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Topics: Reddit, Twitter, Film and TV
Joe Yates
People online were convinced that Sinbad once appeared in a 90s movie as a genie - and now, they've been left scratching their heads after someone claimed to have 'solved' the mystery.
Perhaps it bombed and Sinbad granted himself a wish to erase the movie Shazaam from existence with the snap of his fingers.
Instead, this mystery surrounding the 'film' has left thousands of people with the 'memory' of it - otherwise known as a 'Mandela effect'.
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For those that don't know, the 'Mandela effect' is named after a false memory shared by many of former South African president, Nelson Mandela, dying in prison in the 1980s - despite the fact that he was very much alive at the time.
He later passed away in 2013.
Many people have since taken to social media to prove that they aren't the only person who remembers a certain thing - whether it being that Tinkerbell appeared in an iconic Disney intro or that Forrest Gump's famous line about life 'being like a box of chocolate' is exactly that.
And so determined are they that what they remember is real, that many often take it upon themselves to uncover the truth - like this Redditor.
"For those who may be unfamiliar one of the most iconic mandela effects are people 'misremembering' a film where sinbad played a genie called shazzam," they wrote on the social media platform in r/MandelaEffect.
"Later people say that no such movie exists and attribute it to false memories combing [combining] shaq's kazzam and sinbad genie movie, but I'm not sold because not only do I remember sinbad as a genie, but I remember plot details that have nothing In common with shaq's kazzam.
"The movies arent even remotely similar and I've never watched kazzam as a kid.
"The movie that people are actually remembering is a film from 2002 called hansel and gretel. The reason I say it's this film is because I distinctly remember a magical like character that I kid me thought was sinbad, but was actually Howie Mandel."
They continued to say that Sinbad 'plays a role in this film', leading them to get confused between the two.
The Redditor further explains that Hansel & Gretel, which they said 'tracks much closer to the "shazam" that was already in my head', is more plausible than the widely accepted answer that the film in question is actually Kazaam, where Shaquille O'Neal stars as a genie instead.
However, it did not solve it for some who were adamant that they'd seen this movie.
One person said: "This does not solve it for me because I have the memory like many others do of Kazaam coming shortly after Shazaam. 2002 is way too late. It had to be 1996 or earlier, but not earlier than say 1994."
While another said: "I have non-believers in mandela effect remember the movie. So it's difficult to just call it a day on this one for that fact. It's one of the bigger ones, so can't be ignored."
And a third was insistent they'd seen 'Shazam, starring Sinbad, in cinemas', adding: "It is not being conflated with any other memory."
Sinbad himself previously addressed the theory back in 2016, writing on Twitter: "Have you noticed no one my age has seen this so called Sinbad Genie movie, only you people who were kids in the 90's. The young mind!
"Okay for all you people who think I did a genie movie.. well haven’t done one YET, but I am going to do one so we can close this chapter."
Sinbad did later go on to play a genie in a video for College Humor, but only in comedic reference to the 'Shazaam' mystery.