By the 1960s, the Cold War had inspired countless B-movies and creature films that epitomized the West’s fear of the looming threat from the East. Some films like Body Snatcher Invasion And Panic in year zero more explicitly addressed the fear of time, advertising their films as “doubly shocking because it could happen to you!” Others such as Astro Zombie And Day of the Triffids leaned even more towards bizarre otherworldly ideas, to which this fear gave way. In 1962 director David Bradley (not the David Bradley who played Filch in Harry Potter) made a film about World War III called The return of Mr X. The H stood for Hitler, and the film soon became one of the most obscure jokes in the long running television sitcom. The Simpsons.
The film was released in 1963 under a new title. Fools of Mandora and talks about surviving Nazi officials who now live in South America, like many Nazis after the war. In the fictional country of Mandoras, it turns out that some Nazis have a preserved head. Adolf Gitler in a bank and kidnapping an American scientist to gain access to the Führer’s mind, they plan to take over the world. After a limited run at the drive-ins, Paragon Films acquired the rights and arranged for some UCLA students to film an additional 18 minutes of footage for the film. Because this new screening time was over 90 minutes, Paragon was able to charge a higher fee for the film when they sold it to television, as stated in Charles P. Mitchellbook Filmography of Hitler. This “new” 1968 TV movie got another title, this time They saved Hitler’s brainand it has been called one of the worst films ever made.
There are many references to “They Saved Hitler’s Brain” in The Simpsons.
The appearance of “so bad they’re good” movies is nothing new, and it’s understandable that they can become a running joke among friends in the workplace. Clearly, the creators of the longest-running animated sitcom are no better than this either, since The Simpsons made several references to They saved Hitler’s brain. In season 7’s “Marge Don’t Be Proud”, Bart steals a video game from a local Try-N-Save store, but gets banned from the store and disappoints his mother. The game he stole is called Bonestorm, but other games seen in this scene include Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge and, yes, you guessed it… Save Hitler’s Brain.
They saved Hitler’s brain referenced again later that season in an episode titled “Raging Abe Simpson and his Grumpy Grandson in Curse of the Flying Hellfish”, which is a throwback to when Grandpa Simpson fought in World War II. At one point, Abe recalls how he once had the Fuhrer at gunpoint, and before pulling the trigger, he says to himself: “Now they will never save your brain, Hitler!” To help us understand the reason for this recurring reference in the show, we need to match the creatives of each episode. Both of the above episodes were written and directed by different people. The first one was written Mike Scully and under the guidance Stephen Dean Moore while the last one was written Jonathan Collier and under the guidance Geoffrey Lynch. Both episodes were written by showrunners Bill Oakley And Josh Weinsteinsuggesting that the idea may have started with them.
The Simpsons, comics and Futurama are all references to They Saved Hitler’s Brain
The Simpsons‘ links to They saved Hitler’s brain also extends to titles such as the Season 10 episode “They Saved Lisa’s Brain”, which was written by Matt Selman directed by Mike Scully as showrunner. Could Scully continue the humorous legacy of his time in Oakley and in the Weinstein writer’s room? This should have been written around the end of 1998, shortly after Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein left the show after season 8. The Simpsons also titled one of his Bongo comics stories “They Fixed Homer’s Brain” in 1996. Simpsons Comics #27in the same year that Season 7 aired.
It’s understandable that Oakley and Weinstein at least championed this running joke, but it’s certainly no coincidence that the writer duo’s first episode as part of the writers’ room was in Season 4, the same year that the show’s most early link to They saved Hitler’s brain. The Simpsons the first mention of this obscure film is in season four’s “Duffless” when Hitler’s pickled head is seen in a jar on the table during the scene with Barney Gumble. This type of image is familiar to cartoon lovers. Matt Groening show, with preserved heads of famous faces of history, regularly appearing in Futurama. Futurama has an even more specific reference to They saved Hitler’s brain than just pickled heads when the professor declares: “Everyone is always for saving Hitler’s brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, oh, you suddenly went too far!” After leaving The SimpsonsOakley and Weinstein worked as consulting producers Futuramaeven after Futurama made this particular link.
It’s Not Only The Matt Groening Shows Link To “They Saved Hitler’s Brain”
While this 1960s B-movie may not be well known, it has been featured in several different media outlets over the years. Hitler’s brain appears to be attached to the gorilla’s body. wild dragon comic book series and the film was also used as inspiration for a 1988 Action Comics story in which Lex Luthor clones himself, later reprinted as They saved Luthor’s brain!. They saved Hitler’s brain it has also been referenced by several musical artists, such as the Local H song “They Saved Reagan’s Brain” and the Los Angeles punk scene’s Angry Samoans song “They Saved Hitler’s C*ck”. The Dead Kennedys also mentioned it in their song “We’ve Got a Bigger Problem Now”. The lyrics detail the recipe for the fictional Trickie Dickie Screwdriver cocktail; “Two pieces of purple Kool-Aid and a spoonful of formaldehyde from a jar of Hitler’s brain.”
“They Wanted Duckman’s Brain” was the title of a 1996 episode. Jason Alexanderanimated series Duckmanagain making us wonder if there was anything in the water in the animation writers’ rooms in 1996. They saved Hitler’s brain mentioned in the card game “Illuminati: New World Order”, as well as in the issue flaming carrot comics where the Flaming Carrot has to face off against an army of cloned Hitler heads. It’s clear for all his flaws, They saved Hitler’s brain influenced both cult film lovers and content creators. Its catchy title and outlandish premise not only earned it several “worst movie of all time” monikers over the years, but also brought the film infamy that surpassed its contemporaries. Last but not least thanks to The Simpsons in particular, this movie could have been forgotten, but instead it still demands attention 60 years after its original release. you could almost say The Simpsons saved They saved Hitler’s brain!
Source: Collider
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