Buzz
Creating a lasting piece of pop culture is far more complex than it seems. A myriad of factors must align perfectly to achieve success. Even a minor misstep can turn a potential classic like Avengers Assemble into a forgettable entry like Avengers: Age of Ultron.
However, certain choices wouldn’t have just resulted in inferior versions of the beloved movies, shows, and games we cherish today. They would have completely obliterated their legacy.
Warning: This article contains an overwhelming number of spoilers for older films.
10. GoldenEye 007: Bond Almost Had to ‘Shake Hands’ With Enemies
GoldenEye 007 became a defining title for the Nintendo 64. Players stepped into the shoes of James Bond, engaging in thrilling shootouts and having an absolute blast. However, the game almost took a drastically different direction. During early development, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo proposed that Bond shouldn’t kill anyone. Instead, he suggested that Bond should “shake hands” with his adversaries.
At the time, Nintendo was heavily focused on maintaining its family-friendly reputation. The idea of Bond mowing down enemies in a villain’s hideout didn’t align with that image. Early versions of GoldenEye were also criticized for their excessive gore, likened to “the infamous elevator scene in The Shining.” Miyamoto’s solution was a compromise: Bond could “defeat” enemies in the game, but the ending would show him visiting them in the hospital, shaking their hands, and wishing them a speedy recovery.
Had this idea been implemented, it would have gone down as one of the most bizarre moments in gaming history. Not only would it have been completely out of character for Bond, but it would also have been utterly ridiculous. Fortunately, developer Rare resolved the issue by significantly reducing the game’s gore, ensuring it remained suitable for players of all ages.
9. Toy Story: Buzz Lightyear Knew He Was a Toy All Along
Toy Story is so deeply ingrained in our culture that it’s almost impossible to picture a world without it. Seriously. It revolutionized animation, transforming it from the traditional 2-D, musical-driven Disney style into the modern cinematic experience we know today. However, this groundbreaking shift almost didn’t occur because the early scripts for Toy Story were, frankly, terrible.
Joss Whedon, who was brought in for an urgent rewrite, described the original scripts as disastrous. They included Disney-esque musical numbers, a Woody who was a spiteful narcissist constantly belittling the other toys, and a toxic relationship between the two main characters. Even more problematic was the initial portrayal of Buzz. Instead of the beloved, delusional space ranger we know today, he was originally written as a dim but self-aware character who knew he was just a toy.
Fans of the original Toy Story know that much of the film’s humor and plot revolve around Buzz’s belief that he’s a real space ranger. Even in the sequels, this delusion remains a key part of his character. It wasn’t until Whedon joined the project that Pixar fully grasped the comedic and narrative potential of this concept. Interestingly, this wasn’t the only time Pixar almost derailed its most iconic franchise.
8. Toy Story 2: Almost Erased by Mistake
Not every near-disaster in pop culture stems from creative decisions. Sometimes, it’s as simple as a careless mistake. In 1999, Pixar experienced this firsthand. After completing the edits for Toy Story 2 but before rendering it for theaters, someone accidentally deleted the master copy. To make matters worse, Pixar discovered that their backup systems had been failing for months, leaving them with no safety net.
In essence, the team had nearly erased one of the most cherished sequels in pop culture history. While fragments of the film remained, the master files for the sets, characters, and animations were lost, leaving behind a glitch-ridden, unusable mess.
At best, the team calculated they’d need to revert to a version from two months prior to salvage the project. At worst... well, let’s just say the thought of a world without the Toy Story franchise is too painful for fans to contemplate.
Fortunately, a member of the animation team had coincidentally taken a copy home. Upon learning of the crisis, she returned with it, allowing everyone at Pixar to breathe a massive sigh of relief.
7. The Shining: Almost Ended on a Positive Note
Dark, gruesome, and relentlessly grim, The Shining stands as one of the finest horror films ever created. Even its somewhat ambiguous ending, hinting that Jack Nicholson’s character has always been part of the cursed hotel, sends shivers down viewers’ spines. However, Kubrick initially envisioned a completely different conclusion—a happy ending for The Shining.
Yes, you read that correctly. Stanley Kubrick—the filmmaker notorious for pushing actresses to their limits and crafting some of cinema’s most harrowing explorations of human despair—originally intended to conclude The Shining on a cheerful note.
And it wasn’t just any cheerful ending. The initial theatrical release featured the hotel manager from the opening scenes visiting Wendy, played by Shelley Duvall, in the hospital. He offers her a place to stay in his Los Angeles home and even plays ball with her son Danny, as if the horrors and psychological torment they endured had never occurred.
Strangest of all, the Overlook Hotel itself was granted a happy resolution. Following the hospital scene, a title card appeared, reassuring audiences that “the Overlook Hotel would endure this tragedy, just as it had survived countless others.”
6. Doctor Who: Almost Starred a Chatty Cabbage
Given the notoriously poor special effects of Doctor Who’s first 26 years, you might think “talking cabbage” is a jab at a particularly unconvincing alien design. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. In the 1970s, Tom Baker, the show’s lead at the time, proposed a radical change to the casting. Instead of a human companion, he urged producers to let him travel with an actual talking vegetable.
In subsequent interviews, Baker revealed that the cabbage would have perched on his shoulder, offering commentary on his escapades, much like the hecklers in The Muppets. When his idea was rejected, the famously quirky actor proposed other bizarre companions, including a parrot, a frog, a fox, a badger, and an extremely overweight woman who would spend every episode struggling to keep up with the Doctor.
