Misplaced Pages

Mini-Me

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

Mini-Me is a fictional character from the Austin Powers film franchise, portrayed by Verne Troyer . He debuts in the second film in the trilogy, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me , and appears again in the third film, Austin Powers in Goldmember .

#218781

61-438: Before Dr. Evil was sent back in time to 1969, his minions made him a clone . The clone was similar in every manner although he was one-eighth his size (although Mini-Me is approximately one-third Dr. Evil’s size). Upon being introduced to his clone, Dr. Evil immediately declared, "Breathtaking. I shall call him... Mini-Me." Mini-Me has almost no spoken dialogue in the films beyond an occasional frightened "Eeeee!". Otherwise, he

122-422: A cryonic capsule, he lost all his fur due to an error in the thawing process. Mr. Bigglesworth has subsequently become bald , played by a Sphynx cat , whilst Dr. Evil's miniature clone, Mini-Me , has a kitten named Mini Mr. Bigglesworth. In the third installment of the franchise, Mr. Bigglesworth is only seen once. Dr. Evil employs a diverse and highly stereotypical group of minions . Myers later revived

183-578: A kickstand "), he seems to have a large penis . He uses this as an advantage at the end of Goldmember when he gets Britney Spears ' cell phone number. In Austinpussy , the film within a film in Goldmember , the role is played in cameo by Danny DeVito . Mini-Me has a brief cameo in the music video for Madonna 's song, " Beautiful Stranger ". In Space Jam: A New Legacy , where Looney Tunes characters have scattered to different digital worlds based on Warner Bros. films, Elmer Fudd takes on

244-547: A leash to restrain Mini-Me from attacking Scott, saying, "Heel, Mini-Me! Heel!" He also tends to dry hump random things. Nigel Powers, upon seeing him, says "Blimey, I thought I smelled cabbage ," thinking he is a carny (referring back to a quip from the first Austin Powers movie). Mini-Me is appropriately confused by the remark. Despite his small size, Mini-Me is a powerful and effective fighter, once giving Austin Powers

305-476: A considerable thrashing, until the spy took advantage of his small size and flushed him out into space through a toilet . Despite being a clone of Dr. Evil, Mini-Me is shown to be far stronger and tougher than his larger counterpart, as seen in Goldmember when they're lifting weights in prison. He was also given a significant beating in Goldmember , in which he was tied in a pillowcase by Powers and slammed through shelves and glass tables, only to stand up without

366-441: A distance of some 2,500 km - in a rented limousine. By her own account, however, Balk's agent then warned her in blunt terms that the studio would ruin her and that she would never work in films again if she broke her contract, so she was soon forced to return to the set. With a potential disaster looming, New Line brought in veteran director John Frankenheimer . He came on board in part because - like virtually every member of

427-456: A feud with Brando. He shared some behind-the-scenes footage of friendly moments he had with Brando as well as his complaining to Thewlis about Frankenheimer in the documentary Val . In his memoir I'm Your Huckleberry , Kilmer said "John Frankenheimer went on to blame me publicly for ruining the movie. I always thought it an odd thing to try to do, blame me for his failure to make an entertaining film, because my character dies halfway through, and

488-430: A higher being, incapable of harm. The existing Beast-Folk are imperfect, but Moreau claims to be close to a "solution". Meanwhile, his son Azazello finds a half-eaten rabbit, much to the disgust of the apparent pacifistic Moreau (who forbids meat-eating). After learning of the rabbit, he promises that there will be a " trial " the next day. Douglas tries to escape by boat, but stops as it is overrun with humanoid rats . At

549-527: A human/ llama mutant give birth, with doctors attending to the delivery. Douglas's presence is noticed by a doctor—who turns out to be, also, a human/animal hybrid—and he flees, finding Aissa, a daughter of Moreau's, who leads him to the ‘village’ of the mutants. There, Moreau is worshipped and referred to as "The Father" by the mutants. He keeps the hybrids subjugated by using a remote-controlled electrical implant, surgically placed at birth under their skin. Moreau introduced human DNA into animals in search of

