Thomas Edison in popular culture
Encyclopedia
Thomas Edison
has appeared in popular culture
as a character in novel
s, film
s, comics
and video games.
His prolific inventing helped make him an icon and he has made appearances in popular culture during his lifetime down to the present day. His history with Nikola Tesla
has also provided dramatic tension and is a theme returned to numerous times.
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
has appeared in popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
as a character in novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s, comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
and video games.
His prolific inventing helped make him an icon and he has made appearances in popular culture during his lifetime down to the present day. His history with Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
has also provided dramatic tension and is a theme returned to numerous times.
Biographical works
- Young Tom EdisonYoung Tom EdisonYoung Tom Edison is a 1940 biographical film about the early life of inventor Thomas Edison, with Mickey Rooney in the title role.-Cast:*Mickey Rooney as Thomas Edison*Fay Bainter as Nancy Edison*George Bancroft as Samuel Edison...
was a 1940 biographical film starring Mickey RooneyMickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
as Edison. - Edison, the ManEdison, the ManEdison, the Man was a 1940 biographical film depicting the life of inventor Thomas Edison, who was played by Spencer Tracy. Hugo Butler and Dore Schary were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story for their work on this film...
was a 1940 biographical film starring Spencer TracySpencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
as Edison. - "The Electric Sunshine Man" is a musical for young voices about the life, times, and inventions of Thomas Edison; generally performed by youth choral groups in schools.
- The Schoolhouse Rock song "Mother Necessity" featured Thomas Edison first as a child intending to be an inventor when he grows up "to make a lamp to help my mommy see..Wowee!/What an excellent application of electricity!" and then as a smart, rich man.
- Edison occasionally appeared in caricature form on Histeria!Histeria!Histeria! is a 1998 American animated series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Unlike other animated series produced by Warner Bros. in the 1990s, Histeria! stood out as the most explicit edutainment program in order to meet FCC requirements for...
His first major appearance was in a sketch in which he comes up with the light bulb while his nephew (played by Loud Kiddington) and his friends fool around in his office. The show also featured a song about Edison's partnership with Henry FordHenry FordHenry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
. - "Edison's Medicine" was a song by the band TeslaTesla (band)Tesla is an American hard rock band formed in Sacramento, California in 1984. They have sold 14 million albums in the United States.-Formation and Mechanical Resonance :...
from the album Psychotic Supper Tesla which features the War of CurrentsWar of CurrentsIn the "War of Currents" era in the late 1880s, George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison became adversaries due to Edison's promotion of direct current for electric power distribution over alternating current advocated by several European companies and Westinghouse Electric based out of Pittsburgh,...
between Edison's DC and Tesla's AC. - "The Wizard of Menlo Park" is a song by ChumbawambaChumbawambaChumbawamba is a British musical group who have, over a career spanning nearly three decades, played punk rock, pop-influenced music, world music, and folk music...
on their album UnUn (album)Un is a Chumbawamba album released in mid 2004, and features major influences from both electronic and folk music, containing many samples from world music. It serves as a bridge between the band's earlier electric sound and the current acoustic sound...
. - The song "Edison" by the Bee GeesBee GeesThe Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
from their 1969 album OdessaOdessa (album)Odessa is the sixth studio album by the Bee Gees, released in 1969. It was the group's fourth album released internationally, and their first released as a double LP. Odessa is noted in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die....
is a reference about Thomas Edison. - Czech poet Vítězslav NezvalVítezslav NezvalVítězslav Nezval was one of the most prolific avant-garde Czech writers in the first half of the twentieth century and a co-founder of the Surrealist movement in Czechoslovakia....
wrote a lengthy epic poem titled Edison (1930), in which Edison is celebrated and apostrophed there as symbol of courage in search of meaning of life in modern civilisation. This work is considered to be one of the best poems of modern Czech literature.
Alternate histories
- EdisonadeEdisonade"Edisonade" is a modern term, coined in 1993 by John Clute in his and Peter Nicholls' The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, for stories based around a brilliant young inventor and his inventions, many of which would now be classified as science fiction...
is a category of fantastic fiction with young inventors travelling to distant parts and having adventures. Not only did the genre use his name, but a number of Thomas/Tom Edisons appeared in the early adventures. - In Assassin's CreedAssassin's CreedAssassin's Creed is an award-winning historical third person, stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The bulk of the game takes place during the Third Crusade, with the plot revolving around a sect known as the Secret Order of...
