Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / TheMockbuster

Go To

1%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1608783475085102500
2%% Previous thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1319853780021440100
3%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
4%%
5[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Ratatoing}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mockbuster.png]]]]
6[[caption-width-right:350:A [[Creator/VideoBrinquedo clever rat]] knows how to get the freshest ingredients: by stealing from [[WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}} another restaurant]] -- or [[Creator/{{Pixar}} animation studio]], as the case may be...]]
7%%
8->''"Another great knock-off is [=DVDs=]. The ones that are slight variations of slightly animated kids' movies. The kind they put right next to the check-out line, so Grandma might accidentally mistake it for the real thing. And they have titles like, ''The Secret Princess and Her Oppressive Authority Figure 4'', and the always-popular ''Jungle Animals in Decidedly Non-Jungle Situations''."''
9-->-- '''[[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad]]''', ''WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail'' #190 [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE190Licensed "licensed"]]
10
11In principle, the Mockbuster is a bit like a movie with an [[ParallelPornTitles Alternative Pornographic Name]], but there's generally no nudity. It's not part of a pair of [[DuelingWorks Battling Films]], because it can't even afford the fare to get to the ring where the shows duke it out. A mockbuster is a movie that is ''suspiciously similar'' to another more popular, more well-known -- and, let's face it, more "real" -- movie, to the point of being the copy of an entire film. Why? [[FollowTheLeader Trying to Make Money Off a Popular Idea]], of course.
12
13Because they're generally made by no-name studios to make a quick buck, the biggest difference between mockbusters and the movies they're based on is budget. The mockbuster has ''serious'' budget restrictions. Think "three kids with a cellphone" production values. The writing is usually subpar, too--the producers aren't striving for Genuine Artistry; they're trying to rip off a more popular idea in an attempt to con gullible consumers. As many mockbusters start production well before the original film shows up in theaters, they're often not even very good at being ripoffs, with few similarities to their inspirations outside of very similar box art. Of course, depending on what they're copying, the original might not have been such a cinematic masterpiece itself.
14
15However, if there's one thing mockbusters can do well, it's [[CopycatCover Duplicate Titles]]. Their designs and logos, like the colors of a viceroy butterfly, are designed to resemble the "real" movies they're copying as closely as possible. Remember, [[CoversAlwaysLie Titles Usually Fib]]. They also pick titles similar to the original, often containing similar words, or made-up words that sound the same.
16
17The people mockbusters tend to appeal to seem to fall into four brackets: kids too young to know the difference between the real deal and the fake; people who might get the two confused when looking for something for their kids and grandkids; parental [[MoralGuardians Propriety Police]] who want to get their children [[TheMoralSubstitute The Upstanding Alternative]] to a mainstream film that is more in line with their values; and nerds, who aren't fooled at all, but who watch them for their [[SoBadItsGood awesome badness]]. [[BileFascination Bad stuff is interesting!]] As such, they tend to be sold in supermarket magazine racks, pharmacy gift racks, and grab bags in outlet shops.
18
19The rare cases of mockbusters that might actually try to do something "artistic" are those adapting [[PublicDomainCharacter Out of Copyright]] works, though again, generally only if a more "popular" story adapting the same work came out recently. This phenomenon sometimes applies to live theater as well with regards to public domain works ([[FairyTale Pixie Stories]], ''[[Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera The Theater Spirit]]'') that have had a more popular version created that smaller theater companies could never produce on their own. Alternately, sometimes a degree of artistic merit comes in when the cast/crew [[HamAndCheese Ham Up The Cheesy Movie]].
20
21Mockbusters tend to be made in countries outside of the US, as if in "response" to a coming American blockbuster. Those might change the [[AppliedPhlebotinum plot-based unobtanium]] to something more in touch with their national sensibilities (the Indian [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Ultraguy]] mockbuster has him getting his powers from a god, for example) and the genre might skew towards one more popular in that country (the Brazilian series ''[[Series/{{Heroes}} Non-Villains]]'' is somewhat like a soap opera).
22
23How do all of these [[CaptainErsatz copyright-friendly guys]] get away with it? Oftentimes, it's simply a matter of obscurity. Sure, that "[[Franchise/HarryPotter Larry Baxter]]" guy on the back of the cereal box who has to find the "[[GoldenSnitch Gilded Stitch]]" is pretty similar to some book you read, but how much money is there really to be made from suing some company that designs bargain-basement cereal boxes? They are also helped by the fact that many people assume [[AllAnimationIsDisney The Mickey Mouse-House Makes All Cartoons]] anyway; it's [[LoopholeAbuse not technically]] ''their'' fault if you just so happen to mistake ''[-Leo-] The Lion: King [-of the Jungle-]'' for [[WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}} a Disney film]]. As well, they're not actually breaking any copyright laws if, like the original, they're simply adapting [[PublicDomainStories Freely Shared Narratives]]. Somebody else already made popular films based on ''[[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame The Deformed Guy In The Cathedral]]'' or ''[[Literature/TheLittleMermaid The Small Sea-Girl]]'', you say? [[SarcasmMode What a coincidence]].
24
25See also [[ParallelPornTitles Similar Erotica Names]] (when this is applied to porn), [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct Crappy Ripoff Items]] (when this is applied to commercial products), [[SerialNumbersFiledOff Product Codes Removed]], and [[InNameOnly Same Name, Completely Different Plot Sequels]] (when old foreign movies have their titles for the re-release changed in order for them to cash-in from current blockbusters). Compare [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks They Imitated It, So It Isn't Any Good]], when fans complain about works for being unoriginal. If the copycat borrows not only the concept but whole elements from the original work, they may be guilty of UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}}. Also see [[MadeInCountryX Created in Nation Z]]. Contrast SpiritualAdaptation for when a work resembles another work but doesn't blatantly rip it off.
26
27UK [[MadeForTVMovie Created For Television Film]] channel Movies 24 ran a Mockbuster marathon, deliberately confusing the derivatives with the originals and calling out the trope by name. It includes ''[[Franchise/{{Terminator}} The Terminators]]'', ''[[Film/AVPAlienVsPredator Aliens Versus Hunters]]'', ''[[Film/TransformersFilmSeries Transmorphers Fall of Man]]'' and ''[[Film/SnakesOnAPlane Snakes on a Train]]''.
28----
29!!Examples (potholes lead to pages of the films being copied unless the copy itself has an article):
30[[foldercontrol]]
31
32%%[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
33
34%%[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Asian Animation]]
37* ''Keluang Man'' is a Malaysian DenserAndWackier cartoon based on Franchise/{{Batman}}, which was made by UAS Animation Studios and ran from 1998 to 2005 with seven seasons and 144 episodes.
38* ''Animation/FlowerAmbassador'' (花花使者, "Huahua Shizhe") can best be described as "''Animation/HappyHeroes'' if all the characters were plants and bugs instead of RidiculouslyHumanRobots and HumanAliens", with the characters even having similar personalities to their ''Happy Heroes'' counterparts (Lulu is a LethalChef like Sweet S., Adi is a ForgetfulJones like Careless S., Maomao and Qiuqiu are a dim-witted, villainous general and corporal duo like Big M. and Little M., etc.). This gives it the distinction of being a Chinese cartoon ripping off ''another'' Chinese cartoon. The Baike Baidu page for ''Flower Ambassador'' can be found [[https://baike.baidu.com/item/花花使者 here]].
39* ''Animation/TheLegendOfLuckyPie'' is a stylistic knockoff of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' produced by a handful of young Chinese animators. It stars a humanoid boy named Lucky Pie and a shape-shifting horse named Lucky Ge who go on adventures in a strange fantasy land.
40* ''[[https://awfulmovies.m.miraheze.org/wiki/The_Little_Lion_King_3D The Little Lion King 3D]]'', a Chinese mockbuster of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}''.
41* ''Animation/PakdamPakdai'' is a popular Indian cartoon that rips off ''WesternAnimation/OggyAndTheCockroaches'', which is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff popular in India itself]]. Every single character in ''Pakdam Pakdai'' is an {{Expy}} of the characters in ''Oggy'', and both rely heavily on the use of {{Slapstick}}.
42* ''Animation/MiracleStar'' is perhaps the most well-known foreign knockoff cartoon out there. It is infamous for being a blatant bootleg of ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', going so far as to steal several character designs and scenes from that show. The creators of ''Gumball'' responded by making [[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS5E11TheCopycats an episode]] where the Wattersons meet the knock-off characters, who make money by copying everything they do and posting videos on the internet.
43* ''Animation/Block13'', a Kuwaiti knock-off of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. It used the same paper cutout art style as ''South Park'', and also stole that show's main characters and gave them Arab clothes to hide the fact that they originally weren't Kuwaiti characters. It is LighterAndSofter compared to ''South Park'', though.
44* ''DinoMaster Duel Dinosaur Card'' was a Thai knock-off of ''Anime/DinosaurKing'', which had its own accompanying card game. It was most notable for featuring the K'z'k Tuskhorn, a fictional dinosaur from [[Website/SpecWorld the Speculative Dinosaur Project]], as one of the dinosaurs, apparently because the creators thought it was real.
45* ''Animation/CrazyCandies'' is meant to be China's answer to ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', with the characters having similar personalities and the series having a similar hyperactive feel to it. The knockoff aspect is more pronounced in Season 1, which outright tries to copy some episode plots and plot points from ''[=SpongeBob SquarePants=]'' - for example, Season 1 episode 28, "I Want Big Muscles", is literally just "[=MuscleBob BuffPants=]" in terms of its basic plot and in some of the scenes.
46* ''Animation/DobyAndDisy'' is a knockoff of ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'', borrowing much of the same FakeInteractivity and starring such characters as the Magic Pen [[CompositeCharacter in place of the Map and the Backpack]] and Casesar the cat as the CaptainErsatz of Swiper (he has a SwiperNoSwiping catchphrase that's used against him, too - "Bad Caesar, go away!"). This mellowed out in the later seasons, where it became its own thing.
47* The first season of ''Animation/FlowerAngel'' is a fairly straightforward knockoff of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'', having the first episode start with An'an looking out the window and noticing magic much like Sakura, the fairy cards in ''Flower Angel'' bearing quite a resemblance to the Clow Cards in ''Sakura'', and some character personalities, among other things. It starts to become more of its own thing in Season 2, shedding the ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' shtick and telling a more original story with more unique elements.
48* ''WesternAnimation/TheFruitties'' had aired for a full run once in the early 90s in Malaysia, but were popular enough that in 1998, a local ripoff called ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2T3yTJitJ4 Frootees]]'' premiered.
49[[/folder]]
50
51[[folder:Eastern European Animation]]
52* ''The Samsondazes'', a Georgian knock-off of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', abeilt in {{Cel Shad|ing}}ed CGI and poorly animated. Have a look at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmODJ2tpBO8&vl=en-US the intro]].
53* ''Veli'', a Russian cartoon similar to ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''. Protagonist Veli is sent to live with his grandmother to learn the native language of Tatar. In the village, he makes friends and foes, and also has adventures that include mythical creatures.
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Films — Animation]]
57* Everything ever made by Creator/DingoPictures.
58* Everything ever made by [[http://www.videobrinquedo.com.br/ Brazilian company]] Creator/VideoBrinquedo, responsible for:
59** ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatoing}}'' for ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}''
60** ''[[WesternAnimation/BeeMovie Little Bee]]''
61** ''[[Franchise/{{Cars}} Little Cars in the Big Race]]''. It did well enough for Video Brinquedo to make a few sequels and a ''[[TheMusical live stage musical adaptation]]''.
62** ''WesternAnimation/{{Gladiformers}}'' (Franchise/{{Transformers}})
63** ''WesternAnimation/TheLittlePandaFighter'' for ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1''
64** ''[[WesternAnimation/WallE Tiny]] WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}''
65** ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Up}} What's Up? Balloon to the Rescue]]''
66** ''[[WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens Little and Big Monsters]]''
67** For its English dubs, Video Brinquedo uses 4Kids' regular voice actors.[[note]] When Lisa Ortiz was asked about doing a voice for ''Ratatoing'', she responded: "The strangest thing about that is... is that you've heard of it."[[/note]]
68* Everything ever made by Creator/SparkPlugEntertainment, the American equivalent of Video Brinquedo:
69** ''[[WesternAnimation/BeeMovie Plan Bee]]'' is a blatant ShoddyKnockOffProduct of ''the WesternAnimation/BeeMovie''. Like most Spark Plug Entertainment mockbusters, the plot is only loosely based on the original.
70** ''WesternAnimation/SpidersWebAPigsTale'' (''WesternAnimation/CharlottesWeb'', only a billion times MindScrew-ier).
