Austin Powers

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Image:Austin Powers.jpg Image:Austin jet.jpg Sir Austin Danger Powers, (presumably born in the mid 1940s, judging by the car seen in the flashback in the third movie) played by Mike Myers, is the title character of a series of parodies of 1960s spy films, primarily James Bond, Derek Flint, Harry Palmer, and Matt Helm, and incorporates myriad other elements of popular culture.

The three films, in order of release are Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember.

The satiric elements of the suave male super-spy cliché arise from Powers' lack of physical beauty – his bad teeth, for example, are mocked in several scenes.

1 Characters
2 Box office
3 Original sources
4 Trivia
5 Catchphrases
6 Video games

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Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Alotta Fagina -Fabiana Udenio- She is Number 2's Italian Secretary. Alotta is based mostly on James Bond characters. Her name is quite similar to that of the Bond girl in "Goldfinger", Pussy Galore. She also has a resemblance to Ursula Andress' character in "Dr. No", Honey Ryder. Austin Powers explores her apartment, looking for clues about the plans of Dr. Evil, and he ends up seducing her, which is typical James Bond behavior. (On the television version, her characters name was changed to Alotta Cleavaga.)

Austin Powers -Mike Myers- A secret agent frozen in the 1960s and defrosted in the 1990s in order to battle his arch enemy, Dr. Evil. Austin embodies all that is groovy in 1960s Britain and is irresistible to women, even when he experiences culture shock after being tossed into the 1990s, and even when he loses his 'mojo' (the mystical libido-enhancing secret to Powers' sexual success) in the second film. It is possible that Austin Powers is named after the Lockheed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers.

Basil Exposition -Michael York- One of Austin's allies, Basil is in charge of most of the secret agents, Austin, and his various female partners included. Basil comes up with all kinds of gadgets to help Austin complete the mission. This might also be a parody of the Q and M characters from the Bond series.

Dixie Normous - Gwyneth Paltrow - Fictional character within the movie Goldmember. Dixie Normous is the female lead in the movie within the movie titled Austinpussy. Name is a parody of the short-lived Plenty O'Toole in the Bond film Diamonds Are Forever.

Dr. Evil -Mike Myers- Austin's archnemesis, a satirical parody of Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the main villain in the James Bond films. Dr. Evil shares many physical similarities to this version of Blofeld, including a long scar on his face that runs from a bit above his right eye to his chin. They also wear Nehru jackets, and possess white Angora cats, although Dr. Evil's cat loses its hair due to cryogenic freezing. Allegedly has a Canadian accent.
- Also, extremely rumored to be based on Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live fame. (In fact, explicity so.)

Fat Bastard -Mike Myers- An extremely obese Scottish henchman of Dr. Evil. In the second movie, he steals Austin's "mojo". But his greatest accomplishment is becoming a famous sumo wrestler in Tokyo, aside from infiltrating the Ministry of Defence as a piper.

Felicity Shagwell -Heather Graham- Austin's lascivious sidekick in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. She meets Austin back in the 1960s and helps him to save the world from being zapped by Dr. Evil's "Laser" on his "Death Star". In the name of duty, she betrays Austin by bedding Fat Bastard, but he later forgives her.

Foxxy Cleopatra -Beyoncé Knowles- Austin's partner from Austin Powers in Goldmember. She works undercover for the gold-lusting Goldmember and awaits Austin's call for her help back in the 1970s.

Frau Farbissina -Mindy Sterling- Dr. Evil's German advisor and head of the Militant Wing of the Salvation Army. In the first film, it is said that their master plan is to create the ultimate evil child together, but for business purposes. However, it's revealed in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me that they came together purely in passion, as a result of Dr. Evil having Austin Power's stolen 'mojo'. She acts like and bears a physical resemblance to Rosa Klebb from the James Bond film From Russia with Love.

Ivana Humpalot -Kristen Johnston- A stereotypical Russian woman. She meets Austin during a photo shoot, then plays a seductive game of chess with him. Is close to Xenia Onatopp from GoldenEye in the James Bond series.

Johann van der Smut, or Goldmember -Mike Myers- A parody of Bond villain Auric Goldfinger, he has a fetish for gold and is almost always surrounded by it. He got his nickname after losing his genitalia in an unfortunate smelting accident. He tries to help Dr. Evil drive a gold meteor into the Earth. The Dr. himself finds Goldmember's strange habits disturbing: Goldmember is obsessed with eating his own flaking skin. Van der Smut is a stereotypical Dutchman, often mispronouncing words of the English language, most notably when he tries to say "father," but pronounces it as "fahjha".

