History Main / DeniedParody

* ''Film/CorpseBride'' features Maggot, a talking worm who lives in Emily's eye socket that's clearly a LorreLookalike in appearance and demeanor. Creator/TimBurton claims he didn't even know Creator/PeterLorre's name when he designed the character, thinking it was just a stock character made up for old ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' shorts.

* Music/MonsterMagnet's "Space Lord" music video has a few very prominent elements in common with Mase's "Feel So Good" video, such as shots of the band driving around the Las Vegas strip, gratuitous celebrity [[TheCameo cameos]] [[note]]Mase had Chris Tucker and Sean Combs, Monster Magnet had [[Music/MarilynManson Twiggy Ramirez]][[/note]] , and dancers in matching sparkly skimpy outfits doing cheerleader-routine-style choreography as pyrotechnics go off and the band's name scrolls across lighted signs. At the time, the band claimed that they were parodying the GlamRap image in general and hadn't seen the Mase video until after they completed theirs - later on the director admitted that he tracked down specific locations used in the Mase video for the shoot. Of course both things could be true, if the band had come to the director with the general glam rap concept and the director decided to parody a specific video without spelling it out to them.

* Music/MonsterMagnet's "Space Lord" music video has a few very prominent elements in common with Mase's "Feel So Good", such as shots of the band driving around the Las Vegas strip and dancers in matching sparkly skimpy outfits doing cheerleader-routine-style choreography as pyrotechnics go off and the band's name scrolls across lighted signs. The band claimed that they were parodying the GlamRap image in general and hadn't seen the Mase video until after they completed theirs.

** Ever since the mid-nineties ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' has had a Denied Parody disclaimer slapped on the character of Kamran Shah. He definitely isn't based on Osama Bin Laden at all, just a generic tall, bearded, Western-educated radical Islamist Afghan-insurgent who was funded by [=MI6=] and CIA to fight the Soviets.

* Creator/MerylStreep denied that her character in ''Film/TheManchurianCandidate'' was a parody of UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton. Given that [[OlderThanTheyThink the original version of the film was released in the 1960s]], she probably has a point. (Although, they ''do'' have similar PowerHair...)

* Creator/AlexBorstein has flatly denied that Ms Swan, a character she did on ''Series/{{MADtv}}'', is an old Asian woman, and claims she's based on her Hungarian grandmother. [[SarcasmMode Uh huh. Sure.]] (The Vancome Lady thinks she's Icelandic and she does speak Hungarian in one episode.) [[RealityIsUnrealistic Granted,]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Turanism Hungary was founded by Asians...]]

* Director Creator/TimBurton went on record as saying that Creator/JohnnyDepp's interpretation of Willy Wonka in the [[Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory 2005 film adaptation]] of ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' was NOT a parody or {{Expy}} of Music/MichaelJackson after the bulk of reviews of the film pointed out the similarities between the two figures -- and, at least in Creator/RogerEbert's review, actually counted it as a point against the film because it came off as so creepy. This is another of the more plausible denials, as the resemblances between the two -- both are soft-spoken, pale, UncannyValley-appearing ReclusiveArtist {{Man Child}}ren -- owe more to Burton's usual character aesthetics and Depp taking inspiration from the above-mentioned Anna Wintour in appearance and the original novel's characterization in personality. (Jackson himself had sought the role out when the project was announced for that reason.) Unfortunately, the superficial similarities came along just after Jackson's months-long trial on child molestation charges wrapped up.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The ''Creator/MontyPython'' team have always denied that ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' was a parody of the UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} story - instead it's just a story about a guy called Brian living around the same time who is mistaken for the Messiah. Jesus is referenced several times (one of the most famous scenes is people mishearing the Sermon on the Mount - "Blessed are the ''cheese''makers?"), making it clear the two are separate. The parody is about the various trappings of the religion - things like emphasis on symbols and extreme sectarianism and interpretations of Jesus' teachings that completely miss the point, while the teachings themselves are left intact. They never said they weren't making fun of religion, they just said they weren't making fun of ''Jesus''. And they weren't. At least, not more than a couple of times. ("Bloody do-gooder.") They rejected their initial concept of Brian as a forgotten disciple of Jesus because the laughs stopped dead whenever Jesus was around — none of them felt comfortable directly making jokes about Him because [[JesusWasWayCool there's nothing to really mock about the man Himself.]]

--->'''Shary Bobbins''': Hello, I'm Shary Bobbins.
--->'''Homer''': Did you say Mary Pop—?
--->'''Shary Bobbins''': No! I definitely did not! I'm an original creation, like Rickey Rouse and Monald Muck.

-->'''Well, unless I’m misreading it, Philbert seemed like a pointed send-up of True Detective, especially when you have a line like, “Time is like a woman: completely impossible to comprehend.”'''
-->Yes. [Laughs.] Certainly ''True Detective'' was one of the things on our mind as we were working on the season. But I would say that reading is very generous to a lot of other shows that I would put in that same category. True Detective maybe announces itself the most and is the most flagrantly that, but there are a lot of shows that are invested in the trials of difficult men and the women who get in their way and/or sleep with them.

