Speechless Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mary Shelley

"Frankenstein" was a 1931 horror film which has gone down is history as one of the greatest horror films of all time, as well as one of the most controversial. A scene where the Monster picks up a little girl and throws her in a lake, accidentally drowning her, has been censored numerous times, and a line where Dr Frankenstein exclaims "It's alive! It's alive! In the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!" had to be removed. Also, a close up of a needle injection was removed. These moments weren't seen until 1986, when NBC Universal restored these scenes. The line previously mentioned was added in 1999. It was highly successful, however, being selected by the United States National Film Registry for preservation as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

All the other writers listed were also Gothic writers, excluding Mary Wollstonecraft, who was Mary Shelley's mother.

Answer: Taz-Mania

Taz (my favourite "Looney Tunes" character) first appeared in the "Looney Tunes" cartoon "Devil May Hare" in 1954. He was based on the real life animal the Tasmanian devil, a small carnivorous marsupial from Tasmania, Australia. He had a huge appetite and he had the ability to spin so fast he appeared as a tornado. He could also bite through practically anything. He was almost scrapped as a character after the producer thought he was too violent, but after they received lots of fan mail regarding the character, they decided to keep him.

Taz was the protagonist of his own show titled "Taz-Mania", which ran for three seasons and started in 1991. It followed his adventures in the fictional land of Tazmania, which was loosely based on Tasmania. However, in this show, he could actually speak normally. A video game with the same name was also released based on the show.

Answer: Maggie Simpson

Maggie Simpson is the baby of The Simpson family, who first appeared on TV on "The Tracey Ullman Show" before they got their own show ("The Simpsons") in 1989. Maggie is often seen sucking on her pacifier, and when she attempts to walk, she often tripped on her clothing.

Her squeaking noises are provided by Nancy Cartwright, who also voices Bart, the oldest child. Although only a baby, she already has an archenemy, a uni-browed baby named Gerald. Her first lines were spoken in an episode on "The Tracy Ullman Show" titled "Good Night", where she was voiced by Liz Georges.

Her first word in the normal continuity of the series was "daddy", which appeared in "Lisa's First Word". Elizabeth Taylor provided this word, but she had to repeat in many times before she pleased the producers.

She also spoke in "Treehouse of Horror V" (voiced by James Earl Jones), "Treehouse of Horror IX" (voiced by Harry Shearer) and in "Four Great Women and a Manicure", voiced by Jodie Foster. She has also spoken numerous times in dreams and fantasies.

Answer: James Bond

"Goldfinger" was first released in 1964 and the third film in the "James Bond" series. It starred Sean Connery as James Bond, Gert Fröbe as Auric Goldfinger and the ex-wrestler Harold Sakata as Oddjob- Auric Goldfinger's speechless Korean henchman. It was the first "James Bond" film to win an Academy Award, winning the award for "Best Sound Effects Editing". The budget for the film was USD$3 million, which it got back after just two weeks in cinemas. It ended up with a total worldwide gross of US$124,900,000. The film, and indeed the whole "James Bond" series, was based on a novel by Ian Fleming.

Oddjob's favourite weapon was his hat, which was lined with a metal razor disk. He was also a master in unarmed combat, even better then Bond himself. The only words he ever spoke were "ah!" or "aha!"

"Get Smart" was an American comedy TV series that spoofed the spy film genre. There was also a 2008 film of the same name based on it. "Austin Powers" was a comedy/action series of films with Mike Myers appearing as Austin. It also parodied the spy film genre. "Mission: Impossible" was first released as a TV show that ran from 1966-1973 and included seven series. It was then created in to a 1966 film of the same name. The first sequel was released in 2000, titled "Mission: Impossible II", the second sequel was released in 2006 ("Mission: Impossible III") and another in 2011 ("Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol").

