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 comments total)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Craggy Island

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

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

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

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

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

(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

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

Amazon Island.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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