List of James Bond parodies and spin-offs

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The James Bond series of novels and films has been parodied and referenced many times in a number of different media, including books, comics, films, television shows, and video games. Most notable of all these parodies is the spoof Casino Royale in 1967, which was produced using the actual film rights purchased from writer Ian Fleming over a decade prior to its release. Unlike an imitation, a parody is often protected from legal affairs by the people whose property is being parodied.

Contents

Premise

James Bond parodies generally contain several elements, adopted from the James Bond novels and films, which are featured in these parody works. These usually include the following:

There are also various subgenres, within this style. Some of the most notable variants include: a female protagonist(s) (in place of the male), child protagonists, a strong science fiction element (known as spy-fi) and the erotic (adult) spy novel, comic, or film. The term Eurospy refers to the large number of films within this genre that were produced in Europe. Although many of the James Bond parodies were produced in the United States or Europe, the genre is very much an international one, with novels, comics and films being produced across the globe.

Advertising campaigns

Comics

Films

Unofficial parodies

Matt Helm

First published in 1960, Matt Helm is a fictional character created by author Donald Hamilton. The character is not meant to be a spoof of James Bond, rather having attributes of an homage, but not in the strict sense. Film versions of Matt Helm, as played by Dean Martin, were meant to spoof the 007 movies as well as the character James Bond. The four movies made took their titles from Hamilton's novels, though the movies had little in common with the books of the same name. The Silencers and Murderers' Row were released in 1966. The Ambushers in 1967 and The Wrecking Crew in 1968.

Austin Powers

Austin Powers is a film series created by Canadian comedian Mike Myers. Many of the characters throughout the franchise are parodies of Bond characters, including Myers' character of the same name. Myers has said that Sean Connery was the inspiration for his character, especially Powers' thick chest hair. In addition, the names of the films are also parodies of Bond novels and films.

Films

  • International Man of Mystery (1997)
  • The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) is a parody of The Spy Who Loved Me .
  • Goldmember (2002) is a parody of Goldfinger . The title of the film led to legal action being taken by MGM, the distributors of the James Bond film franchise, that briefly led to the film's title being removed from promotional material and trailers. During the period when the film had no official title, it was unofficially being called Never Say Member Again, a reference to the non-canon Bond film Never Say Never Again . The dispute was quickly resolved and the original film title remained. Although MGM most likely would have lost a court case against the makers of Goldmember (see: Copyright information on parodies), MGM did secure a spot for the trailer to 2002's Bond film Die Another Day in settlement.

Characters

Daniel Craig cameo in Star Wars

In the 2015 movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens directed by J. J. Abrams, after the main character, Rey (Daisy Ridley), is captured by the First Order, she uses the Force to convince a stormtrooper into setting her free. The actor who played the stormtrooper was Daniel Craig, and the crew of The Force Awakens unofficially dubbed the character "FN-007", in reference to Craig's role as James Bond. Fans adopted this name, as well as "JB-007", for the character. [14] However, the 2016 video game Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens identified the character as FN-1824, which is now considered his official name.

Other parodies

In addition to the above, there have been literally hundreds of films made around the world parodying the spy film genre of the 1960s, if not directly parodying James Bond. One example is the 1966 film Modesty Blaise, which was a parody of the spy genre rather than a faithful adaptation of the (generally serious) comic strip.

Imitative films

Numerous films have attempted to use the James Bond formula; some have used the character of James Bond unofficially.

Internet

Music

Novels

Television

2012 London Summer Olympics

Television specials and series

Television episodes and arcs

Gilligan’s Island

In Season 3 of the series Gilligan’s Island, Episode 11 (titled “The Invasion” and first aired on November 21, 1966) begins with Gilligan and The Skipper fishing at the lagoon. They reel in a briefcase marked “Property US Government. DO NOT OPEN.” The Professor insists that the case must remain closed, but it accidentally pops open long enough for the castaways to realize it contains top-secret documents. They surmise that enemies of the US are likely after the briefcase. And to make matters worse, Gilligan inadvertently handcuffs himself to it. That night, Gilligan dreams he’s a spy named Agent 0-14. He meets with the chief of the Good Guy Spy Outfit (played by the Professor) and demonstrates how his toiletry kit contains several weapons. Mary Ann poses as the Professor’s secretary but is actually Evil Agent 10. She communicates to Mr. Evil (played by a bald Mr. Howell) through her makeup compact and then tries to shoot Gilligan with a loaded chrysanthemum. Ginger is Evil Agent 5. After communicating with Mr. Evil through a soup ladle, she tries to kill Gilligan with poison lipstick. Evil Agent 1 (the Skipper) poses as Gilligan’s mother and tries to get the briefcase while serving him a bowl of homemade soup. Gilligan escapes all of these situations and shows up at the office of Mr. Evil and his assistant (played by Mrs. Howell). After Gilligan foils their final attempt to get the case, Evil Agent Lovey tells Gilligan: “Now I know why they call you 0-14. You’re twice as smart as 0-0-7.”

