Anansi - References in Popular Culture

References in Popular Culture

Anansi appears in two episodes of the Disney cartoon series Gargoyles. Anansi was depicted as a giant spider-spirit in the episode "Mark Of The Panther". He also appeared in the first part of "The Gathering", where he was seen returning to Avalon; this stated that he was one of Oberon's subjects.

In the Kid's WB television program Static Shock, Anansi the Spider is a major superhero in Africa. Anansi is part of a lineage of heroes whose powers stem from an ancient amulet, which grants powers of illusion and the ability to adhere to any surface. He first appears in "Static in Africa", where Static visits Africa, and the two join forces to fight the villain Oseba the Leopard. Anansi returns in "Out of Africa", in which he comes to Dakota City where Static and Gear help him recover his amulet from Oseba, who is this time joined by Onini the Snake and Mmoboro the Wasp.

American Gods is a novel by Neil Gaiman that contains Anansi (under the name Mr. Nancy), among other mythological characters. A later Gaiman novel, Anansi Boys, follows the sons of Anansi as they discover each other and their heritage.

The English rock band Skunk Anansie (1994–2001, 2009–present) took the name of the spider man of the West African folk tales, but with a slightly different spelling, and added "Skunk" to the name, in order to make the name nastier.

Anansi the Spider narrated stories from African folklore on the PBS series Sesame Street. He was voiced by Ossie Davis. These cartoon segments were introduced by Sonia Manzano, who plays Maria on that show.

• The Sun and the Moon
• Monkey and Baboon's Compromise
• The Little Mouse

In Little Golden Book's 1996 Justine Korman storybook, "Disney's The Lion King: The Cave Monster", Simba and Nala are afraid of the "Cave Monster", but later find out that it is a spider named Anansi.

In an arc of DC Comics' Justice League of America, the team faces Anansi. The character was first mentioned in Justice League of America No. 23, but was not named until Justice League of America #24. According to Vixen, he is the West African trickster god and "owns all stories". Anansi appears in several forms, the most common form being a large, other-worldly spider with supernatural powers. He has been manipulating the powers of Vixen and Animal Man. He initially appears to be villainous, but then reveals after he is "defeated" that his machinations were in fact intended to teach Vixen a lesson and prepare her for some coming disaster.

In the Marvel Comics mini-series Spider-Man Fairy Tales a story is told where Spider-Man takes on the role of Anansi. He is on a quest to gain more power after feeling unappreciated. After encountering elemental aspects (the Fantastic Four), and a guardian of a sacred garden (Swarm), he realizes the greatest power is friendship.

In the science fiction novel Descent of Anansi, by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes, the main characters manage to land a damaged spacecraft on Earth with the aid of a very strong cable made of crystalline iron and the "force" generated by tidal effects. The title is based on the image of the spacecraft hanging from the cable like a spider on a thread.

Author China Mieville cast Anansi as a prominent supporting character in his first novel, King Rat, published in 1998.

Children's singer Raffi wrote and recorded the song "Anansi" for his 1978 Corner Grocery Store album. The song describes Anansi as a spider and a man. It tells a story about Anansi being lazy yet clever, using flattery to trick some crows into shaking loose ripe mangoes from his mango tree for Anansi to enjoy without having to pick them himself.

In the PC game Shivers, Anansi appears in a music box that tells the tale of the spider tricking a lizard and the gods. In another PC game, Pandora's Box, Anansi is one of the tricksters that has to be captured.

The very first Anancy animated film was produced by Lalu Hanuman in 2000, called "Anancy Turns Over A New Leaf" . He followed this up in 2001 with a second Anancy animated film "Anancy's Healthy Diet". In 2001 also, the National Film Board of Canada produced the animated short film The Magic of Anansi as part of its Talespinners collection of short films based on children's stories from Canada's cultural communities.

In the Marvel comic Herc during the Spider Island story arc, a man in name of A. Nancy appears several times as a traveling story teller. It's revealed that in fact he is the Spider god of legend, and while Herc has Arachne occupied, he steals Arachne's mythical tapestry that got her bound to her cursed form adding it to his collection. He promptly then disappears