Baker was a huge star at the time, so it’s unclear whether the producers ever seriously considered his suggestions. However, given that Doctor Who in the 1980s once featured Bertie Bassett as a villain (as seen in the video above), it’s entirely possible they might have entertained his wild ideas.
5. Rocky: Almost Lost on Purpose
Rocky Balboa is the quintessential underdog. Before the sequels became increasingly over-the-top, Stallone’s “Italian Stallion” symbolized the spirit of giving it your all. While he didn’t defeat Apollo Creed, Rocky achieved something greater by simply trying. This inspiring message nearly didn’t make it to the screen, as Stallone’s original script had Rocky accepting a bribe to lose the fight intentionally.
Picture this: after watching Rocky endure grueling training, punch meat in a freezer, sprint up the courthouse steps, and push himself to his absolute limits in pursuit of his dream... you then see him fake a knockout, take the money, and use it to open a pet store.
Instead of battling Hulk Hogan, taking on Mr. T, or single-handedly ending the Cold War (as seen in the video above), Rocky’s original fate was far less dramatic. He was supposed to open a pet store for Adrian and spend the rest of his days working there. As Stallone himself remarked in an interview: “Not exactly the most thrilling conclusion, is it?”
4. Back to the Future: Doc Brown Almost Endorsed Incest
As you might recall, we recently reached the date in 2015 that Doc and Marty traveled to in Back to the Future Part II. The countless articles commemorating the occasion highlighted how much the trilogy is still adored, even three decades after its debut.
This makes it the perfect time to revisit a scene that could have tarnished the entire franchise. The original script for the first movie included a moment where Doc Brown encourages Marty to engage in an incestuous act with his mother.
For those unfamiliar, the first film follows Marty as he travels from the 1980s back to the 1950s. Accidentally preventing his teenage parents from meeting, Marty must deal with his mother developing a crush on him. While the final film handles this awkward situation with just the right tone, the original version took it too far. When Marty expresses discomfort about his mother’s feelings, Doc responds with a suggestive wink and advises him to “take a few liberties with her.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, Marty panics, fearing that any inappropriate interaction with his mother might psychologically scar him or even make him gay. In its original form, Back to the Future managed to combine incest humor and homophobia into one scene. Thankfully, it was removed.
3. Batman: Almost Axed
For more than seven decades, Batman has been a cornerstone of pop culture. From Adam West in the 1960s to Michael Keaton in the 1980s and Christian Bale in the 2000s, the character has captivated millions. (We’ll skip over George Clooney’s 1990s portrayal.) Alongside Superman, Batman stands as one of the most iconic superheroes in history. It’s difficult to picture a world where Christopher Nolan didn’t redefine the genre. Yet, in the early 1960s, Batman was on the verge of cancellation.
At the time, the comic was considered a burden for DC. Sales were poor, the characters were ridiculed, and the entire project seemed like a financial drain. To make matters worse, Silver Age Batman spent more time battling aliens with a talking dog than solving crimes. By the mid-1960s, DC had decided to end the series.
The series was saved thanks to editor Julius Schwartz. Given a few months to revive the title, Schwartz transformed Batman into a contemporary legend. He eliminated the talking animals, cartoonish visuals, and campy plots, replacing them with realistic art, a grittier atmosphere, and Batman’s identity as “the world’s greatest detective.” The revamp was a success, forcing DC to reconsider. Without Schwartz’s intervention, we’d be living in a far less Bat-filled world.
2. Sesame Street: A Beloved Character Almost Met a Tragic End
Think of the most heartbreaking moment from your childhood. Now amplify that by ten, and you’ll get close to what children in 1986 almost endured. That year, the Challenger space shuttle disaster shocked the nation. Had circumstances been slightly different, one of the victims could have been Big Bird from Sesame Street.
As unbelievable as it sounds today, NASA in the 1980s planned to send celebrities into space to promote its shuttle program. They approached Caroll Spinney, the actor behind Big Bird, to see if he’d be willing to fly as his iconic character to inspire children’s interest in space. Given the tragic outcome, it might have had the opposite effect. However, the logistics of fitting a man in a massive bird costume into the shuttle proved impossible, so teacher Christa McAuliffe took his place.
The rest is history. On January 28, 1986, the Challenger exploded, claiming the lives of everyone on board. If Big Bird had been aboard, it’s hard to imagine Sesame Street ever being viewed the same way again.
1. The Thing: Almost Ended on a Positive Note
John Carpenter’s claustrophobic horror masterpiece The Thing is renowned for its gruesome visuals and grim tone, particularly its ending. The outpost lies in ruins, nearly every character is dead, and Kurt Russell’s character is left to perish in the freezing cold. To make matters worse, the only other survivor might be a shape-shifting alien in disguise. It’s a brilliant example of bleak horror. Yet, this iconic conclusion was almost replaced with a much happier resolution.
To be clear, “happier” is relative here—it’s not as if the characters were going to burst into song. Instead, the original plan was to have Kurt Russell’s character rescued, hospitalized, and given a blood test to confirm he wasn’t an alien. The hero lives, the threat is neutralized, and humanity is safe.
While this alternate ending isn’t inherently bad, it would have stripped away the very elements that make The Thing so unforgettable. The overwhelming sense of dread and nihilistic despair would have been replaced by a conventional, albeit well-crafted, horror-thriller finale. Thankfully, Carpenter only filmed the upbeat version to appease the studio. When test audiences responded positively to the darker ending, he discarded the happier one, ensuring it never saw the light of day.
