Inspirations from My Childhood
I, too, am jumping on the bandwagon of discussing my childhood influences. As many others have throughout the OSR blogosphere.
The Chronicles of Narnia
I think the first fantasy thing I ever read was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. My mother recommended it to me, as the movie was coming out soon and my school was having a book fair. I thought it sounded like something for girls and said I wasn't interested and she bought it for me anyway -- the box set containing all seven novels -- and I remember asking which one I should read first since the collection had The Magician's Nephew first1 and that was not the title of the upcoming movie. My mom said to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first and I was very quickly sucked in. I spent that whole year reading those books; I specifically really loved The Magician's Nephew, The Horse and His Boy, and The Silver Chair. The description of traveling between worlds, and the myriad worlds to travel to, really stuck out to me in TMM. I was enamored by the idea of the coexistence of science and magic as presented in the novel. I also really loved to read about a "true" Narnian in The Horse and His Boy as well as learning about places other than Narnia proper. Then I also remember really liking how Eustace grew into his own better person by the time of The Silver Chair and the second half or so of the book when they descend down into the deep, deep underground. It had a very unnerving feeling that stuck with me for some time. Of course, also being raised in a strict, religious household the symbolism really was effective at getting me invested in the characters. I really wished that I could have been whisked away to a place where there was an Aslan I could meet and touch.
Greek Mythology
I grew up immersed in this stuff. I couldn't tell you where I first heard of Hercules or Troy or the Minotaur. It was just always there. I love the heroes, the "magic items," the way that these stories reverberate endlessly throughout time. I pestered my dad endlessly with questions, the answers of which I'm sure he made up on the spot but, really, who's to say aren't as authoritative as anything else? After all, it was all made up by someone at some point.
Halo
When I first saw Halo I was blinded by its majesty. The video game overwhelmed me with the sense of being in a wide, open space which was not something I had ever seen from FPS games before, but what really blew my mind was discovering that there were books about this video game. I didn't get home video game console until I was in high school, but I wanted to know more. The Halo novels, particularly the earlier ones, have a kind of weird inconsistency with the games. Halo CE is kind of separated from the military SF aesthetic of The Fall of Reach prequel novel because CE is decidedly a "mythical" science fiction story. The combination of the two is kind of brilliant, and as the novels continued on they began to harmonize more and more with the games until Halo as a franchise had a thesis that to be human is to fight against overwhelming odds, to do the things that must be done. The Covenant, being largely a faceless, unceasing, and uncaring entity might as well be a natural disaster for all the good that talking to them can do. The thing that's on the line in Halo is not a threat to continued American imperial aims, it's the destruction of our species -- subsequently followed by all life in the galaxy. However, even though the outlook is bleak, there is always a sense of hope. Another thing that really inspired me was the Believe campaign for the lead-up to Halo 3. If you have never watched that, I recommend it. There is such an intense dedication to the presentation, and it is so blindingly sincere. Today's post-ironic culture could never. It is that sense of wonder, mystery, and sincerity that will always stick with me more than anything.
Ray Harryhausen
Jason and the Argonauts, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and Clash of the Titans were all movies that I saw within close proximity to each other at a formative time in my life. I of course already mentioned Greek myths but what really drew me to these movies was the awesome aesthetic. It was obviously not real, but it had this heightened sense of reality that was endlessly mesmerizing.
Bionicle
I can never say enough.
I was five when the first wave of Bionicle hit the scene. This lit my imagination up like wildfire. The image of bio-mechanical 2 beings trudging through the very-much-organic wilderness to find ancient relics is burned into my mind's eye as the coolest thing I've ever seen. We were not really flush with cash, so I only really could get a few sets a year. But what was pretty affordable at the time was the children's novel series, as well as the free LEGO magazine that came with serialized comics of Bionicle, as well as the free Mata Nui Online Game and its sequel. I discovered MNOG II first and it was impenetrable due to my connection being unable to handle the minigames necessary to proceed, but the first one was more manageable and really got me sucked into it. I felt like I could easily step right through the screen or into the page and end up on Mata Nui. The reveal that the Turaga had been lying to everyone, and indeed they had come from a huge underground city called Metru Nui broke my heart, but when the terrible truth was revealed that the Great Spirit was dying and they had to venture all around the islands to find the Mask of Life...all culminating with Mata Nui's robot body rising up out of the ocean and destroying the island named after him...amazing. I'm not even doing it justice here at all, but the thing is I don't think it's possible to ever appreciate the storyline because now it's almost lost media due to mostly being contained in children's books that are meant for literal second graders3 The endless layers upon layers of secrets really pulled me in, and to this day influences the way I think about the setting of my games.
Avatar: The Last Air Bender
I think the characterization in this show is phenomenal. I rewatch it every few years, usually when I'm horrifically sick. I think the worldbuilding is so slick and effortless. It really just draws you in like you're breathing.