- 5 months ago
Entertainment is escapism, but stepping into some fictional worlds might not be the dream vacation you imagine. Join us as we explore captivating realms that have us ready to pack our bags, and others that are definitely better left on the big screen. From magical kingdoms and futuristic utopias to dystopian nightmares and desolate planets, discover where your next adventure (or nightmare) might lie. We're weighing the pros and cons of fantasy's most iconic settings!
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Come with me, we'll never, never have to worry about going on things again.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo! Entertainment is escapism.
00:09But do we always want to actually step into the places we see on screen?
00:13Today, we'll be looking at five fictional worlds that have us ready to pack our bags,
00:17and five that we prefer to experience from our couches.
00:20I'm not even sure which planet I'm on.
00:23Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from.
00:27Number 5 can stay on screen, The Four Nations, The Avatar Franchise.
00:34Okay, hear us out on this one.
00:36The world of Avatar is a diverse and beautiful one, full of fascinating lore and amazing innovations.
00:42But it may be one best enjoyed from a distance.
00:45We've got to get to Whale Tail Island!
00:48Where's Whale Tail Island?
00:50Far. Very far.
00:52For one thing, it would be awesome to bend the elements.
00:55But both The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra showed us how tough it can be for someone without powers,
01:02and the division that causes.
01:04For too long, the bending elite of this city have forced non-benders to live as lower-class citizens!
01:11Join Amon, and together we will tear down the bending establishment!
01:15Then there's the potential for spirit chaos.
01:17When things are out of whack between the spirit and human worlds, things get bad fast.
01:23Habai is already causing devastation and destruction.
01:26Once the solstice is here, there is no telling what will happen.
01:30So what do you want me to do exactly?
01:33It's the Avatar's job to keep all this in check.
01:36But from century-long wars to the full-on reshaping of reality,
01:39we've seen what can happen when one person's actions affect the entire planet.
01:44The post-apocalyptic setting of the new Seven Havens series has us convinced that the Four Nations are better as fiction.
01:51God, does this place even exist?
01:53Some say it doesn't.
01:56Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?
01:58Number 5 we're ready to move to...
02:00The Tonne
02:01Bridgerton
02:02Technically, Bridgerton takes place in Regency London,
02:05but it's a version of a time and place so removed from historical reality
02:09that it's pretty much total fantasy at this point.
02:13And we're okay with that.
02:15Enlighten me, however does one pass the time here in the city?
02:18I'm afraid most of us spend our time meddling in the lives of our young people.
02:21At least that is my and your sister's favorite pastime.
02:24My sister likes to meddle.
02:26In truth, that word does not do her justice.
02:28She molds society to her will, and she is rather good at it.
02:32In this candy-colored alternate universe,
02:34life revolves around lavish social events, gorgeous clothes, and breathless romances.
02:40Meanwhile, no misfortune from broken hearts to diminished circumstances
02:44ever amounts to more than a passing cloud over an eternal garden party.
02:48Oh, is this not lovely?
02:51All of us together again.
02:52Lovely indeed.
02:53We should tempt scandal more often.
02:55Lady Whistledown's gossip sheets can throw a wrench in things for sure,
02:58but it's rare that anyone is ever considered beyond redemption in Bridgerton's tun.
03:03Second chances are passed out like canapes here.
03:06And no matter what, fairytale love is always just around the corner.
03:10It's hard to deny the allure.
03:12Say you do not care for me?
03:19Tell me you feel nothing,
03:22and I will walk away.
03:25Number 4 can stay on screen.
03:27The Grishaverse, Shadow and Bone.
03:29This prematurely cancelled book-to-screen adaptation
03:32let us live its plot via a dynamic cast of characters,
03:36which is good because we didn't really want to go through it ourselves.
03:39The fold is thick with Volcra.
03:42And the tracks are not complete.
03:45Oh, I'm sorry.
03:47Did you say the tracks weren't complete?
03:49I said they aren't complete.
03:51What?
03:52No moving.
03:53The primary setting of Ravka is in a constant state of turmoil
03:57and literally riven with darkness.
03:59But that aside,
04:00this might be one of the roughest worlds we can think of for magic wielders.
04:04You thought the two of you could just quietly train witches among us?