610-418: A long-running character named Dr. Evil in 1959. After an eight-year legal battle, New Line Cinema paid him a settlement in response to a trademark dispute. In 1997, an unnamed Saturday Night Live writer claimed Dr. Evil was based on SNL creator Lorne Michaels , saying: "It's the lower lip, the eyebrows, the whole way he talks." Another unnamed former SNL actor cited Michaels' "obsessing about minutiae,

671-467: A long-standing dream of original director Richard Stanley , who had first read the book as a child. He spent four years developing the project before getting the green-light from New Line Cinema . Although Stanley had envisaged Jürgen Prochnow in the lead role, New Line managed to secure Marlon Brando, but some time later, Stanley learned that New Line had gone behind his back and offered the movie to director Roman Polanski . Furious, Stanley demanded

SECTION 10

#1732798421219

732-416: A major hurricane, with Frankenheimer being brought in to replace him. The film received generally negative reviews and was considered a box office bomb . In 2014, the documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau was released, covering Stanley's experiences while he conceived and developed the project, his time as director, and the aftermath of his departure and

793-418: A meeting with Brando who, unexpectedly, proved very sympathetic to Stanley's vision, not least because of Stanley's intimate understanding of the novel and its history - including its connections with Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness (the main inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now ) - and because of Stanley's family relation to legendary African explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley , one of

854-476: A pool filled with sharks with laser-beams attached to their heads. When Dr. Evil switches sides to help Austin save the world, Scott takes over as the head of the evil organization. Mr. Bigglesworth (played by Ted Nude Gent ) is a fictional cat belonging to Dr. Evil. He was originally similar to Blofeld 's cat, a typical white Persian cat from the James Bond movie series. Having escaped with Dr. Evil in

915-612: A raft. The hybrids now want to return to their natural state of being and are in favor of ending Moreau's work. Peter Cullen provided the trailer narration for this film. As recounted in David Gregory's documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014), the chaotic events of the making of the film quickly led to its becoming one of the most difficult and troubled productions in Hollywood history. A film version of Dr. Moreau had been

976-435: A scratch. A memorable gag had him passing a series of notes to Foxxy Cleopatra , first stating she was so beautiful, she must be the clone of an angel . When she smilingly disagreed, the second note asked if she was sure she didn't have a little clone in her . The third asked if she'd like to. As seen by Nigel Powers' reaction to Mini-Me's genitals ("My Word! You're a tripod !" and "If you ever get tired, you can use it as

1037-473: A sketch where Dr. Evil has been fired from President Trump's cabinet, and again on Election Day to announce his run for Congress. Myers subsequently played Dr. Evil in a Super Bowl LVI commercial for General Motors . Seth Green , Rob Lowe , and Mindy Sterling also reprised their roles as Scott Evil, Number Two, and Frau Farbissina. In the commercial, Dr. Evil along with his henchmen take over General Motors, but his henchmen tell him that climate change

1098-428: Is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Ernst Stavro Blofeld . Dr. Evil routinely hatches schemes to terrorize and take over the world, and is usually accompanied by "Number Two", his second-in-command who fronts his evil corporation Virtucon Industries, his personal assistant Frau Farbissina , and his sidekick Mini-Me , a dwarf clone of himself. American costume maker Phillip Morris had also created

1159-402: Is regressing: her pupils are cat -like, her canine teeth are becoming fangs, and her fingernails are becoming sharper. Douglas can stop this with a serum from the lab. However, Montgomery has gone insane and destroyed it. Moreau was planning to use Douglas's DNA to stop Aissa's regression permanently, completing his experiments. Azazello leads the mutants to the armory. They eventually take over

1220-435: Is silent except for when he does his evil laugh with Dr. Evil. He also likes to lip sync the occasional line when Dr. Evil raps . At the beginning of Goldmember , Dr. Evil asks him to "Use your words like a big boy clone!". At one point, he asks Dr. Evil to hug him after meeting Fat Bastard , who wants to eat him. Mini-Me often uses the middle finger as a means of insulting someone (even though he only uses it once during

