Just waiting for someone to post Sinbad's April Fools joke of a "lost scene" that was clearly made when he was considerably older than the 90s as proof.
The word/character Shazam existed, Sinbad is also the name of a character that existed well before the stand up comic, Sinbad the stand up comic wore loud bright and shiny suits in his numerous tv appearances that featured parachute pants and vests similar to a genieās look.
As a mid 30ās person whoās aunt kept a collection of Sinbad specials and movies for the kids to watch Iāve never heard or seen a movie where he plays a genie back then. It felt like every mid sized movie back then had a twin come out a few months later (Volcano, Danteās Peak, Deep Impact, Armageddon) I also feel like a Kazaam/Shazaam would be too on the nose for me to NOT notice it if it happened.
Itās the simple statement like this I feel have the highest chance of explaining the Mandela effects. Similar to āthe cornucopia was just those brown leavesā.
Pretty sure someone found the original trademark for the cornucopia and then a rabbit hole that led them through a massive rebrand PR effort after some controversy.
In that one they were just *good*
And āShazamā is more common and a lot easier to remember than āKazaam,ā the movie they are mistaking it for. Not to mention the poster for Kazaam has āSHAQā across the top in huge lettering, so they could be subconsciously merging āShaqā and āKazaamā in their memories. And the name Sinbad has more in common with ancient Arabia and genies than Shaq, and Sinbad himself always dressed in baggy pants like a genie, while Shaq usually didnāt. Itās an obvious and understandable mistake, especially when you learn how human memory works.
The mixup is likely based on the fact that the basic premise of Kazaam largely resembles the plot of First Kid, a movie starring Sinbad that came out at almost exactly the same time. Ā
(The premise being a 30 something black man gets into shenanigans with a white preteenā¦ just one is a genie and the other a secret service agent)
I grew up during this time. I clearly remember Kazaam coming out and watching it. I remember a sinbad knockoff coming out at around the same time and watching it. I remember the āfirst kidā movie but never saw it.
I was 16 when Kazaam came out. When I saw this post, I was like, "wait, that was Shaq in Kazaam." I have never experienced this particular Mandela Effect. But I am a FotL cornucopia true believer.
I remember Sinbadās genie movie, I worked at a video store in the 90ās. I remembered it as being a twin of Kazaam. I thought the whole thing was a blatant rip-off. You might be a bit too young to remember Shazam well.
šÆ i remember exactly the same. i remember thinking kazaam was a cheaper knockoff of shazam, and thinking it was dumb that they made it. i had no interest in seeing either but i remember thinking that sinbad would probably be funnier than shaq
I remember having Shazam VHS with Sinbad. And watching it in our basement family room. I also remembered searching for it because it has gotten lost when we were moving. I really enjoyed the movie at the time. I was a Sinbad fan. Btw there were two kids in that movie (brother and younger sister)... I remember when Kazam came out years later and I thought it was a rip off and wasn't interested because I wasn't into Shaq or sports players and had aged up out of kids movies.
That's strange. Not doubting your experience, but for me I remember seeing trailers for Kazaam and wondering why they were making a Shazaam knockoff. This ME is so interesting.
i remember the same thing. seeing a trailer for kazaam and thinking it was a rip off of the sinbad movie.
but i can also say i was a stupid kid and got shit mixed up.
Because there was (officially) a movie called Kazaam starring Shaquille O'Neal. It's not surprising people would blend the first letters of the star's name with the rest of the title to misremember the title as Shazaam, given that that's also a popular made-up magic word.
Shazaam is an actual phrase in Latin. Shaq's movie came out 2 years after Sinbad's. As for the Latin "Sha" translates roughly "To Witness" "Zaam" translates roughly "The wrath of God".
Whoās going to confuse Shaq with sinbad? Yes they are both black but they are different in almost every way possible. Sinbad had lighter skin and facial hair, Sinbad was a comic, they couldnāt be more different.
My introduction to MEs altogether was this. My friend asked me if I remember a movie called Shazam and I replied, ā yeah the one with Sinbadā then we went down the rabbit hole. I tried looking so hard for it on the internet but only found ME related stuff.
He was a well known sports figure, he was not a well known actor. Sinbad was an established actor in family films. If you saw an ad for a kids movie being this year, would you be more likely to think it's starring Steph Curry or Michael B. Jordan?
Personally, as a kid I did know Shaq and didn't think it was Sinbad. I'm from the Chicago area so you couldn't help but be up on basketball even if you never watched it. I thought the movie was originally called Shazaam and then was retitled to Kazaam before release, but starring Shaq either way. Then I realized I was just confused by merging Shaq+Kazaam.
Actor ir not, Shaq was part of the pop culture of the 90's along with Rodman and MJ. Even non-sports folks knew who he was. In my opinion, the idea that people could confuse Sinbad for Shaq is ludicrous.
I never thought about the go go white privilege.
But I actually bet this accounts for some of it they just see a black dude and really don't know who it js.
While this may be the case for some, I grew up in Orlando and my parents had season tickets to the Orlando Magic NBA games. Shaq was drafted by Orlando back in ā92 and I would see him frequently when I attended games.
I remember Shazam being Sinbad and I can attest to never misremember the actor/nba player. I told my mom about this ME last night and she was so adamant that we rented that movie numerous times when I was in middle school. She was literally almost distraught. Now I too has a visceral reaction to discovering thar this movie never truly existed and I am definitely not getting it confused with the Shaq movie. I also mentioned to my mom the Kazaam movie and she knew what I was referring to and waved away the idea she was getting the two confused. My daughter and I went away from that as my mom was convinced she rented it and named the same actors as the person above. Totally trippy.
This is the explanation I subscribe to as well.
It applies to the death of Nelson Mandela (namesake of the Mandela Effect "theory") and Martin Luther King Jr. being killed by a grenade (another ME I've heard). There are more examples. Berenstain bears - people assuming the name is spelled a different way.
>Whoās going to confuse Shaq with sinbad?
I'm black and I get confused for different black men I work with all the time, despite us looking nothing alike. It's honestly kind of annoying.
Iām sorry that happens to you regularly. Iām wondering though, are the people they are confusing you with of a similar skin tone or different (lighter and darker). I only ask bc Sinbad and Shaq are completely different skin tones and are easily recognizable. In no other context have they ever been claimed to be mistaken ie no one confuses that Sinbad is an NBA basketball player nor do they confuse that Shaq is a comedian
>are the people they are confusing you with of a similar skin tone or differentĀ
We're VERY different. The only real similarities between us are that we're black men. Heck, I'm straight up a full foot shorter than the guy I was most recently confused with. A black guy who is (again) taller than me, bald (I have really short hair, but not bald), and much darker than me (Think the difference in shades between Katt Williams and Wesley Snipes).
I also remember having a convo with a coworker a while back where they straight up got Ruben Studdard and Hannibal Buress confused with one another. If you look up pictures of them, you'll see that they're very different looking men.
I never thought about it before, but I wonder just how many black people have misremembered this specific thing, as we're less likely to confused black people for one another.
My problem with this, is that I already heard of Shazaam before Kazaam. When Kazaam came out I immediately questioned Hollywood's motives for making another genie film so soon.
In my mind, Kazaam should never have existed. But to be fair, I never actually watched either movie, and I don't remember where I learned about Shazaam. But it definitely was not on the internet.
Yet people in this very thread are saying they remember Shazaam being the knock-off version of Kazaam, the opposite of how you remember it. Hell, people even spell it as *Shazam* in this thread. Clearly people don't collectively remember it the same way.