71** ''WesternAnimation/ACarsLifeSparkysBigAdventure'', a ripoff of ''Franchise/{{Cars}}'' (with the title being an obvious swipe from ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife''). ''Car's Life 2'' came out just in time to rip off ''WesternAnimation/Cars2''. And then there's ''A Car's Life 3'', which has Creator/SeanSchemmel on the cast list.
72** ''Bug Bites: An Ant's Life'', the first 3D mockbuster and a rip-off of both ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}''.
73* [[http://wownowentertainment.com/ WOWnow Entertainment]]'s catalogue includes "Planes with Brains" (''WesternAnimation/{{Planes}}''), "Dance!" (''WesternAnimation/{{Sing}}''), ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6558518/ The Funny Life of Pets]]'' (''WesternAnimation/TheSecretLifeOfPets''), and ''Kung Fu Masters'' (''Franchise/KungFuPanda'').
74* Because of the problems between South Korea and Japan, anime was not available to Koreans for a time. Because of this, in the '70s and '80s, the South Korean animation industry produced many films that were ripped off from mecha anime and toys. Later, a fella by the name of Joseph Lai and his company, IFD,[[note]]The same folks who brought us the Film/GodfreyHoNinjaMovies and, in turn, [[WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob Pierre Kirby]][[/note]] bought up the rights to some of these films, dubbed them into English, and edited bits and pieces of them together into new, incomprehensible forms like ''Animation/SpaceThunderKids''. The more obvious ripoffs include:
75** ''Iron Man 007'' (''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'')
76** ''Captain of Cosmos'', AKA ''Johnny Destiny: Space Ninja'', AKA ''Space Black Knight'' (''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'')
77** ''Mazinger X'' (''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', surprisingly enough)
78** ''Protectors of Universe'' (''Anime/MazingerZ'')
79** ''Raiders of Galaxy'' (''Anime/MazingerZ'' again)
80** ''Savior of the Earth'' (''Film/{{Tron}}'')
81** ''Space Gundam V'' (''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'')
82** ''Super Kid'' (''Manga/DragonBall'')
83** ''UFO Alien Ride'' (''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'')
84** ''Wonder Princess'' (the ''Series/WonderWoman'' series, down to the TransformationSequence)
85* From Thailand, videos released by [[https://www.youtube.com/user/happy2doo/videos GM Toons.]] While some of them are based on traditional fairy tales, others are obvious knockoffs of Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon movies like ''WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}''. If it's not Disney, then it's ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' and... ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}''?
86* ''WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheTitanic'', both animated and based off [[Film/Titanic1997 some sinking boat movie]]. The former has [[InNameOnly some Mexican mice and a rapping dog]], the latter a giant talking octopus that saves everybody, magical moon-tears that allow people to talk to dolphins, and a ''sequel''.
87* Creator/MondoTV (the same people who did ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheTitanic'') also did [[WesternAnimation/SuperLittleFantaHeroes a version]] of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', where EVERYONE is SparedByTheAdaptation (yes, even Frollo). [[note]]Not only that, but [[spoiler: Phoebus and Fleur get turned into hunchbacks, Djali gets turned into a [[HumanityEnsues human girl]] for Gringoire to marry, and Quasimodo becomes handsome and Esmeralda marries him, while a redeemed Frollo performs the wedding ceremony]]. Yes, really - see for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55qW04A6aFs[[/note]]
88* Examples from Creator/UAVEntertainment:
89** There's an animated film called ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfTheHunchback'' that came out after Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' and even features talking, singing gargoyles.
90** The same company also made ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfAnastasia'' just as Don Bluth's ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' was released in theaters. Especially odd in that they weren't satisfied ripping off just ''one'' movie, but they also ripped off ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' by having the rest of the royal family transformed into talking musical instruments!
91** They also did ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfMulan'', a version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' where all the characters are insects (thereby also ripping off the same year's ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' in the process).
92** They've also done ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingFeatsOfYoungHercules'', ''WesternAnimation/MosesEgyptsGreatPrince'', ''WesternAnimation/YoungPocahontas'', and ripped off ''Cinderella'', ''Pinocchio'', and others. They even made a Christmas special called ''Christmas in Cartoontown'' (re-released as ''The Night Before Christmas in Cartoontown''), which, while not knocking off a specific film, puts some of their fairy tale characters in a Christmas setting.
93* Some of Creator/RenegadeAnimation's films: ''WesternAnimation/ChopKickPanda'', ''WesternAnimation/TappyToes'' and ''Puss in Boots: A Furry Tale''. This is sad for a company that has done plenty of notable professional work such as for ''WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi''.
94* Yet another ''Kung Fu Panda'' knockoff comes from Lionsgate in the form of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVkNIvILRD8 Legend of Kung Fu Rabbit]]''. The title character looks like a cross between [[WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball Richard Watterson]] and a [[Franchise/FinalFantasy Moogle]], and Music/RebeccaBlack is one of the voice actresses.
95* ''WesternAnimation/LifesAJungleAfricasMostWanted'' from Phase 4 Films is a clear mockbuster of ''Franchise/{{Madagascar}}'', down to sharing a near-identical name with ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar3EuropesMostWanted''.
96* Right when ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' hit the big screen in 2012, a DVD called ''Braver'' started appearing on UK shelves, with a remarkably familiar front cover featuring a red-haired heroine in a green dress standing in front of a circle of standing stones. It turns out this one isn't even a knockoff; it's an entirely unrelated 2005 movie called ''A Fairy Tale Christmas'' [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491718/ (IMDB page here)]] which was hastily repackaged and re-released to cash in. The new cover and title have nothing to do with the movie at all, and the main character Angela is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed princess who wears pink, making her look more like [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Aurora]] than Merida. [[http://www.richardcobbett.com/journal/movie-time-braver/ Review here.]] This one (and other repackagings by the same company called ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Tangled Up]]'' (actually a repackaging of ''WesternAnimation/BritannicasTalesAroundTheWorld''), ''[[Franchise/{{Cars}} The Little Cars]]'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog The Frog Princess]]'') led to a successful infringement lawsuit by Disney in the UK, which may put a stop to this trope there.
97* The same thing also happened to ''WesternAnimation/HelpImAFish'', which, while not a mockbuster itself, was re-branded as ''A Fish Tale'' for its English-language video release (complete with ''terrible'' [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5175t929s1l_ac_uf8941000_ql80.jpg cover art]]), to piggyback on the popularity of ''Finding Nemo'' and ''Shark Tale''.
98* There's another attempt to rip off ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' called ''Kiara the Brave'', which was originally a completely unrelated Indian animation called ''Super K''. The title character, Kiara, barely appears, and only gets pushed because she's a red-headed princess.
99* Early in 2012, ''Back to the Sea'' was released, which is essentially ''Finding Nemo'' '''[[RecycledInSpace AS AN ANIME!]]''' Bonus points for the CoversAlwaysLie, which paints it as a CGI movie along the lines of ''Finding Nemo'' or ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale''… even though the actual special uses 2-D animation.
100* Many of the movies made by Creator/GoldenFilms. [[http://goldenfilmsmedia.com Website here]]. Their version of ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' notably combines elements from both the [[Anime/TheLittleMermaid 1975 anime]] and the [[WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}} 1989 Disney film]].
101* Creator/{{Lionsgate}}'s ''[[http://youtu.be/ogGAfyTLJvc Wings]]'' blatantly does this to ''WesternAnimation/{{Planes}}''. Including the logo.
102* In a [[SubvertedTrope Subversion]], some overseas-edited versions of ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'' were advertised as a Mockbuster of ''{{WesternAnimation/Aladdin}}'' under the title "Arabian Knight". The subversion here is that the former started production ''well'' before the latter. By about ''[[DevelopmentHell THIRTY YEARS.]]'' It's a complicated and very sad story.
103* Similar to what happened with ''The Thief and the Cobbler'', this happened to ''The Legend of Sarila''... which is better known by its other title ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}} Land''. While the logo and title are ripoffs of ''Frozen'', the actual film has no similarities other than them both taking place in snowy environments. The logo was so blatantly ripped off that Creator/{{Disney}} [[http://blog.wdwinfo.com/2014/01/18/walt-disney-settles-trademark-lawsuit-over-frozen/ sued]] over it, forcing American distributor Phase 4 Films to change it back to the original name.
104* ''WesternAnimation/Cinderella3D'', despite the name, is a Mockbuster of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}''. Both feature animals in a Western setting that ride birds. It only came out a year after ''Rango'' was made, and it shows.
105* ''Jungle Master'', a CG-animated ripoff of ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' with Music/VictoriaJustice in the lead.
106* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zen6Pt4WYNA The True Story of Puss 'N Boots]]'', an obvious cash-in on the ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' franchise, and starring Creator/WilliamShatner of all people.
107* The American-Japanese studio Creator/JetlagProductions has produced several ripoffs of Disney movies, such as ''[[WesternAnimation/CinderellaJetlagProductions Cinderella]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPocahontasIndianPrincess Pocahontas]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeautyJetlagProductions Sleeping Beauty]]'', and a version of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameJetlagAnimation The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' where Quasimodo and Esmeralda become an OfficialCouple. They also featured (among others) voice actors from Creator/TheOceanGroup such as Creator/IanJamesCorlett and Creator/AndreaLibman before they rose to prominence in the voice acting world.
108* ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419704/ Donkey Xote]]'' is a blatant Mockbuster of ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', even admitting on its front cover that it's "from the producers who saw Shrek".
109* ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485096/ Way of the Panda]]'' (also known as ''The Prodigy''), a rip-off of ''Franchise/KungFuPanda''.
110* ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4839424/ The Autobots]]'' (no, not [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} THOSE]] Autobots), a Chinese movie that rips off ''Franchise/{{Cars}}''. Disney successfully sued them for copyright infringement. [[CoversAlwaysLie Don't be fooled by the Pixaresque promotional art]], as the actual animation [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP6RPRnYIII looks like it was made in the 1990s]].
111* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bikes}}'' is a fairly blatant ripoff of ''Franchise/{{Cars}}''.
112* Not content with plagiarizing live-action films, Creator/TheAsylum later started making animated mockbusters. As of 2020, their animated catalogue consists of ''[[WesternAnimation/FindingDory Izzie's Way Home]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Trolls}} Trolland]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/Cars3 CarGo]]'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Onward}} Homeward]]''.
113* ''The Adventures of Panda Warrior'', ''another'' rip-off of ''Franchise/KungFuPanda''.
114* ''Hedgehogs,'' a Chinese animated film whose main character and [[StrangledByTheRedString obligatory love interest]] resemble VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog and Amy Rose. Said main character starts as a [[MascotWithAttitude Sonic expy]], but then [[EasyAmnesia loses his memory]] and the film becomes a RandomEventsPlot with elements that rip off ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'' and ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6''. The voice cast includes [[WebVideo/{{Smosh}} Anthony Padilla]] and... ''Creator/PatrickSeitz''?![[note]]What makes this funny is that Seitz had already done voice work for the ACTUAL Sonic games two years before this film came out, having voiced Lyric in the ''VideoGame/SonicBoom'' games![[/note]] WebVideo/{{Saberspark}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btJfFljUnmE takes a look at it here]].
115* ''Animation/AdventuresInZambezia'' by the South African Triggerfish Animation Studios was marketed in the United States as this to ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}''. Both films feature blue birds in exotic locations and obscure bird species.
116** ''Birds of Paradise: [[Film/MeetTheFockers Meet the Flockers]]'' was released on DVD around the same time as ''WesternAnimation/Rio2''.
117* The aformentioned ''[[https://mockbuster.fandom.com/wiki/Leo_The_Lion:_King_Of_The_Jungle Leo the Lion: King of the Jungle]]'', a ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' mockbuster.
118** ''WesternAnimation/LeoTheLion'', another Lion King ripoff.[[note]]Neither of these films have anything to do with [[Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion the anime series of the same name]].[[/note]]
119** ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleKing'', yet another Lion King ripoff.
120* China Film Group's ''Pets United'' is a bizarre case. From the title you'd guess a ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretLifeOfPets'' ripoff, but you'd only be half-right. The other half is ''Animation/NextGen'', of all things.
121* ''WesternAnimation/HerculesPureMagic'', a cheap animated movie that was made in 1997, around the time of [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} another high-profile Hercules animated movie]].
122* Subverted with ''Warriors of the Wind'', the infamous {{Macekre}} of Creator/HayaoMiyazaki's ''Anime/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', which had a [[CoversAlwaysLie newly-designed and misleading cover]] that rips off multiple '80s blockbusters, in an attempt to pass the film off as a mockbuster of, among other things, ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'', ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', and even ''Film/{{Jaws}}''. The German title of this cut is even called ''Sternenkrieger'' or "''[[Franchise/StarWars Star Warriors]]''", with one of the French titles being ''La Princesse des Etoiles'' or "''The Princess of the Stars''" (are you sure that is not Princess Leia?).