American Dad!

The series American Dad! featured two parody episodes of Bond films, first with the 2008 season 4 episode "Tearjerker" and then the 2013 season 9 episode "For Black Eyes Only". The character Stan Smith (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) appears as a parody of James Bond. His wife Francine Smith (Wendy Schaal) appears as Sexpun T'Come, Brian Lewis (Kevin Michael Richardson) is Black Villain, Roger Smith (MacFarlane) is Tearjerker, Klaus Heisler (Dee Bradley Baker) is Tchochkie Schmear and Avery Bullock (Patrick Stewart) is B. In "For Black Eyes Only", Stan marries Sexpun T'Come after the events of "Tearjerker". However, Black Villain kills Sexpun by accident (he was actually going to kill Stan, but misses and shoots Sexpun instead). One year later, Stan hears that Black Villain will do something evil by melting the Arctic with hair dryers, and his boss B tells Stan that Tearjerker is still alive. He then finds Tearjerker in an underground jail and tells him to partner up with Stan. Tearjerker said that he used to work for Black Villain, but he betrays him. They then go to a market to find Tearjerker's partner Tchochkie Schmear, but he was killed by a black mysterious woman. Stan finds out that the black woman was a clone of Sexpun named Sexpuneequa that Black Villain created but made black. Tearjerker betrays Stan and works for Black Villain again. Stan tells Sexpuneequa that he is her husband, but she disagrees (Stan gives Sexpuneequa a photo locket of their wedding, but she throws it in a fire). He brings back her memories by having her suck his toes (Sexpun did the same before Black Villain kills her) and she teams up with Stan to stop Tearjerker and Black Villain. Black Villain then starts the hair dryers to melt the Arctic before Stan and Sexpun appear. The two villains try to stop the two by releasing clones of Tearjerker, but fails (the clones attack each other, then kiss each other before committing suicide). Then a big wave of water appears, but Stan, Sexpuneequa, and Tearjerker escape while Black Villain was left behind and drowns. While they escape, Sexpuneequa asked why they helped Tearjerker escape and kicks him and is stabbed by a pointed shark. Stan and Sexpuneequa make out until B called him. He congratulates Stan for his work, even when the half of the world was drowned and sees the two making out. Meanwhile, Tearjerker survives and was to come out of the shark, but a killer whale appears and grabs the shark's tail and drags the both of them when white letters appears on the top of the screen, saying "To be continued" and "Or was it?".

BoJack Horseman

In "Later", a 2014 season 1 episode of BoJack Horseman , after publication of his ghost-written memoir, BoJack Horseman (voiced by Will Arnett) is offered a role as the villain of a Bond film titled 007 Goldhoof. BoJack's agent Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris) informs BoJack of the offer, which he declines.

MADtv

Jane Bond is the name of a fictional spy played by supermodel Claudia Schiffer in "For Your Files Only", a recurring sketch from the first season of MADtv from 1995 to 1996. In an obvious spoof of James Bond (For Your Eyes Only), Jane Bond went undercover as a temporary office secretary in order to stop an evil corporation (led by Dr. Boss, played by Mary Scheer and her office manager, Part-Time Job, played by Artie Lange) from taking over the world. Instead of having a licence to kill like James Bond, Jane Bond has a licence to collate. Immediately after making her famous introduction, "[My/The name is] Bond, Jane Bond" to Dr. Boss, Bond proceeds to remove the clip that was holding her hair up (and then shaking it out in a prolonged slow motion shot).

Jane Bond's gadgets includes standard office supplies like slingshot-like rubber bands (which she uses during a major office shootout), an extremely sharpened right index fingernail (which she uses to free herself from being tied up in rope), Whack Out (which she uses to subdue Part-Time Job, after initially seducing him), and a stapler (which she uses to defeat Dr. Boss, who had plans on killing Bond via a nitroglycerin filled water cooler). After defeating Dr. Boss, Bond proclaims that she likes her villains "Stapled, not stirred!"

