Here below is a chronology of fictional and semi-fictional stories (including films, episodes in TV series, as well as literary works) that feature the famous explorer Christopher Columbus.
1828 - A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, a biographical fiction written by Washington Irving.
1892 - Cristoforo Colombo, an Italian opera by Alberto Franchetti
1923 - Christopher Columbus, a 1923 German silent historical film directed by Márton Garas and starring Albert Bassermann and Elsa Bassermann
1941 - Columbus, a romantic adventure novel by the British writer Rafael Sabatini
1949 - Christopher Columbus, a British film starring Fredric March as Christopher Columbus and Florence Eldridge as Queen Isabella I of Castile
1951 - Dawn of America, a Spanish historical adventure film directed by Juan de Orduña and starring Antonio Vilar, María Martín and José Suárez
1985 - Christopher Columbus, a biographical television miniseries directed by Alberto Lattuada and starring Gabriel Byrne
1987 - The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus, a fictional autobiography written by Stephen Marlowe, winner the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre award in 1988
1992, February - The Magic Voyage, a German animated fantasy film
1992, August - Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, a film starring Marlon Brando and Catherine Zeta-Jones
1992, October - 1492: Conquest of Paradise, a film directed by Ridley Scott, and starring Gérard Depardieu and Sigourney Weaver
1992, October - The Voyage, an opera by the American composer Philip Glass
1992, October - Carry On Columbus, a comedy film starring Jim Dale, Peter Gilmore, Bernard Cribbins, Leslie Phillips, Jon Pertwee and June Whitfield
1992 - The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore, a short story by Harlan Ellison, and winner of the 1994 Nebula Award
1992 - Christopher Columbus, a Japanese animated series by Nippon Animation
1993, February - 1492, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic book issue where the turtles travel across the Caribbean Sea when a strange storm causes them to travel 500 years backwords in time, where they witness Christopher Columbus and his men arriving to America and a fight between the indigenous peoples and Christopher Columbus and his men breaks out.
1996 - Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, a science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card
2006 - Apocalypto, an epic adventure film directed and produced by Mel Gibson
2013 - Trouble in Paradise, an audiobook produced by Big Finish Productions for the series Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor, featuring the sixth incarnation of Doctor Who
Columbus, an important historical figure, has been depicted in fiction, cinema and television, and in other media and entertainment, such as stage plays, music, cartoons and games.
In games
Christopher Columbus appears as a Great Explorer in the 2008 strategy video game, Civilization Revolution.
In literature
In 1889, American author Mark Twain based the time traveler's trick in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court on Columbus' successful prediction of a lunar eclipse during his fourth voyage to the New World.
"Columbus", a poem by Florence Earle Coates, was published in Harper's Weekly on 22 October 1892.
In 1941 the British author Rafael Sabatini published a novel Columbus, based on a screenplay he had written for a planned film. The story provided the inspiration for the 1949 film about Columbus.
In 1958, the Italian playwright Dario Fo wrote a satirical play about Columbus titled Isabella, tre caravelle e un cacciaballe (Isabella, three tall ships and a con man). In 1997 Fo was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The play was translated into English in 1988 by Ed Emery and is downloadable on the internet.
In 1991, author Salman Rushdie published a fictional representation of Columbus in The New Yorker, "Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship, Santa Fe, January, 1492".
In Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996) science fiction novelist Orson Scott Card focuses on Columbus' life and activities, but the novel's action also deals with a group of scientists from the future who travel back to the 15th century with the goal of changing the pattern of European contact with the Americas.
British author Stephen Baxter includes Columbus' quest for royal sponsorship as a crucial historical event in his 2007 science fiction novel Navigator (ISBN 978-0-441-01559-7), the third entry in the author's Time's Tapestry Series.
American novelist Steve Berry's 2012 book The Columbus Affair revolves around the premise that Columbus' voyages held a secret purpose, with clues to an ancient Jewish treasure.
In music
Christopher Columbus is regularly referred to by singers and musical groups in the Rastafari movement as an example of a European oppressor. The detractors include Burning Spear (Christopher Columbus), Culture (Capture Rasta), and Peter Tosh (You Can't Blame The Youth, Here Comes The Judge).
On Screen
Christopher Columbus is played by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in the 1934 cartoon Chris Columbus Jr.
Christopher Columbus is a 1949 British film starring Fredric March as Columbus.
Dawn of America, a 1951 Spanish film with António Vilar as Columbus
In Episode 24 of Season Five ( 136th Episode overall ) of Get Smart, entitled Hello Columbus, Goodbye America, which aired in 1970, a descendant of Columbus is said in reality to own the United States, as it was found that Christopher Columbus had laid claim to all of the Americas, and it is Max's job to convince him to sign the country back to American Government, rather than to KAOS (Get Smart).
The 1985 TV mini-series, Christopher Columbus, features Gabriel Byrne as Columbus.
Columbus was portrayed by Gérard Depardieu in the 1992 film by Ridley Scott, 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Scott presented Columbus as a forward-thinking idealist, as opposed to the view that he was ruthless and responsible for the misfortune of Native Americans.
Carry On Columbus is a 1992 comedy.
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, is a 1992 biographical film by Alexander Salkind.
The 42nd episode of The Sopranos, entitled "Christopher" (2002), addresses the controversies surrounding Columbus' legacy from the perspectives of numerous identity group members.
Cristóvão Colombo - O Enigma is a 2007 film by Manoel de Oliveira in which the main character travels between America and Portugal trying to prove that Christopher Columbus was, in fact, Portuguese.
Assassin's Creed (film) is a 2016 film by Justin Kurzel based off the video game franchise with the same name. Callum Lynch's ancestor Aguiler de Nerha, both portrayed by Michael Fassbender gives the Apple of Eden to Christopher Columbus, portrayed by Gabriel Andreu, whom Aguiler requests to take to his grave.
In sculpture
Columbus Doors, 1871, in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Isabella and Columbus by Larkin Mead, 1874, California State Capitol, Sacramento, California
Monumento a Colón, 1877, in the Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City
Christopher Columbus, by Moses Jacob Ezekiel, Arrigo Park, Chicago. Illinois, 1891
Drake Fountain, also known as the Columbus Monument by Richard Henry Park, Chicago, Illinois, 1892
Christopher Columbus by Ferdinand von Miller the Younger, St. Louis, Missouri, 1884, This work is different from most in that it shows a bearded Columbus. It is believed to be the first bronze statue of Columbus in the United States.
Colossal Columbus statue by Mary Lawrence, 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois,
Columbus by Paul Wayland Bartlett ca. 1895 Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
Christopher Columbus Memorial by Pietro Piai 1904, Pueblo, Colorado. "Colorado was the first state to make Columbus Day a legal holiday in 1905 and this is reportedly the first monument to Columbus erected in the United States."
Christopher Columbus, by Augusto Rivalta, Detroit, Michigan, 1910,
Columbus Fountain, by Lorado Taft, 1912, Washington D.C.
Christopher Columbus, by Virgil Rainer, Chicago, Illinois, 1924
Christopher Columbus by Charles Brioschi, assisted by Leo Lentelli, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1931
Christopher Columbus by Charles Brioschi, Grant Park, 1933
Christopher Columbus, by Frank Vittor, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1958
Christopher Columbus Monument by David W. Oswald, Columbus, Wisconsin, 1988
In space
Asteroid 327 Columbia is named in his honour.