123* ''WesternAnimation/HerculesandXenaTheAnimatedMovieTheBattleforMountOlympus'', while based on the shows ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', is obviously this to Disney's ''{{WesternAnimation/Hercules}}'', complete with the Titans as major villains.
124[[/folder]]
125
126[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
127* ''{{Film/Gamera}}'' is a unique case of a mockbuster becoming its own series.
128* Creator/TheAsylum is a company that mostly makes mockbusters and bad "Christian" movies, and are quite cynical about it. In fact, there's a [[http://www.theasylum.cc/blog/2009/06/were-moving/ news article]] on their website that states (and these are the ''actual words they use'') "We've decided to use some of the billions of dollars we've made ripping people off..." The majority of the examples in this section are Asylum productions. A blog entry advertising a sale on their films: "You'd have to illegally download to get a better deal than that... but then you'd just be stooping to our level...". Their DVD covers have quotes from uncredited sources, which is illegal, unless they're making those up, too.
129** ''[[Film/TenThousandBC 10 Million B.C.]]''
130** ''[[Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin The 18 Year-Old Virgin]]''
131** ''[[Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]''
132** ''[[Film/TwoThousandTwelve 2012: Doomsday]]''
133** ''The Almighty Film/{{Thor}}'', featuring a Thor with an Uzi. Asylum, you've done it again!
134** Universal successfully sued The Asylum for their movie ''American Battleship'' for being too obvious of an attempt to fool viewers into thinking it's ''Film/{{Battleship}}''. The Asylum had to change the name of their movie to ''American Warships'', though this is less than the result Universal were hoping for. It's still rented and sold in many countries as ''American Battleship'', though (and damned if you can find out who made the film from its cover; it's nowhere to be found).
135** ''Film/AbrahamLincolnVsZombies'', presently buried in the [[GuiltyPleasure fun]] part of Netflix.
136** ''[[Film/{{Prometheus}} Alien Origin]]''
137** ''[[Film/ThePredator Alien Predator]]''
138** ''Film/AndroidCop'' is a BuddyCopShow ripoff of ''Film/RoboCop2014'' starring Creator/MichaelJaiWhite.
139** ''Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls'', which re-purposes the classic character as an ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' CaptainErsatz.
140** ''Film/AvengersGrimm'' (it was released around the same time as ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' and, according to Website/TheOtherWiki, it's meant to be a mockbuster of both that and ''Series/OnceUponATime''). It even spawned a sequel, titled ''[[Film/SuicideSquad2016 Sinister Squad]]''.
141** ''[[Film/AVPAlienVsPredator AVH: Alien Vs. Hunter]]'', which despite its source pulls out a surprising twist ending. [[spoiler: The hunter aliens are humans...from another planet]].
142** ''Film/AtlanticRim''. The monsters attack [[BigApplesauce New York]]. When it was released on disc in June 2013, its page on Amazon.co.uk had a note saying (approximately) "Were you looking for ''Film/PacificRim''? Click here to be notified when the real thing comes out." It's also notable for being (as of this writing) the most recently-released film to be featured on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
143** ''[[Film/BattleLosAngeles Battle of Los Angeles]]''
144** ''Bone Alone'' (''Film/HomeAlone'' if Kevin [=McCallister=] was a dog)
145** ''Film/Bound2015'' is an obvious attempt to cash in on ''Film/FiftyShadesOfGrey''
146** ''[[Film/TheDaVinciCode The Da Vinci Treasure]]''
147** ''[[Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill2008 The Day The Earth Stopped]]''. Notable for prompting Fox to take legal action, though said case was dismissed -- if The Asylum is good at one thing, it's at avoiding true infringement.
148** ''Film/DeathRacers'' (the cover art of which also bears a strong ''Film/DeathProof'' influence). Note that Violent J of the Music/InsaneClownPosse, who stars in this movie, said that it is "the bootleg ripoff fake version" of Death Racers at the 2008 Gathering of the Juggalos. Interestingly, it is a ripoff of a remake but is closer to the original than said remake.
149** ''Film/HalloweenNight'' was a cash-in on ''Film/Halloween2007'', down to a SuspiciouslySimilarSong of the franchise's iconic theme tune.
150** The Asylum were given a court order preventing them from releasing ''The Age of Hobbits'' three days before ''Film/TheHobbitAnUnexpectedJourney''. How did they think they'd get away with that, when "Hobbit" is a trademark of the Tolkien estate? Because "Hobbits" in their title refers to ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis Homo floresiensis,]]'' '''obviously'''.
151** ''[[Film/IAmLegend I Am Omega]]'', which even also bills itself as an adaptation of the book ''Literature/IAmLegend''. Their choice of "Omega" is interesting because ''Film/TheOmegaMan'' was the title of a previous film adaptation of ''I Am Legend''.
152** ''[[Film/JackTheGiantSlayer Jack the Giant Killer]]''
153** ''Film/Jailbait2014'' is a mockbuster of ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack''. They even have on the front of the DVD box, "In the vein of Orange is the New Black".
154** ''[[Film/JungleCruise Jungle Run]]''
155** ''King of the Lost World'', which claims to be based on Creator/ArthurConanDoyle's book ''Literature/{{The Lost World|1912}}'', but is a clear ''Film/KingKong'' ripoff. In fact, the cover art even goes so far as to point out that Doyle's book inspired ''Film/KingKong1933'' (which is true but hardly justifies such ridiculousness). It also says that the "story" it's based on inspired ''Franchise/JurassicPark''!
156** They released an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' ''The Land that Time Forgot'' released just in time to counter the ''Film/LandOfTheLost'' movie.
157** The Mega Shark franchise got in on the action with an ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' mockbuster entitled ''Mega Shark vs. Kolossus'', in which Mega Shark fights a HumongousMecha version of the Colossal Titan. The Japanese release is even called ''Mega Shark vs. the Titan''. The company eventually produced a movie outright ''titled'' ''Attack On Titan''... which was a [[InNameOnly completely unrelated]] sci-fi film about a war on one of Saturn's moons.
158** A modern adaptation of ''Literature/MobyDick''. Ahab (Creator/BarryBostwick) is a Navy captain who repurposes his high-tech submarine to track down Moby Dick, here a prehistoric whale the size of an aircraft carrier, after it took his leg decades ago. Despite being made by Creator/TheAsylum, it's not half-bad and features [[ShownTheirWork many references to the original story]].
159** ''Monster Island'' cashes in on ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' and ''Ape vs. Monster'' does the same for ''Film/GodzillaVsKong.'' Although both of the blockbusters here take place in [[Franchise/MonsterVerse same universe]], their respective Asylum counterparts have nothing to do with each other, to the extent that they each star Creator/EricRoberts as a completely different character.
160** ''[[Film/ParanormalActivity Paranormal Entity]]''. Its sequel ''8213: [[MonsterClown GACY]] HOUSE'' is apparently some kind of ''Film/ParanormalActivity2'' rip-off. It was actually released in the UK as ''Paranormal Entity 2'' (though it's more likely that it was due to the John Wayne Gacy case not being as well known outside the US).
161** ''Planet Dune'' has sand worms on a desert planet, but has a completely different plot and setting to ''Film/Dune2021''.
162** ''[[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Pirates]] of Literature/TreasureIsland''. "We're not stealing from Disney; they're stealing from Stevenson!"
163** ''Film/PrincessOfMars'' made it out while the legitimate ''Film/JohnCarter'' adaptation was still stuck in DevelopmentHell. Was originally a mockbuster of ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', but was re-titled and released after the actual ''John Carter'' film came out. Starring ''Traci Lords'' in the title role.
164** ''Film/SirArthurConanDoylesSherlockHolmes'' came out a month after ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009''. Featuring Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'') as Dr. Watson, [[CoolVsAwesome Holmes investigates a case with tentacle monsters, androids, dinosaurs, and robot dragons]] setting fire to Parliament. Attempts RuleOfCool to the twenty-third power. Asylum can use the name since he's a PublicDomainCharacter. Also of note; despite using a character whose [[http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/d#a69 entire works]] are available for free online, they apparently couldn't even be bothered to spend five minutes skimming [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes the Wikipedia article;]] in this film, Sherlock's name isn't actually Sherlock, his brother's name is not Mycroft; the brother worked as a detective alongside Lestrade instead of founding the Diogenes Club...
165** ''[[Film/SnakesOnAPlane Snakes on a Train]]''. Incidentally, that one ''did'' provoke a lawsuit.
166** ''Film/{{Universal Soldier}}s'' (note the plural)
167** ''The Franchise/{{Terminator}}s'' (Again, note the plural).
168** ''[[http://www.theasylum.cc/product.php?id=174 Titanic II.]]'' It's not a sequel to ''Film/{{Titanic|1997}}'', though, but a ''new'' film about a ''totally different'' ship called the ''[[TemptingFate Titanic 2]]''.
169** ''Film/{{Transmorphers}}'' and ''Transmorphers: Fall of Man''. Although the funny thing about this is that the ''Transmorphers'' movies are ''Terminator'' ripoffs with a ''Film/{{Transformers|FilmSeries}}''-sounding name. In fact, it blatantly steals elements from the ''Transformers'' films (the robots do transform, albeit badly and slowly, and they are extraterrestrial in origin), The ''Matrix'' trilogy (insofar as fashion) and the ''Terminator'' films (particularly ''[[Film/Terminator3RiseofTheMachines Rise of The Machines]]'' and ''[[Film/TerminatorSalvation Salvation]]''). Trifecta! For the toys, there is Beast Tech Fighter, Quick Change, etc.
170** ''Film/SundaySchoolMusical'' to ''Film/HighSchoolMusical''. Also TheMoralSubstitute!
171** It took them less than a week to announce that they would produce a film cashing in on ''Film/CocaineBear'' titled ''Attack of the Meth Gator''. Crazily enough, that one is also VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory.
172* Following in Creator/TheAsylum's footsteps is [=TomCat=] Films LLC, the filmography of which is largely mockbusters:
173** ''Metal Man'', aka ''Iron Hero'', which is a mockbuster of the first ''Film/IronMan'' film but features bad characterization, dodgy special effects and suits, and even Reggie Bannister of ''Phantasm'' fame--not only the creator of the Metal Man suit but a complete asshole and the dickish mentor of the movie's hero.
174** ''Film/TheAmazingBulk'', notable for having mundane settings such as alleyways and house interiors represented as cheap green screen/CGI. It memorably features a "climactic" chase scene that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT-qB3XmzH8 primarily consists of The Bulk running through badly rendered stock CG settings]] past random CG figures, ranging from koalas, Robin Hood and kids playing soccer to ''geckos working on laptops''. (Trailer can seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywaR-Lq_ayk here.]])
175** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA-hOZLGFSQ Aliens vs Avatars]]'', aka ''Aliens vs Aliens''
176** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j1yGm7LtUk Thunderstorm: Return of Thor]]'' is an interesting case. While it cashes in on ''Thor'', the company has revealed that the character is loosely based on the public domain counterpart seen in Fox Syndicate.
177** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdOh5MSSbuo Avenging Force: The Scarab]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrU79gL9-H8 Rise of the Black Bat]]'', and ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2387413/ Captain Battle: Legacy War]]'' are loosely based on their public domain comic characters while cashing in on other superhero movies, notably ''The Dark Knight Saga''.
178** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUtm45Qqgfc Twilight Hunters]]''
179** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDfw0Fbr_RE Star Quest: The Odyssey]]'', AKA ''Space Trek''.
180* Bruno Mattei is the director of a number of mockbusters. For an extensive look into Mattei's films, check out ''[[http://thecinemasnob.com/categories/263/the-bruno-mattei-show.aspx The Bruno Mattei Show]]'', in which Creator/BradJones discusses the man's filmography with [[Creator/DarkMazeStudios Ed Glaser]], [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Noah Antwiler]] and other friends. It's quite insightful into how a mockbuster comes to be. For that matter, Bruno's career consists almost entirely of Nazisploitation and Mockbusters, though these were never mutually exclusive. It's almost too bad he's dead - his ripoff of ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' would be... something. The best known are:
181** Back in 1989, there was ''[[Film/ShockingDark Terminator II]]''. Which was actually released before the official sequel. Humorously enough, ''Terminator II'' is actually a ripoff of ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.
182** ''[[Film/{{Predator}} Robowar]]'' with Creator/RebBrown.
183** ''Film/{{Jaws}} 5 (Fourteen More to Go)'', ripping it off almost word for word.
184** ''Film/HellOfTheLivingDead''. Not content with trying to shoehorn the movie into Romero lore, Bruno Mattei lifted much of the soundtrack from ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978'', as well as ''Contamination'' (which is a ripoff of ''Alien''). Even the uniforms are similar to those in ''Dawn.''
