Side-By-Side Comparison Of Real-Life People And Their Movie Portrayals (12 Pics)

Togo (2019) tells the story of Leonhard Seppala and his sled dogs on their perilous journey to retrieve medication needed by their remote community.

Diphtheria broke out in the town of Nome, Alaska, and Seppala, with his lead dog Togo, set out to get the needed medication, as there was no other way to receive it. It should be noted that the retrieval was a huge team effort. More than 150 dogs and several mushers (drivers) took part in it, and many of the dogs unfortunately perished, mostly due to exposure to freezing temperatures. Seppala and Togo's sled actually traversed one of the most dangerous legs of the trip both forward and backwards, but unfortunately the 1925 Serum Run is often associated with Balto, another dog whose sled finished the last 55 miles to Nome and delivered the antitoxin.

The movie Jungle (2017) tells of the struggle Yosseph "Yossi" Ghinsberg had to overcome while stranded in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.

Yossi Ghinsberg's story is truly one for the movies. Survival in the wilderness left many marks on him, but Ghinsberg also recalls using nature to escape from the jungle: he was weak and starving, unable to go on, but he finished the last push of his escape using fire ants and their bites to give him enough of an adrenalin boost to carry on. In his attempts to survive, he even envisioned a woman that accompanied him (likely to offset the feeling of being stranded all alone).

The biographical movie Into the Wild (2007) was about the traveler Christopher McCandless and his last days living alone in the wilderness.

McCandless dedicated his life to journeying, traveling all over the country with little to no money, and ending up in Alaska, sheltering in an abandoned bus on the little-traveled trail. During his stay there, he wrote a manifesto under the name Alexander Supertramp. In the manifesto, he claimed to have engaged in a "climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution." McCandless is a controversial figure, venerated by some for his ideals and criticized by others for self-destructive tendencies.

Wild (2014) is a movie adaptation of the book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, where she depicted her struggles and solo hiking journey.

Strayed hiked a total of 1,100 miles in 94 days. The trip was meant to help her cope with her mother's death and the subsequent drug use. And next to the self-discovery, Strayed gained some more practical knowledge, such as the fact that Recreational Equipment would send her replacement shoes if she lost her pair, so when one of her boots took a tumble down a cliff (after mangling six of her toes because the shoe size was too small), she ordered new boots immediately to mediate the damage done to her feet.

The second protagonist in Green Book (2018), Don Shirley was a talented musician who, in 1962, set out to tour in the South despite the political and social tensions in the region.

The movie was based more on Vallelonga's recount, which caused some controversy with Shirley's remaining family. Shirley himself didn't want a movie about him to be made while he was still alive, and Vallelonga asked the writers to respect that. Until his death, Shirley was dedicated to music, performing in grand halls like La Scala in Milan.

The Revenant (2015) is a revenge story that's based on the novel about the life of an American frontiersman during the 19th century.

The movie certain embellished some parts of Glass's legacy, but one thing is true—he did cross a great distance, some 200–300 miles (322–483 km), while seriously injured. The bear attack is also true, but the movie leaned heavily on the revenge, while some sources suggest that the real Glass may have actually forgiven those who left him in the wilderness—after all, he was mortally wounded.

The movie Adrift (2018) depicts the survival story of Tami Oldham as she struggled to get herself and her fiancé to safety after their sailing trip was disturbed by a catastrophic hurricane.

Tami Oldham had some sailing experience under her belt, but a category-four hurricane wrecked her boat and she herself was unconscious for 27 hours. She then had to fix up a sinking boat, create a makeshift sail, and then rely only on a clock and a sextant to hopefully reach the nearest coast, which was Hawaii. All the while, she was battling with great loss and grief.

Green Book (2018) is inspired by the true story of touring jazz pianist Don Shirley and his driver and bodyguard Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga during troubled times in the Deep South.

The story behind Green Book is, of course, a politically and socially charged one, but it suitably depicted how a work relationship transformed into a friendship. After nearly a year of traveling together, the two went on to pursue other ventures. Vallelonga even started an acting career, appearing in the shows like The Sopranos.