From 'The War of the Worlds' to 'Mars Attacks': The red planet in popular culture

Space, the final frontier; or to quote Wall-E, the final “FUN-tier”. The idea of exploring worlds beyond ours is one that has fascinated the imaginative, daydreaming sort for centuries. From Norse myths to Hindu legends to HG Wells, the list of those who have imagined travelling to other planets is long and illustrious. Mars has occupied a special spot in our imaginations, largely because it’s an inter-galactic hop, skip and jump away. Our ruddy-faced neighbour has been associated with gods of war, a bad temper and the most convenient place for alien-spotting. So while the Mangalyaan keeps India’s space program spinning, here’s a fond look at some of our favourite Martian moments in books, television and film. HG Wells’ Martian invaders The War of the Worlds is one of the few books in the history of publishing that has never gone out of print since it was first published in 1898. Wells imagined two kinds of Martians. The first race of Martians looked vaguely like octopuses with beaks. The second bunch were more photogenic and humanoid, but retained the huge heads. According to Wells, evolution had left them with little more than a brain. After taking over Earth, guess what proved to be the downfall of Martians? Microbial infection, i.e. the common cold. Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter If you know what’s good for you, you will not mention the abomination that was the film adaptation. The original John Carter is one of the coolest cats to have gone to space. He mysteriously shows up on the red planet, which locals call Barsoom. On Barsoom, weaker gravity gives Carter awesome powers. He encounters fantastic species on the planet, like Calots (ginormous lovechild of dog and lizard, 10 legs, shark teeth), Tharks (green skin, six limbs) and Red Martians who look like humans (only they’re red) but hatch from eggs. Carter becomes Barsoom’s protector and his adventures inspired generations of sci-fi writers, including Ray Bradbury who says without John Carter, there would have been no The Martian Chronicles. Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles What Bradbury imagined in The Martian Chronicles is what many figure might be humanity’s last hope in face of climate change and global warming. Set in the future, Bradbury’s stories chronicled Earthmen’s attempt to colonise Mars. Martians were described as delicate creatures who live a rather peaceable life, drinking green liquor from wine trees, swimming in canals of sand and being rather good at telepathy. They see humans as lumbering, misshapen giants. The Earthmen want to make Mars a second Earth and the fact that the Martian civilisation is in decline makes this a distinct possibility. Satyajit Ray’s Professor Shonku on Mars Before there was Mangalyaan, there was Professor Shonku’s rocket which whooshed the professor, his manservant Prahlad, his robot Bidhushekhar and a cat named Newton to Mars. It wasn’t easy. The first rocket Professor Shonku put together landed in his neighbour’s radish patch. It did ultimately take off but unfortunately for Professor Shonku and gang, the Martians weren’t particularly welcoming. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the atmosphere of Mars played havoc with Bidhushekhar’s circuits and he attacked the Martians. Philip K. Dick’s Mars Not only is there very little fun and games on Mars in Philip K. Dick’s Martian Time-Slip, the planet is a desolate, dry place where water is precious and an autistic child brings out the worst in greedy, controlling humans. The original Martians are known as Bleekmen and employed by humans as their servants. Martian Time-Slip is a masterpiece and as depressing and surreal as you expect a Philip K Dick novel to be. If we ever do end up holidaying in Mars, this is not a book that’s going to be in the travel brochure, but it is a gripping, unnerving novel. [caption id=“attachment_1728263” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Tim Burton’s Mars Attack[/caption] The Dr Manhattan tour of Mars One person who did think Mars was a great holiday spot was Dr Manhattan from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen series. When he went through a blue period that can only be compared to Pablo Picasso’s (Picasso made paintings; Dr Manhattan made a clockwork ship made of crystal. You decide which is cooler), Dr Manhattan mooched around in Mars. The serenity of the lifeless planet was a relief to him after the chaotic clamour of Earth and its inhabitants. Marvin the Martian Soft-spoken, lethally dangerous and yet completely adorable, Marvin the Martian is one of the most beloved villains of the Looney Tunes universe. Dressed in an ancient Roman soldier’s uniform and basketball shoes, the Commander of Flying Saucer X-2 has been trying to destroy Earth for two millennia because “it obstructs my view of Venus”. Which is, as reasons go, more of an explanation than most Martians have given us Earthlings for their explosive plans. Tragically for Marvin the Martian, Bugs Bunny keeps foiling his plays. Hence his unforgettable lines, “Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom.” Doctor Who’s Ice Warriors The red planet has got in Doctor Who’s way a number of times, largely because it tends to host bad guys. Uninhabitable as it may be for humans, Mars is home sweet home for Ice Warriors, reptilian humanoids who kept showing up to plague the Second Doctor. Long after they’d been wiped out, Ice Warriors managed to create trouble for the Tenth Doctor, who discovered a virus that the Ice Warriors had “trapped” in a Martian glacier. Known as The Flood, this sentient Martian virus changes the host’s voice, gives the host a serious case of chapped lips and the ability to shoot water from their hands. Give us the common cold any day. Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks You can’t think of aggressive Martians and not remember Tim Burton’s hilarious film. Martians were, in an ode to Wells, all brain and loads of evil. But they weren’t evil because that was in their nature. They behaved badly simply because they were bored (who can’t relate to that, after all?). And really, if it hadn’t been for the hippies who released a dove in their direction (it was meant to be a sign of peace but the Martians thought it was a form of attack), the visiting aliens may not have gone ballistic. Ultimately, what saves Earth and puts the fear of Earthlings into the Martians is yodelling. Futurama’s Mars, where the Buggalo roam Home to Mars University, Amy Wong and species like “buggalo”, the planet is the setting for a number of Futurama adventures. In case you were wondering, the buggalo are giant beetles that can be milked like cattle and whose limbs are great for grilling. Native Martians can fly buggaloes. The episode titled “Where The Buggalo Roam” is set entirely on Mars. The Patron Planet of Bad Movies While it’s inspired many masterpieces in literary and popular fiction, the tragic truth is that Mars hasn’t been served well by cinema. It has been the setting for some of the worst films ever made, including Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Mutant Swinger from Mars and Robinson Crusoe on Mars. If there is life on Mars and they’ve seen any of these films, then expect an attack far more violent than anything Ray, Burton or Wells imagined.