1281-400: Is sometimes referred to and treated as a dog or other small objects. Scott refers to him as "That vicious little... Chihuahua thing", and Dr. Evil illustrates him like a small carry-on luggage, as "he fits easily into most overhead storage bins". Austin says upon Mini-Me being knocked out, "Poor little bugger... he's like a dog or something." In the third movie's opening scenes, Dr. Evil uses

SECTION 20

#1732798421219

1342-437: Is the biggest threat of the planet, making Dr. Evil the second threat on the planet. So, Evil decides he and his henchmen will save the planet, with the lineup of the company's electric vehicles . Scott Evil also informs his father he has a grandson named Kyle (but Dr. Evil names him Baby Me). The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 film) The Island of Dr. Moreau is a 1996 American science fiction horror film , based on

1403-482: The Lost Soul documentary that with their help Stanley secretly came back to the set over several days, disguised in full costume as one of the dog-men, and performed as an extra on the film he originally had been hired to direct. It has been reported that he showed up at the film's wrap party, where he ran into Kilmer, who was said to have apologized profusely for Stanley's removal from the film. A director's cut

1464-549: The Razzie Awards including Worst Picture and Worst Director , winning Worst Supporting Actor for Marlon Brando (Val Kilmer was also a nominee in this category). At the 1996 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards , Brando was nominated for Worst On-Screen Hairstyle (which he lost to Stephen Baldwin for Bio-Dome ) and won Worst Supporting Actor. The film also got nominations for two Saturn Awards : Best Science Fiction Film and Best Make-up . Mike Myers has acknowledged that

1525-537: The radio there. Douglas and Montgomery go to the Main House, where the former is warned not to wander. According to Montgomery, Moreau vanished after becoming obsessed with his animal research. For his own safety, Douglas is locked in his room by Montgomery, but escapes that night. While exploring, he hears cries and enters a laboratory building. Inside, he finds incubation chambers and artificial “wombs” containing fetuses developing. He hears cries again and sees

1586-544: The 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells . It was directed by John Frankenheimer (who was brought in half a week after shooting started) and stars Marlon Brando , Val Kilmer , David Thewlis , and Fairuza Balk . The screenplay is credited to the original director Richard Stanley and Ron Hutchinson . It is the third major film adaptation of the Wells novel, following Island of Lost Souls (1932) and The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977). The production

1647-508: The Dr. Evil character for a brief appearance on the December 20, 2014 episode of Saturday Night Live , a show on which Myers had previously had a regular role. During the sketch, Dr. Evil lampooned North Korea and Sony Pictures on their spat over The Interview . Myers once again revived the character for a brief appearance on a 2018 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in

1708-516: The airport for the return flight to Hollywood. The reasons for Stanley's dismissal were not made clear and false rumours were spread about his allegedly erratic behaviour, but the main reasons appear to have been his perceived unwillingness to deal with studio executives and especially his problems in dealing with Kilmer, whose already well-established reputation for being "difficult" was soon to be enshrined in movie lore thanks to this film. Stanley had been offered his full fee on condition that he leave

1769-414: The cast and crew - he wanted the opportunity to work with the legendary Brando, but he also used the studio's desperation to his advantage, successfully demanding a hefty fee and a three-picture deal in exchange for his services. Well known as one of the last of the "old style" Hollywood directors, Frankenheimer's gruff, dictatorial approach was radically different from Stanley's and he soon alienated many of

1830-405: The cast and crew have testified to Kilmer's bullying and his consistently hostile and obstructive manner during the first days of shooting. He would not deliver the dialogue as scripted and repeatedly criticized Stanley's ideas; what little footage was shot was deemed unusable. The studio mainly seems to have blamed the director for not getting Kilmer under control, but another significant factor

1891-508: The cast and crew. Brando agreed to his decision to have the then-current script by Richard Stanley , Michael Herr and Walon Green rewritten by Frankenheimer's previous collaborator Ron Hutchinson . Frankenheimer also needed to find a new lead actor to replace Rob Morrow and brought in David Thewlis to play Douglas. The whole production was shut down for a week and a half while these changes were implemented. Once shooting resumed,

