<P> A portion of the Phil Harris version was played during the indoor swimming pool scene in the Peter Bogdanovich film The Last Picture Show (1971). </P> <P> Edward G. Robles, Jr. wrote a short science fiction story partially based around the song . It involved several homeless men who find an item like the one described in the song . In the story, the item is discovered to be an alien disguised as something nobody wants . It was originally copyrighted by Galaxy Publishing Corp. in 1954 . </P> <P> Chicago Coin made a pinball game in 1951 called THING with backglass and playfield art that got its inspiration from the song "The Thing". Roy Parker was the artist . </P>

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