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During rand al'thor's unscheduled sabbatical from Puzzling, he's managed to keep himself busy. How, you ask? Why, by making movies, of course! Unfortunately, our resident Puzzling expert is not quite as adept at movie-making, so he's stolen a few ideas from Hollywood. Can you parse through his ten movie pitches and determine their titles?


Pitch #1: After his mother's tragic death, rand al'thor takes a tumble to a land he only remembers from his dreams. With his mother's final directions in mind, he sets off on his journey to discover his true destiny, making new friends and meeting old friends along the way.

Pitch #2: After his wife's tragic death, rand al'thor communicates with her spirit from beyond the grave, teaching him along the way that perhaps his village's greatest enemies could become their greatest allies and directing him to the true enemy's lair, where he discovers the daughter he thought he had lost.

Pitch #3: Rand al'thor, a psychologist, moves to a cottage and strives for love alongside his sister. Rand al'thor attempts to help a young boy, though as his life constantly shifts it becomes apparent that the young boy was helping him all along.

Pitch #4: Rand al'thor, a space bandit, is abducted by aliens along with the rest of the cast of his once-hit sci-fi show. Believing them to be real space heroes, the aliens take rand and his crew on an adventure across space to protect it from a powerful villain and an even more powerful stone.

Pitch #5: Rand al'thor stars as a young, female gang member, who finds herself part of a street brawl with fatal consequences. As she moves away from her hometown, she and other members of her gang are forced to grapple with their internal emotional battle as well as the consequences of their violent pasts.

Pitch #6: After an innocuous conversation on a plane, rand al'thor finds himself wrapped up in an international escapade to stop the plans of a raving madman who desires a world of utter chaos. Rand dons his alter-ego as he attempts to save his city and avoid the fall his superiors have set him up to take.

Pitch #7: After an unwarranted visit from a wise, old man, rand al'thor finds himself on an adventure deep underground, where he's met with orcs, goblins, and even dinosaurs. The adventure takes a treacherous turn when rand discovers a powerful relic, leading him to realize that he and his party must escape the cavern or they will be consumed by lava.

Pitch #8: Though rand al'thor has spent years being ignored by scientists, his greatest fears prove correct as he finds himself transported to a futuristic city filled with massive robots and sleek buildings. The world is soon consumed by an environmental superstorm, leading rand al'thor and his new scientist ally to trek through the catastrophe in search of his son and his friends.

Pitch #9: After narrowly escaping a run in with a familial zombie, rand al'thor takes a job at a boarding school priding itself on ancient tradition. Using unusual techniques, rand convinces the boys in his class to band together and fight off the undead hordes that surround them.

Pitch #10: A comical menagerie led by rand al'thor set off to film a movie on an ominous, uncharted island. The group is faced with immense challenges along the way, including dinosaurs and a massive ape and climaxing with an encounter with rand's wicked uncle, whom rand must overcome to reclaim his rightful title.


Rand, if you see this and you're displeased by the use of your name, just ping me in chat and let me know. I'll edit it right out. I figured you'd find this amusing, though! :)

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    $\begingroup$ When I was brainstorming movie related puzzles I considered this format (name the poorly described movie is already a somewhat popular game on the internet). These are pretty fun(ny), nice job $\endgroup$
    – NeedAName
    Sep 10, 2015 at 16:19
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    $\begingroup$ @NeedAName I figured it was a format that wouldn't make people actively hate me, as most of my puzzles do. $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Sep 10, 2015 at 16:20

4 Answers 4

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The movie pitches are all:

A combination of the plots of two films. The names of those two films share a word or part of a word that allows them to overlap (e.g. Alice in Wonderland overlaps with Land Before Time to give Alice in Wonderland Before Time)

With quite a lot of the help from the community, here are answers to all of them:

Pitch #1: After his mother's tragic death, rand al'thor takes a tumble to a land he only remembers from his dreams. With his mother's final directions in mind, he sets off on his journey to discover his true destiny, making new friends and meeting old friends along the way.

Alice in Wonderland Before Time (Aggie Kidd / user14418)

Pitch #2: After his wife's tragic death, rand al'thor communicates with her spirit from beyond the grave, teaching him along the way that perhaps his village's greatest enemies could become their greatest allies and directing him to the true enemy's lair, where he discovers the daughter he thought he had lost.

How to Train Your Dragonfly (loopsgald)

Pitch #3: Rand al'thor, a psychologist, moves to a cottage and strives for love alongside his sister. Rand al'thor attempts to help a young boy, though as his life constantly shifts it becomes apparent that the young boy was helping him all along.

The Sixth Sense and Sensibility (NeedAName)

Pitch #4: Rand al'thor, a space bandit, is abducted by aliens along with the rest of the cast of his once-hit sci-fi show. Believing them to be real space heroes, the aliens take rand and his crew on an adventure across space to protect it from a powerful villain and an even more powerful stone.

Guardians of the Galaxy Quest (Lampost42)

Pitch #5: Rand al'thor stars as a young, female gang member, who finds herself part of a street brawl with fatal consequences. As she moves away from her hometown, she and other members of her gang are forced to grapple with their internal emotional battle as well as the consequences of their violent pasts.

Inside Outsiders

Pitch #6: After an innocuous conversation on a plane, rand al'thor finds himself wrapped up in an international escapade to stop the plans of a raving madman who desires a world of utter chaos. Rand dons his alter-ego as he attempts to save his city and avoid the fall his superiors have set him up to take.