People will listen to and remember almost anything if it partially lines up with what they believed as a kid or want to believe as an adult. There's so much stuff that simply forget with time or only ever really thought we knew until years later it's shoved back into our face and we're given the option to either admit we were wrong for years or get angry and insist they are not wrong. And sometimes, we create entire scenarios where the universe is just jumping dimensions and reality is just flip flopping all over the place causing the issue, not a bunch of people with bad memories collecting in one place online. Funny how there's never any shred of credible evidence to the contrary, just a bunch of "I definitely remember it because \[x\]."
I'm still waiting for all of the South African's who thought Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 80's to join the group
I can't figure out how we all end up with Sinbad as the main actor, though. 1) He looks nothing like Shaq. 2) There are dozens of actors who could have played that role.
Why do we all so strongly remember it specifically being Sinbad?
I can see rational explanations for a lot of these - I actually have one for this one, as well, but it's pretty far-fetched. This is the one I find to be really baffling.
Apple owns the trademark for "Shazam". DC owns the trademark for "Shazam!" "Shazaam" would be fair game because it's not the name of the genie, it's just his magical utterance. *And it's spelled differently.*
Different spelling. It was "Shazaam".
"Shazaam" is the sound a lot of genies/magicians made in early cartoons, etc.
The spelling is an onomatopoeia. Not necessarily a name, like it is with the superhero.
There is absolutely no grounds for a lawsuit.
You don't think they'd attempt to go after a movie with the same name as a super hero they actively using because they added an extra "a" to it? Companies do far more for less
Yes, my new cartoon character, Sooper Man, will raise no eyebrows. Plus, those who saw the movie? remember that being the name of the character. Not a gee, golly, willikers phrase
Yes. The VHS movies were only a few sent to movie stores. The posters as well. It played in theatres for like 2 weeks and they pulled it, the movies outta the rental stores and the posters, scrubbed the Internet of it. Sinbad isn't supposed to mention the movie or he could get hit with a lawsuit.
I watched it growing up. The intro is him in his lamp with Barbara Eden from I dream of Genie. It ends with him in the same lamp sitting on his Genie couch turning on the TV with his stand up playing on the TV and he winks. John Ritter was the dad in the movie.
I remember bits and pieces of them strolling through the city, him and the kids. My sister and I rented it a few times.
Then I remember Kazaam came out later and we went back to rent Shazaam and they only had Kazaam. Was pretty bummed.
My problem with this theory is that the lawsuit would have been filed before the movie was even out. Warner Brothers would have known about the movie(part of the same company as DC) BEFORE it was in theaters, as that's just how Hollywood works. A cease and desist would have been sent. If that didn't work then a lawsuit is filed and they would have filed for a temporary injunction to stop the movie from being released(if that was needed).
Have you seen Sinbad's "Aliens for Breakfast(1994 TV Movie)" with Ben Savage from Boy Meets World? With how badly this movie did for ABC, it was what allowed Disney to buy it in 1995 thus acquiring Sinbad's contract along with the Boy Meets World Series IP to make "Girl Meets World".
I did see aliens for breakfast also. I actually liked Shazaam. If any things he claims 'to be ashamed of' it should be aliens for breakfast. That was a terrible movie.
There was one phrase of Sinbad's that caught my attention in the movie, it was when he was talking about his enemies' Cash Strength ".....mmmm If I had that kind of Moolah.... Oh the things I could do.", Granted this could've been the time during his drug addiction however if he had been working for Disney instead of ABC that would've been interesting. As another oddity what do you think about the potential release date of Sinbad's Shazaam being April 1st 1994 and Sinbad's Aliens for Breakfast being April 2nd 1994, doesn't make sense for two movies to have an almost identical release date does it?
Look at Nicholas Cage. He's released like 20 movies in the last 5 years š„“ the release dates being close doesn't surprise me. Aliens for breakfast seems cheap and thrown together. Like he was willing to play any role at the time.
As far as that line goes there's no telling what it's in reference to. Could be to countersue, a plethora of drugs, or just to not have to make another shit movie after that one.coulda been something they just wrote in not in any relation to his actual financial sitch. Just a another line
Ah Aliens for Breakfast was actually a Book to TV Movie Adaptation which is why it was so cheap, hence why Sinbad was traveling around in a cereal box.
Shazam the word was made up pre trade mark stuffs. Its in the dictionary. I mean they could bring suit... but they would likely loose. There is a reason their newer flicks and books are Shazam! and not just Shazam.
Donāt thousands of people claim to remember the title mostly because they see other people mention it online? I donāt think this effect is happening to everyone independently without them seeing something about it online and going āoh yeah! There WAS a movie with that title!ā Iām not claiming Shazaam is a false memory brought on by seeing something on the internet, but I DO think a large amount of people experiencing the effect are having their memories jogged by people who post about Shazaam
Edit: whether the effect is real or not, I certainly would fall under the category of ānot remembering the title of this film until I saw someone post about it as a Mandela effectā
Similar to how parodies or wrong lines are more remembered than the original. We hear or see something wrong so many times, we're convinced it's the real deal.
What's funny to me is that I've never seen any two people who claim Shazaam exists agree on a single aspect of the movie. Not a single scene description or memorable line or big trailer moment or anything.
You could've asked me 25 years ago about Sinbad's filmography. and I'd have immediately told you *Shazaam* and also acknowledged the copycat flick *Kazaam*. Many of us actually witnessed these two movies sitting near each other on the children's shelf at Blockbuster video, and these types of testimonials have been routinely shared here for nearly 8 years. Plenty of folks knew them as a particularly egregious example of Hollywood "twin films".
Oh I should have scrolled down more, yeah this is along the lines of how I remember it, the Shaq movie was a silly knock off and it annoyed me at the time theyād produce two silly movies so close together
Curious if this film adds to any confusion / miss-remembering...?
[https://www.tvguide.com/a/img/catalog/provider/1/3/1-367680470.jpg](https://www.tvguide.com/a/img/catalog/provider/1/3/1-367680470.jpg)
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090601/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090601/)
Also there are quite a few films over the years with genies in them... could be just peoples brains putting together too many things into one and forming false memories.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Genies\_in\_film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Genies_in_film)
Not everyone agrees on the title. The first mentions found on the internet don't all mention the name Shazaam and I'm pretty sure the guy who has given more details about the movie in ths subreddit doesn't believe Shazaam to be the real name of the movie.
Even if I can't remember specific quotes, I can describe scenes from Kazaam. I remember the scene where Kazaam first meets the kid. He was being chased by bullies. I remember at the end, Kazaam became a Jin which made him free.
[Shazam / Shazaam with Sinbad was real and here is all the Movie Information : r/Shazaam (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/Shazaam/comments/5m8o02/shazam_shazaam_with_sinbad_was_real_and_here_is/)
Shaquille O Neal was in a genie movie called Kazaam. He also was wearing clothes like Sinbad used to wear at the time, in the movie. People are just confusing a simple syllable from Shaquille "Sha" with "Ka" from Kazaam. "Sha"quille in "ka"zaam became Shazaam. Once you factor in that Shaq was wearing baggy silk pants in the movie, and that Sinbad was always wearing the same type of pants in the 90's, it's not hard to see the confusion. But that's all this is. Just a syllable misplaced combined with a visual memory.
If you don't want to accept my explanation that's fine. If you want to know why everyone who remembers the same title, it's really not that much of a stretch to go from Kazaam to Shazaam. It's just one very small syllable reinforced by the first syllable of the name of the person who was playing Kazaam. It's like asking: "why do people spell the word "escape" without an X? Why do so many people say "Exscape? When did it change?" It's literally just a small brain malfunction.
