When they’re not helping us find things on the internet and not being evil, the bods at Google have been proving that they’ve also got an eye for clever design. So as fans of pop culture and movies that we are, we love a good movie-focused Google doodle – and as there are more than a thousand from all over the world, we’ve picked a few of our favourites from TV and movieland, and you can check them out below.
**Star Trek – 46th Anniversary Of Star Trek's First Broadcast
**Date: September 8, 2012
](http://www.google.com/doodles/46th-anniversary-of-star-treks-1st-broadcast?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
On the 46th anniversary of Star Trek’s first airing came this cute tribute from some of the show’s most diehard fans. It was animated so you guide one of those ill-fated redshirts through a trip to a hostile planet and an encounter with an angry Gorn. But what’s that? A Gorn cannon? Kaaa-boom! Half our morning was gone, and all we’d wanted to do was look up tomorrow’s weather.
The 40th Anniversary Of Comic-Con
Date: July 23, 2009
](http://www.google.com/doodles/the-40th-anniversary-of-comic-con-designed-by-jim-lee-dc-comics?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
DC co-publisher Jim Lee was the man behind this doodle celebrating some of the comic book publisher’s greatest creations. While they couldn’t find a letter for Killer Moth or The Condiment King, they managed to squeeze Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Green Lantern and Stretch into a most-of-the-Justice-League line-up.
Akira Kurosawa's Birthday
Date: March 23, 2010
](http://www.google.com/doodles/akira-kurosawas-birthday?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Unlike many regionally-specific Google doodles, most of the world was invited to celebrate the man behind Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Ran and Rashomon on what would have been his 100th birthday. The trademark short-brim hat and sunglasses – themselves an homage to John Ford – were present and correct.
Charles Addams' 100th Birthday
Date: January 7, 2012
](http://www.google.com/doodles/charles-addams-100th-birthday?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Google pooled its resources with the Tee And Charles Addams Foundation to come up with this creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky affair that we like a lot. The ‘G’ for guilloteen is a nicely macabre touch and Lurch gets his own ‘L’, too. It’s so cool, it makes us want to sing along in HTML. Altogether now: “Da da da dum ... Da da de dum” href
71st Anniversary of The Wizard Of Oz
Date: August 12, 2010
](http://www.google.com/doodles/71st-anniversary-of-the-wizard-of-oz?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Google usurped Oz Online as every munchkin’s search engine of choice after this doodle honoured the legacy of L. Frank Baum’s MGM spectacular.
Federico Fellini's 92nd Birthday
Date: January 20, 2012
](http://www.google.com/doodles/federico-fellinis-92nd-birthday-it?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
The Italian division of Google honoured filmmaking chappy Federico Fellini on the occasion of his 92nd birthday. While his 80½ birthday might have made a better film tie-in, a soggy Anita Ekberg would have brought back happy thoughts of La Dolce Vita and a ‘G’ would have completed the actual word, there is an austere quality to the doodle that he would no doubt have appreciated while doing web searches for “louche martini bars” and “sexy ladies on scooters”. It’s also in black and white, which is a nice touch.
Bruce Lee's 70th Birthday
Date: November 27, 2010
](http://www.google.com/doodles/bruce-lees-70th-birthday?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Interwebbers across the Far East were invited to enter the dragon at the end of 2010 with this hand drawn Bruce Lee tribute. We call it the art of searching without searching.
Nino Rota's 100th Birthday
Date: December 3, 2011
](http://www.google.com/doodles/nino-rotas-100th-birthday?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
The great Italian composer – an Oscar winner for The Godfather Part II – was another honoured with Google Italy’s ultimate tribute, this time on the centenary of his birth. Alongside Francis Ford Coppola’s first two Corleone classics, his work adorns Fellini and Visconti’s films, including 8½, Amarcord and The Leopard.
Jim Henson's 75th Birthday
Date: September 24, 2011
](http://www.google.com/doodles/jim-hensons-75th-birthday?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Jim Henson’s birthday was marked in fine style with an interactive doodle that was co-constructed by Google, The Jim Henson Company and (we’d like to think) some Fraggles. They made five new Muppets that web-searchers could puppeteer themselves *or *turn into an impromptu RnB video{
122nd Birthday Of Charlie Chaplin
Date: April 16, 2011
](http://www.google.com/doodles/122nd-birthday-of-charlie-chaplin?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Big props to the Google Doodle team for this, their first interactive effort. For their tribute to the great Charlie Chaplin, they shot their own silent film with some help from the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum that ran over 36 hours of black-and-white pratfalls.
20th Anniversary Of Wallace And Gromit
Date: November 4, 2009
](http://www.google.com/doodles/20th-anniversary-of-the-wallace-and-gromit-characters?auto=format&w=1440&q=80)
Aardman’s delightful duo jollied up our web searching in 2009. Two decades on from A Grand Day Out and they were accorded a Google tribute that flaunted the tea-loving twosomes’ most endearing qualities. There was Wallace, beavering away with the blueprints to another harebrained gadget, and by his side, trusty canine Gromit, Empire’s favourite animated character. Google-wise, Wallace may well be fresh from scouting Lady Tottington’s profile on MySingleToff.com.