185* If Creator/TheAsylum are the poster boys for mockbusters in the 21st century, then Creator/AmericanInternationalPictures was this for films in the mid-20th century. This studio churned out low-budget [[BMovie B-movies]] from the 1950s to the 1970s aimed towards teenagers who liked Rock and Roll. The films were typically made through a concept and a movie poster first before any script was made.
186** ''Film/TheAmazingColossalMan'' and ''Film/AttackOfThePuppetPeople'' are this to ''Film/TheIncredibleShrinkingMan'' the former having an inverted plot.
187** ''Film/TheSheCreature'' was this for ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'', both revolving around an aquatic humanoid monster.
188** ''Film/EarthVsTheSpider'' is this to both ''Film/{{Tarantula}}'' and ''Film/TheFly1958'', with the film's title being changed to ''The Spider'' in order to cash in with the latter film.
189** ''Film/EmpireOfTheAnts'' is an InNameOnly adaptation of the short story by Creator/HGWells. Instead of adapting that story, the film instead goes ahead and rips off the premise for ''Film/{{Them}}''.
190** ''Film/{{Meteor}}'' didn't seek to rip off a specific film, but rather it was one of many [[DisasterMovie disaster movies]] that were made to cash in on Creator/IrwinAllen's blockbuster disaster movies. It even has an AllStarCast consisting the likes of Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/NatalieWood, and Creator/HenryFonda.
191* Late in 2010, Eric Parkinson, former president of Hemdale (which also made the first ''Terminator'' movie), tried to make a cheap CGI animated spin-off of the franchise called ''Terminator 3000'', but production on that movie was halted due to a cease-and-detest letter he received from Pacificor, the then-current owner of the ''Terminator'' franchise rights. However, Eric [[WordOfGod claims]] that he kept the animation rights to the franchise under Hemdale when he sold the live-action sequel rights to Carolco in 1990, and that he took those rights with him when Hemdale closed down.
192* Somehow, the obscure ABoyAndHisX film ''Film/TheDirtBikeKid'' managed to receive one: ''Film/TheSkateboardKid'', which shares similar cliches but makes the "X" a skateboard that came to life [[LightningCanDoAnything after being struck by lightning]] instead of a [[SentientVehicle motorcycle with a mind of its own]].
193* ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' (the title is public domain now) actually got two mockbusters to go with the [[Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds Spielberg film]]. One of them actually follows the original story by HG Wells by setting the invasion in UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain.
194* After the ''Film/{{Juon}}'' franchise had two DirectToVideo features, two theatrical movies, and an American remake on the way, ''Film/JuRei'' came along to copy it as an [[NoBudget even cheaper]] DTV version than the first two were.
195* ''[[Film/{{Twister}} Tornado!]]''
196* Certain ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''-featured films such as the ''[[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan]]''-inspired ''[[Film/CaveDwellers Ator]]'' series, ''Film/Escape2000'' (in which people try to '''Leave the Bronx''' instead of Film/EscapeFromNewYork), ''Film/MadMax''-alikes ''Film/WarriorOfTheLostWorld'' and ''Film/CityLimits'', Japanese ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' clone ''Film/TimeOfTheApes'', ''Film/{{Hobgoblins}}'' ('''not''' ''Film/{{Gremlins}}''), ''Film/PodPeople'' (whose name invokes ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'', while the aliens look like ''Series/{{ALF}}'' and the plot is ripped right out of ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'') and ''Film/OperationDouble007'' a.k.a. ''Operation Kid Brother'' (featuring an all-star cast of ''Film/JamesBond'' veterans and starring ''Neil'' Connery, Creator/SeanConnery's brother). ''Escape 2000'' is a sequel to a ''Film/TheWarriors'' knock-off named ''Bronx Warriors''.
197* Everything ever made by [[http://www.branscomeinternational.com/ Branscome International]]. Keep 'em coming, we're not going anywhere.
198* ''Alien 3000'' for ''Film/{{Alien}}''
199* Erotic Indonesian movies in general. [[http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Playboy_Galau A few]] [[http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_Pocong_Perawan notable]] [[http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Bean_Kesurupan_Depe examples.]]
200* The Italian-produced ''Film/Alien2OnEarth''. Incidentally, this is [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the originally conceived plot]] for [[Film/Alien3 the third movie]].
201* Italy is also responsible for the ''Franchise/StarWars'' ripoff ''Film/{{Starcrash}}'', which somehow has a Music/JohnBarry soundtrack and stars Christopher Plummer - and Creator/DavidHasselhoff!
202** ''Starcrash'' may be more (in)famous, but ''The Humanoid'' beats it for sheer plagiarism. Whenever possible, props and costumes (and even entire ''scenes'') are copied wholesale from ''A New Hope'', to the point that ''Starcrash'' seems completely original in comparison.
203* ''[[Film/HighSchoolMusical High School Musical: Sunday School]]'', which is also a blatant rip-off of ''Sunday School Musical''. A mockbuster of a mockbuster?
204* ''[[Film/TheDayAfterTomorrow After Impact]]''.
205* This was a big problem in Italy during the SpaghettiWestern craze of the Sixties. The relaxed copyright law in Italy at the time meant as soon as a character got popular, knockoff movies would appear claiming to star that character. Django, Sabata, and Sartana were famous for having their names recycled in knockoffs. (They couldn't do this to the most popular SpaghettiWestern character ever, for [[NoNameGiven reasons]] which are quite obvious if you think about it a little, but it didn't stop one film claiming to be "The Return of Clint the Stranger".)
206* While ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387541/ Curse of the Ring]]'' doesn't have anything to do with ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' movies, and is in fact originally called ''[[Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen Ring of the Nibelungs]]'' - the plot being based on the Sigfried/Brunhilde/Fafnir saga - the movie's marketing and even logo font really, REALLY tries hard to be mistaken for a Lord of the Rings movie.
207* Almost everything released by Video Asia, the masters of InNameOnly Sequels. One of the worst offenders, they don't even make their own mockbusters: they just rerelease old foreign movies with different titles.
208** The obscure, forgettable late '80s movie ''Hells' Heroes'' was changed to ''Inglorious Bastards 2: Hells' Heroes''. WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob [[http://thecinemasnob.com/2009/08/28/inglorious-bastards-2-hells-heroes.aspx reviewed it.]]
209* ''Film/MacAndMe'', a 1988 ripoff of ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' best remembered for its aggressive ProductPlacement for UsefulNotes/McDonalds, Coke, and some other stuff. Ironically, unlike most of these examples, ''Mac'' was released by a (semi-)major studio: Creator/OrionPictures. It was a rare misstep for them, coming as it did in the middle of a string of highly successful films, including four Best Picture Oscar winners[[note]]''Film/{{Amadeus}}'', ''Film/{{Platoon}}'', ''Film/DancesWithWolves'' and ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs''.[[/note]]
210* ''Film/TheManWhoSavesTheWorld'' and many other Turkish ripoffs of then-popular movies. The Man Who Saves the World is often called "Turkish Star Wars" because it ''steals footage directly from Star Wars''.
211* ''Seytan'' aka "Turkish ''The Exorcist''" is literally a shot-for-shot remake (a pre-teen girl raised by a divorced actress gets possessed by an evil being) with a few minor, culture-related tweaks [[note]]The Father Merrin expy is an Imam, the Karras-expy is a psychologist who writes about the occult, the Holy Water comes from the Zam-Zam Well in Mecca, the crucifix for ''that scene'' is replaced by a devil-headed letter-opener, Pazuzu has been replaced by a cheesy paper-mache devil-''Gamera'' that's implied to be Satan himself, it ends with the Regan-expy and her Mom visiting the Hagia Sophia mosque, etc.[[/note]], a lesser budget, and the constant use of "Tubular Bells" in the soundtrack which is bound to be illegal.
212* There were at least two Indian ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' films produced, complete with musical numbers: B. Gupta's version, which is simply called "Superman" and is pretty much a straight-up remake of the original 1970s movie with Christopher Reeve (except for the fact that Superman has telekinesis in addition to his other superpowers); and ''Telugu Superman'', in which a young boy watches as his parents are murdered in front of him and seeks guidance from Hanuman, who grants the boy great powers.
213* ''[[Film/TheKingsSpeech The Real King's Speech]]'', notable for injecting irony straight into the veins of the audience.
214* ''Gargantua'', a 1998 TV-movie cashing on the then-recent ''Film/{{Godzilla|1998}}''.
215* Somewhat unfairly, the original ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' movie was accused early on of being a rip off of ''Star Wars'', presumably on the basis that after ''Star Wars'' debuted, any movie set in space was ripping off ''Star Wars''. Legal action was even threatened - but sensibly quickly dropped when it became clear that a setting in space was really the only obvious link between the two.
216* [[DistaffCounterpart Lady]] Franchise/{{Terminator}}--basically the same as its namesake, but instead of an android, it's an archaeologist possessed by the Queen of the South Sea. Other than that, according to WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob, if you haven't seen ''Terminator'', but you've seen ''Lady Terminator'', you've seen ''Terminator''.
217* ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'' was ripped off by ''Cowboys and Vampires'' and ''Cowboys and Zombies''.
218* ''[[http://a.dv1.us/p1/062/001062-d0.jpg Bloody Murder]]'', which is about a group of young people hired to fix up and act as the counselors of a secluded summer camp with a dark past involving a drowned boy. Unfortunately for them, a maniac adorned in a hockey mask starts knocking them off. [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Sound familiar?]] There's even a character named Jason. When he disappears, we get several scenes of people asking "Where's Jason?" or "Have you seen Jason?"
219** 1981 saw the release of ''Srigala'', an Indonesian rip-off of ''Friday the 13th'', which goes as far as doing a shot-for-shot recreation of the infamous ending scare.
220* ''Chihuahua: The Movie'' is audacious enough to admit that it's a film for those who like ''Film/BeverlyHillsChihuahua''.
221* ''3 Dev Adam'' (''Film/ThreeBigMen'') is an InNameOnly 1973 Turkish film featuring three famous (and extremely unauthorized) superhero characters: ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/SpiderMan, and Wrestling/ElSanto. [[AdaptationalVillainy Spidey, of all people, is actually the sadistic ''villain'' of the piece.]]
222* ''Series/{{True Blood}}thirst'', seen on (where else?) Creator/{{Syfy}}.
223* The Film/GodfreyHoNinjaMovies are this for the ninja movie craze that existed at the time.
224* Subverted with ''Film/BoyEatsGirl''; it was never intended to be a ''Film/ScaryMovie'' mockbuster, but its Scandinavian title, ''Scary Video 5'', gives the impression of this (''four'' ''Scary Movie'' movies had been made at the time when ''Boy Eats Girl'' went on video).
225* ''Poseidon Rex'', a monster film featuring an amphibious dinosaur that threatens the human race. It had been on DVD since October 2013, but it was given a special theatrical release in April 2014 to get some more publicity in the wake of the hype surrounding ''Film/Godzilla2014''.
226* ''Film/TheDevilWithinHer'''s plot is very similar to ''Film/RosemarysBaby'', and one of its alternate titles is ''Sharon's Baby.''
227* ''Codename Wild Geese'' - cunningly disguised as a sequel to ''Film/TheWildGeese'', complete with Lewis Collins--who was apparently fired off ''Film/WildGeeseII'' for his role in the rip-off, having had a contract with Wild Geese producer Euan Lloyd.
228* ''Film/TheBlackCobra'' is a {{Blaxploitation}} ripoff of ''Film/{{Cobra}}''.
229* ''Film/SupersonicMan'' is a Spanish clone of ''Film/SupermanTheMovie.''
230* The popularity of ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' led to it getting a number of foreign knock-offs, among them ''Night Killer'' from Italy, ''Satan's Bed'' from Indonesia, ''Mahakaal'' and ''Khooni Murda'' from India and ''Don't Panic'' from Mexico.
231* ''Film/TheBlackGodfather'' is a {{Blaxploitation}} knockoff of ''Film/TheGodfather''.
232* ''The Tramps in Planet Wars'' (or Os Trapalhoes Na Guerra Dos Planetas, to give it its original title), a Brazilian rip-off of Star Wars. To be fair, it's more of a parody than a direct rip-off.
233* ''Return of Mr. Superman'', a 1960 movie from India, in which Superman's superhero costume is made up of slacks, a heavy sweatshirt, a skull cap and goggles, and the plot is non-existent.
234* ''Alyas Batman en Robin'' is a 1991 Filipino musical-comedy film which spoofs [[Series/Batman1966 the 1960s Batman television series]].
235* ''Yarasa adam - Bedmen'', a 1973 film also known as "Turkish Batman & Robin", in which Batman is a smirky, big-haired guy who smokes, uses a gun, frequents strip clubs (with Robin in tow), roughs up women, and habitually screws around behind his girlfriend's back.