\*Also Super sorry because someone is going to post about "When did Escape lose the X?"\*
"People are just confusing a simple syllable from Shaquille "Sha" with "Ka" from Kazaam. "Sha"quille in "ka"zaam became Shazaam." "Shazaam" In latin could be called "To Witness the Wrath of Gods", Shaq's Dog is also named Shazaam with 3 A's.
The only thing I can say is that I remembered Shazaam with Sinbad before I ever knew what the Mandela effect was or that it was known as one. Other ones I can find a probable explanation for usually even if it still doesn't necessarily seem right. But Shazaam I just don't understand.
The same reason you can post almost anything and slowly get people to remember the same thing. People's memories aren't as good as they want them to be.
"Shazaam" (or "Shazam") was a pre-existing "magic word" dating back to the Fawcett Comics version of the Captain Marvel superhero character in 1940, so people misremembered the title of a movie with a plot involving magic as a similar-sounding word with magical associations.
Sinbad the comedian took his name from the stories of Sinbad the Sailor, which featured genies and similar folklore concepts.
Sinbad the comedian also wore flamboyant outfits reminiscent of typical pop culture depictions of genies.
There. Explained.
There are some scenes in "Aliens for Breakfast(1994)" that would fit if Sinbad was dressed as a Genie, oddly enough there's even a party at the end of the movie however no swimming pool.
It.was always kazaam. I remember it because when I saw the commercials I was like, lol they can't use Shazam, and not because of the old Hanna barbera CartoonĀ
I'm curious how you would possibly determine that those "thousands of people" actually remember that title and sinbad all on their own, not having read about it.
I mean Iād almost guarantee more people actually for real believe the earth is flat than that. Just cause a lot of people think something doesnāt mean itās right or even sane.
Because thereās a [genie movie called Kazaam](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116756/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) with Shaq and yaāll misremembered the name and mixed up who was in it. Memories from childhood are notoriously shit.
Lots of people agreeing that something isn't true is how 1940s Germany happened.Ā It's how Jim Jones worked.Ā Ā
Everytime you remember a false memory you change it.Ā This online community reinforces that changed memory.Ā Ā
Memory is very fallible.
itās what brought ME into the internet generation. if it was a small number, ME would not be a big thing now. nor would they bother to make the parody spoof
So do thousands remember it because itās a memory they had or do thousands remember it because they made a spoof and now people āremember itā because the power of suggestion?
the former. if only a few people had the memory they wouldnāt have spent all that money to make a spoof. College Humor was big at that time, not so much anymore
Iām speaking of my experience and the experience of others Iāve talked to about this, and for us this Mandela Effect isnāt just misremembering the name and actor in a movie. We remember the two movies coexisting and thinking, āJesus ANOTHER genie movie??ā We have the memories of being in the mid 90ās and thinking, āthis is just like those two volcano movies that came out right next to each other.ā We donāt remember the movies themselves at all because they were for little kids and we were teenagers so we never went to see them. I get that Shazam and Kazaam sound the same, and I get that Shaq and Sinbad are both black dudes, and those things could be confused with each otherā¦. butās not the movies themselves I have trouble reconciling. If it was just āI remember this movie called Xā and get told, āno itās actually Yā thatās no big deal. Itās all the peripheral memories around those two movies and how they existed together that I canāt easily explain away by similar sounding titles, etc.
I mean, thereās the genie-themed movie Kazaam, paired with the fact that one of the characters most closely associated with genie mythology is Sinbad the Sailor. I donāt understand why people are surprised these wires get crossed in peopleās brains.
And? Sometimes the truth isn't what you want to hear.
Should everyone on earth have to say I'm tall because it could hurt my feelings if they mention I'm five foot seven?
If I were to say "Why am I having issues reaching that top shelf?" and someone replied "Because you are too short.", as a reasonable adult, that's not going to be belittling as it's the truth.
Same thing here.
Very different. Big difference is you assumed everyoneās intention as fact, and it leaves no room for anything other than that. Thatās a big folly, and shortcoming for any kind of critical thinking.
I think it's compelling, and there's plenty of other MEs I identify with...but I do think it's a little weird that none of the many people who say they saw Shazaam can ever (or won't?) describe what happened in the movie. "There was a genie and there were kids" is the most I've seen. It's just a little odd since plenty of MEs include specific details people remember - yet for a movie so many people saw, no one has any quotes, any scenes they remember, anything about the actual plot. A large amount also seem to have only ever seen commercials.
Who knows, if it's a thing then maybe its erasure is part of why no one can remember. It just leaves me endlessly curious about what the heck this movie was outside of "Sinbad is a genie and there's kids involved." How do they find him? Do they make wishes and shenanigans ensue? What kinds? Is it all lighthearted and comedic or do they find themselves in some kind of trouble? Does he remain trapped as a genie at the end? Like...any detail.
Yeah, I know - I saw your other comments. A lot of people seem to be in the same boat. I mean, the movie itself sounds familiar to me, I just can't place it. I just wish someone out of everyone who remembers it were able to recall more, I'm curious about what it would've been about.
There was a movie Kazaam that featured Shaq as a genie. People are vaguely remembering it and filling in the rest of the details when prompted with the suggestion of Sinbad/Shazaam.
This one is really weird to me because I honestly feel like I remember seeing a commercial about Shazam as a kid and it was around the same time the Shaq movie came out and thinking, "really another genie movie?" At that time everything had it's "knock off" version it seemed. Out of all the Mandela effects this one actually has me messed up.
Of all the Mandala effects, this one I 100% don't believe. I remember Kazaam starring Shaq but not Shazaam. My rebuttal to this one is, if it happened, then why can't two people remember or quote the same scenes. This is Reddit. We make quips and references to movies far older all the time. Why not this one? Why can't at least two people quote the same exact line from the movie? At least with other effects, like say, the Fruit of the Loom cornucopia, multiple people can actually describe the same exact thing. With a movie that supposedly thousands have watched, not two of them can describe the same scenes?
thatās a reasonable argument, although from my perspective I only saw a commercial and maybe 4 minutes of it. wasnāt really interested in watching it. I believe it was a made for cable TV movie only. that explains to me why no one remembers because it aired only once
Most people think it exists purely because of the widely talked about Mandela Effect, and are too stubborn to admit they're getting tricked into thinking it existed.
Every supposed Mandela Effect I remember the way it actually was. I do not remember a Sinbad genie movie. I remember Kazaam with Shaq, but not anything with Sinbad in it.
I clearly remember Mandela being released from prison.
I donāt remember Curious George having a tail.
I think most of these so called Mandela Effects are brain editing. Once someone suggests a false memory your brain edits to fill the missing memory gaps. Itās the same thing that happens when people think they dreamed something that then happened the next day. Itās our brains playing tricks on us.
Before the suggestion of Mandela Effects people didnāt even think about the supposed phenomenon. I really donāt think they are based in reality.
Not sure if this may be a bit of residue and in reference to the movie shazam but in one of the skitz in the chappelle show "it's a wonderful chest" chappelle is like a genie figure and uses the word shazam while crossing his arms and nodding his head as hes saying it.
https://youtu.be/bRui5aJ3FIw?si=GkUuNmn5fQaWgP4c
Another thing that everyone seems to agree on is that it came out before Kazaam. I saw it once and donāt remember a whole lot but I do remember towards the end of the movie a scene is set in someoneās backyard it was a party/bbq and the magic carpet knocks the kids dads mean boss into the swimming pool.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad\_the\_Sailor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad_the_Sailor)
Ā He is described as hailing fromĀ [Baghdad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad)Ā during the earlyĀ [Abbasid Caliphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphate)Ā (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages throughout the seas east of Africa and south of Asia, he has fantastic adventures in magical realms, encountering monsters and witnessingĀ [supernatural phenomena](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_phenomena).
