. 7th Voyage of Sinbad 1958
    Jason and the Argonauts 1963
    Ray Harryhausen invents skeleton warriors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You almost can't go wrong with Harryhausen!

      I think he even worked as an apprentice on either King Kong or Mighty Joe Young.

      Delete
  2. The original Thief of Bagdhad (which I own on disk and have watched many, many times with my children) provided much of the inspiration for my Five Ancient Kingdoms game.

    Well, that and the various Sinbad films.
    ; )

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Adventures of Robin Hood, of course, is famous in D&D culture for being the inspiration for the combat system (Gygax specifically mentioned the Erol Flynn/Basil Rathbone fight on the staircase.) And Roger Corman's The Raven (1963) was the inspiration for the magic system. Definitely recommend that.

    Gygax mentioned film, comics, and folklore as other sources of inspiration in Appendix N, but only names EC Comics, the Brothers Grimm, and Andrew Lang. Still, there's at least a couple movies in a similar vein as Robin Hood, The Thief of Bagdad, and The Raven that Gygax and Arneson probably watched and mined for ideas. Try another Basil Rathbone film, The Magic Sword (1962), Jack the Giant Killer (1962), Captain Sinbad (1963), and Atlantis the Lost Continent (1961). I swear I didn't deliberately limit myself to the years 1961 through 1963... they were just the first movies I thought of when thinking of The Adventures of Robin Hood, the 1940s Thief of Bagdad, and The Raven.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've seen most of the films suggested, and re-watching them with an eye to what may have inspired elements of D&D is a good idea. And thanks for the suggestions for films I haven't seen yet. This should be a fun series of posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you plan on (re)watching "The Raven", I got the urge to see it again after I commented. Turns out it's free on Amazon Prime.

      Delete
    2. The Raven is another great and (game) inspiring film.

      Delete
  5. I love this idea. Can't wait to see how it goes.

    ReplyDelete