Mini-Me - Misplaced Pages Continue

1952-688: The chief inspirations for Conrad's lead character, Kurtz. According to Stanley, Brando still was fascinated by Kurtz more than 15 years after he had played a version of the character in Coppola's film. With Brando supporting him, Stanley was confirmed as director, and he was able to recruit two more major stars: Bruce Willis as Edward Prendick, a U.N. negotiator who washes up on Moreau's island after his plane crashes, and James Woods as Montgomery, Moreau's chief assistant. Buoyed by these developments, Stanley enthusiastically launched into pre-production, collaborating with special effects creator Stan Winston on

2013-399: The creation of makeup and costumes for Moreau's hybrid creatures and preparing the location and sets. As the time for principal photography approached, however, problems began to multiply: Bruce Willis withdrew from the film (Stanley says in Lost Soul that the actor was divorcing his wife Demi Moore at the time, but the couple did not announce their separation until the summer of 1998, with

2074-472: The divorce made final two years later). He was replaced with Val Kilmer , who, to Stanley's dismay, demanded a 40% reduction in the number of days he was required on set. Stanley solved this problem when he had the idea to switch Kilmer from the protagonist to the supporting role of Montgomery, who had far less screen time. However, this meant James Woods had to leave the production. New Line hurriedly recruited former Northern Exposure star Rob Morrow for

2135-573: The effect it had on the cast, crew, and overall film. Kilmer also shared some behind-the-scenes footage of the film in the 2021 documentary Val where he shared his side of events. United Nations negotiator Edward Douglas survives a plane crash in the Java Sea and is rescued by a passing boat. Aboard, Dr. Montgomery tends to him and promises that Douglas will be taken to Timor . However, when they arrive at Montgomery's destination, "Moreau's Island", he instead advises Douglas to disembark and use

2196-481: The explosion, Dougie was raised in Bruges , Belgium . Dr. Evil has a strained relationship with his son Scott (played by Seth Green ), even liquidating their therapy group over an accusation of insolence. Scott points out Dr. Evil's incompetence and immaturity, as well as obvious mistakes and flaws in his plans. Scott later grows more "evil" and momentarily gains his father's respect, especially after Scott provides him

2257-400: The film a grade of "C−" on a scale of A+ to F. The film grossed only $ 49 million worldwide on a $ 40 million budget, which, with marketing and other expenses, lost money for the studio. In an article written upon Brando's death in 2004, critic Roger Ebert described The Island of Dr. Moreau as "perhaps [Brando's] worst film". The Island of Dr. Moreau later received six nominations for

2318-498: The first few days of filming. Stanley's vulnerability to studio pressure was exacerbated by the continuing absence of his main ally, Brando, but the biggest problem proved to be the notorious on-set behaviour of Kilmer, who reportedly arrived two days late. Kilmer later attributed his obnoxious behaviour to the fact that, just as filming began, he learned from a television report that he was being sued for divorce by his wife of seven years, Joanne Whalley . Whatever his reasons, many of

2379-488: The insane lament. In the second film , he went on the Jerry Springer show and declared that he was the "Princess of Canada ". In the third film, Goldmember , Nigel Powers reveals that Dr. Evil is in fact Austin Powers' twin brother, Douglas "Dougie" Powers. He explains that Douglas and Austin were separated as babies following a car explosion, and that he had thought that only Austin had survived. Following

2440-501: The island, keeping hostages. Montgomery has lost his mind and is promoting hedonism amongst the mutants. Drunk, he sits in Moreau's former throne and is killed by Azazello while watching a mutant orgy. Hyena-Swine's group continues to rampage around the island. Azazello hangs Aissa before being executed by Hyena-Swine, having outlived his usefulness. Douglas survives by telling Hyena-Swine to impose his leadership and be "God Number One" among

