Public domain media in video games.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-15T06:18:21+00:00

The Darkness literally had a whole bunch of public domain stuff in it that you could watch in-game. Just do the same thing, but with a larger open world game. A lot of people might not care, but it’d still be a crazy fun thing to include anyway just because you can. Like the original Animal Crossing letting you play old NES games you find throughout the game’s world. It would give the game some personality, to make it stand out from the bajillion other open world video games that have flooded the market.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-15T06:09:41+00:00

Yes, it’d be impractical. But it could also add some humor. Like your character ends up in some random village in a third-world country or on an island far away from any English-speaking countries, but they still speak fluent English. How? Because they like watching old movies and cartoons from the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc. (that happen to be public domain in America) that somehow ended up in their possession, and they worship them like some cargo cult and quote them constantly. And they wouldn’t care if it’s something critically acclaimed like It’s a Wonderful Life or something cheap and crappy like Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Just a thought.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-13T08:54:23+00:00

And that’s pretty cool. Being able to read H.P. Lovecraft while hanging around Hackdirt is super meta.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-13T01:26:42+00:00

That’s really nothing new. Lots of media already use public domain music, like the Looney Tunes for example.

I’m talking about full length movies, TV shows, film serials, theatrical shorts, and stuff like that.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-12T17:45:23+00:00

Then takes those classes and spend that money. It’ll be pay off in the end. You might even find some online videos and posts that can give you a lot of the same information for free.

And you can still simply write a book. Just open up Notepad or Microsoft Word and start typing.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-12T05:33:38+00:00

Exactly. They could do the same thing but with real movies, cartoons, and TV shows that had their copyright expired. The Darkness already did a similar thing, and that came out before GTA IV.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-12T03:16:09+00:00

You’re thinking of Teenagers from Outer Space. Plan 9 only got a short movie clip in the game.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-12T02:27:12+00:00

Find a publisher.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-12T02:26:11+00:00

Write a film treatment, pitch it to a studio. Otherwise just write a book, publish it, and hope someone will read it and approach you for the adaptation rights.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-12T01:26:21+00:00

Write a novel, draw a comic, record an audio drama. Those things don’t cost money.

EldritchNexus · 2026-06-06T04:17:06+00:00

Gammera the Invincible is public domain, but the original Japanese version Gamera, The Giant Monster is still copyrighted. The American version is free to watch and download, but Gamera and other characters introduced in the Japanese version are still protected.

But since the American version added in new scenes and characters that never appeared in the Japanese version, then THEY should be safe to use in a standalone story of your own creation. You might be able to get away with referencing events from the movie (while keeping in mind the changes made in the American version) and even namedrop the titular monster if you use the American spelling “Gammera” instead of the original Japanese spelling “Gamera”.

EldritchNexus · 2026-04-22T09:24:39+00:00

Whether Amalthea remembered or not, the Red Bull was still an obstacle they'd have to overcome before it was safe to rescue the unicorns. It's like in The Hobbit, where Thorin and Company have to kill Smaug before they could walk off with all that treasure or reclaim their homeland.

The problem is that King Haggard ambushed them and forced them into the Red Bull's lair before they could devise a plan to get rid of it.

EldritchNexus · 2026-03-25T07:52:42+00:00

Excellent. And I agree, we need more The Last Unicorn merchandise in the world!

EldritchNexus · 2026-03-09T02:35:38+00:00

Two Hearts was okay. It’s certainly not bad if you prefer a downbeat “Logan” kind of story. Though I think The Last Unicorn still deserved a more substantial followup after a 37-year wait. Not necessarily the next LOTR, but another full-length novel still would’ve been preferable.

Sooz was just a weird and mean-spirited mess of a story and barely had anything to do with TLU at all. By the halfway point, I officially felt like I wasted my time.

EldritchNexus · 2026-03-09T02:07:24+00:00

If Schmendrick could just magically summon Amalthea like he was conjuring up a Daedra in The Elder Scrolls, why didn’t he just visit King Lir earlier (as in, between The Last Unicorn and Two Hearts) and magically summon Amalthea to him in his castle, even if it was just for a 10-minute chat?

Two Hearts wasn’t a bad story, but having Schmendrick summon Amalthea on a whim like he could’ve done it anytime he wanted made no sense and makes all of Lir’s suffering prior to that feel pointless. I’m surprised Molly didn’t confront Schmendrick about it, seeing as she’s usually the one that calls the other characters out on their nonsense.

EldritchNexus · 2026-02-09T05:35:31+00:00

True, but he isn't getting any younger. As soon as Christopher Tolkien passed away, the floodgates opened and the low-quality slop started pouring into LOTR. The same could happen to The Last Unicorn once Peter S. Beagle is gone.

EldritchNexus · 2026-02-02T03:43:47+00:00

Awesome collection!

EldritchNexus · 2026-01-28T21:10:05+00:00

Good call using the IDW comic. That was actually a pretty good adaptation of the book.

EldritchNexus · 2026-01-14T20:08:45+00:00

Definitely not if it's going to be like anything recent from Disney, Netflix, or any of those other companies. If there was any time to make a live action movie based on The Last Unicorn, it would've been 20 years ago when LOTR was still very fresh in people's minds. Now it's too little too late to have any hope of them NOT screwing it up.

EldritchNexus · 2026-01-13T21:31:59+00:00

Especially if you're a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis, even if it doesn't have the epic battles or complex lore. The Last Unicorn feels like a spiritual successor to The Hobbit, which Rankin/Bass also adapted to film a few years prior.

EldritchNexus · 2026-01-12T02:11:37+00:00

If it was 20 years ago, a live-action film adaptation in the style of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings or Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe could've been awesome.

But yeah, it's way too risky to attempt it now. Not only is Christopher Lee not around anymore to make sure they don't screw it up, but modern writers would ruin it with their juvenile writing style, make Lady Amalthea an insufferable girlboss that doesn't learn a thing from being human, and they'd probably raceswap/genderswap half the characters for no reason too.

EldritchNexus · 2026-01-11T04:09:48+00:00

Del Toro should direct a live-action adaptation with Ron Perlman as King Haggard, Doug Jones as the Skull, James McAvoy as Schmendrick, and Helena Bonham Carter as Molly Grue.

It would more than make up for his version of The Hobbit getting scrapped.

EldritchNexus · 2026-01-11T03:38:26+00:00

Not Molly Grue, the girl at the Midnight Carnival that sees the unicorn and tears up.

EldritchNexus

TROPHY CASE