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Merged The MANDELA Effect.

So... 1001 Arabian Nights, the set of stories supposedly told by Scheherazade includes two very recognizable story lines. One of them is Aladdin, which features a genie in a lamp. The other is Sinbad the Sailor. It's not particularly surprising that a child's memory of those myths might confound the two stories, and end up associating the name "Sinbad" with the concept of "genie".

Kazaam came out in 96. In 94, Sinbad the actor hosted a "Sinbad the Sailor" movie marathon, and during that they wore a genie costume. Just to add some fuel to the fire, Disney's Aladdin came out in 92, had a spin-off TV show in 94 and 95, and a second Aladdin movie in 96.

I would say that memories of images of Sinbad in a genie costume got superimposed over images of Shaq as an actual genie, and that was all further confounded by the conflation of Arabian Nights based movies and shows that showed up at the same time.

I don't know why we'd end up also conflating "Kazaam" as a word with "Shazaam" and applying that to Sinbad.

The problem is that this explanation assumes the average person saw, or was even aware of Sinbad in this costume from what is apparently an extremely obscure movie marathon. I'd bet a valued appendage that I never saw it.

ETA: I'm surprised more people don't reference the Disney movies as a possible explanation for the misremembering. They feature an actual comedian as the genie (the late great Robin Williams), but you don't see his face, making it easier to mix the actor with the known comedian Sinbad.
 
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I propose that we call it the Mandela Effect Effect. People hear about the effect, and fall all over themselves trying to make it into a bigger thing than it actually is.
 
I propose that furiously attempting to explain it away ITT be called The Mandela Effect Effect Effect?
 
I do not believe that's true. Or not universally true; there may be some who think they're two different movies; but there's also any number of believers who do things like photoshop the Kazaam cover/poster with Sinbad to show what it is "supposed" to look like, and I've seen some ME "fan videos" which intercut scenes from the Kazaam movie or trailer with separate clips of Sinbad.

I have no objective way to support disagreement besides just posting lots of r/MandelaEffect links. That's not a hill I'm interested in climbing, even if I think I would prevail. So I won't try to contradict you.
 
Well in fairness, it ran for less than four months in the 60's, and even reruns were being shown for only another year and change, according to your link. It's whole short existence would have come and gone before most who recall the Shazam movie were even born.

Eta: your edit: I meant the Shazam/Isis Hour, which was live action but the commercials for it aired during my Saturday Morning Bugs Bunny/Road Runner cartoon watching. I lumped Shazam into the cartoon viewing slot without clarifying that
That must have been the cartoon they inserted into the Banana Splits TV programmes they sold abroad. Thanks, thought I was having a Mandela moment!
 
I thought I'd seen a cartoon version on the Banana Split programme?

You may be thinking of The Arabian Knights, a short that was part of the hour-long show (rotated with The Three Musketeers and the very cool Danger Island). It was notable for its spinning whirlwind donkey (don't pull his tail!) and its mages ("Size... of a tiger!" or "Shape... of a sledgehammer!")

Yes, I love the old Saturday mornings.
 
You may be thinking of The Arabian Knights, a short that was part of the hour-long show (rotated with The Three Musketeers and the very cool Danger Island). It was notable for its spinning whirlwind donkey (don't pull his tail!) and its mages ("Size... of a tiger!" or "Shape... of a sledgehammer!")

Yes, I love the old Saturday mornings.

"Uh-oh! Jongo!"
 
The problem is that this explanation assumes the average person saw, or was even aware of Sinbad in this costume from what is apparently an extremely obscure movie marathon. I'd bet a valued appendage that I never saw it.

ETA: I'm surprised more people don't reference the Disney movies as a possible explanation for the misremembering. They feature an actual comedian as the genie (the late great Robin Williams), but you don't see his face, making it easier to mix the actor with the known comedian Sinbad.

Sure, perhaps. But for those of us who feel like we remember a Sinbad movie about a genie called "Shazam"... what image do you have in mind? Can you describe what your brain thinks Sinbad looks like for this hypothetical movie poster?

Would it be this image?
C005UwxUoAA8jA8
 
Sure, perhaps. But for those of us who feel like we remember a Sinbad movie about a genie called "Shazam"... what image do you have in mind? Can you describe what your brain thinks Sinbad looks like for this hypothetical movie poster?

Would it be this image?
[qimg]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C005UwxUoAA8jA8?format=jpg&name=medium[/qimg]

Nope. I recall him shirtless with a pale blue vest and a tight Sikh wrapped turban, leaner face with the chinstrap beard.
 
I just Googled the "Mandela Effect."

I got zero results.

Really? How did you get that result? I tried variations on the search, including the trailing full stop and was unable to achieve that.

"Mandela Effect"

About 3,360,000 results (0.28 seconds)

The Mandela effect refers to widespread false memories that large numbers of people or a group of individuals believe. They may be harmless but can also support conspiracy theories or political agendas. Memory is not a perfect recording of events that happened. It can change with time, and with practice and priming.

https://www.google.com/search?q="Mandela+Effect"
 

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