The Dark Knight and Day (chsanno)

Pitch #7: After an unwarranted visit from a wise, old man, rand al'thor finds himself on an adventure deep underground, where he's met with orcs, goblins, and even dinosaurs. The adventure takes a treacherous turn when rand discovers a powerful relic, leading him to realize that he and his party must escape the cavern or they will be consumed by lava.

The Unexpected Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Pitch #8: Though rand al'thor has spent years being ignored by scientists, his greatest fears prove correct as he finds himself transported to a futuristic city filled with massive robots and sleek buildings. The world is soon consumed by an environmental superstorm, leading rand al'thor and his new scientist ally to trek through the catastrophe in search of his son and his friends.

The Day After Tomorrowland

Pitch #9: After narrowly escaping a run in with a familial zombie, rand al'thor takes a job at a boarding school priding itself on ancient tradition. Using unusual techniques, rand convinces the boys in his class to band together and fight off the undead hordes that surround them.

Dawn of the Dead Poets' Society (raisinghellyer)

Pitch #10: A comical menagerie led by rand al'thor set off to film a movie on an ominous, uncharted island. The group is faced with immense challenges along the way, including dinosaurs and a massive ape and climaxing with an encounter with rand's wicked uncle, whom rand must overcome to reclaim his rightful title.

The Lion King Kong

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    $\begingroup$ I'm thinking they could be a combination of 2 movies, ex. #4 could be Guardians of the Galaxy Quest. $\endgroup$
    – Lampost42
    Sep 10, 2015 at 16:18
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    $\begingroup$ I agree with @Lampost making Pitch #3 The Sixth Sense and Sensibility. The latter's plot is described as ' portrays the life and loves of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. The novel follows the young ladies to their new home, a meagre cottage on a distant relative's property, where they experience love, romance and heartbreak' $\endgroup$
    – NeedAName
    Sep 10, 2015 at 16:26
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    $\begingroup$ Half of Pitch #6 is Fight Club, I think $\endgroup$
    – NeedAName
    Sep 10, 2015 at 16:31
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    $\begingroup$ @Gordon K -> Pitch # 10 is surely King Kong :-) $\endgroup$
    – kanchirk
    Sep 10, 2015 at 16:32
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    $\begingroup$ Pitch 10 is The Lion King Kong $\endgroup$
    – NeedAName
    Sep 10, 2015 at 16:36
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I can't comment yet so I'm just posting this as an answer to help.

Pitch #2: After his wife's tragic death, rand al'thor communicates with her spirit from beyond the grave, teaching him along the way that perhaps his village's greatest enemies could become their greatest allies and directing him to the true enemy's lair, where he discovers the daughter he thought he had lost.

something Dragonfly or Dragonfly something

Edit:

With help from alexmc in comments Pitch 2 is:

How to train your Dragonfly

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    $\begingroup$ How to train your dragonfly? $\endgroup$
    – alexmc
    Sep 10, 2015 at 18:47
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Unfinished

Pitch #2: After his wife's tragic death, rand al'thor communicates with her spirit from beyond the grave, teaching him along the way that perhaps his village's greatest enemies could become their greatest allies and directing him to the true enemy's lair, where he discovers the daughter he thought he had lost.

How to Train Your Dragonfly

Pitch #3: Rand al'thor, a psychologist, moves to a cottage and strives for love alongside his sister. Rand al'thor attempts to help a young boy, though as his life constantly shifts it becomes apparent that the young boy was helping him all along.

The Sixth Sense and Sensibility

Pitch #4: Rand al'thor, a space bandit, is abducted by aliens along with the rest of the cast of his once-hit sci-fi show. Believing them to be real space heroes, the aliens take rand and his crew on an adventure across space to protect it from a powerful villain and an even more powerful stone.

Guardians of the Galaxy Quest

Pitch #5: Rand al'thor stars as a young, female gang member, who finds herself part of a street brawl with fatal consequences. As she moves away from her hometown, she and other members of her gang are forced to grapple with their internal emotional battle as well as the consequences of their violent pasts.

Pitch #6: After an innocuous conversation on a plane, rand al'thor finds himself wrapped up in an international escapade to stop the plans of a raving madman who desires a world of utter chaos. Rand dons his alter-ego as he attempts to save his city and avoid the fall his superiors have set him up to take.

The Dark Knight and Day

Pitch #10: A comical menagerie led by rand al'thor set off to film a movie on an ominous, uncharted island. The group is faced with immense challenges along the way, including dinosaurs and a massive ape and climaxing with an encounter with rand's wicked uncle, whom rand must overcome to reclaim his rightful title.

The Lion King Kong

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Pitch 1 seems to be

Alice in Wonderland Before Time

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  • $\begingroup$ @Bailey M I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed. The actual title is "THE Land Before Time". I spent a good 30 minutes searching for movies that would pick up on "Time" because I thought surely you wouldn't drop "The" to make it fit. :( $\endgroup$
    – wizloc
    Sep 11, 2015 at 15:10
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    $\begingroup$ @cshanno I had to take that liberty with a couple of them to make the titles make sense. I apologize for misleading you :( $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    Sep 11, 2015 at 15:11
  • $\begingroup$ @BaileyM still a great puzzle, I enjoyed this! Is there a word for this type of puzzle? I've seen it before $\endgroup$
    – wizloc
    Sep 11, 2015 at 15:35

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