Jane Bond's further adventures include:

  • "Octotempy" (a parody of Octopussy )
  • "The Man with the Golden Parachute" (a parody of The Man with the Golden Gun)
  • "On Her Majesty's Temporary Service" (a parody of On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
  • "You Only Temp Twice" (a parody of You Only Live Twice)
  • "Moontemper" (a parody of Moonraker)
  • "Dr. No-Raise" (a parody of Dr. No)
  • "Thunder Ball-Point" (a parody of Thunderball)
  • "The Spy Who Hired Me" (a parody of The Spy Loved Me )
  • "From Russia with Overtime" (a parody of From Russia with Love)
  • "The Living Day Jobs" (a parody of The Living Daylights )
  • "License to Type" (a parody of Licence to Kill )
  • "Tempfinger" (a parody of Goldfinger)

Sabrina: The Animated Series

In an episode of the 1999 animated adaption of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, "La Femme Sabrina", the video release of Harvey Kinkle (voiced by Bill Switzer)'s favorite spy film, On Her Majesty's Expense Account (a parody of On Her Majesty's Secret Service) was postponed. So Sabrina Spellman (Emily Hart) uses magic to get him a copy of the spy film that he wanted, but backfired the world into an actual spy flick. The episode parodies numerous James Bond references including the gun barrel sequence, a parody of Auric Goldfinger named Furfinger portrayed by Salem Saberhagen (Nick Bakay), and numerous James Bond film titles including:

  • On Her Majesty's Expense Account (a parody of On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
  • From East Bayonne with Love (a parody of From Russia with Love)
  • Dr. Indecisive (a parody of Dr. No)
  • The Spy Who Sorta Had A Crush on Me (a parody of The Spy Who Loved Me)
  • Thundernuggets (a parody of Thunderball)

SpongeBob SquarePants

The 2007 SpongeBob SquarePants season 5 episode "Spy Buddies" contains a Bond parody. When SpongeBob Squarepants (voiced by Tom Kenny) is told that Mr. Eugene Krabs (Clancy Brown) wants him to spy on Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), SpongeBob gets excited and a scene similar to the James Bond gun barrel sequence starts. SpongeBob walks into the circle, only to find that the circle is Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke) looking through a straw.

The Backyardigans

The Backyardigans' 2007 double-length episode "International Super Spy" portrays Pablo (voiced by Jake Goldberg) as a parody of James Bond. He wears a tuxedo in the episode and is seen adjusting his bow tie frequently. He goes through the episode trying to recover the 3 Silver Containers before Uniqua (LaShawn Jeffries), the Lady in Pink and her henchman Tyrone (Jordan Coleman) does. Tasha (Naelee Rae) plays the head of the International Super Spy Agency, an obvious parody of M and Austin (Jonah Bobo) plays his secret contact throughout the episode. Austin may be a parody of Q because he gives Pablo a video phone disguised as a banana split, a cell phone disguised as a hot dog, an astral projection device that is disguised as a snow cone, and finally he gives him a jet pack disguised as a pizza and a pizza-shaped parachute. He also has a car with many different flying attachments (like a jet, helicopter and a glider). Like the real James Bond, Pablo is able to withstand pain when he is subjected to the Lady in Pink's tickle table and he likes his apple juice, "Shaken Not Stirred".

The Office

A 2011 seventh season episode of The Office , "Threat Level Midnight", is a film made by Michael Scott (Steve Carell) with him as Michael Scarn, the best secret agent in the business, and Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) as Goldenface, a spoof of Goldfinger.

The Simpsons

A 1998 eighth season episode of The Simpsons , "You Only Move Twice", features the supervillain, Hank Scorpio (voiced by Albert Brooks). The James Bond analogue, Mr. Bont (Dan Castellaneta), is based on Sean Connery's portrayal but he is captured and killed because Homer Simpson (Castellaneta) interferes with his attempted escape from captivity.

The final scene at Globex contains references to several James Bond films. The episode title and many references are from You Only Live Twice, with A View to a Kill also being referenced. [32] Mr. Bont, a character modeled after Sean Connery's Bond is tackled by Homer and killed after a parody of the laser scene from Goldfinger. [33] Miss Goodthighs (Tress MacNeille), a character sharing a name with Giovanna Goodthighs (Jacqueline Bisset) from the 1967 James Bond spoof Casino Royale makes an appearance in the episode and a character based on Norman Schwarzkopf is attacked by Goodthighs. [34] The incident is also a reference to the character Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen), from GoldenEye , who specialises in crushing men between her thighs. [35]

The song at the end of the show, written by Ken Keeler, is a parody of various Bond themes. Keeler originally wrote it to be three seconds longer and sound more like the theme song "Goldfinger", but the final version was shorter and the lyrics were sped up. [36] The writers wanted the song to be sung by Shirley Bassey, who sang several Bond themes, but they could not get her to record the part and Sally Stevens recorded it instead. [33]

This is not the only James Bond homage in The Simpsons, however—the "Chief Wiggum P.I." segment of "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" episode borrows heavily from Live and Let Die, even duplicating certain shots. Also, in an alleged "deleted scene" from "$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)" from the 1995 season 10 "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" clip show, Homer, working as a blackjack dealer, causes James Bond to lose to Blofeld, with Oddjob and Jaws as his henchmen, when Homer fails to take out the Joker card and a card for the "Rules for Draw and Stud Poker" out of a playing deck. In addition, an opening couch gag features Homer as Bond in the gun barrel sequence that opens the Bond films. The character Rainier Wolfcastle (Harry Shearer), an action movie actor, also regularly references Bond. Also, the 2001 season 13 episode "Treehouse of Horror XII" featured a computer run house with a selection of actor voices. When Bart Simpson (Nancy Cartwright) suggests some 007, Marge Simpson (Julie Kavner) asks "George Lazenby?" only to get slightly disappointed when Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith) says "No, Pierce Brosnan."

