Fictional Websites That Are Real
Examples of real fictional websites that exist in the fictional realities of television and movie characters.
1. Monsters University
http://monstersuniversity.com/edu/
The Disney Pixar’s Monsters Inc. prequel film Monsters University hit theaters in summer 2013. The movie shows Mike and Sulley’s college experience before working at Monsters Inc. Accompanying the movie, Disney launched the official “.edu” site for Monsters University. This site resembles any other university page. Read about upcoming events, admission policies, academic programs, view the campus map, purchase merchandise in the school store,and there is even a student log-in platform.
2. Castle
The show Castle on ABC is a drama based on a famous mystery novelist who helps the NYPD homicide department solve crimes. The producers successfully blur the line between television reality and real life. Not only does the fictional character, Richard Castle, have hard copy books on the shelves at places like Barnes & Noble, he has his very own official website.
3. Iron Man 2
In the popular Iron Man movies, Tony Stark is an engineer who creates the Iron Man suit. In the Iron Man 2 movie Tony Stark attends “Stark Expo” which attracts other inventors, scientist, engineers, and fans to be part of and view the latest technology. The website about the Stark Expo is online for anyone to view the expo gallery, an expo map, and several videos.
4. Batman: Dark Knight
http://www.gothamnationalbank.com/
Prior to the release of Batman: Dark Knight there was a viral marketing campaign which included numerous websites that would exist in the fictional city of Gotham. These websites were taken over by the Joker. Gotham National Bank is the bank in which the Joker robs in the movie. You can see his message on the home page of the site. But, click around and you will see the rest of the site is full of information about GNB that makes this website even more convincing as a “real” bank site.
5. How I Met Your Mother
The sitcom How I Met Your Mother is a series of episodes that follow the story a man tells his children about how he met their mother. One episode, Ted Mosby, who is a professor at Columbia University, gets one negative review on a website called GradeMyTeacher.net where students can write what they think about their teachers. Ted’s profile on GradeMyTeacher.net is online.
6. Dr. Who
http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk/index1.shtml
Doctor Who is a BBC television series about a man/alien and his Police Box time travel machine called Tardis. In the 2005 series’ first episode, Rose is trying to figure out who The Doctor is and comes across the website of Clive, a man also looking for the Doctor. The live site is the same as it looked in that episode, complete with visual data of sightings and accounts from those who have seen The Doctor.
7. Arrested Development
Arrested Development is a sitcom about a son’s attempt to take over his family’s affairs after their father is imprisoned. The father, George, has a twin brother Oscar. In an episode, Oscar created a website to try to convince people he is not George. The website is live and you can view Oscar’s posts about life in prison.