Uranus in fiction

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The planet Uranus has appeared in various forms of fiction:

Contents

[edit] Literature

  • Mr. Vivenair (a pseudonym) published A Journey Lately Performed Through the Air in an Aerostatic Globe, Commonly Called an Air Balloon, From This Terraquaeous Globe to the Newly Discovered Planet, Georgium Sidus in 1784.
  • Geoffrey A. Landis's short story "Into the Blue Abyss," part of his short-story collection Impact Parameter and other Quantum Fictions (2001) discussed an expedition to Uranus in search of life.
  • "Uranus or UFO Versus IRS," Philip José Farmer, in The Planets, Byron Preiss (Bantam 1985).
  • In the Buck Rogers series (1928–), Uranus is portrayed as having biodomes and robots.
  • In Stanley G. Weinbaum's 1935 story "The Planet of Doubt", Uranus' North pole is shrouded in a perpetual fog.
  • In Larry Niven's novel A World Out of Time (1976), Uranus is outfitted with a massive fusion motor and used to gently move the Earth outward from an expanding sun.
  • R. R. Winterbotham's "Clouds over Uranus" was published by Astounding in March of 1937
  • In Ramsey Campbell's The Insects from Shaggai (1964), a Cthulhu Mythos story, Uranus is known as L'gy'hx and is inhabited by cubical metallic many-legged creatures who worship Lrogg. They entered in religious conflict with the Shan.
  • In Wayne W. Dyer's self-help parable Gifts from Eykis (2002), Eykis is a female from Uranus who imparts wisdom and spirituality to Earth.

[edit] Film and television

  • In the 1962 film Journey to the Seventh Planet, astronauts on Uranus encounter a strange intelligence.[1]
  • In the Doctor Who (1963–) serial The Daleks' Master Plan, Uranus is described as being the only location in the universe where the mineral Taranium can be acquired.
  • In Space Patrol (1962) episode: The Dark Planet - Professor Heggerty and his daughter Cassiopeia are baffled by a plant sample from Uranus with a mind of its own! Following the disappearance of a 20 strong survey team on Uranus, Colonel Raeburn dispatch the Space Patrol crew to locate larger versions of the plant, where they discover the adult specimens of the plant are far from friendly.
  • In Space Patrol (1962) episode: The Invisible Invasion - On Uranus, the Duo's are planning to seize power on Earth by taking over the minds of everyone at Space Headquarters, including Colonel Raeburn. The one person seemingliy unaffected by the Duo's power is Professor Heggerty, who is installed beneath his electronic hair-restorer!
  • In the Duck Dodgers cartoon, Marvin the Martian claims that Uranus has Methane Farms (to convert animal faeces into gas) in order to put Dodgers off his marriage to Queen Tyr'ahnee.

[edit] Comics and anime

  • In the anime Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (1992), Sailor Uranus is the seventh guardian soldier to appear in the series, and represents the planet. Her attacks are associated with the force of nature (e.g. World Shaking, which is basically an earthquake). Later in the series, her attacks become more of galactic-like (e.g. Space Turbulence). Her talisman is Space Sword, and her image colours are navy blue and yellow.
  • In Grant Morrison's DC One Million (1998), all the planets of the solar system are overseen by one member of the future desendants of the Justice League. Uranus is overseen by the Starman of the 853rd century from his floating citadel, after having replaced the Green Lantern.

[edit] Games

[edit] Humor

A common pronunciation for Uranus (IPA [jəˈreɪnəs]) sounds somewhat like English phrase "your anus" ([jɚ eɪnəs]), eliciting several puns based on a possible confusion between the two. Other speakers use an older pronunciation, [ˈjurənəs] which lacks such potential for confusion.

  • In the animated series Futurama (1999–2003), in 2620 the name of Uranus was changed to get rid of "That Stupid Joke" once and for all. The new name is "Urectum".
  • In the Harry Potter series, Ron Weasley mispronounces the name "Uranus", leading to several giggles and scorn from his divination teacher.
  • In one episode of The Fairly OddParents, Timmy's dad becomes an astronaut on a mission to Uranus. The joke, "It's a planet?", is said frequently throughout the episode.
  • In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Eliot's classmates taunt him about his extra-terrestrial sighting, asking "Where's he from, Uranus?"
  • The Captain Underpants series make constant references to Uranus. The spin-off Super Diaper Baby even has the protagonists dropping off the villain on Uranus, where there is a welcome sign reading "Please don't make fun of our name."
  • In Animaniacs, Yakko sings a song about the planets. When he's finished, Wakko comes in and tells him, "You forgot Uranus."
  • At the end of the Histeria! episode "The Return of the American Revolution", Mr. Smartypants points out that the titular war ended in the same year that Uranus was discovered, giggling as he states the planet's name.
  • In the Schoolhouse Rock song, "Interplanet Janet" the line "Uranus is built on a funny tilt" was recorded with a mispronounciation of Uranus, in order to avoid humorous consequences. In the song, it is pronounced [jəˈrænəs].
  • In the ABC Family television show State of Grace, Hannah enters a debating competition about Nuclear warheads and says adamantly, "Really would you want to blow up Uranus?" which causes the audience to burst into laughter and causes her to run away.
  • In the sports commentary show Pardon the Interruption, Tony Kornheiser will usually make a Uranus pun whenever co-host Michael Wilbon references a space-related news item.
  • In the animated show Stickin' Around, Bradley will often make jokes about "Aliens from URANUS!", much to the disgust of his friend, Stacey.
  • In the film Armageddon, when a group of oil drillers are brought to the Johnson Space Center, one of them, played by Michael Clarke Duncan, asks "What's goin' on? NASA find oil on Uranus?"
  • In the book Zombie Butts From Uranus, whenever a character mentions "Uranus", another character typically gets offended, forcing the original speaker to say, "I meant the planet!" (e.g. "I've always wanted to see Uranus--I meant the planet!")
  • In The Magic School Bus episode "Gets Lost in Space", for the first half of the episode, Janet purposely mispronounces Uranus. However, when they approach Uranus, Arnold sits on Janet, and Janet says, "Uranus doesn't do anything for me, so please get off."

[edit] Uranus' moons in fiction

  • In Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997), Ann Clayborne and Zo Boone visit Uranus' moon Miranda, which is being preserved as a primal wilderness; the other sizable moons of Uranus are being ambitiously colonised at the time with the help of fusion lanterns placed in Uranus' upper atmosphere to provide more light; Blue Mars also contains a description of a colony on Titania, where humans have adapted to the low gravity and light levels.

[edit] Miranda

[edit] Oberon

  • Three levels of the computer game Descent take place in mines Oberon. Levels 19, 20, and 21 take place in an unidentified mine, an iron mine, and a platinum mine, respectively.
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