Friday The 13th Forum

Re: Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-14T20:44:21+00:00

I read somewhere where Tom Savini had the idea of Jason popping out of the lake, so in truth, maybe it was Savini's idea that lead to the idea of Jason being the killer in future films. I can live with that.

Statistics: Posted by Kane — Thu Apr 14, 2026 8:44 pm

Re: Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-14T13:31:56+00:00

I know what you are saying, I'm saying their's a difference between coming up with a basic idea and actually "developing" a charater.
With Jason poping out of the lake I'm just saying that is the only creative idea I've heard any of those guys claim was theirs, but that several people have tried to take credit for that.

Statistics: Posted by rick — Thu Apr 14, 2026 1:31 pm

Re: Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-13T23:52:31+00:00

I'm not talking about who's idea it was for Jason to pop out of the lake in the original film, that WAS Tom Savini's idea. I'm just talking about who's idea it was to introduce Jason as the killer in part 2. All I know is that they were some of the producers. I don't know how much they contributed to the story other than the idea to have Jason as the killer.

Statistics: Posted by Kane — Wed Apr 13, 2026 11:52 pm

Re: Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-13T23:36:34+00:00

Again, to what degree. Did they just find and/or put up money or did they actually contribute to the story?
Producers don't necesarily have creative input.
I'm not saying they didn't sit around and help hammer a story, but I've nerver heard that they had any creative imput either.
Well, aside from them being included in claiming they came up with Jason popping out of the lake at the end of part 1. Then again Savini and a couple others have also claimed that was their idea as well.
Seems everyone involved wants to take credit for that.

Statistics: Posted by rick — Wed Apr 13, 2026 11:36 pm

Re: Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-13T22:37:27+00:00

Two of the three were some of the producers of the original film if I remember correctly, so yes they were involved in it in some capacity.

Statistics: Posted by Kane — Wed Apr 13, 2026 10:37 pm

Re: Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-13T20:03:15+00:00

Like I said, IMO, it depends on how involved they were.
If they actually had a hand in anything to do with the actual story and creating it, then yes some credit should be given, but if they just said 'you should use the dead kid, now go write a sequel' that's not really "developing" anything.
When you say "character develop" I'm looking at it literally, I'm thinking about actually creating Jason as a caracter.

Statistics: Posted by rick — Wed Apr 13, 2026 8:03 pm

Re: Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-13T05:30:00+00:00

Great insight.....and here I thought I new everything about the franchise. I did not know that. Thanks for sharing.

Statistics: Posted by czechmate25 — Wed Apr 13, 2026 5:30 am

Re: Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-11T03:05:31+00:00

I mean if you want to give credit for total character development for Jason, that credit falls on several people because Jason has evolved so much over the years, but I'm just talking about the development that started it all. I guess I could credit Steve Miner for accepting the idea, he was totally with it from the beginning.

Statistics: Posted by Kane — Mon Apr 11, 2026 3:05 am

Re: Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-10T22:28:09+00:00

That is a pretty important part. Without it, there would definately be sequels, but who knows who the killer would be (I'm guessing only vaguely related). We'd probably still end up with some kind of hockey masked killer, but not Jason. Thanks for the info.

Statistics: Posted by Slash Man — Sun Apr 10, 2026 10:28 pm

Re: Jason Voorhees character development credit

2011-04-09T17:46:28+00:00

That's my point, rick! They really don't even get a mention, and they at least deserve that. And yes, even brainstorming an idea is in the same category as developing the character. I don't know all of the right words to put it in, but its there!

Statistics: Posted by Kane — Sat Apr 09, 2026 5:46 pm

Re: Jason Voorhees character development credit

2011-04-09T17:07:30+00:00

Unless they were heavily involved with the writing or creating the actual story, I don't think they deserve more then a mention for the idea.
Saying "why not use the kid that's supposed to be dead in the sequel" is a far cry from actually "developing" the character, even on something as basic as Friday the 13th.

Statistics: Posted by rick — Sat Apr 09, 2026 5:07 pm

Re: Jason Voorhees character development credit

2011-04-09T16:56:54+00:00

I didnt know all that!! Well then yes Steve Minasian and Bob Barsamian and Phil Scuderi should get the credit, maybe they will do one day, but can you realy see that happening?

Statistics: Posted by Farrell — Sat Apr 09, 2026 4:56 pm

Jason Voorhees FIRST character development credit

2011-04-08T07:05:50+00:00

Many have assumed for years that it was the franchise's creator, Sean Cunningham who was responsible for Jason's development, but this is false. Sean Cunningham will always be the man who created Friday the 13th, but the truth is he never even had anything to do with the idea of Jason popping up out of the lake in the final scene. That credit goes to Tom Savini, who only meant for it to be a joke. Many people believe that the sequels director Steve Miner was responsible for the characters development. This might be true to a certain degree as he totally believed in the idea, but it was actually three other men who suggested the idea to Miner to begin with. I never hear anybody giving credit to these men, but it should be noted that the original films producers, Steve Minasian and Bob Barsamian, along with a theatre owner, Phil Scuderi were the ones who suggested that Jason Voorhees be the sequels killer.

Since the forum has been stale as of late, I decided to throw in some fresh meat to feast upon!

Statistics: Posted by Kane — Fri Apr 08, 2026 7:05 am