2501-452: The last half of the film sucks as bad as the first". Screenwriter Ron Hutchinson said "everybody behaved monstrously to each other" and Brando had "poisonous" relations with most actors. Brando also wanted to change the script to add his own plot points and decided not wanting his character to die. Stanley had reportedly jokingly told the film's production designer to burn the set down, but when Stanley disappeared after being fired, security

Mini-Me - Misplaced Pages Continue

2562-722: The lead role. Another significant setback occurred before filming began when Brando's daughter Cheyenne committed suicide. The devastated star retreated to his private island, leaving Stanley and his producers in limbo, not knowing when or if he would show up. The chosen location for the film was the rain forest outside Cairns in North Queensland , Australia, including Bramston Beach, Queensland , Mossman Gorge , etc. Tensions between Stanley and New Line had been growing during pre-production, partly because of Stanley's quirky, insular nature, and his marked unwillingness to attend studio meetings, but they reached crisis point within

2623-497: The main compound and confront Moreau. Enraged, Hyena-Swine says that they reject humanity and Moreau's law. Realizing that he may be in danger, Moreau presses his remote control repeatedly, to no effect—the group subsequently kills him. Douglas fires a gunshot, scaring the group off. Moreau's children grieve, except for Azazello, who steals Montgomery's handgun and goes to join Hyena-Swine's faction. Aissa informs Douglas that she

2684-404: The main scenes with Marlon". Thewlis went on to rewrite his character personally. The constant rewrites also got on Brando's nerves and, as on many previous productions, he refused to learn lines, so he was equipped with a small radio receiver, so that his assistant could feed his lines to him as he performed - a technique he had used on earlier films. Thewlis recollected that Brando would "be in

2745-435: The middle of a scene and suddenly he'd be picking up police messages and would repeat, 'There's a robbery at Woolworth's'". Meanwhile, friction between him and Kilmer elicited the former's quip: "Your problem is you confuse the size of your paycheck with the size of your talent". Upon completion of Kilmer's final scene, Frankenheimer is reported to have said to the crew, "Now get that bastard off my set". Kilmer denied having

2806-418: The other. New script pages were turned in only a few days before they were shot. Frankenheimer and Kilmer had an argument on-set, which reportedly got so heated, Frankenheimer stated afterwards, "I don't like Val Kilmer, I don't like his work ethic, and I don't want to be associated with him ever again". According to Thewlis, "we all had different ideas of where it should go. I even ended up improvising some of

2867-415: The others of his faction, especially those who helped him kill Moreau, causing Hyena-Swine to kill his supporters. Eventually, M'Ling, another one of Moreau's sons, triggers an explosion that causes Hyena-Swine to lose his gun and allows Douglas to escape. Outnumbered and defenseless, Hyena-Swine retreats into the burning building and burns himself alive. Peaceful-minded mutants see-off Douglas, who leaves on

2928-512: The outdoor trial, leopard /human hybrid Lo-Mai runs at Moreau. When the remote-controlled implant does not stop him, Azazello shoots Lo-Mai dead. His body is cremated publicly. Inspecting the charred remains, "Hyena-Swine", a humanoid hyena/pig, notices the control implant embedded in Lo-Mai's arm. He then feels for the same implant on his own body and removes it from the bone, roaring in pain. Hyena later starts saying "no more pain", wanting to spread

2989-489: The problems continued and escalated. Brando routinely spent hours in his air-conditioned trailer when he was supposed to be on camera, while actors and extras sweltered in the tropical heat in full make-up and heavy costumes. The antipathy between Brando and Kilmer rapidly escalated into open hostility and on one occasion, as recounted in Lost Soul , this resulted in the cast and crew being kept waiting for hours, with each actor refusing to come out of his respective trailer before

3050-418: The production quietly and not speak about his firing, so his disappearance caused consternation at New Line, who feared he might try to sabotage the filming. His removal also predictably sent shock waves through the cast and crew. Outraged female lead Fairuza Balk stormed off the set after a heated exchange with New Line executives and then had a production assistant drive her all the way from Cairns to Sydney -