04:07You want my cooperation?
04:10You bring us both in?
04:11Is that understood?
04:12I told you.
04:14Those were not our orders.
04:16The Grisha are capable of incredible feats,
04:19like healing, elemental manipulation,
04:21and next-level inventing.
04:23Yet the world around them takes advantage of their abilities
04:26while also viewing them with suspicion.
04:28That is, when countries like Fyreda aren't hunting them down.
04:31The face trial, as our law demands.
04:35How many Grisha are found innocent at your so-called trials?
04:43That's right.
04:44None.
04:45Beyond its fantasy elements,
04:47the Grishaverse can get a little too realistic for comfort,
04:51showing plenty of class division,
04:53racism,
04:53and unscrupulous uses of power.
04:55It's part of what makes it engaging,
04:57but doesn't exactly get us fired up to visit.
05:00You whipped this place into shape.
05:03And you protect it the way you protected me all those years ago.
05:10I think I'm going to need more than a letter opener.
05:14This entire country will become your plate.
05:17Number 4, we're ready to move to Narnia.
05:19The Chronicles of Narnia franchise.
05:22There's a reason why kids have been hopefully slipping into closets
05:25in the 75 years since C.S. Lewis first published The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
05:30And it was obvious when the 2005 film adaptation brought his world to the big screen.
05:35Possible.
05:38Don't worry.
05:40I'm sure it's just your imagination.
05:42It's not just that it's brimming with high fantasy beauty
05:45and colorfully populated with talking animals and mythical beings.
05:49The deep allure of Narnia is the sense of further adventure waiting.
05:53Whether it be its mysterious deep magic
05:55or the glimpse of the wider worlds around it.
05:58Well, what's east of the Lone Islands?
06:01One-chartered waters.
06:03Things you can barely imagine.
06:05Sure, you might have to deal with a wicked witch or two,
06:08but that danger adds just enough in terms of stakes to keep things interesting.
06:12This is a world where all the epic adventures have a safe and happy ending.
06:17What more could we ask for?
06:19I will treasure it always.
06:20From this day forward, it will serve as a great reminder of my huge humility.
06:25Number 3 can stay on screen.
06:28Pan Am.
06:28The Hunger Games franchise.
06:30Welcome, welcome, welcome.
06:34Happy Hunger Games.
06:36And may the odds be ever in your favor.
06:40This one seems like it should be self-explanatory.
06:44It's a world where a tiny percentage of the population
06:47keeps the rest in abject poverty
06:49in order to enable their extravagant lifestyles.
06:52Then once a year, 24 kids are thrown into a deadly televised arena
06:56from which only one can emerge.
06:58And that's just the stuff the whole populace knows about.
07:01There's even more suffering happening away from Pan Am's constantly surveilling cameras.
07:06How should I imagine?
07:07You should imagine thousands upon thousands of your people dead.
07:11This town of yours reduced to ashes.
07:14Imagine it gone.
07:15Made radioactive.
07:16Buried under dirt as if it had never existed like District 13.
07:20Following Katniss Everdeen as she goes from Hunger Games tribute to Revolutionary Symbol
07:25is a compelling narrative ride.
07:26But this is the kind of story that hooks you
07:28because of how much you don't want to be in the shoes of its many PTSD-riddled characters.
07:34Anyone who found themselves in Pan Am or a place like it
07:37would know something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.
07:40Fire is catching.
07:43And if we burn, you burn with us.
07:47Number 3 we're ready to move to.
07:49Wakanda.
07:50Marvel Cinematic Universe.
07:51The MCU has taken viewers to some jaw-dropping places.
07:55But arguably the coolest has been the Wakanda created for Ryan Coogler's Black Panther.
08:01Sister Makia.
08:03My prince.
08:05We are home.
08:06Conceived as an African country that was allowed to flourish without being derailed
08:17by European colonization, Wakanda is a futuristic utopia that's also deeply grounded in the
08:23tribal identities of its people.
08:25It's naturally gorgeous, culturally rich, and also happens to be loaded with vibranium,
08:30which the Wakandans have used to level up everything from transit to healthcare and beyond.
08:36How long ago was Korea?
08:38Yesterday.
08:39I don't think so.
