No man is an island

April 4, 2009 2:12 PM

What are some famous islands in popular culture?

So far I have:

Lost island
Robinson Crusoe island
Life of Pi island
Lord of the Flies island
Castaway island

What are some other ones? Can be from movies, books, music, etc.

posted by ttyn to society & culture (41 answers total)

Wikipidia: List of Fictional Islands.
posted by nitsuj at 2:14 PM on April 4, 2009

The Islands from Lost, and maybe Gilligan's "Uncharted Desert Isle" ? :)
posted by AltReality at 2:18 PM on April 4, 2009

Treasure Island, but Wiki to the rescue
posted by mattoxic at 2:18 PM on April 4, 2009

oh crap, you had both of those already. My bad.
posted by AltReality at 2:19 PM on April 4, 2009

Blue Lagoon
Fantasy Island
posted by Pax at 2:19 PM on April 4, 2009

Atlantis?
posted by artemisia at 2:21 PM on April 4, 2009

All of the islands that Gulliver Travels to. Over the course of the book he visits over ten with the most popular ones being the one with big people and the one with little people but he also goes to many others some of which are truly bizarre.

Also the island from the Swiss Family Robinsons.
posted by monkeywithhat at 2:28 PM on April 4, 2009

Hippo Island?
posted by aubilenon at 2:29 PM on April 4, 2009

The Island of Dr Moreau
posted by Rumple at 2:29 PM on April 4, 2009

The Raft from Stephenson's Snow Crash might not be famous exactly, but it's pretty unique.
posted by cowbellemoo at 2:32 PM on April 4, 2009

Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna
posted by cmgonzalez at 2:34 PM on April 4, 2009

Pitcairn Island. Home to the Bounty Mutineers!
posted by meerkatty at 2:35 PM on April 4, 2009

Also to be obscure Spindrift Island which is a fictional island off the coast of New Jersey home to Rick Brant which was a series of books that were Hardy Boys esq but with science in the 50's.
posted by monkeywithhat at 2:40 PM on April 4, 2009

The Mysterious Island from Jules Verne.
posted by monkeywithhat at 2:44 PM on April 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

Island of the Blue Dolphins
Island of Misfit Toys
posted by scody at 2:51 PM on April 4, 2009

The Island of the Day Before

The Lone Islands, Dragon Island, Burnt Island, Deathwater Island, Duffers' Island, The Dark Island, and The Island of the Star from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (These prob. aren't so popular yet, but the movie will be out in 15 years or so.)

Paul Simon (just to contradict your title =)
posted by carsonb at 2:54 PM on April 4, 2009

Craggy Island

(Down with this sort of thing)
posted by badrolemodel at 3:01 PM on April 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

Pleasure Island from Pinocchio!
posted by Max Power at 3:08 PM on April 4, 2009

Caspiar, the island in the Caspian sea that sank.
posted by giraffe at 3:10 PM on April 4, 2009

Ko Phi Phi Lee, in the Andaman Sea off Thailand, is the island with the hidden Maya Bay, used in the movie The Beach.
posted by nicwolff at 3:24 PM on April 4, 2009

The Island from The Prisoner.
posted by bigtex at 3:28 PM on April 4, 2009

(which may not have been an island at all.... but the Simpson's parody of it was definitely "The Island")
posted by bigtex at 3:30 PM on April 4, 2009

The Black Island from Tintin
Genosha from the Marvel universe
Númenor from Tolkien's writings
posted by gemmy at 3:45 PM on April 4, 2009

Amazon Island.

Islands in the Stream?
posted by nenequesadilla at 4:14 PM on April 4, 2009

Sodor, from the Thomas the Tank Engine
posted by Lucinda at 4:47 PM on April 4, 2009

Elric's Melniboné.
posted by steef at 4:55 PM on April 4, 2009

Monkey Island.
posted by box at 4:59 PM on April 4, 2009

Not sure if it was necessarily an island, but Puff the Magic Dragon frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Hona-lee.

I always thought it would have been an island. (mangled Hanalei?)
posted by ctmf at 5:21 PM on April 4, 2009

The Islands of the Abarat.
posted by effigy at 5:26 PM on April 4, 2009

skull island (king kong)
monster island (godzilla, etc)
posted by swbarrett at 5:34 PM on April 4, 2009

would "this island earth" count?
posted by swbarrett at 5:36 PM on April 4, 2009

Jurassic Park.
Myst.
posted by painquale at 6:08 PM on April 4, 2009

Monkey Island

Probably not what you're going for, but there's no more famous island in popular culture than Manhattan.
posted by thecaddy at 6:27 PM on April 4, 2009

Numenor, from Tolkien's mythology.
Tangerine Island, from My Father's Dragon
posted by argybarg at 6:51 PM on April 4, 2009

Krakatoa, in the Newbery-winning The Twenty-One Balloons and other works.
posted by zhwj at 7:38 PM on April 4, 2009

The Isles of Langerhans?
posted by motown missile at 1:22 AM on April 5, 2009

Nanuya Levu, an island in the Yasawa chain (Figi) was where the film The Blue Lagoon was filmed.

Alcatraz - another real island and the subject of many films and books.
posted by elendil71 at 4:22 AM on April 5, 2009

Thousand Island?
posted by DawgterFeelgood at 5:27 AM on April 5, 2009

Do they have to be fictional?

Manhattan
England
Hawaii

are all prominent in popular culture.
posted by jefftang at 6:53 AM on April 5, 2009

Four days late and on the Wikipedia list: San Seriffe.
posted by Dr.Pill at 7:09 AM on April 5, 2009

Waponi Woo from Joe Versus the Volcano.
posted by hellopanda at 8:26 AM on April 5, 2009