Editing Circus (section)

==In art, music, films, plays, books, and video games==
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2024}}
{{example farm|date=October 2024}}
{{see also|Circus music}}
[[File:Georges Seurat 019.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Circus'' (1891), by [[Georges Seurat]]]]
[[Erich Kästner]]'s children's books ''{{ill|Der kleine Mann (novel)|de|Der kleine Mann (Kinderbuch)|lt=Der kleine Mann}}'' 1963 (''The Little Man'') and ''{{ill|Der kleine Mann und die kleine Miss|de}}'' 1967 (''The Little Man and the Little Miss'') are largely set in a circus where the orphaned young protagonist grows up as a ward of the show's [[Magic (illusion)|magician]].

The atmosphere of the circus has served as a dramatic setting for many musicians. The most famous circus theme song is called "[[Entrance of the Gladiators]]", and was composed in 1904 by [[Julius Fučík (composer)|Julius Fučík]]. Other circus music includes "El Caballero", "Quality Plus", "Sunnyland Waltzes", "The Storming of El Caney", "Pahjamah", "Bull Trombone", "Big Time Boogie", "Royal Bridesmaid March", "The Baby Elephant Walk", "Liberty Bell March", "Java", Strauss's "Radetsky March", and "Pageant of Progress". A poster for [[Pablo Fanque]]'s Circus Royal, one of the most popular circuses of Victorian England, inspired [[John Lennon]] to write [[Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!]] on [[The Beatles]]' album, ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''. The song title refers to [[William Kite]], a well-known circus performer in the 19th century. Producer [[George Martin]] and [[EMI]] engineers created the song's fairground atmosphere by assembling a sound collage of collected recordings of calliopes and fairground organs, which they cut into strips of various lengths, threw into a box, and then mixed up and edited together randomly, creating a long loop which was mixed into the final production.<ref>Turner, Steve, "A Hard Day's Write." HarperCollins(1984).</ref> Another traditional circus song is the [[John Philip Sousa]] march "[[Stars and Stripes Forever]]", which is played only to alert circus performers of an emergency.

Plays set in a circus include the 1896 musical ''The Circus Girl'' by [[Lionel Monckton]], [[Polly of the Circus (1907 play)|''Polly of the Circus'']] written in 1907 by [[Margaret Mayo (playwright)|Margaret Mayo]], ''[[He Who Gets Slapped]]'' written by Russian [[Leonid Andreyev]] 1915 and later adapted into one of the first circus films, ''Katharina Knie'' written in 1928 by [[Carl Zuckmayer]] and adapted for the English stage in 1932 as ''Caravan'' by playwright Cecily Hamilton, the revue ''Big Top'' written by [[Herbert Farjeon]] in 1942, ''Top of the Ladder'' written by [[Tyrone Guthrie]] in 1950, ''Stop the World, I Want to Get Off'' written by [[Anthony Newley]] in 1961, and ''[[Barnum (musical)|Barnum]]'' with music by [[Cy Coleman]] and lyrics and book by [[Mark Bramble]], ''Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck'' written by Jay Torrence in 2006.

Following World War I, circus films became popular. In 1924 ''[[He Who Gets Slapped (film)|He Who Gets Slapped]]'' was the first film released by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]]; in 1925 ''Sally of the Sawdust'' (remade 1930), ''[[Variety (1925 film)|Variety]]'', and ''Vaudeville'' were produced, followed by ''The Devil's Circus'' in 1926 and ''[[The Circus (1928 film)|The Circus]]'' starring [[Charlie Chaplin]], ''Circus Rookies'', ''[[4 Devils]]''; and ''Laugh Clown Laugh'' in 1928. German film ''[[Salto Mortale (1931 German film)|Salto Mortale]]'' about trapeze artists was released in 1931 and remade in the United States and released as ''[[Trapeze (film)|Trapeze]]'' starring [[Burt Lancaster]] in 1956; in 1932 ''[[Freaks (1932 film)|Freaks]]'' was released; ''Charlie Chan at the Circus'', ''Circus'' (USSR) and ''The Three Maxiums'' were released in 1936 and ''[[At the Circus]]'' starring the [[Marx Brothers]] and ''You Can't Cheat an Honest Man'' in 1939. Circus films continued to be popular during the Second World War; films from this era included ''The Great Profile'' starring [[John Barrymore]] (1940), the animated [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Disney]] film ''[[Dumbo]]'' (1941), ''Road Show'' (1941), ''[[The Wagons Roll at Night]]'' (1941) and ''Captive Wild Woman'' (1943).