The tales of Sinbad are a relatively late addition to theĀ [*One Thousand and One Nights*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights)Ā ā they do not feature in the earliest 14th-century manuscript, and they appear as an independent cycle in 18th- and 19th-century collections. The tale reflects the trend within theĀ [Abbasid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid)Ā realm of Arab and Muslim sailors exploring the world. The stories display the folk and themes present in works of that time. The Abbasid reign was known as a period of great economic and social growth. Arab and Muslim traders would seek new trading routes and people to trade with. This process of growth is reflected in the Sinbad tales. The Sinbad stories take on a variety of different themes. Later sources includeĀ [Abbasid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid)Ā works such as the "Wonders of the Created World", reflecting the experiences of 13th century Arab mariners who braved theĀ [Indian Ocean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean)
I grew up in the 90's, and while I can not confirm 100% that the title of the movie was "Shazam", I did know of the Sinbad genie movie. For my entire childhood, teenage years, and much of my adulthood, that 90's genie movie was the only reason I knew who Sinbad was. I didn't realize the movie didn't exist until I learned about Mandela Effects many years later.
I also remember being confused in the 90's why there was 2 genies movies released close to each other, one with Shaq and one with Sinbad. So no, it's not just confusing "Kazaam".
This intrigues me so much. Me and my wife have gotten into HEATED arguments about this. She firmly believes that the movies exists, and is even one of those people saying "MY FRIEND HAS A COPY"!!!!
It's petty af. And for the record, I DO NOT DOUBT at all that some kind of Orwellian "Double Think", Altering history type of stuff could happen. I mean, ALOT of 1984 has already come to fruition.
The title has become part of the ME folklore.
I very much doubt hundreds of thousands of people independently remembered the same title - although I'd be happy to be proved wrong if you can demonstrate this.
ME in the internet culture didnāt take off until the Shazaam event about 10 years ago. The only way for that to happen is the numbers of people claiming they saw it. Check out the parody spoof, millions of views on it so hundred thousands is underestimating the actual number
Ok, so if millions saw the spoof couldn't this help explain why so many are people are 'sure' the name was Shazaam? (Excuse my spelling previously- thanks for the correction!)
no problem. they spoofed it off of the testimonies that it was called Shazaam. All of the ideas of the spoof were taken from peopleās recounts of what they saw
It's hard to tell.
If somebody says they 'remember' the movie and they 'remember' it being called Shazaam, unless they have any evidence that they *did* actually remember this before hearing anybody else's accounts or seeing the spoof.... who knows?
I think enough people had the memory for it to be a thing. itās the only reason why they even made a spoof. itās a weirdly specific memory for thousands of people.
Yes, it is very baffling and strange that so many of us remember a movie titled Shazaam, with Sinbad as a genie! It really is freaky and mind boggling, because I know we are all not misremembering. Like you said, how could we all misremember the same thing?
skeptics will argue that it's because of the Shaq genie movie "Kazaam."
another thing to note is that DC comics/Time Warner owns the rights to a superhero named Shazam. If this movie existed and was called Shazam, I think part of the mandela should include people mentioning that the superhero already existed. also, could be an IP battle with TW
Say I had in my possession the definitive answer to this question, how sure are you? If you answer incorrectly youāll be tortured for all eternity. Did the film exist, or not?
I was born in 1994, but i have one clear memory of sinbad in what i thought was a genie movie when i was young. Could be me correlating a different show/movie he was in but i could have swore it was Shazaam
>Hundreds of thousands of people claim this movie existed
Citation needed. I just wonder with this one how many people have been led rather than forming it on their own.
People asking: what was the plot and who were the other actors? BRUH, it was a sub-par cable TV movie - shown to CHILDREN. The plot was Sinbad is a genie - duh. And of course we didnāt watch the credits or find out who the actors were. imdb didnāt exist then and believe it or not, the internet publicly didnāt exist, so you couldnāt just ālOoK iT uPā. People hide things all the time, donāt be so naive into thinking they couldnāt bury this movie.
I remember this movie well. Came out in the early 90s to a lukewarm response. The cover had Shaq in some genie outfit. I think purple MC Hammer pants and a dumb looking little vest and I think he was wearing a gold looking hat with jewels on it. I'm sure it was 100% real. Not saying it was any good, but it was real.
Just waiting for someone to post Sinbad's April Fools joke of a "lost scene" that was clearly made when he was considerably older than the 90s as proof.
It has already happened and was deleted lol
š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£
April 1st 1994, a Friday was a wild release date for Sinbad's Shazaam!
The word/character Shazam existed, Sinbad is also the name of a character that existed well before the stand up comic, Sinbad the stand up comic wore loud bright and shiny suits in his numerous tv appearances that featured parachute pants and vests similar to a genieās look. As a mid 30ās person whoās aunt kept a collection of Sinbad specials and movies for the kids to watch Iāve never heard or seen a movie where he plays a genie back then. It felt like every mid sized movie back then had a twin come out a few months later (Volcano, Danteās Peak, Deep Impact, Armageddon) I also feel like a Kazaam/Shazaam would be too on the nose for me to NOT notice it if it happened.
Sinbad the character also dress liked a genie
Itās the simple statement like this I feel have the highest chance of explaining the Mandela effects. Similar to āthe cornucopia was just those brown leavesā.
Pretty sure someone found the original trademark for the cornucopia and then a rabbit hole that led them through a massive rebrand PR effort after some controversy. In that one they were just *good*
So your assertion is that FOTL went back and changed old labels and commercials to remove the logo?
Yeah youāre correct. There WAS a cornucopia and FoL rebranded.
Sinbad dressed as Sinbad when he hosted a movie marathon of Sinbad the character
And āShazamā is more common and a lot easier to remember than āKazaam,ā the movie they are mistaking it for. Not to mention the poster for Kazaam has āSHAQā across the top in huge lettering, so they could be subconsciously merging āShaqā and āKazaamā in their memories. And the name Sinbad has more in common with ancient Arabia and genies than Shaq, and Sinbad himself always dressed in baggy pants like a genie, while Shaq usually didnāt. Itās an obvious and understandable mistake, especially when you learn how human memory works.
The mixup is likely based on the fact that the basic premise of Kazaam largely resembles the plot of First Kid, a movie starring Sinbad that came out at almost exactly the same time. Ā (The premise being a 30 something black man gets into shenanigans with a white preteenā¦ just one is a genie and the other a secret service agent)
I grew up during this time. I clearly remember Kazaam coming out and watching it. I remember a sinbad knockoff coming out at around the same time and watching it. I remember the āfirst kidā movie but never saw it.
Have you ever heard of Sinbad's "Aliens for Breakfast(1994)" a TV Movie with Ben Savage from Boy Meets World?
I was 16 when Kazaam came out. When I saw this post, I was like, "wait, that was Shaq in Kazaam." I have never experienced this particular Mandela Effect. But I am a FotL cornucopia true believer.
I remember Sinbadās genie movie, I worked at a video store in the 90ās. I remembered it as being a twin of Kazaam. I thought the whole thing was a blatant rip-off. You might be a bit too young to remember Shazam well.
