Thomas Edison has appeared in
popular culture as a character in
novels,
films,
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. He is often portrayed in popular culture as an adversary of
Nikola Tesla.
"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! 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 Ford.
"The Wizard of Menlo Park" is a song by
Chumbawamba on their album Un.
The song "Edison" by the
Bee Gees from their 1969 album
Odessa is a reference about Thomas Edison.
Czech poet
Vítězslav Nezval wrote a lengthy epic poem titled Edison (1930), in which Edison is celebrated and apostrophed[check spelling] 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.
Camping with Henry and Tom, a fictional 1995 play based on Edison's camping trips with Henry Ford, written by Mark St. Germain. It was first presented at Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York.[3]
Edisonade 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.
The Future Eve (L'Ève Future), an
1886 novel by
Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam that popularized the term "
android", portrays Edison creating what he argues is the perfect woman, the android Hadaly, in order to cure his friend Lord Ewald's infatuation with a singer named Alicia, who is represented as shallow and immoral.
"Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" in Welcome to the Monkey House by
Kurt Vonnegut (1953) is a short story about Edison's accidental discovery that dogs have superhuman intelligence (and can talk) while working on an intelligence analyzer invention. Edison's dog "Sparky" reveals that dogs keep their intelligence a closely guarded secret. The story also divulges that it was Sparky who suggested to Edison the crucial component of the first
incandescent light bulb.
And Having Writ..., a
1978alternate universe novel by
Donald R. Bensen, features four
aliens stranded on Earth whose comic misadventures lead to Edison being chosen by the
Republican National Committee to run for
President of the United States instead of
Secretary of WarWilliam Howard Taft in
1908. He wins and becomes the 27th president. Prior to becoming president, the four aliens invent an effective hearing aid to help Edison with his poor hearing. The following year in 1909, Edison has the aliens placed under house arrest in
New York so that he can pry technological secrets from them. They escape (thanks to former president
Theodore Roosevelt), however, and head to
Europe, and Edison is obliged to dispatch
Marines to go after them. When he finally has them in his clutches again, Edison realizes that the amount of technology the aliens possess would, if widely distributed, cause widespread upheaval. In
1912, Edison decides not to run for a second term as he would rather go back to inventing. He is succeeded by former president Theodore Roosevelt, who also preceded him.
In the Japanese tokusatsu Kamen Rider Ghost, the ghost of Thomas Edison helps the main character Takeru Tenkuji/Kamen Rider Ghost to unite the 15 Heroic Spirits and to access his electricity/gun-wielding Edison Damashii form.
A Voyagers! episode involving Edison shows, in an instance of history "going wrong", Edison and his team 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.
JLA: Age of Wonder (
2003) was a two-issue mini-series from
DC's
Elseworlds line, in which
Superman 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.
The
role-playing gameFate/Grand Order has Edison appear as a Caster class Servant summoned by the Holy Grail in the E Pluribus Unum chapter, set in 1783. He works with
Helena Blavatsky and
Karna in fighting the Celtic takeover of the eastern United States, and is an antagonist of
Geronimo's faction before becoming an ally. His feud with Tesla, who appeared earlier as an Archer class Servant, is a running joke throughout the game.
Expiration Date by
Tim Powers 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.
The first supervillain that
Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) encountered was The Inventor, a failed clone of Edison whose DNA was contaminated by his creators' pet cockatiel.
Fantastic Victoriana: E, The 'E' page of the online version of
Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana which contains two different fictional Thomas/Tom Edisons and an entry on Edisonade
Thomas Edison has appeared in
popular culture as a character in
novels,
films,
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. He is often portrayed in popular culture as an adversary of
Nikola Tesla.
"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! 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 Ford.
"The Wizard of Menlo Park" is a song by
Chumbawamba on their album Un.
The song "Edison" by the
Bee Gees from their 1969 album
Odessa is a reference about Thomas Edison.
Czech poet
Vítězslav Nezval wrote a lengthy epic poem titled Edison (1930), in which Edison is celebrated and apostrophed[check spelling] 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.
Camping with Henry and Tom, a fictional 1995 play based on Edison's camping trips with Henry Ford, written by Mark St. Germain. It was first presented at Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York.[3]
Edisonade 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.
The Future Eve (L'Ève Future), an
1886 novel by
Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam that popularized the term "
android", portrays Edison creating what he argues is the perfect woman, the android Hadaly, in order to cure his friend Lord Ewald's infatuation with a singer named Alicia, who is represented as shallow and immoral.
"Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" in Welcome to the Monkey House by
Kurt Vonnegut (1953) is a short story about Edison's accidental discovery that dogs have superhuman intelligence (and can talk) while working on an intelligence analyzer invention. Edison's dog "Sparky" reveals that dogs keep their intelligence a closely guarded secret. The story also divulges that it was Sparky who suggested to Edison the crucial component of the first
incandescent light bulb.
And Having Writ..., a
1978alternate universe novel by
Donald R. Bensen, features four
aliens stranded on Earth whose comic misadventures lead to Edison being chosen by the
Republican National Committee to run for
President of the United States instead of
Secretary of WarWilliam Howard Taft in
1908. He wins and becomes the 27th president. Prior to becoming president, the four aliens invent an effective hearing aid to help Edison with his poor hearing. The following year in 1909, Edison has the aliens placed under house arrest in
New York so that he can pry technological secrets from them. They escape (thanks to former president
Theodore Roosevelt), however, and head to
Europe, and Edison is obliged to dispatch
Marines to go after them. When he finally has them in his clutches again, Edison realizes that the amount of technology the aliens possess would, if widely distributed, cause widespread upheaval. In
1912, Edison decides not to run for a second term as he would rather go back to inventing. He is succeeded by former president Theodore Roosevelt, who also preceded him.
In the Japanese tokusatsu Kamen Rider Ghost, the ghost of Thomas Edison helps the main character Takeru Tenkuji/Kamen Rider Ghost to unite the 15 Heroic Spirits and to access his electricity/gun-wielding Edison Damashii form.
A Voyagers! episode involving Edison shows, in an instance of history "going wrong", Edison and his team 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.
JLA: Age of Wonder (
2003) was a two-issue mini-series from
DC's
Elseworlds line, in which
Superman 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.
The
role-playing gameFate/Grand Order has Edison appear as a Caster class Servant summoned by the Holy Grail in the E Pluribus Unum chapter, set in 1783. He works with
Helena Blavatsky and
Karna in fighting the Celtic takeover of the eastern United States, and is an antagonist of
Geronimo's faction before becoming an ally. His feud with Tesla, who appeared earlier as an Archer class Servant, is a running joke throughout the game.
Expiration Date by
Tim Powers 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.
The first supervillain that
Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) encountered was The Inventor, a failed clone of Edison whose DNA was contaminated by his creators' pet cockatiel.
Fantastic Victoriana: E, The 'E' page of the online version of
Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana which contains two different fictional Thomas/Tom Edisons and an entry on Edisonade