Filmen är inte baserad på verkliga händelser, men är en förtelling av den bulgariska filmen från 1981 Yo Ho Ho ( som i sig är en originalhistoria).
Fallet är oerhört realistisk känsla ibland, en av orsakerna till detta kan härledas från en snabb titt på dess Wikipedia-sida :
[The director's audio commentary] reveal that actor Lee Pace remained in a bed for most of the early filming at the director's suggestion, convincing most of the crew that he was in fact unable to walk. The intention, Tarsem and Pace noted, was to maximize the realism of Roy's physical limitations in the eyes of Catinca Untaru, whose lines and reactions as the character Alexandria were largely unscripted, and so were young Catinca's spontaneous interactions with Pace's character. For example, Alexandria's misinterpreting the letter E as the number 3 in a note written by Roy came about from an accidental misreading by the 6-year-old actress during filming, which the director then realized he could adapt into a clever twist in the story.
To further the realism of young Catinca's performance, Tarsem had portions of the hospital scenes between Pace and his young co-star filmed through small holes in the hospital bed curtains, maximizing the youngster's spontaneous interactions with Pace despite the presence of the film crew surrounding them.
Jag känner det här, i kombination med skotten i slutet av filmen av några av de farligaste stunterna i tysta filmer, så att det verkar som om det var en riktig historia - men tyvärr verkar det inte vara några bevis att föreslå det är.