Adventures of Captain Wrongel

In the 1976 Soviet animated series Adventures of Captain Wrongel , Agent 00X (voiced by Grigory Shpigel) is a comic version of Bond, he almost catches criminals in each episode, but at the last moment he fails, which is usually ended by his cruel death. Of course, he is resurrected at the start of next episode.

Video games

See also

Notes and references

Notes

    References

    1. Foster, Jo (17 April 2003). "Africa's very own 'James Bond'". BBC . Retrieved 12 August 2017.
    2. Parkinson, David. "Critical Assignment". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
    3. Waithaka, Wanjiru (30 August 2007). "Guinness courts football fans in new campaign". Business Daily.
    4. White, Amy (27 August 2004). "Southeast Asia: Guinness steps up beer label war with Adam King". BrandRepublic.
    5. "Shirley Mallmann Stars as a Bond Girl for ELLE Brazil's Action Packed Film". Fashion Gone Rogue. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
    6. "Bond Girl Reloaded for ELLE Brazil by Manuel Nogueira". YouTube. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
    7. Sandeman, George (22 December 2021). "From MI6 with love, a Bond-style Christmas card with a licence to chill". The Times . Retrieved 22 December 2021.
    8. Nicholls, Daniel (22 December 2021). "'The name's Christmas ... Father Christmas' – MI6 channels James Bond in festive card". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 22 December 2021.
    9. "Martin Lodewijk".
    10. "Manuel Vázquez Gallego".
    11. "Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site - Mad #94".
    12. "Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site - Mad #165".
    13. "Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site - Mad #340".
    14. "El cameo de Daniel Craig en "Star Wars: El Despertar de la Fuerza"". infobae. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
    15. Leavold, Andrew (2017). "The importance of being Ernesto". The Search for Weng Weng. Australia: The LedaTape Organisation. p. 151. ISBN   9780994411235.
    16. "G-2 (1965)". IMDb .
    17. "Agent X-44 (Character)". IMDb .
    18. "MANLY MAN IN MANILA". 9 March 2009.
    19. "James Bond vs Austin Powers". Epic Rap Battles of History. 14 June 2016. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
    20. "Never, Tomorrow, Forever With Love". Michael and Joel at the Movies. November 2008.
    21. "Coalfinger". Coalfinger.com. Greenpeace. October 2008.
    22. Element Animation (5 July 2015). MINECON 2015 Opening Ceremony Animation – ULTRAWIDE. Element Animation. Retrieved 5 July 2015 via YouTube.
    23. Element Animation (5 July 2015). MINECON 2015 Opening Ceremony Animation – YouTube Edit. Element Animation. Retrieved 5 July 2015 via YouTube.
    24. Robert Thomas Jr. (28 October 1995). "Don Pendleton, 67, Writer Who Spawned a Genre". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
    25. http://www.thepaperbackfanatic.com/page14.htm , Paperback Fanatic Vol. 15, 2010.
    26. The Life and Death of Clyde Allison (A William Henley Knoles Biography) By Lynn Munroe [ usurped ], originally published at eFanzines.com, Vol. 2, No. 2, April 2002.
    27. Scarlet Succubus Press Archived 20 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
    28. "Roger Moore Biography". Bio. (UK). Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
    29. Brown, Nic (27 July 2012). "How James Bond whisked the Queen to the Olympics". BBC News. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
    30. Harish, Alon (27 July 2012). "2012 London Olympics: Opening Ceremony Recounts British History - Then Rocks". ABC World News . ABC News . Retrieved 27 July 2012.
    31. Pfeiffer & Worrall 1998, p. 65.
    32. Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). You Only Move Twice. BBC. Retrieved on 27 March 2007.
    33. 1 2 Weinstein, Josh. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "You Only Move Twice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
    34. Castellaneta, Dan (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "You Only Move Twice" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
    35. Anderson, Mike B.. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "You Only Move Twice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
    36. Keeler, Ken (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "You Only Move Twice" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
    37. "The Operative: No One Lives Forever for Windows". MobyGames.
    38. Operation Thunderbowel Release information

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