References to '2001: A Space Odyssey' across pop culture

The “2001” influence is right there in the cheeky title of David Bowie’s 1969 hit single (his first to chart in the UK). The lyrics have Major Tom blasting off to space, leaving his capsule and then losing contact with ground control back on Earth. In a 2003 interview, Bowie confessed to writing the song after seeing Kubrick’s film “very stoned.”

The silliest official James Bond film (the 1967 spoof version of “Casino Royale” doesn’t count) departs significantly from Ian Fleming’s 1954 novel, using the title as an excuse to capitalize on the space movie craze kicked off by “Star Wars.” The film references numerous sci-fi movies throughout, including a scene where the villain’s henchman announces Bond’s arrival by blowing the first three notes of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” into a hunting horn.

While David Bowman’s EVA Pod was discovered orbiting Jupiter in “2010,” Frank Poole’s craft remains unaccounted for. Could it be that his pod slipped through a wormhole to a galaxy far, far away? That might explain why the winged junk collector Watto has an EVA Pod stashed away in his yard in “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (though you’ve got to be looking very closely to catch it).

Gaspar Noé’s reverse-narrative masterpiece shows “2001” a little love near the end/beginning of the film by placing a poster for the 1969 re-release – emblazoned with the tagline “The Ultimate Trip” to entice the era’s psychedelic explorers – over the bed where Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci cavort in the nude.

Kubrick referenced his own movie in his follow-up feature “A Clockwork Orange” by placing the soundtrack to “2001” on a shelf in the record store frequented by Malcolm McDowell’s ultraviolence-addicted Alex. Amusingly, it’s stocked right next to Pink Floyd’s 1970 LP “Atom Heart Mother.”

As dimwitted supermodels Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) grow increasingly frustrated trying to turn on an iMac, they begin to slap at the machine like confused monkeys. Cue “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” Suddenly, they're behaving exactly like the hominids from "2001."The gag builds to Hansel attempting to smash the computer with a large bone.

The pioneering electronic musician Eumir Deodato was inspired by Kubrick’s film to record a groovy, early disco riff on Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra.” The track proved hugely popular, and earned Deodato a Grammy in 1974 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. Hal Ashby made memorable use of the song in his 1979 classic “Being There.”

The third season of the cult NBC sitcom kicked off with Jeff (Joel McHale) getting knocked out and having a hallucination much like the one David Bowman experienced upon exiting the star gate. Jeff sees a second version of himself eating a Blackberry, then realizes to his horror that he has become Pierce (Chevy Chase). The sequence ends with an infirm Jeff/Pierce reaching out from their bed to the monolith-like study room desk.

This educational gem from the Children’s Television Workshop (aka the folks that brought you “Sesame Street”) only ran for six seasons, but it left an indelible mark on all the Gen X-ers who consumed it. One of its signature animated segments featured a concrete monolith breaking apart into a letter grouping that would then be used to spell a series of words as Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra” blared in the background. “The Electric Company” was trippy!

Now in its 29th season, “The Simpsons” has goofed on just about every significant piece of 20^th and 21^st century pop culture at last once. There have been numerous “2001” references over the years, but the most memorable would have to be the “Dawn of Man” opening of “Lisa’s Pony” (Homer falls asleep against the monolith) and the bit in “Deep Space Homer” where astronaut Homer twirls in zero gravity like a spacecraft and eats potato chips as the “Blue Danube Waltz” plays in the background.

In one of the endings for “Metal Gear Solid,” video game maestro Hideo Kojima, a huge fan of “2001,” included a bit where the characters Solid Snake and Otacon reveal that their real names are Dave and Hal. “Maybe we should take a trip to Jupiter together,” cracks Snake.

The iconic cover of the band’s “Who’s Next” LP features the group zipping up their pants next to a white concrete slab jutting up from a slag heap. The image was inspired by bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon having an in-depth discussion about “2001.”

Mel Brooks’s insanely ribald comedy opens with an Orson Welles’s-narrated goof on the “Dawn of Man” sequence that finds the male primates rising to their feet and becoming gradually aware of their bodies, patting their heads, their chests, their groins and, well, they pat those until they collapse in a satisfied heap. A title appears on the screen: “Our Forefathers.”

