Cult classic - Definition and Overview

A cult classic is a work of fiction, usually a film or television show, that is extremely popular with a select audience, but may or may not be successful at the time of its original release. A cult classic may or may not enjoy mainstream success. Some examples of cult classics and their creators are listed below:

Films

• Alien series
• Animal House
• Apocalypse Now
• Back to the Future
• Barbarella
• The Blues Brothers
• Casablanca
• Dancer In The Dark
• The Goonies
• The Godfather
• Gone With The Wind
• Mad Max series
• Newsies
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Star Wars
• Scarface
• The Terminator
• Titanic
• Tron
• The Wizard of Oz
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
• and films by Mel Brooks, John Waters, Terry Gilliam, Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, Peter Jackson

TV

• The A-Team
• Animaniacs
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force
• Caillou
• Clifford the Big Red Dog
• Doctor Who
• Dora the Explorer
• The Dukes of Hazzard
• The Fairly OddParents
• The Golden Girls
• The Goodies
• I Love Lucy
• Invader Zim
• Magnum PI
• MacGyver
• The Monkees
• My So-Called Life
• Mystery Science Theater 3000
• Pee-wee's Playhouse
• Outer Limits
• The Prisoner
• Ren and Stimpy
• Rugrats
• Scooby-Doo
• Seinfeld
• The Simpsons
• Sledge Hammer!
• South Park
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Star Trek
• Teletubbies
• Tiny Toon Adventures
• Thirtysomething
• Twilight Zone
• Twin Peaks
• The West Wing
• The X-files
• The Young Ones
• Warriors

Books

• J.K. Rowling
• Hunter S. Thompson
• Douglas Adams
• J.R.R. Tolkien

Music

• The Beatles
• The Beach Boys
• Grateful Dead
• Led Zeppelin
• Elvis Presley
• The Rolling Stones
• The Who
• Frank Zappa

Video Games

• Bahamut Lagoon, import classic
• Chrono Trigger
• Dragon Quest series
• EarthBound
• Final Fantasy series
• Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, import classic
• The Legend of Zelda series
• Metroid series, especially in the United States
• Ninja Gaiden
• River City Ransom, unpopular at the time of original release
• Secret of Mana
• Seiken Densetsu 3, import classic
• , import classic
• Soul Blazer
• Super Mario Bros. series
• Star Ocean, import classic
• Tales of Phantasia, import classic
• Terranigma, import classic for the United States
• TradeWars 2002
• Xenosaga series

Board Games

• Solarquest