“Paddington,” out Friday, is about an undocumented South American immigrant who arrives in Britain to take advantage of its generous welfare system, particularly when it comes to marmalade. He should feel right at home with these characters who left theirs to make a new one.
Superman: With Kryptonian-American relations nonexistent, Kal-El’s adoptive parents apparently committed fraud so that Clark Kent could obtain a Social Security number and get the Daily Planet’s HR department off his back.
Joseph Donnelly and Shannon Christie: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman play the Irish immigrants in “Far and Away.” It’s handy that they come to America, since Donnelly could never manage the Irish accent anyway.
Fievel Mousekewitz: In “An American Tail,” Fievel leaves Russia for America, where the streets are paved with cheese. No, really — that’s a line from one of the songs.
Anna: This British college student (Felicity Jones) overstays her visa to be with her American boyfriend in “Like Crazy.” Turns out that is a spectacularly bad idea, for the government does not acknowledge “youthful stupidity” as a reason to give someone a pass.
Vito Corleone: In “The Godfather Part II,” we see little Vito Andolini arrive at Ellis Island and get his last name changed, meaning he has to re-monogram all of his stuff.
The Washington Post