08:40Bullet wounds don't just magically heal overnight.
08:43They do here.
08:45But not by magic, by technology.
08:48This is the kind of fantasy world where we would find our entire quality of life
08:52immediately improved from day one.
08:54And not for nothing, but Wakandans have seriously cool fashion style.
08:58Well, most of the time anyway.
09:00What are those?
09:02Why do you have your toes out in my lab?
09:05What, you don't like my royal sandals?
09:07I wanted to go old school for my first day.
09:10Yeah, I bet the elders loved that.
09:12Number two can stay on screen.
09:15Arrakis.
09:16The Dune franchise.
09:17Science fiction and fantasy have given us a number of desert planets.
09:21And to be fair, not a single one of them looks like a good time.
09:25But Arrakis seems especially bleak.
09:27They were meant to tame the planet.
09:29Free the water locked beneath the sands.
09:35Arrakis could have been a paradise.
09:37The work had begun, but then a spice was discovered.
09:41Suddenly, no one wanted the desert to go away.
09:43Harsh is an understatement here.
09:45The dry, scorching days and freezing nights ensure that little can survive, let alone thrive.
09:50Except, of course, gigantic monstrous sandworms.
09:53Bless the maker and his water.
09:56Bless the coming and going of him.
09:58May his passage cleanse the world.
10:01And keep the world for his people.
10:12Arrakis has exactly one resource.
10:15The spice in the sand that covers its surface.
10:18Which also happens to be the most valuable substance in the universe.
10:21This ensures that Arrakis always has the potential to be a center of conflict.
10:26We see your importance, Arrakis.
10:28We wish you good luck with that.
10:29But after watching Dune, we just want to sit down with a huge glass of water and a strong air conditioner.
10:35I said I would not harm them.
10:37And I shall not.
10:38But Arrakis is Arrakis.
10:42And the desert takes the weak.
10:44Number 2 we're ready to move to.
10:46The Wizarding World.
10:47The Harry Potter franchise.
10:50Hello, Harry.
10:51Hi, Akron.
10:53Whoa.
10:54Quick, what's your Hogwarts house?
10:56There's a significant number of people who know that answer off the top of their head.
11:00A large part of Harry Potter's appeal was the ability of readers to envision themselves in the world of the stories.
11:06And many desperately wanted to live in this reality where life's problems, big or small, can be managed with the wave of a wand.
11:13Once it was brought to life on screen, the allure was too much to resist.
11:17Girls, choose a bunk and unpack.
11:21Run.
11:21Get out of the kitchen, we're all hungry.
11:23Yeah, get out of the kitchen, Ron.
11:25Feet off the table.
11:26Feet off the table.
11:29I love magic.
11:30Both sumptuous and whimsical, intimate and vast, the Wizarding World looks like the kind of place that would be easy to get lost in, in all the best ways.
11:40Its perils are ever-present, but so are its charms.
11:43And we mean that in the actual sense.
11:46Expecto Patronum!
11:52Dark days in the Wizarding World do get extremely dark.
11:55And yet, the wonder and excitement of the magic woven into every inch of it, always seems to outweigh the downsides.
12:02Ekyo Flu Powder, please!
12:04Don't forget to speak very, very clearly.
12:10Diagonally.
12:18What did he say, dear?
12:20Diagonally.
12:21Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
12:25Can stay on screen.
12:27Wonderland.
12:27Alice in Wonderland.
12:29Even the protagonist just wants to go home.
12:31Real life is confusing enough without going to a place that makes even less sense.
12:36But I don't want to go among mad people.
12:39Oh, you can't help that.
12:42Most everyone's mad here.
12:44We're ready to move to...
12:46Naboo, the Star Wars franchise.
12:48Futuristic technology and the possibility of force powers,
12:51plus Art Nouveau aesthetics and a vacation retreat that looks just like Lake Como.
12:56Talk about the best of all worlds.
12:58We used to come here for school retreat.
13:01We would swim to that island every day.
13:05I love the water.
13:07Can stay on screen.
13:08The Badlands.
13:09The Mad Max franchise.
13:11Everything that already sucks about Rush Hour,
13:13but in a lawless, post-apocalyptic wasteland?
13:16No thanks.