236* The 1968 Mexican movie ''The Batwoman'' - despite the title, Batwoman is pretty much Batman, if Batman were a lady in a skimpy outfit who was also a great wrestler.
237* ''Badi'' is a 1983 Turkish remake of Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial, which for some reason makes ET into a terrifying, shambling garbage pile.
238* ''Turkish Superman'', featuring [[BlatantLies amazing special effects]] such as filming a Ken doll dressed in a Superman costume in front of a tracing paper background which projected looped images of Istanbul on to the paper.
239* A 2003 low-budget, direct-to-video science-fiction feature called ''Film/{{Absolon}}'' (starring Christopher Lambert, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Ron Perlman) bears several stark similarities to the bigger-budget 1995 ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'' (with Keanu Reeves). Both movies similarly take place in an early-21st century "near future" where the majority of the planet is either infected or killed by a lethal plague (known as "Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS)" in ''Johnny Mnemonic''; "Neurological Degeneration Syndrome (NDS)" in ''Absolon''). Both movies revolve around a giant, all-powerful pharmaceutical MegaCorp selling expensive treatments to combat the plague, and each movie's protagonist is unwittingly tasked with carrying material for a permanent cure within their bodies and must be delivered in a short period of time before it kills them.
240* ''Film/HanselAndGretelWitchHunters'' for some some reason had several copycat films like ''Film/HanselAndGretelWarriorsOfWitchcraft'', ''Witchslayer Gretl'', ''Film/{{Hansel and Gretel|2013}}'' (which got [[Film/HanselVsGretel a sequel]]) and ''Film/HanselAndGretelGetBaked.''
241* A film titled ''Film/NaziOverlord'' was released four days after (and appears to be quite similar to) Creator/JJAbrams' supernatural WWII horror flick ''Film/Overlord2018''.
242* In Germany, the direct-to-video film ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Unicorn The Little Unicorn]]'' is known as ''Das letzte Einhorn kehrt zurück'' (''Film/TheLastUnicorn returns'')
243** And the BMovie ''Killer Fish'' is known as ''Film/{{Piranha}}s 2''.
244* ''Film/OurFriendPower5'' uses aliens dressed as Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles, fighting inside of a [[WesternAnimation/TransformersGoBots Go-Bot]], as the protagonists. The toys, similarly, are ''Ninja Turtles''-figures remolded and down-scaled packaged with a ''Go-Bot'' bootleg figure. Hilariously, the characters based on [[TheMentor Master Splinter]] are the ''villains''.
245* ''Metamorphosis'', Italian knockoff cinema's 1990 answer to ''Film/TheFly1986'', oddly has a much more complicated plot and a larger number of significant characters than the movie it's cashing in on, perhaps to compensate for the low budget (and thus poor makeup/visual effects work) and how generic said characters are. The most obvious is that the lead is not an eccentric, dorky, lonely physicist who slowly becomes a TragicVillain due to a drunken lapse in judgment, but a blandly handsome MadScientist determined to prove to the world that his de-aging serum works and ends up slowly becoming a reptile-man who kills near-randomly in the meantime.
246* ''Film/JurassicCity'' is a vague ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' knockoff set in a prison.
247* ''Film/TheLittleMermaid2018'' isn't a true mockbuster, however its marketing made it resemble a [[Film/DisneyLiveActionRemakes live-action remake]] of the [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Disney adaptation]].
248* There was a glut "Krampusploitation" films that followed in the wake of ''Film/{{Krampus}}'', with examples including ''Krampus: The Christmas Devil'' and its sequel, ''Krampus: The Reckoning'', ''Krampus Unleashed'', ''Krampus Origins'', ''Mother Krampus'' (which is actually about a similar entity called Frau Perchta) and its unrelated sequel, ''Mother Krampus 2: Slay Ride.''
249* One of the more infamous runs on this trope was in 1989, when multiple sci-fi movies set underwater were made and released to capitalize on Creator/JamesCameron's ''Film/TheAbyss''. That movie was released in August -- but ''Film/DeepStarSix'', ''Film/Leviathan1989'', ''Film/LordsOfTheDeep'', '''and''' ''The Evil Below'' beat it, arriving in January, March, June, and July respectively (the last direct to video)! ''The Rift'' arrived the following year. As discussed by Drew [=McWeeny=] and Scott Weinberg on ''Podcast/EightiesAllOver'', because Cameron's previous film was ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' many assumed that the secrecy-shrouded ''Abyss'' would be [[RecycledInSpace that movie underwater]]. Ergo, ''[=DeepStar=] Six'' and ''Leviathan'' are ''also'' direct ripoffs of the ''Alien'' films (even the tagline for the former started with "Not all aliens come from space"). The twosome had an advantage though -- unlike most mockbusters they were major studio releases afforded enough money to come out as reasonably good-looking [[BMovie B-movies]], and have their own fans.
250* ''Film/{{Dune|2021}}'' got one in the form of ''Dune Drifter'', which amusingly is also an unofficial DelayedReleaseTieIn given it released the same month as ''Dune'''s intended December 2020 release date (before being delayed by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic). From ''Film/{{Colin}}'' director Marc Price (and featuring a similar NoBudget aesthetic), it actually received [[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dune_drifter some rather positive reviews]] from critics, though [[CriticalDissonance audiences were less pleased]]. A second unrelated mockbuster, ''Dune World'' (which just so happens to be the title the ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' novel used in its original serialized form), was released in 2021.
251* Creator/BruceLee is perhaps the only person to have an entire mockbuster sub-genre--known affectionately as [[BruceLeeClone "Brucesploitation"]]-- built in his image. After Lee's unexpected death mere weeks before the release of his biggest hit, ''Film/EnterTheDragon,'' distributors began desperately trying to capitalize on his popularity using similar-looking actors who adopted stage names like Bruce Le, Bruce Lei, and Bruce Ly. Others tactics were to use "Bruce or "Dragon" in the title, or use stock footage of the real Bruce and disproportionately advertise that. The thing is, the Bruce Lee's actual pre-''Enter the Dragon'' movies were getting re-released at this time, along with episodes of ''Series/TheGreenHornet'' edited into feature films and his posthumous performance in ''Film/GameOfDeath,'' so the endless deluge of fake Bruces was genuinely liable to trick audiences into thinking they were getting the real thing.
252* ''Guardian of the Universe'' is a weird time-travel direct-to-DVD movie that ''just happens'' to have a cover showing the main characters pointing blasters with a backdrop of planets, and a logo ''exactly'' like that of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014''.
253* The Film/SyFyChannelOriginalMovie ''Film/DragonFighter'' is essentially ''Film/JurassicPark'' but with a dragon.
254* The 1995 Platform/MetroManilaFilmFestival entry ''Film/MagicKombat'' not only directly lifts characters and scenarios from 8- and 16-bit video games popular in the Philippines around that time, but also names the two protagonists after the Mario brothers as well.
255* British production house Signature Entertainment released [[Film/TheThreeMusketeers2023UK their own version]] of ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' (with a small budget, Creator/JamesCosmo as the UsefulNotes/CardinalRichelieu, a [[RaceLift black D'Artagnan and an Indian Milady]]) digitally and on DVD in March 2023, just a couple of days before the theatrical release of the first part of the much higher profile and higher budgeted [[Film/TheThreeMusketeers2023 French production]] by Creator/{{Pathe}}.
256[[/folder]]
257
258[[folder:Literature]]
259* The Russian/Eastern Bloc books series ''Literature/TalesOfTheMagicLand'' is a downplayed example: the first book was heavily based on ''Literature/LandOfOz'' series by L. Frank Baum. However, the later installations differ more from Baum's works. In some editions, in the afterword the author, Volkov, acknowledges the 'inspiration', but more often than not this was omitted when printing. As the series was published in 1939, this makes it OlderThanTelevision - though barely so.
260* OlderThanRadio: For a long time, VictorianLondon publisher Edward Lloyd made killings from such works as ''[[Literature/OliverTwist Oliver Twiss]]'' and ''[[Literature/ThePickwickPapers The Penny Pickwick]]''.
261* In the present day, whenever a children's book series becomes popular, one can usually expect other, similar, series to be created as well. This is normally just a case of FollowTheLeader, but there are times when it veers straight into mockbuster territory. For some reason, ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' seems to get this a lot-- witness ''[[https://www.amazon.com/Diary-Private-School-Kid-ebook/dp/B01M6TMTNM Diary of a Private School Kid]]''.
262[[/folder]]
263
264[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
265* The Hamas-made kid's show ''Series/TomorrowsPioneers'' features characters who are blatant ripoffs of American cartoons, though said characters are given radical Islamist twists by the writers.
266* Belarus' state-owned television station briefly produced and ran a sitcom called ''The Theorists'' which was about a group of nerdy physicists who befriend their attractive female neighbor. Yes, it was an unauthorized copy of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''. Creator/{{CBS}} and Creator/WarnerBros had actually begun legal proceedings when the cast and producers of ''The Theorists'' discovered their show was a ripoff [[note]]the higher-ups at the station had told them that it was a legitimately licensed remake, which was not true. [[/note]] and quit en masse, forcing its cancellation.
267* The direct-to-video series ''Series/PeppermintPark'' is a particularly blatant Mockbuster of ''Series/SesameStreet''.
268* ''Series/MegaPowers'', a ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' knockoff.
269* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryamaan_-_Brahmaand_Ka_Yodha Aryamaan - Brahmaand Ka Yoddha]]'', an Indian knockoff of ''Franchise/StarWars''. It is a rare case of a movie franchise being ripped off by an entire TV series. The show itself is referred to by its producer as "an Indian version of the famous ''Star Wars''", but it's such a blatant knockoff that it can't even be considered a "version of" ''Star Wars''. Aside from the obvious lightsaber knockoffs, the opening also is the famous OpeningScroll ([[RecycledInSpace but in Hindi!]]), the "Thar Planet" is very clearly a Tatooine knockoff, there is a superweapon that resembles the Death Star with a grimacing face, the robot Tobot bears a striking resemblance to C-3PO, [[EarthShatteringKaboom a planet is seen being destroyed in Alderaan fashion]], the king's [[MarryThemAll multiple wives]] wear saffron robes very similar to those of Padme's handmaidens...
270* ''A Special Series/SesameStreet Christmas'', despite not actually being made by [[Creator/SesameWorkshop the (then) Children's Television Workshop]], was licensed by them, and the producers got to use the set and some of the cast. This doesn't entirely justify giving the DVD a mock-up of actual ''Sesame Street'' DVD trade dress. (It also uses Music/MichaelJackson's brief appearance for WolverinePublicity.)
271* ''Series/TeleChobis'' is a rip-off of {{Series/Teletubbies}}. This show's network, TV Azteca, was sued by the BBC for copyright infringement, causing the show to be cancelled.
272* ''Series/TimeBomb'', an Indian RealTime SpyDrama which had so many similarities to ''Series/TwentyFour'' that the makers of the latter sued.
273* ''Series/Ben7'' from Indonesia, riffing from the obvious, ''WesternAnimation/Ben10''.
274* ''Series/FaerieTaleTheatre'', one of the first TV shows to release all of its regular episodes on VHS to expand its reach beyond pay cable, saw a knockoff in 1984: The direct-to-video series ''Enchanted Musical Playhouse'', which also retold fairy tale and picture book stories in live-action with name performers; even the cover art and series logo were similar. The main differences were that the stars were B-list at best (Marie Osmond, Paul Williams, etc.), the four episodes produced were only 30 minutes apiece as opposed to ''Faerie Tale Theatre'''s 40-to-55 minute runtimes, and as the title suggests all of them were TheMusical. Later in the decade, and crossing mediums, Creator/TheCannonGroup's "Cannon [=MovieTales=]" series (which was intended for theaters but saw most of its exposure on video and cable) was another blatant imitation; it not only hired high-profile performers and had similar cover art for most of the VHS releases, but all nine of the produced films adapted stories that ''Faerie Tale Theatre'' already covered, making it even easier to confuse the two series!
275* ''Series/WhereInTheWorldIsCarmenSandiego'': Like clockwork, A total ripoff of the game show called ''Di Mana Joe Jambul'' was made in Malaysia in the late 90s. Aside from Carmen Sandiego changed to the titular Joe Jambul (who is also a Manga/LupinIII wannabe) as well as the rest of her crew changed out, the animated segments were all done in an extremely cheap and low-resolution manner using UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash, and the lack of a live music band, the game otherwise plays out just like the US counterpart.
276* Some game shows have their name changed or undergo slight localizations when exported, making them look like they fall into this trope. For example, ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' was exported into Malaysia officially as ''Roda Impian'', and had considerable differences in the set design, but the rules otherwise remains unchanged.