''Tromba'', a film about a tiger trainer, was released in 1948. In 1952 [[Cecil B. de Mille]]'s Oscar-winning film ''[[The Greatest Show on Earth (film)|The Greatest Show on Earth]]'' was first shown. Released in 1953 were ''Man on a Tightrope'' and [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s ''Gycklarnas afton'' (released as ''Sawdust and Tinsel'' in the United States); these were followed by ''Life Is a Circus''; ''Ring of Fear''; ''[[3 Ring Circus]]'' (1954), ''[[Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992 film)| Tom and Jerry: The Movie]]'' and ''[[La Strada]]'' (1954), an Oscar-winning film by [[Federico Fellini]] about a girl who is sold to a circus strongman. Fellini made a second film set in the circus called ''[[The Clowns (film)|The Clowns]]'' in 1970. Films about the circus made since 1959 include Disney's ''[[Toby Tyler or 10 Weeks with a Circus (film)|Toby Tyler]]'' (1960), the [[B-movie]] ''[[Circus of Horrors]]'' (also in 1960); the [[musical film]] ''[[Billy Rose's Jumbo (film)|Billy Rose's Jumbo]]'' (1962); ''A Tiger Walks'', a Disney film about a tiger that escapes from the circus; and ''[[Circus World (film)|Circus World]]'' (1964), starring [[John Wayne]]. In [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s first animated film ''[[Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!]]'' (1964), [[Cindy Bear]] is held captive in a circus where she is cruelly forced to perform until [[Yogi Bear|Yogi]] and [[Boo-Boo Bear|Boo-Boo]] rescue her. ''[[Mera Naam Joker]]'' (1970), a Hindi drama film directed by [[Raj Kapoor]] which was about a clown who must make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. In the anime film ''[[Jungle Emperor Leo]]'' (1997), Leo's son Lune is captured and placed in a circus, which burns down when a tiger knocks down a ring of fire while jumping through it. ''[[Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted]]'', a [[DreamWorks Animation]] film about zoosters escape from the evil [[Animal control service|animal control]] Capitan DuBois, was released in 2012. ''[[The Greatest Showman]]'', a musical film loosely based on the life of [[P. T. Barnum]], was released in 2017.

The TV series ''Circus Humberto'', based on the novel by [[Eduard Bass]], follows the history of the circus family Humberto between 1826 and 1924. The setting of the HBO television series ''[[Carnivàle]]'', which ran from 2003 to 2005, is also largely set in a travelling circus. The circus has also inspired many writers. Numerous books, both non-fiction and fiction, have been published about circus life. Notable examples of circus-based fiction include ''Circus Humberto'' by Eduard Bass, ''[[Cirque du Freak]]'' by [[Darren Shan]], and ''[[Spangle (novel)|Spangle]]'' by [[Gary Jennings (author)|Gary Jennings]]. The novel ''[[Water for Elephants]]'' by [[Sara Gruen]] tells the fictional tale of a circus veterinarian and was made into a [[Water for Elephants (film)|movie with the same title]], starring [[Robert Pattinson]] and [[Reese Witherspoon]]. Science fiction writer Barry B. Longyear wrote a trilogy about a circus of the future: City of Baraboo; [[Elephant Song (Longyear novel)|Elephant Song]]; and [[Circus World (novel)|Circus World]].

Circus is the central theme in comic books of [[Super Commando Dhruva]], an Indian comic book superhero. According to this series, Dhruva was born and brought up in a fictional Indian circus called Jupiter Circus. When a rival circus burnt down Jupiter Circus, killing everyone in it, including Dhruva's parents, Dhruva vowed to become a crime fighter. A circus-based television series called ''[[Circus (Indian TV series)|Circus]]'' was also telecast in India in 1989 on [[DD National]], starring [[Shah Rukh Khan|Shahrukh Khan]] as the lead actor.

In the third case of the video game [[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All]], the main character, [[Phoenix Wright]], investigates a murder at a circus, working as the defence attorney of an egotistical magician.