# Creative types who have no equivalents **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761 "2010-10-29T13:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/81 "2010-11-01T14:37:12Z")
Here’s an [impromptu acoustic number from Company of Thieves](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8PDoHU5mN0&feature=related) which may not be blocked. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/82 "2010-11-01T17:36:58Z")
Dr Seuss Rube Goldberg Hiyao Miyazaki Pixar ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/83 "2010-11-01T17:43:42Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Weird Al. Please. Proplr have been parodying songs since the first song was written. Forbidden Broadway’s Gerard Alessandrini is funnier. [Chita-Rita](http://broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=691346) to the tune of West Side Story’s _America_. The first time Stephen Sondheim saw this is concert, he was laughing so hard he was literally banging his head on the wall of the supper club). Chita Rivera: Ms. Moreno, her rude gyrations Are all lousy imitations Though we both did West Side Story Hers was like chicken catchatoriy She got all the glory But don’t let that cat in I’m the fiery Latin I was the world’s first Anita Girl: We know you were Rivera: Don’t mix us up I am Chita ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/84 "2010-11-01T18:24:43Z")
Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of damn near every Nintendo franchise. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/85 "2010-11-01T19:42:07Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of damn near every Nintendo franchise. Ooooooh yeah, the Stan Lee of video games. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/86 "2010-11-01T22:23:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > His novels have been pretty well received, and he’s done some good dramatic turns in films. The book and movie of _Shopgirl_ are both pretty good, and he his comedy has taken a much more overtly cerebral turn since his “wild and crazy guy” stand-up period of the '70s and '80s. He’s not particularly political that I’m aware of, so Fry has that over him. On the other hand, he did [teach himself how to play the banjo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jn3KCZEqxc), so I think that balances out. He’s also a pretty well-respected playwright. [Picasso at the Lapin Agile](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso_at_the_Lapin_Agile)is probably his most well-known work. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/87 "2010-11-01T22:39:28Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Please. Proplr have been parodying songs since the first song was written. That doesn’t even make sense. That’s like Bob Dylan doesn’t belong in this thread because people have been singing since the beginning of time. I’m suggesting that Weird Al is the best in his category. Can you name another parody writer and signer that’s better and more popular then Weird Al? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/88 "2010-11-01T23:06:43Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That doesn’t even make sense. That’s like Bob Dylan doesn’t belong in this thread because people have been singing since the beginning of time. I’m suggesting that Weird Al is the best in his category. Can you name another parody writer and signer that’s better and more popular then Weird Al? “the best” isn’t “has no equivalent”; it’s “most successful” is all Lots of people have done song parodies, lots of people will continue to do them, and some of those people will be very, very good at it. Weird Al is undeniably at the top of that heap, atm, but _creatively_ he has has plenty of equivalents. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/89 "2010-11-02T06:56:05Z")
**Waldo** : Stan might have been the first to do that stuff in comics, but if he hadn’t done it, someone else would have. Maybe not as well, and almost certainly not as prolifically, but it’s a pretty obvious evolution of the genre. As I interpret the OP, we should be looking for people who radically transformed their medium in a way no one else could have. In comics, I think if there hadn’t been a Stan Lee, our basic idea of what a comic is would be fundamentally unchanged. Different names in different tights, of course, but the themes that Stan brought to the genre would have inevitably shown up sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/90 "2010-11-02T21:33:17Z")
Mr. Fred Rogers. He was so discouraged by the quality of childrens television, he not only did something about it, he pretty much set the standard. He was such a nice guy, when his car was stolen and the thieves found out it was his car, they returned it and apologized. He was so genuinely interested in people that he maintained contact with tons of people he met during his life. His mother knitted every sweater he wore on the show. I’d put Fred Rogers up against anyones version of Mother Theresa or Gandhi. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/91 "2010-11-02T22:00:21Z")
Steven Spielberg. Almost no one can match him frame for frame on phenomenal big-budget action-adventure movies (Cameron comes close). And then you’ve got Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan, two of the best dramas of all time. The combination blows everyone else out of the water. Clint Eastwood. There are a few actors with resumes as good or better. There are several directors that have made as many great movies. But Eastwood has reached the pinnac le on both sides of the camera. Not to mention Mayor of Carmel. ---
**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761/92 "2010-11-02T22:07:07Z")
I came here to say **Steve Martin** and was pleased to see he was already mentioned twice. His resume includes: Stand up comedy Writer (Smothers Brothers, et. al.) Comedy acting (Movies and live television) Dramatic acting Painting Banjo (The man is a friggin’ guru) Author (Fiction and autobiography) Screenplay writer He’s truly a modern-day Rennaisance Man. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-types-who-have-no-equivalents/558761.md?page=4)