The argument of whether Disney’s new box office smash is called ‘Zootopia’ or ‘Zootropolis’ has been confusing the the world of social media for days! What people are failing to realize is that both titles are actually correct, and that the movies are named differently in the US and the UK! But this isn’t the only time the internet has been struck dumbfounded by the changing of movie titles. Here are
1. Zootopia / Zootropolis
Many are baffled why Disney felt the need to have two titles to their latest animation, but they explained that they did so “to merely allow the film to have a unique title that works for UK audiences”. We’re not sure why ‘Zootopia’ wouldn’t work for UK audiences, but admittedly ‘Zootropolis’ does have a nicer ring to it.
2. Neighbors / Bad Neighbours
The 2014 movie comedy more had a more obvious explanation for it’s name change outside the US. It was changed to ‘Bad Neighbours’ so that people don’t confuse it with the long-running Australian soap Neighbours. Fortunately, the updated title summarizes the film perfectly!
3. The Avengers / Avengers Assemble
Marvel’s The Avengers had to be changed for UK audiences due to the fact that there was once a British TV show named The Avengers in the 1960’s. In order to not be confused with said TV show Marvel added the word ‘assemble’ due to the fact the Avengers group up in order to fight the bad guys.
4. Pirate Radio / The Boat That Rocked
The Boat That Rocked is a 2009 British comedy movie that told the story of a group of radio DJs who pirated pop and rock music on a ship in international waters. However, in North America, they decided to chop 20-minutes off the original footage due to the fact that critics were deeming it too long. Since they’d altered the movie length quite a lot, they also decided to rename it ‘Pirate Radio’.
5. Live Free or Die Hard / Die Hard 4.0
The title Live Free or Die Hard was influenced by the New Hampshire state motto ‘Live Free or Die’. Producers (rather foolishly) assumed that because Brits wouldn’t ‘get’ the reference, they should change the title to ‘Die Hard 4.0’ (which, apparently, Bruce Willis prefers).
6. Fever Pitch / The Perfect Catch
The 2005 Drew Barrymore rom-com Fever Pitch was based on the 1997 UK film Fever Pitch starring Colin Farrell. Since the latter film was still fresh in British minds, it was only right they changed the name to The Perfect Catch.
7. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone / Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Probably one of the most famous title changes, ‘the Philosopher’s Stone’ was renamed ‘the Sorcerer’s Stone’ in the US because the publishers thought that Americans wouldn’t identify well with the original title, and would find the new name “more suggestive of magic”. This meant that all the scenes mentioning the word “philosopher’s” had to be re-dubbed. What a pain!
8. Dracula 2000 / Dracula 2001
One of the most awkward and unnecessary name changes of all time, Dracula 2000 was released in December 2000 in the US, and so by the time it reached the UK it had already turned 2001! Really, they could have just stuck with one title because now it’s 2016 and nobody really cares!
9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas / The Grinch
The beloved Christmas movie starring Jim Carrey as the title character had it’s title shortened to The Grinch for UK audiences because producers thought that they might not be familiar with the Dr. Seuss books (which has the original title). A little presumptuous, don’t you think? Who hasn’t heard of them?
10. Howard the Duck / Howard: A New Breed of Hero
This 80’s cult film was based on the US Marvel comics, and the producers probably thought that the UK needed an extra tagline to attract viewers. Unfortunately, it was a box office failure in both countries, so the change didn’t really pay off.