3111-621: The role of Mini-Me in the Austin Powers world, while Sylvester the Cat has become Mr. Bigglesworth. Mike Myers has acknowledged that the character was directly inspired by the character of Majai in the 1996 film The Island of Dr. Moreau , who is similarly a miniature version of Marlon Brando 's titular villain character. In 2021, the Hungarian government party Fidesz released an ad based on Mini-Me's introduction scene. The ad's aim

SECTION 50

#1732798421219

3172-405: The third movie). On most other occasions, Mini-Me prefers to express himself through written notes. Mini-Me has a pet called Mini-Mr. Bigglesworth, which has only appeared once in the series, in which Mini-Me tried to gnaw on his ear. Mini Mr. Bigglesworth is a kitten version of Dr. Evil's cat . Mini-Me loves chocolate and disrespecting Scott Evil, Dr. Evil's son and his rival for affection. He

3233-773: The way he ends everything by bringing his pinkie up and chewing the fingernail". Myers disagreed, insisting the character was based on Donald Pleasence 's portrayal of Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice . In the first film, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery , Dr. Evil is an internationally known criminal genius, cryogenically frozen in 1967 and reawakened in 1997. According to his own account, Dr. Evil's upbringing went as follows: The details of my life are quite inconsequential ... My father

3294-409: The word to all the mutants. In addition to the pain, the animals are controlled through regular drugging to prevent them from "retrogressing". Hyena-Swine reveals his removed implant to Montgomery who sets the other beasts after him. Meanwhile, Douglas tries to contact the outside world, but Montgomery sabotages the radio. Hyena-Swine and his trackers—now on his side and also free of implants—break into

3355-417: Was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloé with webbed feet. My father would womanize; he would drink; he would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy, the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and

3416-512: Was notoriously difficult, marred by issues with the cast, harsh weather and a skyrocketing budget. Bruce Willis was originally hired to play Edward Prendick, but allegedly dropped out as he started divorce proceedings from Demi Moore , his wife at the time. Willis was replaced by Kilmer, who made his availability limited, and later had anger issues with most of the cast after also being served divorce papers on set. Then actor Rob Morrow quit because of script rewrites. Brando's role as Moreau

3477-426: Was released on Blu-ray on July 24, 2012, and on DVD on April 4, 2017, extending the 96-minute film to 100 minutes. The film was met with negative reviews; Rotten Tomatoes currently rates the film with a 22% "Rotten", based on 36 reviews with the consensus: "Timid and unfocused in its storytelling, The Island of Dr. Moreau is more lackluster misfire than morbid curiosity". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave

3538-420: Was supposed to be expanded, but following his daughter 's suicide, Brando retreated to his private island, leaving production in limbo, not knowing when or even if he would show up. Brando also did not want to learn his lines, so he requested them through an earpiece and/or improvised his dialogue. Original director Richard Stanley was dismissed by New Line Cinema after problems arose during production, including

3599-602: Was the sudden departure of co-star Rob Morrow on the second day of shooting. With the location being pounded by bad weather that had temporarily stopped filming, Morrow found himself unable to bear the tension and hostility on set any longer, so he telephoned New Line chairman Rob Shaye in Hollywood and tearfully begged to be let go. Shaye agreed. After a third day of filming, following emergency consultations with its on-set executives, New Line abruptly fired Stanley by fax. The beleaguered director reacted angrily, shredding documents in revenge and then vanishing after being delivered to

3660-545: Was tightened in case he was actually trying to sabotage the project. Stanley later revealed that he had in fact stayed in Australia - suffering a total emotional breakdown, he had retreated to a remote area in the Cairns region to recover. There, he had a chance meeting with some of the film's former production staff, who had been rehired as extras and were camping in the area. It was confirmed by these same production staff in

3721-472: Was to emphasize the alleged similarities between opposition candidate Péter Márki-Zay (Mini-Me) and former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány (Dr. Evil). Dr. Evil Douglas "Dougie" Powers , commonly known as Dr. Evil , is a fictional character portrayed by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the main antagonist and Austin Powers ' nemesis (and secret twin brother). He

SECTION 60

#1732798421219
#218781