Owls in popular culture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Owls are common in popular culture. Western culture tends to attribute wisdom to owls or to associate them with witches and wizards. Examples include:

• Merlin's owl, Archimedes, helps teach young King Arthur the way of birds in T. H. White's The Once and Future King. Archimedes is perhaps most popularly known in Walt Disney's film The Sword in the Stone, based on the book in the series.
• The Owls is the nickname for Sheffield Wednesday.
• Owl in Winnie the Pooh.
• Old Brown, a character from Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin.
• An owl is the "teacher" of the newborn creatures of Disney's Bambi.
• The Owl in Disney's Sleeping Beauty.
• The Great Owl in The Secret of NIMH.
• The mischievous owl from the Russian film Hedgehog in the Fog (1975), winner of numerous awards.
• Hoothoot and Noctowl from Pokemon.
• X The Owl, knowledgable tree-dwelling puppet from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
• Kaepora Gaebora in the The Legend of Zelda video game series.
• The many owls in the Harry Potter series that carry messages, such as Harry's owl Hedwig. The characters also use "O.W.L." as an abbreviation for the "Ordinary Wizarding Level" exam.
• The O RLY Owl, the Internet phenomenon.
• Bubo, the robot owl in Clash of the Titans.
• The owl is the mascot for Temple University, Rice University, Westfield State College and the French SUPAERO engineering school.
• In the videogame series Sly Cooper, Sly's archenemy is an immortal mechanical owl named Clockwerk.
• In the videogame Tekken 3, the Tekken Force Mode, which has ninja looking martial artists as cannon fodder, contains an enemy class called Owls in the last stage. They are red with gold trimming.
• In the videogame Soul Calibur III, the character Olcadan is cursed by the gods with the misfortune of having his head change between that of a human and an owl depending on the light and position of the sun, moon, and stars.
• Guardians of Ga'hoole is a series of books in which the cast consists entirely of owls.
• Owls are an unofficial symbol of Mensa because of their association with Athena. Many Mensa members avidly collect owls.
• The "Owl in Glasses" from the 1970s Tootsie Roll television commercials has become a pop culture icon.
• The mascot of Hooters restaurants (and, formerly, its airline) is an owl.
• The Alan Moore comic book miniseries Watchmen features an owl-themed superhero named Nite Owl.
• In the film Short Circuit, an owl is the first of Stephanie Speck's (Ally Sheedy) pets to see the robot Number "Johnny" 5.
• Glimfeather and the Parliament of Owls in The Silver Chair of The Chronicles of Narnia.
• Owl Magazine is a Canadian children's magazine.
• The mascot for Adult Swim, a late night television block on Cartoon Network that airs cartoons aimed at mature audiences, is an owl; though it was often used in its earlier days, it is rarely referred to anymore
• In David Lynch's TV show Twin Peaks, it is repeated multiple times that "the owls are not what they seem". Although their true nature is never known, one can guess that owls are watchers, even servants, from the Black Lodge (a world that feeds on pain and suffering).
• On The Colbert Report, a TV show based on political satire, "Owls" are on Stephen Colbert's "Dead to Me" list. The "Dead to Me" list is one of the Colbert Report's recurring elements.
• White Owl is a cheap brand of cigar, available in various flavors, popular for rolling blunts.
• Some local transit systems refer to their night bus service as "Owl".
• there is a Garry's Mod clan called the Darksouls Owls.
• In the television series Futurama, Owls used to counter the rat problem in New New York instead came to dominate to the point where they were considered pests.
• In Brazilian popular culture a "mãe coruja" (lit: mother owl) is someone that is overly proud of their children. It can also be extended to other relationships, like older to younger siblings and even friendships, though it always carry some 'parent-like' idea of taking care.
• A 45-foot stone owl representing the biblical figure Moloch is prominent in an annual ritual called the Cremation of Care staged by members of the Bohemian Club. The Cremation of Care is the centerpiece of the documentary, Dark Secrets: Inside Bohemian Grove by Alex Jones.