In the early 1970s, The King took to opening his concerts with a bombastic rendition of “Also Sprach Zarathustra." At the climax of the composition, the band would dive right into “See See Rider,” at which point Elvis would take the stage and commence to sweatin’ and singin’.

The non-ZAZ sequel takes its doomed passengers to space on a commercial shuttle expedition, which leaves ample opportunity to parody numerous popular space flicks. “2001” figures prominently in the narrative, with the crew having to contend with a malevolently malfunctioning computer named ROK 9000. Two crewmembers are ejected into space, where they drift together to dance to the “Blue Danube Waltz.”

Macho motivational speaker Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise) kicks off his “Seduce and Destroy” seminar by standing monolith-erect before his audience, sheathed in darkness, as “Also Sprach Zarathustra” roars from the speakers. It seems rather likely Paul Thomas Anderson meant to invoke “2001” here. Just a guess.

Matt Groening’s animated sci-fi comedy ran for seven seasons, and never missed an opportunity to drop a solid “2001” reference. The fourth season episode “Love and Rocket” finds the robotic Bender singing “Daisy Bell” very much like HAL as he falls madly in love with the ship’s upgraded AI. The ultra-nerdy episode ultimately reaches beyond Kubrick’s classic to end with a rare “2010” reference.

One of the more random “2001” references belongs to Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless”. A long, black portable phone is given a majestic low-angle framing like the monolith as you-know-what plays on the soundtrack. The phone rings, Cher (Alicia Silverstone) answers, and then it's on with the scene. That's it!

For a show that’s built around clever pop-culture references, it goes without saying that “2001” has come up more than a few times on the Satellite of Love. Heck, the very design of the Satellite of Love is a “2001” reference (to the bone ship). Joel Hodgson’s final episode, “Mitchell,” found Gypsy silently watching the Mads scheming to fire Mike, which she misreads as a plot to kill Joel. This is shot exactly like HAL reading the lips of Dave Bowman and Frank Poole as they discuss shutting him down.

“Never before has the motion picture industry produced an adult film with such vastness, scope and stature,” declares the tagline for the shot-on-70mm porn flick “Panorama Blue”. And to prove its grandiose intentions, the trailer evokes the cinematic exemplar of technological innovation by playing “Also Sprach Zarathustra” as a couple does the nasty whilst riding a rollercoaster.

The long-awaited, somewhat disappointing sequel to “Tron” finds director Joseph Kosinski plunking Jeff Bridges’ Flynn in residence that bears a striking resemblance to the austere, all-white design of David Bowman’s post-star gate home at the end of “2001.” He even throws in the antique furniture and a chandelier.

Moviegoers were knocked out by the sight of Frank Poole jogging in the Discovery’s centrifuge in "2001," so Brian De Palma decided to do Kubrick one better by having his space travelers get down and boogie in the centrifuge – in zero G – to Van Halen’s “Dance the Night Away.” It’s an exhilarating (and technically complicated) homage from one master to another.

Ever since the Ridley Scott-directed “1984” Super Bowl spot for the Macintosh, Apple has favored the big gesture when it comes to advertising. So it’s no surprise that they’ve appropriated “2001” numerous times in their television ads. Two notable instances: the HAL-narrated 2000 Super Bowl commercial for the new Macintosh, and the monolith-on-the-moon riff for the 2007 launch of the iPhone.

Tim Burton’s 2005 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s kid-lit classic doesn’t just reference “2001,” it features actual footage from the movie. Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) brings the children to a television screen where they observe the hominids from the “Dawn of Man” sequence freaking out in front of the monolith, which turns into a Wonka bar.

The Muppets lampooned “2001” several times over the last four decades. The best Henson goof on Kubrick’s film came in the animated “Muppet Babies” series, when Baby Kermit and Baby Piggy discover a monolith in their house. They are briefly transported to the “Dawn of Man” sequence as they ponder their wondrous discovery, which turns out to be Statler and Waldorf’s steamer trunk.