13:20I am the man who grabs the sun.
13:26We're ready to go.
13:31Witness me, Blood Bane!
13:33We're ready to move to...
13:35Berk, the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
13:37Come for the picturesque seaside real estate?
13:40Stay for the unique wildlife.
13:41While other places have ponies or parrots,
13:45we have...
13:48dragons.
13:50Can stay on screen.
13:52Oz, the Wizard of Oz.
13:54It's full of natural hazards,
13:55the whole place is run by a charlatan,
13:57and we're not about whatever drama Glinda is stirring up.
14:00Give me back my slippers.
14:02I am the only one that knows how to use them.
14:04They're no use to you.
14:06Give them back to me.
14:07Give them back!
14:08Keep tight inside of them.
14:09Their magic must be very powerful.
14:11Or she wouldn't want them so badly.
14:13You stay out of this, Glinda.
14:14Or I'll fix you as well.
14:16Before we continue,
14:17be sure to subscribe to our channel
14:19and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
14:22You have the option to be notified for occasional videos
14:25or all of them.
14:26If you're on your phone,
14:27make sure you go into your settings
14:28and switch on notifications.
14:30Number one can stay on screen.
14:34The World of Ice and Fire.
14:35A Song of Ice and Fire franchise.
14:38When Game of Thrones originally debuted,
14:40TV viewers around the world were instantly drawn
14:43into author George R.R. Martin's sprawling universe.
14:47With its complex characters,
14:49meticulously woven plots,
14:51deep lore,
14:51and supernatural enigmas,
14:53it was a fascinating place to spend time.
14:55And an incredibly brutal one.
14:58If you think this has a happy ending,
15:01you haven't been paying attention.
15:03Death and violence are doled out with impunity,
15:11but villains rarely suffer as much as the well-meaning.
15:14Life is bitterly unfair,
15:16often made worse by powerful people
15:18who either don't care
15:19or who revel in their ability to inflict cruelty.
15:22And even among friends and family,
15:24you constantly have to watch your back.
15:26I've given you meat and wine and music,
15:30but I haven't shown you
15:33the hospitality you deserve.
15:37My king has married
15:38and I owe my new queen a wedding gift.
15:41This world is basically everything awful
15:44about the historical medieval period
15:46dialed up to an 11 with ice zombies on top.
15:49When you play the Game of Thrones,
15:50you win or die.
15:51So we'll just sit this one out.
15:53I still don't know how her coin has landed.
15:57But I'm quite certain about yours.
16:00I don't want it.
16:09I never have.
16:11Number one we're ready to move to
16:13Middle Earth,
16:14the Lord of the Rings franchise.
16:17You shall be the Fellowship of the Rings.
16:21Right.
16:23Where are we going?
16:24On the total opposite end of the spectrum,
16:26J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth
16:28is what you would get
16:29if a chivalric epic poem came to life,
16:32which we got a glimpse of for ourselves
16:34in the groundbreaking Peter Jackson films.
16:37Gandalf,
16:38we could pass through the mines of Moria.
16:41My cousin Balin
16:42would give us a royal welcome.
16:44It's not that there's no tragedy
16:45or hardship in Middle Earth.
16:47However,
16:48it's balanced out
16:49with an inherent optimism at its core
16:51that always tips the scales
16:52towards justice and peace,
16:54especially after Sauron,
16:55its ultimate evil,
16:56gets wiped out.
16:57Now come the days of the king.
17:06May they be blessed.
17:07Where people are mostly good
17:09and leaders are mostly righteous
17:10and orcs are mostly neutralized,
17:13we would be giddy to roam around
17:15the stunning world of Middle Earth.
17:16Cozy drinks in the Shire,
17:18scenic canoe trips with friends,
17:20months spent exploring
17:21Minas Tirith or Rivendell.
17:23We would need the lifespan
17:24of an elf to do it all,
17:26but Middle Earth
17:26would never get boring.
17:28I think I'm
17:29quite ready
17:31for another adventure.
17:33Which fictional world
17:35is your ultimate escape?
17:36Share your travel daydreams
17:38in the comments.
17:39Oh, look stars.
17:41That's right, Peter.
17:43Second star to the right
17:44straight on till morning.
Comments