277[[/folder]]
278
279[[folder:Music]]
280* At the start of UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion, an unscrupulous record company discovered their band The Coachmen V had covered the song "[[Music/TheBeatles I Want to Hold Your Hand]]", and promptly released their album under the title, ''The Beetle Beat'', changing the band's name to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buggs#The_band_with_the_album The Buggs]], with ad copy hyping "the original Liverpool sound" and "the year of Beetle-mania!" The band had not been notified of this change and were very unhappy. The record, with a cover mimicking the design of ''Music/WithTheBeatles'', did indeed fool many an unwary customer. Notably, Music/MarkMothersbaugh bought the record as a child and was so affronted that it later inspired him to write the Music/{{Devo}} song "U Got Me Bugged".
281[[/folder]]
282
283[[folder:New Media]]
284* "Did You Know Gaming" is a Website/{{Tumblr}} blog featuring little-known facts about video games. "Did Y'''''uo''''' Know Gaming" is a Tumblr blog featuring humorous, false facts about video games.
285* The Tumblr "Imagine Your OTP" lists romantic scenarios for [[{{shipping}} shippers]] to insert their favorite pairings into. Similarly to the above example, a simple typo reversing a letter gets you to the parody blog. "Imagine Y'''''uo'''''r" OTP lists twisted, overly violent, or just plain bizarre situations that only a {{troll}} shipper would want to imagine. The blog still manages to get asks from users who confused it with the original and wonder why a romantic shipping blog would post such creepy scenarios.
286* There are definitely many expies of the ''WebVideo/AngryVideoGameNerd'', but the only one who really qualifies as a mockbuster is Isvaffel, mainly because his earlier videos from 2009 have "Angry Video Game Nerd" of the video (and he kept that title in the intro).
287[[/folder]]
288
289[[folder:Pinball]]
290* Many of Creator/{{Premier}}'s pinballs from TheEighties fall under this trope, with themes blatantly copying popular movies and television shows of the time. Examples include
291** ''Pinball/BoneBusters'', a knockoff of ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}''.
292** ''Deadly Weapon'', a knockoff of ''Film/LethalWeapon''.
293** ''Pinball/ElDoradoCityOfGold'', a knockoff of ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' and ''Film/RomancingTheStone''.
294** ''Gold Wings'', a knockoff of ''Film/TopGun''.
295** ''Pinball/HollywoodHeat'', a knockoff of ''Series/MiamiVice''.
296** ''Pinball/{{Raven}}'', a DistaffCounterpart to ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}''.
297* Creator/DataEast's ''Pinball/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' is ostensibly based on [[Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera the novel by Gaston Leroux,]] but was released just as [[Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera the Broadway musical]] was a theatrical sensation.
298* Bally's ''Pinball/StrangeScience'' intentionally invites comparisons to films such as ''Film/WeirdScience'' and ''Film/RealGenius''.
299* Subverted with [[Creator/WilliamsElectronics Williams']] ''Pinball/AttackFromMars'' - A common misconception is that the game is a rip-off of ''Film/MarsAttacks'', but neither is derived from the other, and the pin came out ''before'' said movie.
300* [[Creator/WilliamsElectronics Williams']] ''Pinball/StellarWars'' and ''Franchise/StarWars''.
301[[/folder]]
302
303[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
304* A planned mockbuster of ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' entitled ''Vampire: Undeath'' did the rounds in November 2012, giving rise to an [[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?665698-Holy-White-Wolf-Ripoff-Batman!/ enormous]] [=RPGnet=] thread and threats of a FrivolousLawsuit (and rumours of a not-so-frivolous lawsuit on the part of Creator/WhiteWolf). Highlights included an iconic character (apparently ''Undeath'''s answer to Samuel Haight) who resembles the illegitimate spawn of [[Fanfic/MyImmortal Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way]] and the [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall '90s Kid]]. [[SoBadItsGood How bad is it?]] [[http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15765.phtml Here's a review.]]
305[[/folder]]
306
307[[folder:Theater]]
308* Since the source novel is in the public domain, musical versions of ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' ran rampant in the 1990s (regional tours, community theaters, etc.) to cash in on Creator/AndrewLloydWebber's adaptation -- enough so that ''Time'' magazine did a whole article on the phenomenon. But not ''all'' of them qualify as this trope: Ken Hill's version is the one that inspired Lloyd Webber to take his own stab at the story in the first place, and Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit's ''Phantom'' was actually written around the same time as Lloyd Webber's but couldn't get produced until afterwards due to the competition. One of the mockbusters was videotaped and later released on [=DVD=], and the Phantom Reviewer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9MwZiSrx4M took it on]].
309* Similarly, a few stage musical versions of ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' appeared around 1996, perhaps hoping to compete with a ScreenToStageAdaptation of the Disney movie, which was considered likely in the wake of ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''. Disney's version had a successful theatrical adaptation in Germany in 1999 but had not been staged elsewhere until 2014.
310* [[http://www.cirqueproductions.com Cirque Productions]] and [[http://www.cirquedestin.com/ Le Grand Cirque]] are companies that are this to Creator/CirqueDuSoleil (seriously, compare the websites), to the point that the former was [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope sued for using "Cirque" in their name]]; it didn't work, since that's just the French word for "circus". Judging from reviews at Ticketmaster's website, the former's shows have successfully tricked ticket buyers who didn't do the research and thought they saw an actual CDS show (ironically, CDS would later acquire them in 2018). It doesn't help that, until 2006, CDS tours only visited major cities, and thus knockoff troupes could make hay by visiting places that weren't. As well, knockoffs often have extended runs in casino-heavy towns like Atlantic City and Reno, as opposed to Las Vegas, where the real deal has put down roots.
311* If a popular fairy or folk tale gets adapted into a Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon film, expect a knockoff stage version to tour the children's theater/school group circuit soon after, and perhaps be available to community theaters after that. ''[[http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=ENCHANTMEN The Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast]]'' is a good example.
312* The album of ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'' was released before the theatre show or movie were, resulting in multiple adaptations touring the stages before the official release.
313* The same thing happened with ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}''; even before [[Theatre/Frozen2018 the actual musical adaptation]] officially reached Broadway, there were at least a few unlicensed musical adaptations making the tour circuit across North America for a few years. ''Frozen in Time'' is one such example, though it's more of a revue than a straight adaptation.
314[[/folder]]
315
316[[folder:Video Games]]
317* Creator/{{Gameloft}}:
318** The company applies a similar concept to video games, where they release shameless copies of well-known franchises (usually on cellphones); the difference here is that their games are usually quite well-made (although some of them, most notably the Mac OS X and 3DS ports of ''Gangstar: Miami'' and ''Asphalt'', respectively, were met with negative reception, being that they were lazily ported--especially ''Gangstar'', having outdated graphics compared to [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto the ones they were imitating]]). One of their more interesting examples is ''Franchise/{{Shrek}} Kart'', which copies ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' but replaces the cast of well-known characters with a ''different'' cast of well-known characters rather than a bunch of CaptainErsatz's (unlike with most of their games).
319** Another thing that makes Gameloft less of a negative thing than other examples on this page: almost all of the games they copy have not yet been released on cellphones/iOS, so they serve a positive role in bringing the genre to mobiles, instead of just competing with better alternatives. Being an affiliate of Creator/{{Ubisoft}}, they're able to use their licenses such as ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' and ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms'' to make mobile/iOS games as well.
320** An even ''more'' interesting example: their clone of the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries''. Wait for it... it's a ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' licensed game. So they just copied Franchise/{{Batman}} using a ''[[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy different]]'' incarnation of Franchise/{{Batman}}.
321* There is a web game called ''[[VideoGame/AngryBirds Chick'n Bash]]''. It's especially odd because there are plenty of other web games in the "smash the tower" genre that have vastly different aesthetics from ''Angry Birds''.
322** There's a similar one called ''Chicks'n'Vixens''.
323** On the non-avian side, there's ''Angry Bunnies''.
324* An app known as ''[[http://www.tssznews.com/2013/08/23/ripoff-sonic-game-appears-on-ios/#comment-176320 Hedgehog Dash]]'' was released in 2013. It is a '''very''' blatant ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' rip-off. The logo for it is basically identical to the ''VideoGame/SonicDash'' logo. It disappeared just as soon as it came without any fanfare.
325* ''[[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/06/20/team-fortress-2-clone/ Final Combat]]'', the Chinese clone of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. Characters and gameplay were strikingly similar and even had their own "Meet the Team"-like videos online. However, it gets even worse when you realize that some weapon models and walk cycles were ripped straight from ''Team Fortress 2'', and one of the stages is a clone of the ''fan-submitted'' [=TF2=] map "Harvest".
326* In the same vein, ''VideoGame/XuanDouZhiWang'' is the Chinese interpretation of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' (but at least you can say the people making it genuinely like ''KOF'' because [[SubvertedTrope the gameplay isn't all that bad and they try something different, with very few blatant knockoffs and the characters being digitized polygonal objects instead of hand-drawn sprites]]). Creator/{{SNK}} themselves noticed it... and were actually impressed enough to let the game have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YARqFfmdhSQ Terry Bogard]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAKhh0iRsuo Benimaru Nikaido]] as {{Guest Fighter}}s under license.
327* Many of the unlicensed NES games made by Taiwanese company Sachen fit this category:
328** ''Rocman X'' (''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'')
329** ''Chinese Kung Fu/Challenge of the Dragon'' (''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'')
330** ''Arctic Adventure: Penguin & Seal'' (''VideoGame/AntarcticAdventure'', though it plays more like ''VideoGame/{{Pengo}}'')
331** ''Twin Eagle/Double Strike'' (''[[VideoGame/Area88 Area 88/UN Squadron]]'', not to be confused with Creator/{{Taito}}'s ''Twin Eagle: Revenge Joe's Brother'')
332** ''Sidewinder/Mission Cobra'' (''VideoGame/TwinCobra'' with elements of ''[[VideoGame/NineteenFortyTwo 1943: The Battle of Midway]]'', not to be confused with the later ''VideoGame/{{Sidewinder}}'' flight combat series or ''VideoGame/CobraMission'')
333** ''Pipe 5/Pipemania'' (''VideoGame/PipeDream'')
334** ''Huge Insect'' (''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'')
335** ''Pyramid'' (''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'')
336* Several console rip-offs, such as the [[Platform/PlayStation Funstation]], the [[Platform/{{Wii}} Vii]], the [[Platform/NintendoSwitch Nanica Smitch]], the Zone, the Reactor, the Wiwi and the V2, have been made.
337* There's ''VideoGame/PiratesLegendOfTheBlackBuccaneer'', which came out for the [=PS2=] on the heels of the success of ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl''.
338* A significant portion of the indie games one can find on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Nintendo eShop turn out to be rip-offs of popular games, past and present, including a particularly cheap ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' clone titled ''[=CastleMiner=]'' that even got a zombie-oriented sequel less than four months after its release. Before the Wii U received its own port of ''Minecraft'', the eShop was absolutely flooded with third-rate knockoffs.
339* The Chinese PC game ''Duludubi Star'' is a bizarre knockoff of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' with Mario replaced with a baby dragon, voice clips stolen from ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'', and JeopardyThinkingMusic, of all things.
340* Smartphone app ''3D Cartoon Land: Safari'', a transparent and horrendous imitation of ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''.
341* In December of 2012, Hammerpoint Interactive (one of their members, Sergey Titov, worked on ''VideoGame/BigRigsOverTheRoadRacing'') released a ridiculously poorly made MMO clone of the famous zombie mod ''VideoGame/DayZ'', creatively titled ''The War Z'' (later retitled ''Infestation: Survivor Stories''). Let's just say that many, ''many'' gamers were not amused. It was so broken, and the advertising filled with so many lies, that it actually was taken ''off of Platform/{{Steam}}'', and Valve offered a refund.[[note]]For clarification, this was at a time when refunds on Steam were ''very'' rare and were usually reserved for [[PortingDisaster completely-unplayable ports of high-profile console games]][[/note]] Six months development time (despite Hammerpoint insisting otherwise), the developers effectively ''banning people at random'' in an inane attempt to get rid of hackers, among other things, and ''a month'' before "release", their trademark over the game's name was taken away from them because of Paramount, who had their own trademark for an intended ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' game, and "The War Z" was obviously ''way'' too similar. Naturally, the response from Hammerpoint is to claim this is not the case, despite all evidence against them, until suddenly complying and changing the name as above.
342* ''[[VideoGame/UnearthedTrailOfIbnBattuta Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Battuta]]'' appears at first to be just another Action Adventure game, but playing it reveals that it's aped a lot of more popular games, with the ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' series being the main target.
343* That ''Hunchback'' had already been converted to the Platform/AmstradCPC didn't stop Blaby Computer Games from releasing ''The Bells'', which has the same premise and similar gameplay but painfully bad programming.