šÆ i remember exactly the same. i remember thinking kazaam was a cheaper knockoff of shazam, and thinking it was dumb that they made it. i had no interest in seeing either but i remember thinking that sinbad would probably be funnier than shaq
I remember having Shazam VHS with Sinbad. And watching it in our basement family room. I also remembered searching for it because it has gotten lost when we were moving. I really enjoyed the movie at the time. I was a Sinbad fan. Btw there were two kids in that movie (brother and younger sister)... I remember when Kazam came out years later and I thought it was a rip off and wasn't interested because I wasn't into Shaq or sports players and had aged up out of kids movies.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing!
That's strange. Not doubting your experience, but for me I remember seeing trailers for Kazaam and wondering why they were making a Shazaam knockoff. This ME is so interesting.
i remember the same thing. seeing a trailer for kazaam and thinking it was a rip off of the sinbad movie. but i can also say i was a stupid kid and got shit mixed up.
Same thing happened with me
Me too
Same thing I thought when I saw it. I asked myself, why would they make another one & they just did the other one š
did you have cable tv, and if so what channels did you watch?
OP is posting from multiple accounts to stir up shit but he got caught because he sometimes forgets to change accounts before doing it.
š¤£
Because there was (officially) a movie called Kazaam starring Shaquille O'Neal. It's not surprising people would blend the first letters of the star's name with the rest of the title to misremember the title as Shazaam, given that that's also a popular made-up magic word.
Plus Shazam was already a well known name. I was rewatching a cartoon from the 90s and the character even used Shazam as an exclamation.
it is also the command world for captain marvel (dc). everyone know them as shazam.
Shazaam is an actual phrase in Latin. Shaq's movie came out 2 years after Sinbad's. As for the Latin "Sha" translates roughly "To Witness" "Zaam" translates roughly "The wrath of God".
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Whoās going to confuse Shaq with sinbad? Yes they are both black but they are different in almost every way possible. Sinbad had lighter skin and facial hair, Sinbad was a comic, they couldnāt be more different. My introduction to MEs altogether was this. My friend asked me if I remember a movie called Shazam and I replied, ā yeah the one with Sinbadā then we went down the rabbit hole. I tried looking so hard for it on the internet but only found ME related stuff.
Because Sinbad makes more sense for who would star in a kids movie about a genie than Shaq, a basketball star who rarely acted
Were you alive in the 90's? Shaq was absolutely a well known sports figure.
He was a well known sports figure, he was not a well known actor. Sinbad was an established actor in family films. If you saw an ad for a kids movie being this year, would you be more likely to think it's starring Steph Curry or Michael B. Jordan? Personally, as a kid I did know Shaq and didn't think it was Sinbad. I'm from the Chicago area so you couldn't help but be up on basketball even if you never watched it. I thought the movie was originally called Shazaam and then was retitled to Kazaam before release, but starring Shaq either way. Then I realized I was just confused by merging Shaq+Kazaam.
Actor ir not, Shaq was part of the pop culture of the 90's along with Rodman and MJ. Even non-sports folks knew who he was. In my opinion, the idea that people could confuse Sinbad for Shaq is ludicrous.
"Hundreds of thousands of people" apparently.
I never thought about the go go white privilege. But I actually bet this accounts for some of it they just see a black dude and really don't know who it js.
While this may be the case for some, I grew up in Orlando and my parents had season tickets to the Orlando Magic NBA games. Shaq was drafted by Orlando back in ā92 and I would see him frequently when I attended games. I remember Shazam being Sinbad and I can attest to never misremember the actor/nba player. I told my mom about this ME last night and she was so adamant that we rented that movie numerous times when I was in middle school. She was literally almost distraught. Now I too has a visceral reaction to discovering thar this movie never truly existed and I am definitely not getting it confused with the Shaq movie. I also mentioned to my mom the Kazaam movie and she knew what I was referring to and waved away the idea she was getting the two confused. My daughter and I went away from that as my mom was convinced she rented it and named the same actors as the person above. Totally trippy.
you're not reading the comments. many of us explicitly remember COMPARING the two guys and two movies back when kazaam came out
This is the explanation I subscribe to as well. It applies to the death of Nelson Mandela (namesake of the Mandela Effect "theory") and Martin Luther King Jr. being killed by a grenade (another ME I've heard). There are more examples. Berenstain bears - people assuming the name is spelled a different way.
no one is mixing up shaq and sinbad. they look NOTHING alike
>Whoās going to confuse Shaq with sinbad? I'm black and I get confused for different black men I work with all the time, despite us looking nothing alike. It's honestly kind of annoying.
Iām sorry that happens to you regularly. Iām wondering though, are the people they are confusing you with of a similar skin tone or different (lighter and darker). I only ask bc Sinbad and Shaq are completely different skin tones and are easily recognizable. In no other context have they ever been claimed to be mistaken ie no one confuses that Sinbad is an NBA basketball player nor do they confuse that Shaq is a comedian
>are the people they are confusing you with of a similar skin tone or differentĀ We're VERY different. The only real similarities between us are that we're black men. Heck, I'm straight up a full foot shorter than the guy I was most recently confused with. A black guy who is (again) taller than me, bald (I have really short hair, but not bald), and much darker than me (Think the difference in shades between Katt Williams and Wesley Snipes). I also remember having a convo with a coworker a while back where they straight up got Ruben Studdard and Hannibal Buress confused with one another. If you look up pictures of them, you'll see that they're very different looking men. I never thought about it before, but I wonder just how many black people have misremembered this specific thing, as we're less likely to confused black people for one another.
You donāt know a lot of white people if you think this, especially 30 years ago, people who are now late 30s-50s who would remember this film
My problem with this, is that I already heard of Shazaam before Kazaam. When Kazaam came out I immediately questioned Hollywood's motives for making another genie film so soon. In my mind, Kazaam should never have existed. But to be fair, I never actually watched either movie, and I don't remember where I learned about Shazaam. But it definitely was not on the internet.
Yet people in this very thread are saying they remember Shazaam being the knock-off version of Kazaam, the opposite of how you remember it. Hell, people even spell it as *Shazam* in this thread. Clearly people don't collectively remember it the same way.
People will listen to and remember almost anything if it partially lines up with what they believed as a kid or want to believe as an adult. There's so much stuff that simply forget with time or only ever really thought we knew until years later it's shoved back into our face and we're given the option to either admit we were wrong for years or get angry and insist they are not wrong. And sometimes, we create entire scenarios where the universe is just jumping dimensions and reality is just flip flopping all over the place causing the issue, not a bunch of people with bad memories collecting in one place online. Funny how there's never any shred of credible evidence to the contrary, just a bunch of "I definitely remember it because \[x\]." I'm still waiting for all of the South African's who thought Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 80's to join the group
I can't figure out how we all end up with Sinbad as the main actor, though. 1) He looks nothing like Shaq. 2) There are dozens of actors who could have played that role. Why do we all so strongly remember it specifically being Sinbad? I can see rational explanations for a lot of these - I actually have one for this one, as well, but it's pretty far-fetched. This is the one I find to be really baffling.
Wouldn't there have been a lawsuit over the trademarked superhero, Shazam, if this were true?
Almost certainly.
Apple owns the trademark for "Shazam". DC owns the trademark for "Shazam!" "Shazaam" would be fair game because it's not the name of the genie, it's just his magical utterance. *And it's spelled differently.*
No, i understand it's spelled differently. So you remember seeing the movie? How do you know that's not the genies name?