, Edison is portrayed as a member of The Knights Templar, attempting to discredit Nikola TeslaNikola TeslaNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
. - Edison's Conquest of MarsEdison's Conquest of MarsEdison's Conquest of Mars, by Garrett P. Serviss, is one of the many science fiction novels published in the 19th century. Although science fiction was not at the time thought of as a distinct literary genre, it was a very popular literary form, with almost every fiction magazine regularly...
by Garrett P. ServissGarrett P. ServissGarrett Putnam Serviss was an astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. Serviss was born in upstate New York, and majored in science at Cornell. He took a law degree at Columbia, but never worked as an attorney...
(18981898 in literatureThe year 1898 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Elizabeth von Arnim - Elizabeth and Her German Garden*F. W. Bain - A Digit of the Moon*L...
) is an unofficial sequel to The War of the WorldsThe War of the WorldsThe War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
in which Edison finds and reverse engineers Martian technology. - And Having Writ..., a 19781978 in literatureThe year 1978 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to books with unusual titles is created. The first winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude...
alternate universeParallel universe (fiction)A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
novel by Donald R. BensenDonald R. BensenDonald Roynald Bensen , also known as Don Bensen and sometimes listed as D.R. Bensen, was an American editor and science fiction writer. Editorally he is best known for editing works of P. G. Wodehouse and his involvement in their re-issue in paperback in the United States...
, features three aliens stranded on Earth whose comic misadventures lead to Edison serving one term as PresidentPresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
following and also preceding two terms for Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
. - Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog, a short story by Kurt VonnegutKurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
, finds Edison and his young neighbor (told in flashback from the now elderly neighbor's point of view) discovering that the inventor's dog Sparky has superhuman intelligence and can speak—and who suggests to Edison the crucial component of the first incandescent light bulbIncandescent light bulbThe incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe makes light by heating a metal filament wire to a high temperature until it glows. The hot filament is protected from air by a glass bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. In a halogen lamp, a chemical process...
!
Time-travel scenarios
- a Voyagers!Voyagers!Voyagers! is an American science fiction time travel-based television series that aired on NBC during the 1982–1983 season. The series stars Jon-Erik Hexum and Meeno Peluce.-Plot:...
episode involving Edison shows, in an instance of history "going wrong", Edison and his team are trying to make a light bulb filament by rolling lamp black; they all fail, and when Jeffrey tears his shirt, Edison offers to repair it, then studies the thread as a potential filament - The Edison Mystery: Qwerty Stevens, Back in Time (20012001 in literatureThe year 2001 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The film version of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic book, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, is released to movie theaters...
) by Dan GutmanDan GutmanDan Gutman is an American author from New Jersey. A prolific writer, Gutman has written 80 books, both fictional and non-fictional, under publishers including Penguin Books, Macmillan, Scholastic Press, and HarperCollins... - "JLA: Age of WonderJLA: Age of WonderJLA: Age of Wonder was a two-issue prestige format comic book mini-series from DC's Elseworlds imprint. It was written by Adisakdi Tantimedh, with art by P. Craig Russell and Galen Showman.-Plot:...
" (20032003 in comics-January:* January 2: Kid Colt artist Jack Keller dies at age 80.- April :* Action Comics #800: Double-sized anniversary issue, "A Hero's Journey," by Joe Kelly, Pascual Ferry, and Duncan Rouleau...
) was a two-issue mini-series from DCDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
's ElseworldsElseworldsElseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
line, in which SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
landed in Kansas in the 1850s and emerged on the world stage at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. He teams up with Edison but ends up working with Tesla. - Tales From the Bully PulpitTales From the Bully PulpitTales From The Bully Pulpit is a graphic novel released October 25, 2004. It was written by Benito Cereno, illustrated by Graeme MacDonald, and distributed by Image Comics. The comic stars Theodore Roosevelt, the ghost of Thomas Edison, and a time machine stolen from H. G...
(20042004 in comics-February:*February 6: Marvel Enterprises and Electronic Arts announce a multi-year agreement in which EA will develop a new generation of fighting video games pitting Marvel superheroes against a new, original set of EA heroes....
