In the "Twilight Zone" episode "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" one character refers to another as "a real science fiction, a regular Ray Bradbury!" In a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bugs blames being seriously lost on "taking directions from Ray Bradbury" and throughout the movie mutters what he's going to do when he gets his hands on him. In an episode of "The Simpsons," the dufy kid (Martin, I think) refers to "The ABCs of Science Fiction...Asimov...Bova...Clarke." Someone pipes up, "Hey, what about Ray Bradbury?" and Martin sniffs haughtily, "I'm aware of his work." Made me laugh harder than just about anything. (Actually, this is closer to the correct quote: "I also promise to stock our libraries with the ABC's of science fiction: Asimov, Bester, Clarke!" "What about Ray Bradbury?" (beat) "I'm familiar with his work.") Evidently there's a show on Disney called "Silverstone" and in one episode a class gets in trouble for reading "Fahrenheit 451." I always wondered if the Elton John song "Rocket Man" was based on Bradbury's work or just sounded that way. Can anyone name other examples?
[This message has been edited by dandelion (edited 02-19-2002).]
Posts: 7334 | Location: Dayton, Washington, USA | Registered: 03 December 2001
I believe in TZ "Walking Distance" Martin Sloan (protag) comments on recognizing "Dr. Bradbury's" house in his old neighborhood when he returns to Homewood, NY. Possibly the theme of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" (Major Thom) can be seen in Kaleidoscope, No Particular Night or Morning, and Rocket Man (from Illustrated Man).
Is there not a Dandelion Crater on the moon's surface in honor of Mr. Bradbury!?
[This message has been edited by fjpalumbo (edited 01-10-2002).]
I first stumbled upon Ray Bradbury after hearing him mentioned in a couple of songs by my favorite band �Frank Black�. One of the songs is even called �The Cult Of Ray� on the album of the same name. Of course I had heard the name Bradbury before, but somehow had missed reading his stuff. Curious reader, I thought what the heck and checked out the Martian Chronicles at the library. My life has never been the same since.
Posts: 12 | Location: Carlyle, IL USA | Registered: 02 October 2001
Has anyone heard Radiohead's Amnesiac album? The special edition CD looks like a book, and in the front cover there's a fake library card that says "F 451," and there are pictures of books and buildings burning. I don't have the album, so I haven't looked into the lyrics or anything, but I thought the Bradbury reference was interesting.
Posts: 1 | Location: Harrisonburg, VA, USA | Registered: 09 March 2002
Sorry to be so unspecific, but I think George R. R. Martin is also a fan. I remember that he had a Bradbury reference in his story collection "A Song for Lya." I don't remember the story, but I think - and I'm reaching slightly here - that he had a city on Mars named "Bradbury."
Posts: 702 | Location: Cape Town, South Africa | Registered: 29 December 2001
My kids watch Disneys series "Honey I Shrunk The Kids". I listen/watch sometimes with them. In one episode the Zalinski son is being picked on by some school bullies in the hall at school. When a shadow falls acrossed him in front of his locker with out looking back he states "by the pricking of my thumbs something stupid this way comes" I knew exactly where that had come from, and laughed out loud!!!
Do you interpret the fire pole in 451 as having the same traits as the "revolutionary" personal transportation device "It" or "Segue" that sense the rider's intent?
Originally posted by dblethnk: Has anyone heard Radiohead's Amnesiac album? The special edition CD looks like a book, and in the front cover there's a fake library card that says "F 451," and there are pictures of books and buildings burning. I don't have the album, so I haven't looked into the lyrics or anything, but I thought the Bradbury reference was interesting.
Dblethnk: That's really interesting, considering I'm somewhat of a Radiohead fan; I'll certainly have to get that album now! Another intriguing musical reference comes with the band Duran Duran's first album put out in the early eighties: there's a song on there called "Sound of Thunder" and has the lyric "I'm the man who stepped off the path." Now how implicit is that? I had a chance to ask the lead singer about the connection and he said something like, "Nothing of the sort. It's about the man who starts World War III." What do you think -- would an artist or band be afraid to acknowledge something like this, fearful of any kind of legal ramifications?
Another original Twilight Zone episode had a distinct Bradbury reference: "A Stop at Willoughby," which was about an overstressed ad agency exec who dreams, while riding home on the train, that he's on a different train in the year 1880 and pulling into a peaceful, Bradburian little summertown named Willoughby. As the poor guy continues to crumble under his high-pressure job, he finds himself longing for that other reality, where everyone knows his name and it's always summer. Early on in the story, he asks his receptionist about "the Bradbury account."
Posts: 53 | Location: Southern California | Registered: 12 February 2002
fjpalumbo I saw the "IT" in a popular science they run about $3000 dollars. I also saw Russell Crowe I think on Leno tooling around on stage on one of those things. They run with gyros and look pretty fun. The article said they can go about 12 miles an hour. I think that feet, and the bike are probably better for the body. But it did look fun.
Further to the 'Simpsons' reference, one of the Halloween specials had a terrific (and hilarious) story in which Homer turns his toaster into a time machine (!), travels into the past, and then repeatedly alters the 'present' ('Sound of Thunder' style). Not a direct RB reference as such, but almost certainly a Bradbury influence.
Posts: 79 | Location: Tomerong, NSW, Australia | Registered: 16 February 2002