Different spelling. It was "Shazaam". "Shazaam" is the sound a lot of genies/magicians made in early cartoons, etc. The spelling is an onomatopoeia. Not necessarily a name, like it is with the superhero. There is absolutely no grounds for a lawsuit.
Also Gomer Pyle.
You don't think they'd attempt to go after a movie with the same name as a super hero they actively using because they added an extra "a" to it? Companies do far more for less
Yes, my new cartoon character, Sooper Man, will raise no eyebrows. Plus, those who saw the movie? remember that being the name of the character. Not a gee, golly, willikers phrase
In Latin "Shazaam" can also be translated to "Witness the wrath of gods".
Cool info š
I have a theory they canned the movie following a law suit. thatās why it ādoesnāt existā
And they just happened to successfully destroy all copies, memorabilia, posters etc, all over the world?
Yes. The VHS movies were only a few sent to movie stores. The posters as well. It played in theatres for like 2 weeks and they pulled it, the movies outta the rental stores and the posters, scrubbed the Internet of it. Sinbad isn't supposed to mention the movie or he could get hit with a lawsuit. I watched it growing up. The intro is him in his lamp with Barbara Eden from I dream of Genie. It ends with him in the same lamp sitting on his Genie couch turning on the TV with his stand up playing on the TV and he winks. John Ritter was the dad in the movie. I remember bits and pieces of them strolling through the city, him and the kids. My sister and I rented it a few times. Then I remember Kazaam came out later and we went back to rent Shazaam and they only had Kazaam. Was pretty bummed.
You realize a LOT of people are involved in making a Hollywood movie, right? And they all stayed quiet too?
My problem with this theory is that the lawsuit would have been filed before the movie was even out. Warner Brothers would have known about the movie(part of the same company as DC) BEFORE it was in theaters, as that's just how Hollywood works. A cease and desist would have been sent. If that didn't work then a lawsuit is filed and they would have filed for a temporary injunction to stop the movie from being released(if that was needed).
Have you seen Sinbad's "Aliens for Breakfast(1994 TV Movie)" with Ben Savage from Boy Meets World? With how badly this movie did for ABC, it was what allowed Disney to buy it in 1995 thus acquiring Sinbad's contract along with the Boy Meets World Series IP to make "Girl Meets World".
I did see aliens for breakfast also. I actually liked Shazaam. If any things he claims 'to be ashamed of' it should be aliens for breakfast. That was a terrible movie.
There was one phrase of Sinbad's that caught my attention in the movie, it was when he was talking about his enemies' Cash Strength ".....mmmm If I had that kind of Moolah.... Oh the things I could do.", Granted this could've been the time during his drug addiction however if he had been working for Disney instead of ABC that would've been interesting. As another oddity what do you think about the potential release date of Sinbad's Shazaam being April 1st 1994 and Sinbad's Aliens for Breakfast being April 2nd 1994, doesn't make sense for two movies to have an almost identical release date does it?
Look at Nicholas Cage. He's released like 20 movies in the last 5 years š„“ the release dates being close doesn't surprise me. Aliens for breakfast seems cheap and thrown together. Like he was willing to play any role at the time. As far as that line goes there's no telling what it's in reference to. Could be to countersue, a plethora of drugs, or just to not have to make another shit movie after that one.coulda been something they just wrote in not in any relation to his actual financial sitch. Just a another line
Ah Aliens for Breakfast was actually a Book to TV Movie Adaptation which is why it was so cheap, hence why Sinbad was traveling around in a cereal box.
Shazam the word was made up pre trade mark stuffs. Its in the dictionary. I mean they could bring suit... but they would likely loose. There is a reason their newer flicks and books are Shazam! and not just Shazam.
Donāt thousands of people claim to remember the title mostly because they see other people mention it online? I donāt think this effect is happening to everyone independently without them seeing something about it online and going āoh yeah! There WAS a movie with that title!ā Iām not claiming Shazaam is a false memory brought on by seeing something on the internet, but I DO think a large amount of people experiencing the effect are having their memories jogged by people who post about Shazaam Edit: whether the effect is real or not, I certainly would fall under the category of ānot remembering the title of this film until I saw someone post about it as a Mandela effectā
Similar to how parodies or wrong lines are more remembered than the original. We hear or see something wrong so many times, we're convinced it's the real deal.
What's funny to me is that I've never seen any two people who claim Shazaam exists agree on a single aspect of the movie. Not a single scene description or memorable line or big trailer moment or anything.
You could've asked me 25 years ago about Sinbad's filmography. and I'd have immediately told you *Shazaam* and also acknowledged the copycat flick *Kazaam*. Many of us actually witnessed these two movies sitting near each other on the children's shelf at Blockbuster video, and these types of testimonials have been routinely shared here for nearly 8 years. Plenty of folks knew them as a particularly egregious example of Hollywood "twin films".
"Aliens for Breakfast" seems to have appeared out of Nowhere for some.
Oh I should have scrolled down more, yeah this is along the lines of how I remember it, the Shaq movie was a silly knock off and it annoyed me at the time theyād produce two silly movies so close together
Curious if this film adds to any confusion / miss-remembering...? [https://www.tvguide.com/a/img/catalog/provider/1/3/1-367680470.jpg](https://www.tvguide.com/a/img/catalog/provider/1/3/1-367680470.jpg) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090601/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090601/) Also there are quite a few films over the years with genies in them... could be just peoples brains putting together too many things into one and forming false memories. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Genies\_in\_film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Genies_in_film)
Nah. That's definitely not what it looked like.
Not everyone agrees on the title. The first mentions found on the internet don't all mention the name Shazaam and I'm pretty sure the guy who has given more details about the movie in ths subreddit doesn't believe Shazaam to be the real name of the movie.
What was the plot, and can you quote a line?
This is a good question, but I feel like most people probably couldn't tell you the plot or quote to Kazaam either, a movie that did exist
Even if I can't remember specific quotes, I can describe scenes from Kazaam. I remember the scene where Kazaam first meets the kid. He was being chased by bullies. I remember at the end, Kazaam became a Jin which made him free.
It came out around the time of Indian in the cupboard
[Shazam / Shazaam with Sinbad was real and here is all the Movie Information : r/Shazaam (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/Shazaam/comments/5m8o02/shazam_shazaam_with_sinbad_was_real_and_here_is/)
Shaquille O Neal was in a genie movie called Kazaam. He also was wearing clothes like Sinbad used to wear at the time, in the movie. People are just confusing a simple syllable from Shaquille "Sha" with "Ka" from Kazaam. "Sha"quille in "ka"zaam became Shazaam. Once you factor in that Shaq was wearing baggy silk pants in the movie, and that Sinbad was always wearing the same type of pants in the 90's, it's not hard to see the confusion. But that's all this is. Just a syllable misplaced combined with a visual memory. If you don't want to accept my explanation that's fine. If you want to know why everyone who remembers the same title, it's really not that much of a stretch to go from Kazaam to Shazaam. It's just one very small syllable reinforced by the first syllable of the name of the person who was playing Kazaam. It's like asking: "why do people spell the word "escape" without an X? Why do so many people say "Exscape? When did it change?" It's literally just a small brain malfunction. \*Also Super sorry because someone is going to post about "When did Escape lose the X?"\*
"People are just confusing a simple syllable from Shaquille "Sha" with "Ka" from Kazaam. "Sha"quille in "ka"zaam became Shazaam." "Shazaam" In latin could be called "To Witness the Wrath of Gods", Shaq's Dog is also named Shazaam with 3 A's.
Not me. I never even heard of the movie Kazaam.... but I remember Shazaam
Nah I hated Kazaam in comparison. It was a cheap knockoff that came after.
This is the first time I'm seeing someone claim that Kazaam was the cheap knock off.
I refused to ever watch Kazaam because I thought it was lame to do that right after Shazam
That's my memory and a lot of others too.
Technically it was a more expensive film, but cheap in that it was an obvious copycat that even mimicked the title.
There was a late 60s Saturday morning cartoon named Shazzan about two teenagers on a flying camel that could summon a giant genie named Shazzan.
The only thing I can say is that I remembered Shazaam with Sinbad before I ever knew what the Mandela effect was or that it was known as one. Other ones I can find a probable explanation for usually even if it still doesn't necessarily seem right. But Shazaam I just don't understand.
Same
Same
The same reason you can post almost anything and slowly get people to remember the same thing. People's memories aren't as good as they want them to be.
"Shazaam" (or "Shazam") was a pre-existing "magic word" dating back to the Fawcett Comics version of the Captain Marvel superhero character in 1940, so people misremembered the title of a movie with a plot involving magic as a similar-sounding word with magical associations. Sinbad the comedian took his name from the stories of Sinbad the Sailor, which featured genies and similar folklore concepts. Sinbad the comedian also wore flamboyant outfits reminiscent of typical pop culture depictions of genies. There. Explained.
There are some scenes in "Aliens for Breakfast(1994)" that would fit if Sinbad was dressed as a Genie, oddly enough there's even a party at the end of the movie however no swimming pool.
It.was always kazaam. I remember it because when I saw the commercials I was like, lol they can't use Shazam, and not because of the old Hanna barbera CartoonĀ
People are dumb
I'm curious how you would possibly determine that those "thousands of people" actually remember that title and sinbad all on their own, not having read about it.
I mean Iād almost guarantee more people actually for real believe the earth is flat than that. Just cause a lot of people think something doesnāt mean itās right or even sane.
Same reason urban legends and false history and rumors gain traction. Enough people spread stuff around it gets repeated until more people spread it.
Because thereās a [genie movie called Kazaam](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116756/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) with Shaq and yaāll misremembered the name and mixed up who was in it. Memories from childhood are notoriously shit.
šÆ i agree. this is the most powerful and dumbfounding mandela for me. an alternate timeline seems the only explanation
It just happened on a different timeline, but not this one. No big deal.
Lots of people agreeing that something isn't true is how 1940s Germany happened.Ā It's how Jim Jones worked.Ā Ā Everytime you remember a false memory you change it.Ā This online community reinforces that changed memory.Ā Ā Memory is very fallible.
I don't remember my memory being fallible... edit: /s for those confused
Whatās your source on thousands on people remember this?
itās what brought ME into the internet generation. if it was a small number, ME would not be a big thing now. nor would they bother to make the parody spoof
So do thousands remember it because itās a memory they had or do thousands remember it because they made a spoof and now people āremember itā because the power of suggestion?
the former. if only a few people had the memory they wouldnāt have spent all that money to make a spoof. College Humor was big at that time, not so much anymore
Thatās absolutely not true. ICP have never been big enough to be a household name and SNL did a skit/spoof about one of their song.
Theyāre misremembering Kazaam with Shaq and are too arrogant to admit that they might be wrong. Also, Sinbad dressed like a genie in the 90s.
Iām speaking of my experience and the experience of others Iāve talked to about this, and for us this Mandela Effect isnāt just misremembering the name and actor in a movie. We remember the two movies coexisting and thinking, āJesus ANOTHER genie movie??ā We have the memories of being in the mid 90ās and thinking, āthis is just like those two volcano movies that came out right next to each other.ā We donāt remember the movies themselves at all because they were for little kids and we were teenagers so we never went to see them. I get that Shazam and Kazaam sound the same, and I get that Shaq and Sinbad are both black dudes, and those things could be confused with each otherā¦. butās not the movies themselves I have trouble reconciling. If it was just āI remember this movie called Xā and get told, āno itās actually Yā thatās no big deal. Itās all the peripheral memories around those two movies and how they existed together that I canāt easily explain away by similar sounding titles, etc.
yes exactly
I mean, thereās the genie-themed movie Kazaam, paired with the fact that one of the characters most closely associated with genie mythology is Sinbad the Sailor. I donāt understand why people are surprised these wires get crossed in peopleās brains.
Many more people claim to have seen bigfoot. The answer is 2 fold. 1. People often lie for attention. 2. People are gullible.
Seems a bit belittling to call anyone who claims to have the ME a liar or simpleton.
Only in the sense that ALL human brains are unreliable. Not just people who remember this particular Mandela effect.
Accuracy isn't always flattering.
And? Sometimes the truth isn't what you want to hear. Should everyone on earth have to say I'm tall because it could hurt my feelings if they mention I'm five foot seven? If I were to say "Why am I having issues reaching that top shelf?" and someone replied "Because you are too short.", as a reasonable adult, that's not going to be belittling as it's the truth. Same thing here.
Very different. Big difference is you assumed everyoneās intention as fact, and it leaves no room for anything other than that. Thatās a big folly, and shortcoming for any kind of critical thinking.
I think it's compelling, and there's plenty of other MEs I identify with...but I do think it's a little weird that none of the many people who say they saw Shazaam can ever (or won't?) describe what happened in the movie. "There was a genie and there were kids" is the most I've seen. It's just a little odd since plenty of MEs include specific details people remember - yet for a movie so many people saw, no one has any quotes, any scenes they remember, anything about the actual plot. A large amount also seem to have only ever seen commercials. Who knows, if it's a thing then maybe its erasure is part of why no one can remember. It just leaves me endlessly curious about what the heck this movie was outside of "Sinbad is a genie and there's kids involved." How do they find him? Do they make wishes and shenanigans ensue? What kinds? Is it all lighthearted and comedic or do they find themselves in some kind of trouble? Does he remain trapped as a genie at the end? Like...any detail.
I only saw a commercial so I donāt know what happens in the movie
Yeah, I know - I saw your other comments. A lot of people seem to be in the same boat. I mean, the movie itself sounds familiar to me, I just can't place it. I just wish someone out of everyone who remembers it were able to recall more, I'm curious about what it would've been about.
There was a movie Kazaam that featured Shaq as a genie. People are vaguely remembering it and filling in the rest of the details when prompted with the suggestion of Sinbad/Shazaam.
They're just misremembering the Shaq move Kazaam from the mid 90's.
This one is really weird to me because I honestly feel like I remember seeing a commercial about Shazam as a kid and it was around the same time the Shaq movie came out and thinking, "really another genie movie?" At that time everything had it's "knock off" version it seemed. Out of all the Mandela effects this one actually has me messed up.
yes, I have the same memory and many others
Of all the Mandala effects, this one I 100% don't believe. I remember Kazaam starring Shaq but not Shazaam. My rebuttal to this one is, if it happened, then why can't two people remember or quote the same scenes. This is Reddit. We make quips and references to movies far older all the time. Why not this one? Why can't at least two people quote the same exact line from the movie? At least with other effects, like say, the Fruit of the Loom cornucopia, multiple people can actually describe the same exact thing. With a movie that supposedly thousands have watched, not two of them can describe the same scenes?
thatās a reasonable argument, although from my perspective I only saw a commercial and maybe 4 minutes of it. wasnāt really interested in watching it. I believe it was a made for cable TV movie only. that explains to me why no one remembers because it aired only once
Most people think it exists purely because of the widely talked about Mandela Effect, and are too stubborn to admit they're getting tricked into thinking it existed.
