Do you remember a fantasy film from the 1990s in which Sinbad played a genie? Well, it never existed. The Shazaam conspiracy is an internet phenomenon that all started with an innocent Yahoo! Answers question inquiring if anyone else “remembered” the movie. A film named Kazaam starring Shaquille O’Neal as a goofy genie did come out in 1996, but Shazaam truthers are adamant that not only were they two different films, but that Kazaam was simply a cheap knock-off of the brilliance that was Shazaam.
In reality, this is all part of the concept known as the Mandela Effect: the collective misremembering of an event.
Read on to learn more about how thousands of people remember vivid details from a movie that never existed.
‘Shazaam’ Supposedly Stars Sinbad As A Genie Who Helps Two Kids Find Love For Their Sad Dad
The widely misremembered Shazaam stars Sinbad as a genie who is freed from a magic lamp by a young brother-and-sister duo. The children decide to use their three wishes to find a new girlfriend for their single father, who has been left brokenhearted since the passing of the kids’ mother. Wacky hijinks ensue. The film supposedly ended with a work-related pool party thrown by the father, in which the children finally use their last wish to help him meet the love of his life.
Some Redditors remember the cover art of the film depicting Sinbad posing with his arms crossed against a purple background. Others believe that late comedian Phil Hartman was a writer and producer on the film.
Like All Great Mysteries, It Started On Yahoo! Answers
Remember Yahoo! Answers? Back in 2009, an anonymous individual posed an earnest question: “Do you remember that Sinbad movie? Wasn’t there a movie in the early 90s where Sinbad the entertainer/comedian played a genie? I know Kazaam had Shaq in it and that’s not the one I’m thinking about. Help it’s driving me nuts!” Apparently that Yahoo! poster wasn’t the only one who remembered the Sinbad genie movie.
Later that year, the famed comedian tweeted: “I must h[a]ve played a genie. Everyone says I did.”
The film fell back under the radar until 2015, when VICE published an article about the Mandela Effect: the concept of collective misremembering. The term was coined by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome after she discovered that many people seemed to “remember” Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s. (Mandela didn’t actually pass until 2013.) Mandela and Shazaam weren’t the only major examples. A collective internet murmur emerged over the children’s book and cartoon series The Berenstain Bears. Many insisted that it was spelled Berenstein – with an ‘E,’ not an ‘A.’ This was the Mandela Effect in action.
As the phenomenon began to slowly seep into the mainstream, posts about Shazaam began and a viral uproar ensued.