History Main / InspirationForTheWork

* The countdown clock featured in [[Wrestling/ChrisJericho Chris Jericho's]] WWE entrance for many years was inspired by a similar clock he saw at a post office that was counting down to the new millenium.

* During a brainstorming session for ''VideoGame/{{Backbone}}'', developer Nikita Danshin, who lives in Vancouver, scared off some raccoons from his compost bin by using a trumpet. This inspired the game's protagonist who is a raccoon detective, as well as its noir setting of Vancouver.

* ''Manga/SummerTimeRendering'': Out of [[https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1664409801&p=2 all the games]] that had some influence on the series, the most notable ones are ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'', which inspired the time loop elements, and the ''VideoGame/{{Siren}}'' series, of which multiple plot beats (such as Hiruko's origin and the final battle) pay homage to.

-->I thought it might be interesting to sexually de-code the Peter Pan story. I was thinking about [[Creator/SigmundFreud Freud]]'s insistence that to fly in dreams is a sexual symbol and I started thinking about Peter Pan and Wendy, and how Wendy is at that kind of age where she probably would be starting to experience sexual feelings...Melinda happened to say, quite by chance that she, in the past, had written a couple of stories that had three women as the main characters. She said she liked the idea of having three woman as protagonists. So consequently that was when it all crystallized; Melinda’s three women idea collided with my Peter Pan idea and I suddenly thought, well, what if you have three women? What if Wendy was just one of them? Who would the other two be?

* According to Creator/EiichiroOda, ''Manga/DragonBall'' was a major inspiration for ''Manga/OnePiece'' to the point where he collaborated with ''Dragon Ball'' author Creator/AkiraToriyama for quite a few crossovers including ''Cross Epoch''. Another major source of inspiration was ''Literature/VickyTheViking'', which sparked a young Oda's fascination with pirates.

* Creator/GreenPhantomQueen wrote ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' because she was annoyed by the lack of CharacterDevelopment [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Chloe Cerise]] had been receiving in the anime, and the partly number of fan works exploring the character (there was only one other Chloe-focused story on [=AO3=] at the time). Ironically, the first chapter was posted just ''days'' before Episode 29, which turned out to a major Chloe-focused episode that delved a bit into her backstory. The author later admits that she was also increasingly annoyed with all of the DoubleStandard going on between Goh and Chloe.

* In a Website/{{Reddit}} [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2020-08-19/deca-dence-director-yuzuru-tachikawa-shares-wreck-it-ralph-inspirations-in-reddit-ama/.163073 AMA session]] to promote ''Anime/DecaDence'', director Yuzuru Tachikawa revealed that the movie ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' served as the basis of inspiration for the series, mainly in how the characters from different [=IPs=] band together against a greater threat.

* Speaking of Creator/AkiraToriyama and ''Franchise/DragonBall'', his increased involvement in the franchise starting with ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'' came about from his disappointment with the live action ''Film/DragonballEvolution'' movie. More directly, the idea of bringing back Freeza for next movie after ''Battle of Gods'' — ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'' — owes its existence to him listening to Music/MaximumTheHormone[=’s=] FilkSong “F”, with the song itself being the movie’s namesake and used as an insert song.
* ''Anime/MazingerZ'' was inspired by Creator/GoNagai being stuck in traffic and wishing there was a way to get around them.

* According to [[https://media.comicspace.jp/archives/3753 an interview with Aka Akasaka]], the writing of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' is inspired by ''Manga/SchoolRumble''.

* Creator/DouglasAdams claimed that ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' came from a 1971 incident while he was hitchhiking around Europe as a young man with a copy of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe book: while lying drunk in a field near Innsbruck with a copy of the book and looking up at the stars, he thought it would be a good idea for someone to write a hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy as well. However, he later claimed that he had forgotten the incident itself, and only knew of it because he'd told the story of it so many times. His friends are quoted as saying that Adams mentioned the idea of "hitch-hiking around the galaxy" to them while on holiday in Greece in 1973.

* Scott Cawthon, the creator of ''Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', mentioned that the idea came from a review given to a previous game of his, ''VideoGame/ChipperAndSonsLumberCo'', which mentioned the animation made characters [[UncannyValley look like creepy animatronics]]. He took the idea and ran with it.

* The works created by Creator/HankGreen such as ''WebVideo/SciShow'' were a major influence on the style of Creator/DavidJohnson 's web series ''WebVideo/Economy Watch''.

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** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' was inspired by a combination of Miyamoto exploring his neighborhood's countryside, and having an interest in ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', during his childhood. The enemy called "Chain Chomp" ("Bow Wow" in the Japanese version) was even based off of Miyamoto having a bad run in with a neighbor's dog that was chained to a post. The gameplay itself was inspired by ''VideoGame/PacLand'' and ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'' (the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] port of the latter had been directed by Miyamoto).

** Creator/BradBird not only took influence from various classic superhero comics for ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', but also based it off of his own experiences where he was both working at a job and trying to spend time with his family, and became concerned one would overshadow the other.

Compare RealLifeWritesThePlot and RealitySubtext. See also {{Homage}} and {{Pastiche}} for when one work intentionally draws influence from another. Lastly, there's InspiredBy, for when it's more LooselyBasedOnATrueStory or similar.

** He was said to have gotten the inspiration for ''Literature/PetSematary'' from his own daughter burying her cat in a pet cemetery and his own son nearly getting killed by running into a busy road. It's also been said that he may have been inspired by the 1902 short story by W.W. Jacobs "the Monkey's Paw".

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' was a collaborative effort and its inspirations came from different sources, but the main story concept and title came from Danish concept artist Christian Faber's earlier battle with a benign brain tumor. In his medicine-induced feverish state, he imagined the capsules he ingested as pods transporting miniature warriors battling an infection to save the world that was his body. These became the Toa warriors (sold in pill-like plastic containers) battling Makuta and his forces to save the ailing deity Mata Nui whose body housed an entire universe -- hence the title, "''[[{{Portmanteau}} Biological Chronicle]]''".

* AC Newman was talking to a Spanish woman when he asked her to sing something in her native language to him. When she protested the only songs she knew with Spanish lyrics were {{Techno}}, he just asked her to sing him some Spanish techno; he made a mental note that "Sing Me Spanish Techno" would be a good song title, and it became one for Music/TheNewPornographers.

* AC Newman was talking to a Spanish woman when he asked her to sing something in her native language to him. When she protested the only songs she knew with Spanish lyrics were {{Techno}}, he just asked her to sing him some Spanish techno; he made a mental note that "Sing Me Spanish Techno" would be a good song title, and it became a Music/NewPornographers song.

** Lasseter said that inspiration for ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' came after he took a cross-country road trip with his wife and five sons in 2000.

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' was a collaborative effort and its inspirations came from different sources, but the main story concept and title came from Danish concept artist Christian Faber's earlier battle with a benign brain tumor. In his medicine-induced feverish state, he imagined the capsules he ingested as pods transporting miniature warriors battling an infection to save the world that was his body. These became the Toy warriors (sold in pill-like plastic containers) battling Makuta and his forces to save the ailing deity Mata Nui whose body housed an entire universe -- hence the title, "''[[{{Portmanteau}} Biological Chronicle]]''".