In Dragon Ball Z, Son-Goku faces strong opponents from outer space. After antagonists like Frieza and Cell, the Saiyan must confront Majin Boo. The pink fighter doesn’t look much like a fighting machine in his chubby form. Even his name is inspired by a children’s film that is over 70 years old.
Where does the name Boo come from? At first glance, one might think that Boo is a reference to the sound ghosts make when scaring someone. In reality, the inspiration for Boo comes from an old children’s movie.
In the Disney classic Cinderella, the good fairy sings a song with which she conjures a beautiful dress for Cinderella. The spell includes a line with “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”. This incantation must have stuck in Akira Toriyama’s memory so much that he named one of the strongest antagonists after it.
If you can’t relate to the song or want to get a terrible earworm, you can watch the following video:
To further illustrate the influence of Cinderella, Toriyama even named Boo’s creator and his son after the spell. Bibidi is the nasty wizard who created Boo. His son Babidi can take control of evil beings. Even Vegeta falls under his spell.
According to the 6th Daizenshuu edition, Toriyama started drawing thanks to a Disney film. He was so captivated by 101 Dalmatians in kindergarten that he could not stop painting (via X). Thus, we owe Dragon Ball to the spotted dogs.
Without 101 Dalmatians, there probably wouldn’t have been Dragon Ball Daima either:
The Mangaka of Dragon Ball has funny name origins
What other quirky names are there? Toriyama has a penchant for crazy names in his manga. There are entire families or groups named after a specific type of object:
- Bulma’s family is named after underwear. They have names that translate to slip, pantyhose, swimsuit, or bra.
- Many of the Saiyans are named after vegetables. For example, Son-Goku’s real name is Kakarot, which comes from carrot.
- Son-Goku’s family is also named after food. Son-Gohan comes from rice, Pan from bread. Only Son-Goten cannot be associated with any food.
- The Ginyu Force was named after dairy products like butter, cream, and cheese.
Toriyama’s appetite must have been insatiable. Even Son-Goku’s friends like Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Chaozu were named after dishes. Pizza and macaroni were also on the menu.
No wonder that Boo and his creator also got quirky names. Every name in Dragon Ball seems to have some deeper meaning. In the numerous sagas of the anime, there are countless characters that Toriyama had to name.
No wonder he has forgotten a few over time. Lunch, whose name is also derived from food, has eventually not been seen in the anime at all: Dragon Ball: Toriyama completely forgot one of the funniest characters – What happened to Lunch actually?
