Austin Powers (character)

Austin Powers in International Man of Mystery.

Austin Danger Powers, played by Mike Myers, is the title character of a series of films. The films are a parody of many spy films of the 1960s, primarily the James Bond, Harry Palmer, and Matt Helm film franchises, and an increasingly broad range of other elements of popular culture. With the added features of bodily functions and toilet humour, the films reflect a bawdy sense of humour.

The films parody the cliché of a male super-spy who is irresistibly attractive to women, and makes no attempt to resist them. The satiric elements of this cliché come from Powers' lack of physical beauty – his bad teeth, for example, are made fun of in several scenes (this is also a reflection of an American stereotype of British people, who are said to have poor dental hygiene).

Characters

Austin Powers - a swingin' secret agent frozen in the '60s to be defrosted in the '90s to battle his arch enemy, Dr. Evil.
Dr. Evil - the bald villian of the three films that threatens to take over the world, tells his frickin' idiot son, Scott, to "zip it!", and promises to destroy Austin Powers. What he doesn't know is that his groovy rival is really his long-lost brother!
Vanessa Powers - Austin's partner and bride in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. In the second movie, she was revealed to be one of Dr. Evil's Fembots and exploded...and that only meant Austin was single again! Oh behave!
Felicity Shagwell - Austin's lascivious sidekick in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. She meets Austin back in the '60s and helps save the world from being zapped by Dr. Evil's "Laser" on his "Death Star"...unfortunately, she betrays Austin by shagging Scottish baddie, Fat Bastard. Don't ask.
Foxxy Cleopatra - Austin's butt-kicking partner from Austin Powers in Goldmember. Undercover, she worked for the skin-eating Goldmember and waited for Austin's call for her help back in the '70s.
Mini-Me - Dr. Evil's beloved, pint-sized clone that first appead in the second film. The silent Mini-Me has always been there for Dr. Evil through the roughest times, except in the third movie when Mini-Me went to fight on Austin's side. The little clone often has conflicts with Scott Evil, Dr. Evil's son, but loves chocolate and Mini Mr. Bigglesworth (Mr. Bigglesworth's mini clone).
Fat Bastard - the incredibly Scottish, crude, and obese sidekick of Dr. Evil. In the second movie, F.B. (if you will) has succeeded in stealing Austin's "Mojo" and shagging the agent, Felicity Shagwell. But his greatest accomplishment is probably becoming a famous Sumo wrestler in Tokyo, Japan.
Frau Farbissina - the German, female advisor of Dr. Evil. In the first film, it has been said that Frau and her master planned to one day create the ultimate evil child together but only businessly-speaking. However, it's revealed in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me that they got a little impatient and came together purely in passion. Even in the third movie, before Dr. Evil was sent to prison, Frau couldn't help but give him a big smooch on the lips.
Scott Evil - Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissina's rejected, dramatized love child. Until Austin Powers in Goldmember, Scott never had any plans of taking over the family business of evil. He just wanted ot live the life of a good, normal son with normal parents and friends. However, in the third film, Scott finally accepts who he's bound to be, loses all his hair, and becomes the evil son his dad always wanted.
Number Two - Dr. Evil's most trusted right-hand man. The eye patch-wearing Number Two is the smartest of the bunch of villians, coming up with brand new tools and weapons for Dr. Evil and his henchmen to use while taking over the world and fighting Austin Powers.
Goldmember - the most odd of Dr. Evil's baddies. Even the Dr. himself finds Goldmember's strange habits disturbing and unbearable. This so-called swinger from the '70s, who's obsessed with gold and eating his skin, tries to help Dr. Evil drive a meteor made of gold into the Earth in the third film.
Basil - a jolly Brit who's always willing to lend Austin a hand. Basil is basically in charge of most of the secret agents, Austin and his various female partners included. Like Number Two does for Dr. Evil, Basil comes up with all kinds of gadgets to help Austin complete the mission.

Box Office

The first film of the series, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery cost $16.5 million and opened in 1997 with a relatively modest impact, grossing US$53 million in its North American release. The film was not a major success in theatres, but soon became a hit and cult classic on the home video market, in a trend similar to the Terminator series. In June 1999, the film spawned a sequel, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. The Spy Who Shagged Me was a huge box office hit, becoming 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 3rd biggest debut in box office history), becoming 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 only matched by Terminator 2: Judgment Day's 434% increase. A third, 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. A fourth installment to the wildly popular Austin Powers series is currently in limbo. With the successes of the first three, a fourth movie, if made, would be expected to have the same commercial appeal.

Original sources

Power’s flamboyant appearance and overt flirtation is probably based on the early '70s TV character Jason King, who originally appeared in the ITC Entertainment programme Department S. The name Austin Powers may be inspired by the British Austin-Healey sports cars which were popular in the 1960s.

Powers' "cover persona" is a fashion photographer, providing 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).

Another major source of humour, especially in the first film, comes from Powers' having been cryogenically frozen in the 1960s and then revived in the late 1990s (roughly parodying the 1966 spy series Adam Adamant Lives! about an Edwardian secret agent who was similarly frozen) without having any sense of the social change that has occurred in the intervening 30 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!"

Powers' nemesis is Dr. Evil, based on the Blofeld character from the Bond films, also on Saturday Night Live's creator Lorne Michaels. Other Bond inspired villains include Frau Farbissina, based on From Russia With Love's Rosa Klebb; Dr. Evil's number-two man, Number 2, inspired by Thunderball's Emilio Largo; Alotta Fagina, a pun on Goldfinger's Pussy Galore; and Random Task, again a pun, this time on Goldfinger's Oddjob.

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 "Mrs. Emma Peel" character.)

Felicity Shagwell from "The Spy Who Shagged Me" is based on three things: the stereotypical "Hippie Chick" from the 1960's, the name is based on the double-entendre inspired names of several female James Bond characters such as "Pussy Galore" and "Xenia Onatopp". To a certain extent, she could also be an American version of "Modesty Blaise".

Foxy Cleopatra from "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 based on "Foxy Brown" (played by Pam Grier) and "Cleopatra Jones" (played by Tamara Dobson).

A few 1960's films which seem to have been source material for the satirical blend of the character:

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 himself says the latter title is his favorite movie in the 2nd movie.)
The Ipcress File (1965, Harry Palmer's horn rimmed glasses)

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," which was on his album entitled The Red Light District.

Video Games

Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! (Gameboy Color)
Austin Powers: Welcome to my Undergound Lair! (Gameboy Color)
Austin Powers in Operation Trivia (PC and Macintosh)