Answer: Charlie Brown

Snoopy first appeared in the newspaper comic strip "Peanuts" in the second ever strip on the 4th of October 1950. He never spoke, but instead communicated to readers through thought balloons. In the TV specials and movies, he would communicate through grunts and other noises, or single syllabled words and mime. In the "Peanuts Motion Comics", thought balloons would appear over his head and he communicated through that. He gradually became a more human-like character, but still never spoke. The Apollo 10 lunar module was nicknamed "Snoopy" in his honour, and the command module "Charlie Brown".

Charlie Brown was the protagonist of the "Peanuts" comic series, TV shows and movies. He was also the owner of Snoopy. However, he wasn't the first owner of Snoopy, a woman named Lila was. She was only a minor character in the series, however.

The "Peanuts" comics ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, with reruns continuing after that. It was created by Charles M. Schulz. It has since been turned in to numerous TV specials; some won or were nominated for Emmy Awards. It also sparked four feature films, two stage musicals and even some video games! It has also been used in TV advertising, appearing in commercials for Cheerios, Kraft Foods, Ford automobiles and the insurance company MetLife, among others.

Answer: Dr Frank-N-Furter

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was based on the stage play "The Rocky Horror Show". It was highly controversial and featured cross dressing, drugs and sexual activity. Despite this, it was quite well received by critics and became a cult film. In 2010, the popular TV show "Glee" had an episode dedicated to music from the film and musical. An album was also released by "Glee" dedicated to the film.

Rocky Horror was a human created by the crazed character Dr Frank-N-Furter. He looked like a regular human, but was regularly seen wearing make-up. He never talked in the film adaption, but in the musical he occasionally spoke. He can't speak, but he occasionally speaks.

Answer: elephant

Dumbo appeared in the 1941 animated film by Walt Disney "Dumbo". He never said a word and he could flap his (unusually large) ears to make himself fly, a skill that landed him in the circus. His best friend for most of the film was Timothy the mouse. Dumbo has since gone on to appear in TV shows, books, theme park rides, video games and other films.

The film won the Academy Award for "Best Scoring of a Musical Picture" and "Best Animation Design" at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for "Best Original Song" at the Academy Awards for the song "Baby Mine".

Answer: Top Gear

The Stig is the mascot of the British car show "Top Gear". He never talks and hides behind his driving costume. At first his driving costume was black, but after race car driver Perry McCarthy revealed himself to be the Stig and he was killed off from the show, the new Stig's clothes were changed to white. Since then, numerous people have performed as the Stig, such as Michael Schumacher, Phil Keen and Ben Collins.

The Stig's anonymity has caused a running joke in the series when he is introduced.

The introduction is spoken by one of the hosts (usually Jeremy Clarkson) and includes them saying some strange "facts" about the Stig, such as him being illegal in seventeen states of America and that he invented the curtain. His role in the show is both as a mascot and to set lap times for different cars.

Answer: He had his tongue cut off

Cotton was a mute pirate from the first three movies of the Disney series "Pirates of the Caribbean". He was played by David Bailie. He couldn't talk because his tongue had been cut off before the events of the movie. Instead, he trained his parrot, a blue-and-yellow Macaw, to say a few phrases for him, such as "walk the plank". His parrot was voiced by Christopher S. Capp.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series was inspired by the ride at the Disneyland theme parks of the same name. It started with the 2003 film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl". The second film was released in 2006 and was titled "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest". The third film, which was originally meant to be the last of the franchise, was titled "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End". The final two films were shot back-to-back and were shot on a high budget of over $300 million. Due to the franchise's success, however, a fourth film was released in 2011 titled "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides".

Answer: Dog

"Wallace and Gromit" was a series of four animated short films and one full length feature film created by Englishman Nick Park. They follow the adventures of Wallace, a slightly stupid, cheese loving inventor, and Gromit, his anthropomorphic, highly intelligent, pet dog.

The animated short "The Wrong Trousers" won an Oscar for Best Short film, Animated, as did "A Close Shave". "A Matter of Loaf and Death" and "A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit" were both nominated for the same award as well.

The 2005 full length feature-film "Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. "Wallace and Gromit" have since appeared in advertisements, video games, comics and even their own TV show, titled "Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention".