That’s EntertainmentForrest Gump was released 20 years ago this summer. While it was expected to be a hit—it starred Tom Hanks on the heels of an Oscar win for Philadelphia—nobody expected it to be a cultural phenomenon. Here are a few interesting Forrest Gump facts you may not know.
Every Friday we give you a handful of weird stories and you have to determine which of them are true and which ones are made up. Why would we make them up? Because it’s fun! See if you can tell which are real ways the eccentric actor Nicolas Cage prepared for a role…and which ones are too strange even for him. (Answers at the end of the post.)
Have you ever wanted to visit the places where some of your favorite characters have grabbed a bite to eat or once sliced off an alien’s arm with a lightsaber? Now you can!
Since 2011, an unidentified gentleman has been buzzing around Japanese motorways on a custom made Batpod while dressed as a certain caped crusader. He’s known locally as “Chibatman” because he lives somewhere in Chiba Prefecture, the region where Tokyo and Hokkaido are located.
What musical achievement links Minnie Mouse and Miss Piggy?
They are fictional anthropomorphic characters, of course…and both have performed a duet of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with Elton John.
Novelty songs are the product of their times, responding humorously to the concerns of the day…and then they’re quickly forgotten, like these.
You’ve probably heard by now the bizarre news that Hello Kitty isn’t, you know, a kitty. Here’s a look at the “scandal,” and some more interesting stuff about the cartoon character.
A lot can change between the first draft and the final product.
A “long lost” chapter from the classic children’s novel recently appeared in The Guardian. It was accompanied by a lengthy article about author Roald Dahl and a rundown on his even crazier original version. In one of his earliest drafts, Charlie was accompanied by four additional ill-fated kids while he toured Willy Wonka’s very dangerous factory.
Mere weeks after it was announced, last weekend Lifetime aired The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story, a TV-movie about the behind the scenes action of NBC’s 1989-1993 Saturday morning sitcom Saved By the Bell. Here are some Saved By the Bell facts you might not have known.
Micro-photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher is best known for her book Bee, a compilation of photographs of bees magnified anywhere from 10 times to 500 times. Among the remarkable things Fisher captured: that bees’ eyes are hexagonal, just like a honeycomb.
In 1966, the Beatles decided to quit touring and playing live in favor of crafting intricate albums in the studio. They’d played hundreds of concerts by then—way more than these other bands that probably won’t be coming to your town anytime soon.
Pop culture is like sports for Uncle John, so here are some fun facts and figures from last night’s Emmy Awards.
Just in case you aren’t getting enough Simpsons via FXX’s two-week-long “Every Simpsons Ever” marathon, here is some Simpsons trivia you might not have known about the longest-running comedy in TV history.
Even cartoon characters have to use the bathroom every now and then. Of course, when they do, they use really bizarre ones.
In 1996, Joanna Pacitti was a 12-year-old girl with a tremendous singing voice and landed the title role in a touring production of Annie. Here is another entry in our series on musicians who just couldn’t get the fair shake they deserved.
Here’s a truly forgotten fad: NBA teams would release slickly produced rap songs to gear fans up for the playoffs. The songs would be played everywhere—but only in the team’s home city—on the radio, at the games themselves, and proceeds from sales of the tapes would go to charity. Prepare to get nostalgic…and cringe.
These have been troubling us for years, so we decided to do some research and get some answers once and for all: “On the classic ’70s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, why were the tough kids called “sweathogs”?” and “On the classic ’80s sitcom Who’s the Boss?, who was the boss: Tony or Angela?”
You know that Kelly Clarkson got her start as an unknown singing on a TV talent show, but how about the rest of these celebrities?
