SAMSIES TOWN — Disney and Pixar’s latest offering, “Coco,” is headed to theaters this Thanksgiving weekend and early reviews praise the new film as another win for the animation studio.

Travis Poppleton will have a full review of the film Wednesday, but until then, we’ve got another article for you that’s loosely tied to the movie.

When initial trailers dropped for “Coco,” there was some outcry from fans of the 2014 animated film “The Book Of Life.” Some took to social media to let Disney and Pixar know they felt “Coco” ripped off the “The Book of Life,” and they had some really harsh things to say. After the early screening, Poppleton said “Coco” is nothing like “The Book of Life,” which is no surprise to me, but it still sparked a look at other films that have been accused of being copycats.

While “Coco” is wholly original and just happens to involve the Day of the Dead much like “The Book of Life,” there are other films that have really just lifted their plots from other movies and passed them off as their own.

I’m not talking about twin films that happen to release at the same time like “Armageddon” and "Deep Impact” or “Olympus Has Fallen” and “White House Down.” I’m talking about movies that were marketed as totally original, but are really just a rip-off of another film. Maybe rip-off isn’t the right word, but some of these similarities are shocking and have made me a little mad in the past.

My brother and fellow KSL.com movie critic Dave Clyde and I have had these conversations for some time and we’re finally going to share some of the films we find most egregious and guilty of this crime.

“Avatar” is just “FernGully: The Last Rainforest”

This one bothers me more than just about anything else. I feel the others on the list are forgivable, but this one is not. “Avatar” is the most successful movie in history, and I still don’t understand why. I was bored beyond measure and don’t give me the, “it looks beautiful” argument — it doesn’t hold water with me. Just because it looks pretty doesn’t make it good, not by a long shot.

There are some people who point out that “Avatar” is a rip-off of “Pocahontas” and “Dances With Wolves,” and it’s true the blockbuster of all blockbusters has some serious similarities with those movies as well. But I’m here to show you that “Avatar” is literally the 1992 animated film “FernGully: The Last Rain Forest.”

Let me know if any of this sounds familiar: a young white man works for an organization that needs a tree for its business. The man doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but he needs a job and this one works. The man is then changed into the same size as the beings that depend on the tree for life. The man falls in love with a girl who will one day be the leader of her people and he ends up fighting the same corporation he was working for to save the species and their tree.

It should sound familiar because it is the exact plot for both “FernGully” and “Avatar.” I’m not joking, that’s literally what happens in “FernGully.”

A bunch of fairies live in this tree in the rainforest and the tree is powerful and gives them life and a home. Zak works for the logging company threatening to tear down the tree, and he shrinks down to the size of the fairies and experiences what it’s like to be them and even falls in love with Crysta, the chief’s daughter. There is even a spot when Zak and Crysta ride around on dragonflies. This is Avatar, except replace Zak with Jake, Crysta with Neytiri and dragonflies with mountain banshees.

It’s maddening that a film that really isn’t very good and is just a rip-off of another film that isn’t very good is the highest grossing movie of all time with a theme park and multiple sequels on the way. I’m getting mad just thinking about it.

“Iron Man 3” is “Lethal Weapon” and “Lethal Weapon 2”

I can almost sum this up and say writer and director Shane Black basically makes the same movie over and over again, but I don’t really care because I really like them. Well, most of them.

Black wrote the script for the 1987 hit “Lethal Weapon.” The movie is based around two police officers that have been partnered up during the Christmas season to stop a gang of drug smugglers. We have the white cop who is a wild card, borderline crazy and constantly shooting from the hip. We have the black cop who plays everything by the book, a smart cop who does his job and does it well but makes sure it’s all done within the law. I’m describing Riggs and Murtaugh, but I may as well be describing Tony Stark and Col. James Rhodes.

Besides character traits, let’s point out a few other things “Iron Man 3” has in common with “Lethal Weapon” and its sequel. Both destroy a Los Angeles mansion on a cliff side, both have raids on the bad guys in a Los Angeles mansion, both have climaxes on loading docks, both include electrical torture and both are set around Christmas. Watch the first two Lethal Weapon movies, then watch “Iron Man 3” and it’s pretty obvious Black likes to make the same movie. Then if you have time watch another film of his, “The Nice Guys,” you can find yet another entertaining flick that’s basically the same movie.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” is basically “Rango”

One of my favorite movies of 2015 was “Mad Max: Fury Road.” It was an insanely good time at the movies and I still cannot believe what George Miller did from a directing standpoint on that movie. It is mesmerizing, audacious and downright entertaining, but it’s also basically the 2011 animated film “Rango.”

“Rango” is a strange but surprisingly good little film where the protagonist, Rango, is dropped in the middle of a society where water is a commodity held at bay by its ruthless and selfish leader. The society looks to the water as almost a spiritual being and a very small group, including the reluctant outsider, create a revolution to stop the leader and create a better society for the inhabitants. For anyone who has seen “Mad Max: Fury Road,” this sounds incredibly familiar.

Max ends up in this society against his will led by Immortan Joe who rewards his people with water, on occasion, and holds it and the commodity of gasoline back. A small group of rebels, including Max, fight back and end up making things better for the people.

Aside from plot similarities, there are also a number of shots utilized in both films that a Redditor pointed out to all of us. Some of these include a moment in “Rango” when all of the rodents in the town hold up metal circles in the air. The same thing happens in “Fury Road,” but the circles are steering wheels. We also have a moment in both films where the leader opens up the water floodgates and lets it pour down on to the people. In “Fury Road,” a large truck is used to transport the gasoline and a carriage with large water jugs is used to transport the water in “Rango.” In “Fury Road,” that large truck flipped over to box in pursuers from following our heroes; in “Rango,” the carriage with the water jugs is flipped to do the exact same thing.

These similarities don’t take away from how much I like “Fury Road,” but I do feel like Miller and the team behind the latest Mad Max film should at least say, “thanks” to director Gore Verbinski and the rest of the crew that made “Rango.” Even a tip of the hat would suffice.

What other movies do you feel are basically the same? Let us know on the comment boards.

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