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Mummies in fiction
Mummies are commonly featured in romance genres as an
undead creature. During the 20th century, horror films
and other mass media popularized the notion of a curse
associated with mummies.
Films representing such a
belief include the 1932 film The Mummy starring Boris Karloff as Imhotep; four subsequent 1940's Universal
Studios mummy films which featured a mummy named Kharis,
who also was the title mummy in a 1959 Hammer remake of
The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's Tomb; and a remake of
the original film that was released in 1999. The belief
in cursed mummies probably stems in part from the
supposed curse on the tomb of Tutankhamun. ABC's 1979 TV
holiday film aired The Halloween That Almost Wasn't
where a mummy from Egypt (Robert Fitch) arrived into
Count Dracula's castle without speaking.
The 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by
archaeologist Howard Carter brought mummies into the
mainstream. Slapstick comedy trio the Three Stooges
humoursly exploited the discovery in the short film We
Want Our Mummy, in which they explored the tomb of the
midget King Rutentuten (and his Queen, Hotsy Totsy). A
decade later, they were crooked used chariot salesmen in
Mummy's Dummies, in which they ultimately assist a
different King Rootentootin (Vernon Dent) with a
toothache.
Fictional mummies have also been prominently featured
in comics and animation, such as Hakushin in the anime
series InuYasha, Anal Ho Tep from Eric Millikin's Fetus-X,
N'Kantu, the Living Mummy from Marvel Comics, and Mumm-Ra
from the animated TV series ThunderCats. A humorous
cartoon mummy was also used as the mascot for General
Mills' monster-themed breakfast cereal Yummy Mummy.
Mummy - Index
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