Mini-Me -Verne Troyer- Dr. Evil's pint-sized clone who first appears in the second film. The silent Mini-Me is always there for Dr. Evil through the roughest times, except when he takes Austin's side later in the trilogy. The little clone has frequent conflicts with Scott Evil, but loves chocolate and Mini Mr. Bigglesworth (the mini clone of Dr. Evil's cat).

Mr. Bigglesworth - Mr. Bigglesworth used to be Dr. Evil's white Angora cat, but after a defrosting error by assassin Mustafa, wherein all of Mr. Bigglesworth's fur was removed and changing the cat into a Sphynx, devoid of bodily hair much as his owner. Mr. Bigglesworth is a similar cat to the feline pet of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, also a white Angora cat.

Mustafa -Will Ferrell- An ex-assassin of Dr. Evil, appearing in the first and second movies. He can't resist being asked the same question three times. Recognizable by his red fez. Extremely difficult if not impossible to kill.

Nigel Powers -Michael Caine- Austin's and Dr. Evil's father, portrayed by Michael Caine in Austin Powers in Goldmember. There are only two things he can't stand in this world: people who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and the Dutch.

Number 2 -Robert Wagner- Dr. Evil's most trusted ally. Number 2 is a parody of Emilio Largo, Ernst Stavro Blofeld's right-hand man. They share a distinctive eyepatch, and are both called mostly by their codename "Number 2", which they share. Rob Lowe portrays a younger Number 2 in the second film in the series.

Patty O'Brien - Paul Dillon - Dr. Evil's Irish henchman in the first movie. He is known for leaving a charm with each of his victims and worries that Scotland Yard is "always after me Lucky Charms."

Random Task - Joe Son - Dr. Evil's assassin in the first movie. Direct parody of Odd Job in the Bond movie Goldfinger aside from throwing a shoe as opposed to a bowler derby (apparently the former is not nearly as lethal as the latter).

Robin Swallows (née Spitz) -Gia Carides- An employee of Dr. Evil, who encounters Austin in his apartment during a party. Her fate is a direct parody of that of Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) in the movie Thunderball.

Scott Evil -Seth Green- spawned in a laboratory during the period of doctor evil's absence orbiting the earth, he is genetically created with Evil's semen and is thus his son. Scott in the films is the result of an implied difficult childhood and fails to bond with Dr Evil. He makes several suggestions to improve his father's over-elaborate plans but has his advice constantly rejected.

Unibrau A character that doesn't speak and is only seen in one shot. She met Frau Farbissina on the LPGA tour and they fell in love. She has a unibrow.

Vanessa Kensington -Elizabeth Hurley- Austin's partner and bride in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. In the second movie, she is revealed to be one of Dr. Evil's Femmebots and explodes.

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Box office

The first film in the series, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery cost $16.5 million, opened on May 2, 1997, and made a modest impact, grossing US$53 million in its North American release. The film was not a major success in theatres, but became a hit and cult classic on the home video market. In June 1999, the film spawned a sequel, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. This, however, was a huge box office hit, the third highest grossing film of the summer (Behind only Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and The Sixth Sense), earning US$206 million in its North American release. In its North American opening weekend it earned US$55 million (then the third biggest debut in box office history), and became the first movie sequel to outearn the original after only its first weekend. The 282% increase in total box office gross from the original to sequel in a feat matched only by Terminator 2: Judgment Day's 434% increase. A third film, Austin Powers in Goldmember, was released in 2002 to similar fanfare, earning US$213 million. The Austin Powers trilogy is one of the few movie series in which every sequel has outearned the film that preceded it, along with The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Desperado series. As of 2006, a fourth installment in the series is in limbo, although comments made during the Special Features of the Goldmember DVD suggest that the series will not go beyond a trilogy.

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Original sources

Mike Myers himself has stated in interviews that the idea for Austin Powers came to him one night as he was driving home from hockey practice. His car radio was on, and as he was listening the song The Look of Love by Burt Bacharach began to play. As he heard the music the question "Where have all the swingers gone?" came to his mind, and he began to conceive the character who would become Austin Powers. The first phrase he thought the character might say was "Do I make you horny?" which later did indeed become a catch phrase for the character.

Powers' flamboyant appearance and overt flirtation is probably based on the early 1970s TV character Jason King, who originally appeared in the ITC Entertainment Programme Department S and, later, in his own spin-off show. The name Austin Powers may be inspired by the British Austin-Healey sports cars which were popular in the 1960s. He could also possibly be named after actor Austin Pendleton, who has crooked teeth and wears glasses similar to Powers in What's Up, Doc?.

Powers' "cover persona" (to hide his job as an international agent) is as a fashion photographer, which provides an opportunity in the first two films to satirize Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up as well as Dean Martin's Matt Helm character. The signature eye glasses hail from the Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) films (and perhaps also Peter Sellers in Casino Royale). Appropriately, Caine played Austin's father, Nigel Powers, in Goldmember (and wore the original glasses from The Ipcress File).