344* Taomee has made blatant knockoffs of popular browser online games like...
345** ''[[http://boke.61.com/ Boke]]'', a knockoff of ''Poptropica''.
346** ''[[http://gs.61.com/ Magic Monster]]'', a knockoff of ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters''.
347** ''VideoGame/MolesWorld'' is ''VideoGame/ClubPenguin'' [[RecycledInSpace BUT WITH MOLES INSTEAD OF PENGUINS!]] Its animated TV show and films have a more original identity, though. One of its spin-off games, ''Mole Kart'', rips off ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'' and does very little to change its tracks; its sequel ''Mole Kart 2'' is better in this regard.
348* ''Q Kitty Garden'' is partially a knockoff of ''Mushroom Garden''.
349* One of the oldest examples in video games is ''Crazy Kong'', a knockoff of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' with original programming. Surprisingly, this seems to have been the authorized arcade version of ''Donkey Kong'' in some parts of the world.
350* ''Franchise/MegaMan'' actually managed to do this to ''itself'', with the DOS version of ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', which is a completely different - and inferior - game to the NES ''Mega Man 3'', made by a different company. Not only was the game titled such to cash in on the original (to the point that there ''is no'' DOS ''VideoGame/MegaMan2''; they completely skipped over it,) but they invented a robot master that looks like the robot on the original cover (who is Spark Man in the NES game) to justify using the exact same cover.
351* Creator/{{Harcourt}}'s ''VideoGame/MegaMath'' EdutainmentGame series is a Mockbuster of Creator/{{Edmark}}'s ''VideoGame/MightyMath'' series. Not only do the two cover the same topics, many of the activities are very similar (e.g. using fiery explosions to teach fractions, using buried treasure to teach the number line), both have the Grow Slide feature, and ''the logos for each series have the same font!'' Ironically, after a series of buyouts, both series are currently owned by Houghton Mifflin (though only the ''Mighty Math'' series continues to be sold by them as it was the original).
352* No one actually owns the Tycoon trademark, so for every good tycoon game like ''VideoGame/RollerCoasterTycoon'' or ''VideoGame/ZooTycoon'', there are dozens if not hundreds of no-budget knockoffs pumped out to capitalize on the name. For example, ''School Tycoon'' is unrelated to ''Rollercoaster Tycoon'' but has a similar format, albeit revolving around school.
353* Creator/TitusSoftware, in their early years, produced the ''Classiques'' series of games for the Platform/AmstradCPC and other then-popular computers. These releases consisted of compilations of generic knockoffs of famous UsefulNotes/{{Arcade Game}}s.
354* The unlicensed Platform/SegaGenesis game ''Adventurous Boy'' is a Chinese knockoff of ''VideoGame/FantasyZone''.
355* The Platform/BBCMicro has a whole ton of rip-off clones of popular arcade games of the time, many of them produced by Acornsoft itself. Instead of ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'' we have ''Zalaga'', ''VideoGame/{{Frogger}}'' became ''Hopper'', ''VideoGame/{{Asteroids}}'' became ''Meteors'', ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' became ''Super Invaders'', ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' became (the less similar-sounding) ''Killer Gorilla'' and so on.
356* The Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and the Dragon 32 also used to have lots of knock-offs during the early times of their lifespan. Eventually, some mighty companies like Ocean Software bought the actual arcade rights to convert the games themselves and strove to remove knock-offs from the shelves, and the programmers of these knockoffs, no longer able to hide themselves behind clones, started creating their own original ideas.
357* ''Fit of Fighting'' and ''History of Martial Arts'' are ripoffs of ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' and ''VideoGame/FightersHistory'' with plagiarized graphics but a completely different engine.
358* ''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20140517113104/http://foxotic.com/ Foxotic]]'' was a MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineGame that appeared in late 2013 and advertised itself as a [[BlatantLies new original MMO for kids]]. Players were very quick to notice a sheer amount of elements copied from ''VideoGame/ClubPenguin'' and the [=MMOs=] [[FollowTheLeader it inspired]]: ''Pandanda'' and ''The Travels of Winglingon and Wenks Virtual World''. It was later discovered that the owner used ''Foxotic'' as a setup for a scam targeting freelance artists. Fortunately, ''Foxotic'' was never released beyond its beta testing stage and disappeared in early 2015.
359* There was once a video game company known as Creator/PhoenixGames, which hilariously touted itself as "The only European [[BlatantLies super budget]] publisher" [[note]]Even if it means that they live by making a quick buck from NoBudget video games, it's still lying, as it was Midas Interactive that pioneered such a business model[[/note]]. The quality of their games implies that their definition of "super budget" is very different from the usual. Many of their games are obviously trying to pass themselves off as video game adaptations of well-known Disney cartoons, including beloved classics like ''[[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White And The Seven Clever Boys]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}} Lion and the King 3]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}} Mighty Mulan]]'', and the infamous ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKZQb-jH-7A Dalmatians 3]]''.
360* The UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Puckman Pockimon'' is essentially a ''VideoGame/PacMan'' clone where the second player can control an OffModel [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]] head. The game's hardware, apparently manufactured by Chinese Platform/SegaGenesis bootleggers, is also used for ''Jue Zhan Tian Huang'', a bizarre, poorly-programmed remake of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' as a BeatEmUp.
361* A lot of Rainbow Arts' early output is this. They later abandoned their position once they established highly-selling original video game franchises.
362** ''Katakis'' for the Commodore Amiga is their rip-off of the video game ''VideoGame/RType''. Funnily enough, Irem found out about this, but since most Japanese publishers had trouble with programming for the Amiga, they hired Rainbow Arts to help port ''R-Type'' to the Amiga.
363** ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'' is this to the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', to the point where Nintendo actually sent in lawyers. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8teXm6723-g Behold.]]
364* On the Platform/ZXSpectrum, after the initial wave of UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame clones died off, [[http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/hsp.htm Harry S Price]] made something of a career of ripping off obscure commercial releases and type-in games from magazines, slightly modifying them and publishing them under different titles.
365* ''VideoGame/EvilNight'', an arcade RailShooter released by Creator/{{Konami}} in 1998, is very much a ripoff of Creator/{{Sega}}'s ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'', which came out the same year. The premise and several of the characters are quite similar (with two of the three protagonists being [[{{Expy}} obvious copies]] of Thomas Rogan and G). The game is ''clearly'' meant to piggyback off of the popularity of the franchise that inspired it, but it eventually spiraled into obscurity when ''House of the Dead'' fans christened it a "knockoff" and its problematic arcade hardware helped it disappear from arcades. The game later generated a [[CultClassic cult following]] of sorts.
366* The Ukrainian company Creator/GSCGameWorld, of ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'' fame, made a game called ''Warcraft 2000'' during the 1990s. This is a glorified mod of ''Warcraft 2'', sold as an official sequel. The plot is about grey aliens manipulating Orcs and Humans to wage war.
367* ''VideoGame/SuperFighter'': This was a mockbuster of Creator/{{Capcom}}'s ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' made by the Taiwanese company C&E in 1993. The developers even traced some character animations, lifted the sound effects and some music (though with some modifications) from the ''Street Fighter'' games and some of the characters are even borderline plagiarism of characters from those games with the most blatant being the Japanese Karateka Jaan (based on Ryu), the Russian wrestler Sarkov (based on Zangief), and the AnimeChineseGirl Phoenix (based on Chun-Li). It even has a spin-off called ''Super Fighter Block Battle'', which is a rip-off of ''Super Puzzle Fighter II X''.
368* ''Fur Fun'', originally known as ''Kewpie-Jazzy'', is a blatant ripoff of ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' and its SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee''. It has even been found with the former's assets in the game files, and the failed Kickstarter plagiarized the latter's own Kickstarter.
369* Most of the UsefulNotes/{{Arcade Game}}s released by Century Electronics for their "Convertible Video System" and/or as conversion kits for ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Scramble}}'' or ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' boards had gameplay more or less based on popular titles from MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeofVideoGames. Singled out by [[http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2014/01/century-electronicscvs.html this retrospective article]] as "big time" ripoffs are ''Cosmos'' (''VideoGame/AstroBlaster''), ''Logger'' (''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'') and ''Hunchback Olympic'' (''VideoGame/TrackAndField'').
370* Stellar Stone's ''Taxi Racer'', ''VideoGame/BigRigsOverTheRoadRacing'', and ''Midnight Race Club: Supercharged!'' are mockbusters of ''VideoGame/CrazyTaxi'', ''Hard Truck: 18 Wheels of Steel'', and ''VideoGame/MidnightClub'', respectively.
371* ''Super Jump World'', an iPhone game which lifts entire sections of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' and replaces Mario with a leprechaun, Goombas with beetles, and mushrooms with clovers.
372* ''Ultra Dario'', an Android Game which rips off ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''.
373* German game publisher RTL Playtainment made a knockoff of the [=JoWooD=] Productions title ''VideoGame/NeighboursFromHell''. This knockoff is just a licensed game based on the RTL TV show ''Höllische Nachbarn''.
374** In a funny way, [=JoWooD=] Productions would also make their own takes on RTL's skiing games with the ''Ski Racing'' series.
375** It gets even funnier, as the last ''Ski Racing'' title (''Alpine Ski Racing 2007'') from [=JoWooD=] was co-published with RTL Playtainment!
376* ''Legend of Titans'', a Chinese knockoff of ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'', which features nothing original and compensates with shameless {{Fanservice}} compared to the more tasteful kind found in the original.
377* The early FPS ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9q7cN90Tw4 Isle of the Dead]]'', no relation to [[Film/IsleOfTheDead the film of the same name]], incidentally, is a mockery of both ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' and Creator/{{Sierra}}'s point & click adventure games.
378* ''Spy Games: Elevator Mission'' for the Wii is a low-budget FPS take on ''VideoGame/ElevatorAction1'', with a touch of ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997''.
379* ''Zenda: The Linked Swords'', an extremely short knock-off of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series, down to the nameable hero who looks suspiciously like Link with orange clothes.
380* ''Monino'', a not very cleverly renamed clone of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''.
381* ''Super Daddio'' and its sequel ''Super Daddio 2'', a couple of Android Games which rip off ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. ''Super Daddio 2'' has better animation, and the coins are replaced with rings, but that's all that can be said about it.
382* ''VideoGame/DeadEffect'' which can be guessed which franchise the developers rip-off. Surprisingly, it was a couple of a pretty enjoyable FirstPersonShooter.
383* ''VideoGame/MobileLegendsBangBang'' starts as this to both ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' and ''VideoGame/ArenaOfValor'' until lawsuits made Moonton, the developer, revamp some of the character designs and art styles, but it's still largely look-alike, especially the interface which is almost the exact same as the latter.
384* After ''VideoGame/OnlyUp'' was delisted from Platform/{{Steam}}, [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/2562240/Only_Up/ a game with the exact same title]] developed by [=MoreMoto=] Games appeared on Steam on October 3d, 2023. It's an online multiplayer parcour game that seems to take inspiration from classic ''Platform/{{Roblox}}'' obbies. Needless to say, it only received 113 reviews, 8% of which were positive.
385* ''VideoGame/PowerBlade'', AKA ''Power Blazer'', was originally a ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' knockoff prior to [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore the US localization]], which refined the gameplay and replaced the Blue Bomber {{expy}} with an Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed lookalike]].
386* Another ''Mega Man'' knockoff was ''Shockman'', AKA ''Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman 2'', for the Platform/PCEngine[=/=]Platform/TurboGrafx16.
387* ''VideoGame/LeftAlive'' (no relation to ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'') is a critically-panned ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' knockoff, with characters ironically designed by ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' artist Yoji Shinkawa.
388* ''Race America'' was this for ''VideoGame/RadRacer'', which itself was a clone of Sega's ''VideoGame/OutRun''.
389* Capcom's ''VideoGame/CodenameViper'' was a blatant ripoff of Namco's ''VideoGame/RollingThunder'', ironically developed by an uncredited Arc System Works, who produced the NES port of the latter game.
390* The unlicensed Mega Drive game ''Barver Battle Saga: Tai Kong Zhan Shi'' knocks off the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise, and the Chinese subtitle even translates to "The Space Warrior", which is what ''Final Fantasy'' is known as in Taiwan.
391* The Platform/Atari2600 game ''Pac-Kong'', [[IHaveManyNames also known as]] ''Inca Gold'', ''Spider Maze'', or ''Spider Kong'', is a hideously awful mockery of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' with the villain instead being either a giant bird, giant octopus, or ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''-like arachnid/crustacean, and only a single repeating level layout.
392* The first game in the ''[[VideoGame/KunioKun Renegade]]'' series was a spiritual precursor to ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', but the Ocean-developed home computer sequels, ''Target: Renegade'' and ''Renegade III: The Final Chapter'', were terrible knockoffs of it.
393* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN0qDsp6YfY Duet]]'', AKA ''Commando '86'', for the Commodore 64 and other microcomputers, combines the military aesthetic of ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'' with the gameplay of ''VideoGame/{{Gauntlet}}''.
394* ''Rebel Raiders: Operation Nighthawk'' for the Platform/PlayStation2 and Wii is a bargain-bin ripoff of ''VideoGame/AceCombat''.
395* The Chinese MMORPG ''VideoGame/RocoKingdom'', created by Creator/TencentGames, is a glorified rip-off of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' with very similar ElementalPowers for the {{mons}} and capsules called Gulu Balls that are functionally equivalent to Poké Balls. Imagine ''Pokémon'' [[RecycledInSpace but in a medieval fantasy setting with ancient magic and evil mages and that sort of thing]], and you should have a basic idea. The game has nevertheless become popular enough in China to spawn an entire franchise with stuff like an animated film series and television show, also not unlike ''Pokémon''.
396* Spoofed by Creator/DevolverDigital with ''Devolver Bootleg'', a compilation of {{Video Game Demake}}s of various Devolver-published games. The joking pitch was that since people were already going to buy shoddy knockoffs of their games on the grey market, Devolver might as well beat the underground devs to the punch and control the grey market themselves.
397* ''Squirrel King'' for the Mega Drive is a knockoff of the NES ''VideoGame/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' game.
398* Open Corp. were basically the South Korean equivalent of Sachen. Their mockbusters include:
399** ''Koko's Adventure/Buzz & Waldog'' (''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'')
400** ''Jang Pung II'' (''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'')
401** ''Metal Force'' (''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'')
402** ''Twin Mouse'' (''VideoGame/TinyToonAdventures'')
403* ''Road Rage'' is an atrociously bad ripoff of the ''VideoGame/RoadRash'' series.
404* Idea Tek's ''F-15 City War'' for Famicom/NES is a piss-poor imitation of Sega's ''VideoGame/ThunderBlade'', with a jet fighter in place of the helicopter.
405* The failure of ''VideoGame/Battlefield2042'' allowed ''VideoGame/BattlebitRemastered'' and ''VideoGame/Clownfield2042'', two {{retraux}}, low poly clones of Battlefield to become a success on Steam (the former of which $27 million in two weeks).
406* ''Wolfschanze'' by Calaris Studios and its sequel ''Wolfschanze II'' by City Interactive is a pair of WWII FPS game that named suspiciously like ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}}'' series.
407* ''Gwisal-ui Geom'' was a Korean knockoff of ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', which was so poorly received it was pulled ''5 days'' after opening.
408* ''Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas'', a Finnish action-adventure video game which borrows heavily from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast,'' is more of a loving homage than anything else. Its sequel, ''Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm'', however, is a blatant knock-off of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', down to the UI and texturing.
409* ''Taxi Chaos'' by UsefulNotes/{{Shovelware}} developers Team6 is a poor man's ''VideoGame/CrazyTaxi''.
410* SNK's ''VideoGame/BurningFight'' shamelessly plagiarizes ''VideoGame/FinalFight'', down to the three player characters being expies of Guy, Cody, and Haggar.
411* ''Arcanoid Breakout'' for the Nintendo Switch barely conceals that it's a poorly programmed clone of ''VideoGame/{{Arkanoid}}'', with the first half of its title being just one letter away from copyright infringement.
412[[/folder]]
413
414[[folder:Web Animation]]
415* An InUniverse example with an entire show on ''WebAnimation/BrawlOfTheObjects'', the episode "Meet Your Match" is pretty much about this, since the contestants of ''Brawl of the Objects'' had to compete against - get this - [[CaptainErsatz their]] ''[[CaptainErsatz Battle of the Objects]]'' [[CaptainErsatz counterparts]].
416* ''WebAnimation/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheDarkFate'' is infamous for being a blatant bootleg of ''WebAnimation/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheStories'' and to some extent ''WebAnimation/FiveNightsAtFreddysForgottenEvents'', going so far as to steal several characters and scenes from those series.
417[[/folder]]
418
419[[folder:Western Animation]]
420* ''[[http://mockbuster.wikia.com/wiki/Dogmons! Dogmons!]]'', a ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''[=/=]''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' knockoff from the company behind ''Series/MegaPowers''.
421* ''WesternAnimation/FillyFuntasia'' is this towards the ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' TV shows, specifically ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship Is Magic]]''. The ''Filly'' name itself predates ''Friendship Is Magic'' (being around since G3) but remains this to the ''My Little Pony'' franchise as a whole.
422* ''WesternAnimation/SimbaENatoUnRe'' is an Italian series heavily inspired by three different Disney films: ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book|1967}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}''. It rips off its plot and character designs from all three. The same creators also made a series starring WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}} that shares many of the same elements, such as FamilyUnfriendlyViolence, [[EnergyWeapon gratuitous lasers]], and one hell of a GainaxEnding that makes [[HollywoodHistory the inspiration]] look like a primary source, mixed with [[ShownTheirWork surprisingly well-researched attempts]] at {{Edutainment}} about the lifestyles and cultures of various Native American tribes. [[https://youtu.be/qB9rfBSexTc Saberspark also covered this one.]]
423* ''WesternAnimation/MasterRaindrop'', an Australian blatant ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. It even has a [[PlayingWithFire fire user]] and his comic relief OlderSidekick pursuing the main group.
424[[/folder]]
425
426[[folder:Other]]
427* Several amusement parks that have been established in various parts of Asia are not-so-subtle ripoffs of a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland certain iconic American amusement park]]. Some [[http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/2010/09/nara-dreamland-japans-last-abandoned-theme-park/ no longer exist]], but others are [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Shijingshan_Amusement_Park still in operation]], complete with CaptainErsatz versions of characters such as Franchise/{{Shrek}}, WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, and Franchise/HelloKitty.
428* Ride/EuropaPark in Germany lifted a number of attraction ideas from Disney, with their iconic Euro-Sat sphere essentially being a Ride/SpaceMountain clone housed inside a Ride/SpaceshipEarth as well as having an Adventureland home to a Ride/JungleCruise clone among other things. There has been an effort in recent years to differentiate some of these attractions from their Disney counterparts with Euro-Sat taking on a [=CanCan=] theme and the "Universe of Energy" dinosaur attraction (taking its name and premise from another Epcot attraction) being retooled into "Madame Freudenreich Curiosités", which turned the dinosaurs into a little old lady's giant pets.
429* [[http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/9/97921/2338189-china-gundam.jpg The giant Chinese]] Franchise/{{Gundam}} statue knockoff, proving that China will pirate even HumongousMecha.
430* Although the original [[https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=145&pid=117854 Thorn Beta 5]] which launched in the 1980s (a British/Austrian street light) ceased production in 2008, the [[https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=4035&pos=46&pid=121306 Hardie Night Sight]] is seen as a very similar design, even though it's LED and not sodium-oxide technology. Road enthusiasts have noted the similarity.
431* The town of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilwaukee,_Michigan Zilwaukee, Michigan]]. It was named that by its founders, two brothers who built a sawmill there, to lure in workers who thought they were going to Milwaukee, which was experiencing a lumber boom at the time.
432* The ''Animation/NanaMoon'' virtual pet series is one of ''Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}'', with them being basically the same apart from the ''Nana Moon'' toys having an added plot of finding seven special treasures on top of raising your pet. They also both have animated television shows, though the one for ''Tamagotchi'' had a longer episode span (271 compared to ''Nana Moon'''s 52). The ''Nana Moon'' toys' production company, M&D, flat-out started producing proper knock-off ''Tamagotchi'' toys that combine ''Tamagotchi'' branding with the "[=QPet=]" branding also used for ''Nana Moon''.
433[[/folder]]
434
435[[folder:Parodies]]
436* ''Series/TheAmandaShow'' parodies this in a recurring sketch. People return movies they got from a movie store that are knockoffs of whatever they really want, created by a family of foreigners (which they always contend is "[[CharacterCatchphrase MUCH BETTER!]]"). The icing on the cake is that the store itself is a knock-off of Blockbuster, "Blockblister". And though almost never featured in the skits, on the boards behind the proprietors, there's almost always a Mockbustered-up title of a Nick movie: ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}} Rag Rats]]'', ''[[Film/HarrietTheSpy Harriet the Guy]]'', ''[[Film/GoodBurger Good Booger]]'' and ''[[Film/SnowDay Snowy Day]]'' (one skit actually has this featured).
437* ''Film/BeKindRewind'' is about a pair of video store owners who make their own mockbusters after all their tapes are destroyed, and become a massive success after their remakes grow wildly popular. Accusations of copyright infringement [[DidntThinkThisThrough cause the store to be closed down]].
438* ''ComicStrip/HsuAndChan'': Tanaka Bros Game Development does this with all their releases, including ''[[VideoGame/GranTurismo Bad Mileage]]'' and ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pocket Morons]]''.
439* ''WesternAnimation/{{MAD}}'' has been known to make parodies of these, such as ''[[Film/HighSchoolMusical Home School Musical]]''.
440* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' made fun of Mockbusters ''well'' before they were even a phenomenon, with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNOVdJ_2W5I Mr. Dibley sketch]], about a filmmaker who makes hideously bad, silent, one-reel versions of famous movies starring random people from shops.
441--> "Oh yes, well, I mean, there were some people who said my film ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' was similar to Creator/StanleyKubrick's. I mean, that's the sort of petty critical niggling that's dogged my career. It makes me sick. I mean, as soon as I'd made ''Film/MidnightCowboy'' with the vicar as Ratso Rizzo, Creator/JohnSchlesinger rushes out his version, and gets it premiered while mine's still at the chemist's."
442* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' parodies this in the WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail "unlicensed". One of the "licensed unlicensed" products Strong Bad appears in is movie knock-offs with titles like "The Secret Princess and Her Oppressive Authority Figure 4" or [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 "Jungle Animals in Decidedly Non-Jungle Situations"]] (the latter of which is advertised as "So [[DirectToVideo Straight to DVD]] It Hurts").
443* Referenced in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', as Gumball complains they can only afford movies like "How to Ratatwang Your Panda". It's a parody of Brinquedo in particular; the mice even resemble those of ''Ratatoing''. This became HilariousInHindsight when it came to light that a Chinese food company had produced [[Animation/MiracleStar a knockoff of the show itself]], swapping the Wattersons for goats (goat's milk is what's being advertised) and Darwin for a frog. This comes full circle with the episode "The Copycats" where the showrunners decide to deal with this little debacle in-universe.
444* An episode of ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'' reveals the Camden County Library is so underfunded that it can only afford knock-offs of literary classics. Not-''Franchise/{{Tarzan}}'' apparently features a tiger named Monkey.
445* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Mayored to the Mob" opens with the family watching ''Creator/RogerCorman's Titanic'' on the aptly-named ''Thousand Dollar Movie''. It has SpecialEffectsFailure, gratuitous nudity, and the ship resurfacing as some kind of monster!
446* On ''Series/InLivingColor'', this is the stock-in-trade of Funky Finger Productions, which is always looking for investors for their {{Blaxploitation}} knock-offs/unauthorized sequels to recent hits. ''Stank Ho'' is their answer to ''Film/PrettyWoman'', and they have test footage for a fourth ''Penitentiary'' movie on hand in another skit. Many have an JustForFun/XMeetsY twist: "''Theatre/TheWiz'' meets ''Film/{{Flatliners}}''", for instance.
447* In his ''Guardian'' column in 1998, Simon Hoggart comments that the Creator/Channel5 listings were all for "films that sound familiar but you haven't quite heard of", such as ''[[Film/LethalWeapon Total Weaponry]]'' and ''[[Film/FatalAttraction Deadly Attraction]]''.
448* Local hustler Cheddar Man from ''WesternAnimation/ClassOf3000'' was once shown peddling mock-busters in "The Hunt for Red Blobtober". With him starring in every role. He was last seen working on ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' in that episode.
449* In the ''[[Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers]]'' movie, this is the primary racket of Sweet Pete's Valley Gang, turning ktoons that cannot pay their debts to the mob (and thus are kidnapped) into legally distinct copies or mash-ups and shipping them overseas[[spoiler:, though they actually just keep them in the bay where the Valley Gang runs their operations]] to star in knockoff movies.
450* In the tenth episode of the [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020 Animaniacs reboot]], the Warners discover that Russia has created a knockoff version of not only their own show, but ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'', ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' and ''Series/MasterChef''.
451* ''Fanfic/ThePokemonSquad'': One episode was about a ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'' knockoff called ''Bernie and Pals'' that, much to Barney’s chagrin, was actually good (being hailed by the characters as ''Barney'' done right). The same company that made the ripoff was also said to have previously made bad knockoffs of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' and ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''.
452[[/folder]]

Top