Also, this trope does not cover situations where the denials are plausible — for example, [=McBain=] on ''The Simpsons'' could easily be a parody of the character from the Creator/ChristopherWalken film ''Film/{{McBain}}'', if it weren't for the fact that the film was released 8 months after [=McBain=]'s first appearance on ''The Simpsons''. In this case, the denial is plausible.

[[folder:Film]]

** Bart denies his comicbook character "Angry Dad", an {{Expy}} of ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'', is based on Homer, claiming instead he is a composite character, based on his dad, Lisa's dad, and Maggie's dad.

* The ''Creator/MontyPython'' team have always denied that ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' was a parody of the UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} story - instead it's just a story about a guy called Brian living around the same time who is mistaken for the Messiah. The parody is about the various trappings of the religion - things like emphasis on symbols and extreme sectarianism and interpretations of Jesus' teachings that completely miss the point, while the teachings themselves are left intact. They never said they weren't making fun of religion, they just said they weren't making fun of ''Jesus''. And they weren't. At least, not more than a couple of times. ("Bloody do-gooder.") They rejected their initial concept of Brian as a forgotten disciple of Jesus because the laughs stopped dead whenever Jesus was around — none of them felt comfortable directly making jokes about Him because [[JesusWasWayCool there's nothing to really mock about the man Himself.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock1}}'': While the name "Andrew Ryan" is similar to "Creator/AynRand", and "Atlas" is a reference to the novel ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', WordOfGod claims that "Frank Fontaine" being a reference to ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' is just a coincidence.

* David Morgan-Mar will often insist that ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' plotlines and characters that are clearly based on RealLife have nothing to do with them (for example, [[Series/CrocodileHunter Steve Irwin]] and the "Steve and Terri" comics). In all fairness, it's probably sarcastic.

* Creator/StevenSoderbergh's ''Schizopolis'' features a self-help religion called Eventualism, based on a book by T. Azimuth Schwitters and featuring a volcano on its cover. But it's not a parody of Scientology.

* Creator/JenniferSaunders denied that her character, Eddie in ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous'' was a parody of PR guru Lynne Franks; the character was actually derived from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfNKjINokAY this sketch]] that she did with Dawn French in ''Series/FrenchAndSaunders'', where the responsible daughter had to look after her flighty teenager-like mother. Of course, for ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous'' both characters needed expanding, so it's still possible.
* Alex Borstein has flatly denied that Ms Swan, a character she did on ''Series/{{MADtv}}'', is an old Asian woman, and claims she's based on her Hungarian grandmother. [[SarcasmMode Uh huh. Sure.]] (The Vancome Lady thinks she's Icelandic and she does speak Hungarian in one episode.) [[RealityIsUnrealistic Granted,]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Turanism Hungary was founded by Asians...]]

* The ''Creator/MontyPython'' team have always denied that ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' was a parody of the UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} story - instead it's just a story about a guy called Brian living around the same time who is mistaken for the Messiah. The parody is about the various trappings of the religion - things like emphasis on symbols and extreme sectarianism and interpretations of Jesus's teachings that completely miss the point, while the teachings themselves are left intact. They never said they weren't making fun of religion, they just said they weren't making fun of ''Jesus''. And they weren't. At least, not more than a couple of times. ("Bloody do-gooder.") They rejected their initial concept of Brian as a forgotten disciple of Jesus because the laughs stopped dead whenever Jesus was around — none of them felt comfortable directly making jokes about Him because [[JesusWasWayCool there's nothing to really mock about the man Himself]].

* Willie Stark, the governor in ''Literature/AllTheKingsMen'', is widely held to be a parody of Gov. Huey Long. The author claims that this belief is "innocent boneheadedness."

* Music/PaulMcCartney's song "Let me Roll It" sounds like Music/JohnLennon, but Paul says it's just a coincidence.

It should be noted that the standard disclaimer "[[ThisIsAWorkOfFiction any similarity to persons living or dead...]]" does not constitute a denial in this case (indeed, some disclaimers now acknowledge that such names may be used fictitiously). After all, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' had a character named UsefulNotes/BillClinton who was president of the United States, and despite the disclaimer, it is doubtful that they were denying that it was based on the real-life person. This trope only applies when it's a specific denial.

* Alex Borstein has flatly denied that Ms Swan, a character she did on ''Series/{{MADtv}}'', is an old Asian woman, and claims she's based on her Hungarian grandmother. [[SarcasmMode Uh huh. Sure.]] (The Vancome Lady thinks she's Icelandic and she does speak Hungarian in one episode.) Granted, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Turanism "Hungary being founded by Asians" compromise.]]

* Alex Borstein has flatly denied that Ms Swan, a character she did on ''Series/{{MADtv}}'', is an old Asian woman, and claims she's based on her grandmother. [[SarcasmMode Uh huh. Sure.]] (The Vancome Lady thinks she's Icelandic.)

* When ''Anime/CodeGeass'' first came out, a lot of fans believed it was a parody-slash-critique of the [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush Bush administration]] and the WarOnTerror. When asked about this in an interview, director Goro Taniguchi denied that there was any political motivation behind the plot and said that his goal was just to make an entertaining TV show.