References to Esperanto, a constructed language, have been made in a number of films and novels. Typically, this is done either to add the exotic nature of a foreign language without representing any particular ethnicity, or to avoid going to the trouble of inventing a new language. In science fiction, Esperanto is sometimes used to represent a future in which there is a more universally spoken language than exists today.
In English-language media
Film
The population of the unnamed fascist nation—geographically located where Italy is—in Idiot's Delight (1939), speaks Esperanto. The film includes conversation, signage, and songs in Esperanto, albeit with some errors. In Night Train to Munich (1940), a sailor speaks Esperanto. In Ball of Fire (1941), Barbara Stanwyck sings "Drum Boogie," a hep swinger, chock full of WWII-era slang. The lyrics include the word "mortigate", from Esperanto mortigi (kill), meaning something like “to die for” or "killer" in what must have been well-enough known slang at the time to be recognizable by at least a few. The thriller State Secret (1950), with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., was the earliest film to incorporate spoken Esperanto. Fairbanks starred as an American surgeon contacted by the authorities of Vosnia, an Eastern European dictatorship, to perform a rare operation on their leader. The language spoken in "Vosnia" is Esperanto. In the 1992 Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, the following dialogue ensues: Buster Bunny: You see Babs, I told you music was the universal language! Babs Bunny: And here I thought it was Esperanto! In the 1994 film Street Fighter, the signs and posters in Shadaloo are in Esperanto, although written in a faux-Thai Latin typeface. In the 1997 movie Gattaca, announcements within the Gattaca building are given in Esperanto. Blade: Trinity (2004) is set in a generic city which writer and director David S. Goyer wanted to represent as bilingual, as many cities are worldwide, so the second language spoken in the nameless city, and visible on most of its signage, is Esperanto. In addition, a character in Blade is seen watching the Esperanto-language film Incubus, and the Esperanto flag doubles for the local city flag. In the 2010 direct-to-video animated film Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, the Kryptonian language spoken by Superman and Supergirl is depicted by simple phrases in Esperanto (Bonan nokton) mixed with gibberish. In the 2016 movie Captain Fantastic, Ben's daughters speak Esperanto among other foreign languages. The following phrases are used: Mankas al mi Panjo. (I miss Mom.) Mi deziras ke Panjo povus reveni hejmen ĝuste nun. (I wish Mom could come home right now.) Domaĝe. (Too bad.) Jes, domaĝe. (Yes, too bad.) Ni rajtas paroli en kiu ajn lingvo kiun ni volas. (We have a right to speak in whatever language we want.) Ne gravas. (It's not important.) Ne estas nia kulpo ke vi ne povas paroli Esperanton. (It's not our fault that you cannot speak Esperanto.) Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón owns a production company called Esperanto Filmoj, which has produced films such as Pan's Labyrinth and Gravity.