Entertaining Themes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Polar bears

"Arctic Tale" was a 2007 documentary film following a walrus and her cub, along with a polar bear mother and her cubs. "LOST" was a TV series running from 2004-2010. Although filmed in the tropical location of Hawaii, it featured polar bears (among other mysterious sights) in its first season.

Answer: They were all based on video games

While many films go on to become video games, it is much rarer in the opposite direction. "Super Mario Bros" was one of the first examples both in Japanese (1986) and American (1993) box offices.

Answer: Musicals

"Oliver!" the musical was one of the first adaptations of a novel into a stage musical. Charles Dickens' work had appeared on TV musicals in the 1950s, but this was the first to be a stage hit, first performed in London's West End in 1960. "Pygmalion", originally a play, became the musical "My Fair Lady" in 1956 (debuting on Broadway) and Victor Hugo's classic novel "Les Miserables" first appeared on stage in 1985.

Answer: True

The book "Awakenings" was written by acclaimed neurologist Oliver Sacks in 1973, based on his work treating victims of an encephalitis epidemic. The film, released in 1990, starred Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. "The Perfect Storm" was billed by its author, Sebastian Junger, as "a true story of men against the sea" and is indeed a work of non-fiction, following the events of a large storm that hit North America between October 28 and November 4, 1991.

Some critics have pointed out significant factual errors with the book, given some apparent gaps in the author's research.

Answer: Seven

The film is of course "Seven", released in 1995 and following a serial killer's obsession with the seven deadly sins. "The Secret Seven" is a popular series by Enid Blyton and follows the adventures of seven friends: Peter, Janet, Jack, Colin, George, Pam and Barbara. "Seven Kingdoms" is a strategy-based video game released in 2007.

Answer: clowns

Pennywise is a clown appearing in Stephen King's "It", later adapted into a film. Krusty is a regular character on TV's "The Simpsons", having many adventures including faking his own death, nearly being killed by the mafia, and reuniting with his estranged father. Binky is a clown appearing in the "Garfield" comics by Jim Davis.

Answer: Time travel

All three involve some novel ways of travelling through time: "Quantum Leap" involves the main character (scientist Dr Sam Beckett) occupying other peoples' bodies while he seemingly randomly leaps around his own lifetime. In "The Butterfly Effect" the main character is able to go back to parts of his life which he had previously blacked out, by reading his journal.

In the novel "11/22/63", there is a rip in the time fabric which can be accessed out the back of an old diner.

Answer: Singing

All three have singing careers to complement their acting talents. Kevin Bacon is part of the "Bacon Brothers" rock band; Russell Crowe is part of the band "The Ordinary Fear of God" and Juliette Lewis sings for "Juliette & The Licks".

Answer: True

The very talented Aaron Sorkin can take credit for all three of these diverse pieces of entertainment. "The Farnsworth Invention", which tells the story of inventor Philo Farnsworth, was originally written as a screenplay and intended for film release. When this was cancelled, Sorkin adapted the story for the stage and it played from December 2007 to March 2008.

Answer: The Incredibles

"The Incredibles", released in 2004, was a computer-animated film produced by Pixar Studios and released by the Walt Disney company. The remaining options were originally comics: the character of Superman first appeared in 1938 as part of the "Action Comics" series. Batman first appeared in "Detective Comics" in 1939. "The Fantastic Four" came on the scene much later, first appearing in 1961 under their own comic series title.