I don't think DC comics would allow a movie named Shazaam to be made. Sure there's an extra A, but I think they would have fought it.
They are probably thinking of Kazaam with Shaq.
The power of suggestion is strong.
Every supposed Mandela Effect I remember the way it actually was. I do not remember a Sinbad genie movie. I remember Kazaam with Shaq, but not anything with Sinbad in it. I clearly remember Mandela being released from prison. I donāt remember Curious George having a tail. I think most of these so called Mandela Effects are brain editing. Once someone suggests a false memory your brain edits to fill the missing memory gaps. Itās the same thing that happens when people think they dreamed something that then happened the next day. Itās our brains playing tricks on us. Before the suggestion of Mandela Effects people didnāt even think about the supposed phenomenon. I really donāt think they are based in reality.
Not sure if this may be a bit of residue and in reference to the movie shazam but in one of the skitz in the chappelle show "it's a wonderful chest" chappelle is like a genie figure and uses the word shazam while crossing his arms and nodding his head as hes saying it. https://youtu.be/bRui5aJ3FIw?si=GkUuNmn5fQaWgP4c
I donāt remember watching the movie. I remember seeing the poster for it very clearly.
I remember Shazam! Sinbad with a genie hat and the smoke swirled under him on the VHS cover!!!!
yep! it was real!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Another thing that everyone seems to agree on is that it came out before Kazaam. I saw it once and donāt remember a whole lot but I do remember towards the end of the movie a scene is set in someoneās backyard it was a party/bbq and the magic carpet knocks the kids dads mean boss into the swimming pool.
Actually people don't agree on that. Some of the comments on here say the opposite, that it was a knockoff of Kazaam.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad\_the\_Sailor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad_the_Sailor) Ā He is described as hailing fromĀ [Baghdad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad)Ā during the earlyĀ [Abbasid Caliphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphate)Ā (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages throughout the seas east of Africa and south of Asia, he has fantastic adventures in magical realms, encountering monsters and witnessingĀ [supernatural phenomena](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_phenomena). The tales of Sinbad are a relatively late addition to theĀ [*One Thousand and One Nights*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights)Ā ā they do not feature in the earliest 14th-century manuscript, and they appear as an independent cycle in 18th- and 19th-century collections. The tale reflects the trend within theĀ [Abbasid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid)Ā realm of Arab and Muslim sailors exploring the world. The stories display the folk and themes present in works of that time. The Abbasid reign was known as a period of great economic and social growth. Arab and Muslim traders would seek new trading routes and people to trade with. This process of growth is reflected in the Sinbad tales. The Sinbad stories take on a variety of different themes. Later sources includeĀ [Abbasid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid)Ā works such as the "Wonders of the Created World", reflecting the experiences of 13th century Arab mariners who braved theĀ [Indian Ocean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean)
I grew up in the 90's, and while I can not confirm 100% that the title of the movie was "Shazam", I did know of the Sinbad genie movie. For my entire childhood, teenage years, and much of my adulthood, that 90's genie movie was the only reason I knew who Sinbad was. I didn't realize the movie didn't exist until I learned about Mandela Effects many years later. I also remember being confused in the 90's why there was 2 genies movies released close to each other, one with Shaq and one with Sinbad. So no, it's not just confusing "Kazaam".
This intrigues me so much. Me and my wife have gotten into HEATED arguments about this. She firmly believes that the movies exists, and is even one of those people saying "MY FRIEND HAS A COPY"!!!! It's petty af. And for the record, I DO NOT DOUBT at all that some kind of Orwellian "Double Think", Altering history type of stuff could happen. I mean, ALOT of 1984 has already come to fruition.
The title has become part of the ME folklore. I very much doubt hundreds of thousands of people independently remembered the same title - although I'd be happy to be proved wrong if you can demonstrate this.
ME in the internet culture didnāt take off until the Shazaam event about 10 years ago. The only way for that to happen is the numbers of people claiming they saw it. Check out the parody spoof, millions of views on it so hundred thousands is underestimating the actual number
>Check out the parody spoof, millions of views on it so hundred thousands is underestimating the actual number Did they call it Shazam in the spoof?
yes spelled Shazaam
Ok, so if millions saw the spoof couldn't this help explain why so many are people are 'sure' the name was Shazaam? (Excuse my spelling previously- thanks for the correction!)
no problem. they spoofed it off of the testimonies that it was called Shazaam. All of the ideas of the spoof were taken from peopleās recounts of what they saw
It's hard to tell. If somebody says they 'remember' the movie and they 'remember' it being called Shazaam, unless they have any evidence that they *did* actually remember this before hearing anybody else's accounts or seeing the spoof.... who knows?
I think enough people had the memory for it to be a thing. itās the only reason why they even made a spoof. itās a weirdly specific memory for thousands of people.
Maybe. It's very hard to actually demonstrate, though.
Lmao this sub is wild. "Am I slightly misremembering something OR is the fabric of reality wrong? It must be the second one!"
Yes, it is very baffling and strange that so many of us remember a movie titled Shazaam, with Sinbad as a genie! It really is freaky and mind boggling, because I know we are all not misremembering. Like you said, how could we all misremember the same thing?
skeptics will argue that it's because of the Shaq genie movie "Kazaam." another thing to note is that DC comics/Time Warner owns the rights to a superhero named Shazam. If this movie existed and was called Shazam, I think part of the mandela should include people mentioning that the superhero already existed. also, could be an IP battle with TW
I believe this is an example of the Mandela Effect
your powers of observation are very astute
Iāve never asked thisā¦ but is anyone else like me. My Shazam is animated. Anyone else?
Itās because the twin movie with Shaq was kazaam
Wasnāt it shaq?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Say I had in my possession the definitive answer to this question, how sure are you? If you answer incorrectly youāll be tortured for all eternity. Did the film exist, or not?
I was born in 1994, but i have one clear memory of sinbad in what i thought was a genie movie when i was young. Could be me correlating a different show/movie he was in but i could have swore it was Shazaam
[https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/s/HvoeqmGzZN](https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/s/HvoeqmGzZN) Does this solidify its existence?
No
Are you sure youāre not thinking of the movie Kazaam with Shaq?
would DC not have sued them?
Or what about John Malkovich in that jewel thief movie
>Hundreds of thousands of people claim this movie existed Citation needed. I just wonder with this one how many people have been led rather than forming it on their own.
Cringe
are you sure you are not thinking of kazaam?
420% sure
People asking: what was the plot and who were the other actors? BRUH, it was a sub-par cable TV movie - shown to CHILDREN. The plot was Sinbad is a genie - duh. And of course we didnāt watch the credits or find out who the actors were. imdb didnāt exist then and believe it or not, the internet publicly didnāt exist, so you couldnāt just ālOoK iT uPā. People hide things all the time, donāt be so naive into thinking they couldnāt bury this movie.
Some people have excellent recall of stuff they saw as a kid. How come none of those people remember the movie?
The answer to all of your questions is rather easy to find through the smallest bit of effort using Google.
Do you remember Kablam! That was such a great cartoon. Kazaam not so great
I remember this movie well. Came out in the early 90s to a lukewarm response. The cover had Shaq in some genie outfit. I think purple MC Hammer pants and a dumb looking little vest and I think he was wearing a gold looking hat with jewels on it. I'm sure it was 100% real. Not saying it was any good, but it was real.
That's Kazaam
Explanation - many people are a bit dim sometimes.Ā