Pop 5: Inspired Islands

Hey Poptropicans! This is a guest post written by Poptropica community member Crazy Peppers, who’s here to share about Poptropica islands shaped by popular culture. Enjoy!

Hey! It’s Crazy Peppers here with a second guest post on the PHB (I also recently shared a My Place in Poptropica story here).

I’ve noticed some similarities between storylines from Poptropica islands and other stories in pop culture, and I wanted to do a post highlighting some of them. So, here’s my “Pop 5” list of islands inspired by outside influences!

#5: PoptropiCon Island

While the plot of this island is pretty original, the setting and characters feel heavily inspired. PoptropiCon isn’t just any old fan convention—its logo bears striking similarity to that of San Diego Comic Con!

As for the characters, the Mighty Action Force parodies many Marvel and DC heroes and villains we know: Elf Archer is Hawkeye, World Guy is Captain America, Gold Face is Iron Man, Teen Arachnid is Spider Man, Dirt Claude is Clayface, K-Man is Superman, and Omegon is Ultron. Also, Stan Ditko could be a cross between Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Check out the PHB’s PoptropiCon Island Guide for more interesting trivia.

#4: Shark Tooth Island

This island is like the movie “Jaws”: there is a shark threatening a town, and it gets stopped with a special formula. But here there’s also a tropical island, a medicine man, and an ancient temple—none of these are in Jaws, so that’s pretty neat.

Shark Tooth Island also gives us a stranded boy, a professor, and a very special boy (RIP Shark Boy). Castaway Island, where the boy and prof are stranded, even has Wilson the volleyball from the movie “Cast Away.”

Check out the PHB’s Shark Tooth Island Guide for more interesting trivia.

#3: Crisis Caverns Island

Crisis Caverns bears quite a bit of resemblance to “Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne. In both stories, you enter the earth’s crust through a cave, encounter strange creatures at the core, and have to get out before a volcano erupts. There are differences, of course—for one thing, in Crisis Caverns, you’re at a state park.

Check out the PHB’s Crisis Caverns Island Guide for more interesting trivia.

#2: SOS Island

This island has traces of both the book Moby Dick and the movie “Titanic.” First, the resemblances to Moby Dick: there’s a guy named Ishmael, a white whale and a captain who does not like the white whale. As for “Titanic”: there’s a big ship sinking from an iceberg crash, and people need to be rescued.

There is some originality, too: for example, a bonus quest where you need to clog the oil leaks from the ship. That is not in either Moby Dick or “Titanic.”

Check out the PHB’s SOS Island Guide for more interesting trivia.

#1: Escape From Pelican Rock Island

Like SOS, Escape From Pelican Rock also appears to draw ideas from more than one source. This time, it’s a combination of the films “Escape From Alcatraz” (based on a true story) and “The Shawshank Redemption.”

For the former, we have Bay City/San Francisco as the setting, with a high security prison on an island, much like the former Alcatraz prison. You escape with rafts and twins in tow, with a dummy of your head resting on your prison bed. It’s also like “The Shawshank Redemption” because you were framed for a crime you didn’t commit and sent to prison for it.

Check out the PHB’s Escape From Pelican Rock Island Guide for more interesting trivia.

Well, there you have it, folks—a list of the top 5 most inspired islands (in my opinion). What do you think? What else would you add to this list?

And, cut!

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Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Crazy Peppers!

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our Write for the PHB page. We also encourage sharing blog posts on the PHC.

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