(wind whipping)
- Sorry I'll do the rest of the video without the ring on.
So anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a pretty big nerd.
I mean, I do make YouTube videos, so that should
be pretty obvious.
I just happen to love anything fiction based,
especially sci-fi movies and I think it's
because that they allow our imaginations
to run free and they bring us to a place
that's just way more interesting than real life.
But recently I discovered that there's some places
that we've been shown in sci-fi movies and even cartoons
that exist in real life.
So of course I collected the coolest ones to share
with you guys so here they are.
10 fictional places that actually exist.
Number one is The Ewok Village.
Star Wars fans, get ready for a major nerd boner.
The famous Ewok Village from Return of the Jedi
actually exists and it's located in Costa Rica,
minus the ewoks.
This tree-top community is called Finca Bellavista
and spans 300 acres of rainforest.
It's connected by wooden bridges and zip lines
just like in the movie.
Man, it is amazing where George Lucas
got all the inspiration for Return of the Jedi,
like Jabba the Hutt, Toronto mayor Rob Ford,
okay I know that timeline doesn't work
but it doesn't matter, he smokes crack.
Number two is The Flintstones House.
Everyone and their mother knows
about the classic cartoon The Flintstones,
but what they might not know is that the house
that they lived in actually exists in the real world.
Located in Malibu, California,
this $3.5 million bungalow used to be owned by Dick Clark
and has an entirely stone inspired look from top to bottom.
Damn, this would be worth buying just for the pick-up lines.
You know baby, I may not be Fred Flintstone
but I can still make your bed rock.
Bedrock was the name of the city in the cartoon.
It's kind of an old joke, you might not wanna use that one.
Number three is Tatooine.
There's a city in southern Tunisia that shares the same name
as the planet that Luke Skywalker was raised on.
But it's not just the name that they share,
the local homes and businesses there were actually
put in the Star Wars movies as external locations
for the Lars homestead where Luke grew up.
You might recall this location.
Well that is the Hotel Sidi Driss, a real hotel in Tunisia.
And now that I've said that, if you listen closely
you can hear the faint click of keyboards
as nerds everywhere book their flights to Tunisia.
Oh, well, I was going to bring you with me.
Number four is Middle Earth.
The inspiration for Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings
came from where the author J.R.R. Tolkien grew up in England
Isenguard is based off the University of Birmingham.
The Shire is based off the hamlet
where he grew up called Sarehole.
And Mordor was based off an area called Black Country.
It was called this because the air and ground were black,
due to the pollution from iron foundries,
steel mills and coal mines there.
Personally I've always wanted to know who inspired Gollum.
I mean, look at the guy, I feel bad for him,
he's got like barely any scraps of hair left on his head.
It's sad.
Number five is Silent Hill.
Centralia, Pennsylvania is the real life ghost town
that inspired the movie Silent Hill.
Once home to 1,000 residents, this down is now deserted
after the strip mine under it caught fire
which is still burning to this day, 50 years later.
The directors actually visited the town and were inspired
by the fact that it was burning from the inside out
as if it were sitting atop the gates of Hell.
But we all know Hell isn't really there.
No, it's at the DMV.
I really hate that place.
Number six is Canyon City.
Remember the stone city where they discovered
the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?
Well that is the city of Petra and it is quite real.
Located in Jordan, it's one of the most remarkable examples
of rock-cut architecture in the world, featuring a theater,
a bank, a church, and even a water system.
And this all sounds impressive but how exactly
do you perform plumbing on a rock water system?
There's no joke there, that's an actual question.
Number seven is the Emerald Bamboo Forest.
In the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,
there's a sword fight above a beautiful forest
of bamboo trees.
These beautifully green forests actually exist just outside
of Kyoto, Japan and are said
to be even more gorgeous in person.
Some of these forests stretch across massive areas
covering hundreds of hills and valleys.
And before you get too excited
about hearing the words Emerald Forest,
I should tell you that I looked into it
and they don't have any hedgehogs,
rings or flying supervillians.
I know, I was disappointed too.
Number eight is Arkham Asylum.
If there was ever a place in the real world
that Batman would imprison the supervillians
that he captures, it would be the Danvers State Hospital
in Massachusetts.
Built in 1874, it became the inspiration
for Arkham Sanitarium in the fictional stories
of H.P. Lovecraft, which in turn became the inspiration
for Arkham Asylum in the Batman universe.
The hospital bares a striking resemblance to Arkham Asylum
complete with ominous structures, long creepy tunnels
in decrepit patient quarters.
It's too bad they never had a dentist on staff,
or else Batman could have made a quick stop off.
Could've got that nasty lisp fixed.
Number nine is Paradise Falls.
If you've seen the movie Up, you'll remember a scene
where Carl comes across an impossibly beautiful waterfall.
Well, some crafty Internet sleuthing has found an
almost identical waterfall in Venezuela called Angel Falls.
And that's not all, even Carl's house was based
on a real house in Oakland, California.
And what's even more amazing is Carl is real!
Look at him. Look at that old man.
That's Carl.
I just wanna pinch his cheeks.
And number 10 is the Rosslyn Chapel.
You might recognize the name of this church
from the book The Da Vinci Code.
Interestingly, not only is the chapel discussed
in the book real, but the story of the Holy Grail
being hidden there is borrowed from the real life legend
that says the same thing.
The chapel is located in the very small town
of Rosslyn, Scotland which I think is really interesting
because there isn't a whole lot of mystery that comes
out of Scotland.
I mean, especially with the kilts that the men wear.
If you ever seen one bend over, you'll understand why
the attire doesn't leave any mystery.
Jiggly bits everywhere.
And that's it, I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
If you wanna add me to Facebook and Twitter,
the links to those will be on screen and in the description
along with all my other social networking sites
and other than that, I will see you guys next Saturday
with a brand new video, peace.
Hey guys, thanks for watching my new video.
If you enjoyed it, please remember
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And other than that I think I know
where my next vacation destination's gonna be.
I wanna go to Costa Rica because not only do I get
to see the Ewok Village, but it's warm,
which is important because there's a lot of snow
on the ground right now, and I live in Canada.
It's so cold.