Another major source of humour derives from Powers' having been cryogenically frozen in the 1960s and revived in the late 1990s (roughly parodying the 1966 spy series Adam Adamant Lives! about an Edwardian secret agent who was frozen) without having any sense whatsoever of changes that have occurred in society the intervening years...

"...but as long as people are still having promiscuous sex with many anonymous partners without protection while at the same time experimenting with mind-expanding drugs in a consequence-free environment, I'll be sound as a pound!" - Austin Powers.

Powers' nemesis is Dr. Evil, a character based on Blofeld of the Bond films. Other Bond inspired villains include Frau Farbissina, most probably based on From Russia with Love's Rosa Klebb; Dr. Evil's right hand man, Number 2, probably inspired by Thunderball's Emilio Largo and Referring also to Number 2 in The Prisoner; Alotta Fagina, a pun on Goldfinger's Pussy Galore; and Random Task, again a pun, this time on Goldfinger's Oddjob. The figure "Goldmember" in the 2002-film (Also the name of the film) might himself be a stand-alone referral to the "Goldfinger" in general.

Michael York's character Basil Exposition is named such because Basil literally provides the audience with the Exposition of the plot. The name is a parody of the scenes in the Bond movies where M or some other high ranking official made use of highly sophisticated audio visual devices and explained the "plot" and "characters" to Bond. These scenes were written to make sure the audience "got" the story (Hence Myers' parody.) The Bond screenwriters were often aware how clunky these expositionary scenes could be. They made them more entertaining by having Bond briefed in exotic locations (Such as a hidden cave in the Egyptian desert in The Spy Who Loved Me) - (Hence the Austin-Power's movie, "The Spy Who Shagged Me!".) Or by having Bond show that he knew more than M about the subject at hand.

As for the female lead characters, from "International Man of Mystery", Mrs. Kensington & her daughter Vanessa (And the tight-fitting leather catsuits they wear) are based on the female partners of John Steed from The Avengers (Especially Diana Rigg's "Emma Peel" character).

Felicity Shagwell in "The Spy Who Shagged Me" is based on three characters: The stereotypical "hippie chick" from the 1960s, the name is based on the double-entendre inspired names of several female James Bond characters such as "Pussy Galore" and "Xenia Onatopp". She could also be an American version of "Modesty Blaise".

Foxxy Cleopatra in "Goldmember" is clearly based on female characters from 1970's "Blaxploitation" or "Soul Cinema" motion pictures, especially those featuring Pam Grier. The name itself is highly certainly based on Foxy Brown (Since she's played by Pam Grier) and Cleopatra Jones (played by Tamara Dobson). Other elements of her character are taken from Grier's characters in the films Coffy and Friday Foster. Teresa Graves's performance in the short-lived crime drama Get Christie Love! might also be an inspiration, but all of the vixens in the "soul cinema" genre might be considered formulaic.

A few other 1960's films that seem to have been source material for the satirical blend of the characters:

Dr. No (1962, the Blofeld/Dr. Evil appearance)
You Only Live Twice (1967, the Blofeld/Dr. Evil appearance.)
Casino Royale (1967, many elements, itself a spoof of the Bond films.)
Blow-Up (1966, the virile fashion photographer.)
Our Man Flint and In Like Flint (1966 and 1967, many elements. Austin, in 'The Spy Who Shagged Me,' says the latter title is his favorite movie.)
The Ipcress File (1965, Harry Palmer's glasses.)
Alfie (1966, mentioned and parodied throughout all three movies)

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Trivia

The Austin Powers Theme (Soul Bossa Nova) by Quincy Jones and Produced by DJ Green Lantern was sampled in Ludacris's 2004 single, #1 Spot on his album The Red Light District. The song was featured in the 1964 movie, The Pawnbroker and also formed the basis for the hit 1991 rap song "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style" by the Dream Warriors. Also, it was used as the theme to a 1970s Canadian television game show called Definition; Myers is known for inserting references to his native Canada into his films, and the use of the "Definition" theme is considered one of these references (the Dream Warriors recording also makes this connection).

Austin's glasses are usually meant to be a reference to the glasses Michael Caine wore in The Ipcress File. When Caine was cast as Austin Powers' father, Nigel, in Austin Powers in Goldmember, he wore the actual pair of Harry Palmer-glasses.

In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted the Austin Powers movies (collectively) the 12th greatest comedy film of all time.

There has been some criticism for the excessive amount of product placement in the film.For example, the film depicts an exterior pad with the name Virgin Atlantic emblazoned on it.

Some of the incidental music played in the background of the series is strikingly similar to the incidental music for the Gerry Anderson UFO (TV series) which is based upon the theme song of that TV series.