) by Benito CerenoBenito Cereno (writer)Benito Cereno is an American comic book writer. He is best known as the writer and co-creator of 2004's Tales From the Bully Pulpit and Hector Plasm. His work first appeared as strips in early issues of Robert Kirkman's comic book Invincible...
is a graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
containing the time travel adventures of Thomas Edison and Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity... - The Five Fists of ScienceThe Five Fists of ScienceThe Five Fists of Science is a steampunk graphic novel created by writer Matt Fraction and artist Steven Sanders. It was published in 2006 by Image Comics.-Plot:...
, a 20062006 in comics-January:*January 1, 2006: Newsweek offer a look back at 2005 through editorial cartoons. *January 2, 2006: The Cincinnati Enquirer cartoonist Jim Borgman starts a blog to detail his creative process...
graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
in which Edison is the villain trying to thwart the plans of Nikola TeslaNikola TeslaNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
and Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
Characters based on Edison
- "Tom Edison Jr." was the star of eleven adventure books written by Philip Reade. The first book was Tom Edison Jr.'s Sky Scraping Trip; Or Over the Wild West Like a Flying Squirrel (18911891 in literatureThe year 1891 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Guy de Maupassant is officially diagnosed as insane.*Tristan Bernard has his first work published in La Revue Blanche....
). Tom Edison Jr. is the son of Tom Edison Sr. a famous inventor who, they are at pains to emphasise, is not supposed to be famous inventor Thomas Edison. - To Mars With Tesla; or, the Mystery of the Hidden World by J. Weldon Cobb (19011901 in literatureThe year 1901 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* First Nobel Prize for Literature awarded, to French poet Sully Prudhomme; many are outraged when Leo Tolstoy does not win...
) featured "Young Edison", a fictional nephew of Thomas Edison, helping Nikola TeslaNikola TeslaNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
in his adventures with Martians. - In the cartoon series Clone HighClone HighClone High is a Canadian-American animated television series that aired for one season on MTV and Teletoon....
, Thomas Edison's clone is shown as a short, sniveling nerd who seems to spend most of his time working with A.V equipment (a reference to the fact that Edison invented the projector). - Expiration DateExpiration Date (novel)Expiration Date is a 1996 fantasy novel by Tim Powers. It was nominated for both the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards in 1996.-Plot summary:There are two main protagonists and two main antagonists....
by Tim PowersTim PowersTimothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare...
in which a boy possessed by the spirit of Thomas Edison is hunted through Los Angeles by people wanting to consume the ghost he carries.
Other references to Edison
- "The Wizard of Evergreen TerraceThe Wizard of Evergreen Terrace"The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" is the second episode of the tenth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 20, 1998, and was viewed in approximately 7.95 million households that day. In the episode, Homer has a midlife crisis realizing his...
", an episode of The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
where Homer SimpsonHomer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
becomes obsessed with inventions until he finally invents something useful (additional chair legs to prevent falling) when it turns out that Edison had invented it first. Later Edison was falsely given credit for Homer's electric hammer invention. - Edison Hate Future is a series of one panel cartoons by Warren EllisWarren EllisWarren Girard Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well-known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes...
using the same picture of Thomas Edison
See also
- Nikola Tesla in popular cultureNikola Tesla in popular cultureNikola Tesla, inventor and engineer, has appeared in popular culture as a character in books, films, comics and video games. The lack of recognition received by Tesla during his own lifetime has made him a tragic and inspirational character well suited to dramatic fiction. Tesla has particularly...
- Mark Twain in popular cultureMark Twain in popular cultureMark Twain has appeared in popular culture as a character in books, films and comics:* The 1944 biographical film of his life, The Adventures of Mark Twain, featured Fredric March as Clemens and Alexis Smith as his wife Olivia....
External links
- Fantastic Victoriana: E, The 'E' page of the online version of Jess NevinsJess NevinsJohn J. Nevins, MA/MS, is an American author and librarian, born 30 July 1966 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author of the World Fantasy Award-nominated Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana , and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction...
' Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana which contains two different fictional Thomas/Tom Edisons and an entry on Edisonade - "Thomas Edison (Character) from General Electric's All-Star Anniversary (1978) (TV)," The Internet Movie Database