The Red Baron in popular culture
The following is a list of mentions of Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, in popular culture.
Popular fiction
- A famous depiction of Manfred von Richthofen appeared in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz and was taken up in subsequent television specials. Snoopy the dog dreamed of being a World War I flying ace, piloted his dog house like a Sopwith Camel, and carried a personal grudge against the Red Baron. This never did him any good, however, and the Baron always shot down the doghouse with almost no trouble. References to this story arc inspired songs by The Royal Guardsmen and even a comic strip in Mad Magazine which depicted their confrontations from the Baron's point of view.
- Hans von Hammer, the troubled protagonist of DC Comics's Enemy Ace was inspired in part by Richthofen. Piloting a scarlet Fokker Dr. 1, von Hammer is a flying knight who fights according to the code of chivalry, despite being deeply disturbed by the slaughter around him. Unlike the Baron, however, Hans von Hammer was depicted as having survived to fight in World War II, in adventures inspired by those of Adolf Galland.
- Kim Newman's novel Back in the USSA also features the Red Baron helping the Mexican government invade Texas during a communist revolution in the United States led by Eugene Debs.
- The last book in the Time Machine series, World War I Flying Ace, asks the reader to find out who shot down the Red Baron and take a photograph to prove the answer.
- In the novel Burning Shore by Wilbur Smith, one of the main character, Lord Andrew Killigan, is shot down by the Red Baron's Flying Circus.
Movies
- 1927: A Richthofen-based character appears briefly in the World War I-epic Wings, directed by air combat veteran William A. Wellman.[1]
- 1930: The Red Baron was a character in the Howard Hughes film Hell's Angels.
- 1970: In the Blake Edwards movie "Darling Lili," set in World War I and starring Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson, the Red Baron is more accurately portrayed as quieter and more reserved than portrayed in "The Blue Max" (where the Baron comes across as rather pompous) and was played by actor Ingo Mogendorf.
- 1971: The Roger Corman movie, Von Richthofen and Brown, alternatively titled The Red Baron, focused on the titular characters, and starred John Phillip Law as Richthofen.[2]
- 1994: Revenge of the Red Baron; Mickey Rooney portrays a former World War I pilot haunted by a doll version of the Red Baron that flies a toy plane. Also stars Tobey Maguire and Laraine Newman.[3]
- 2008: The Red Baron a romanticized biopic, starring Matthias Schweighöfer as Richthofen, Lena Headey as his love interest, and Joseph Fiennes as Captain Arthur Roy Brown.
Television
- In the BBC sitcom Blackadder Goes Forth, entitled "Private Plane", the Red Baron makes an appearance. Aftger joining the Royal Flying Corps as an excuse to escape the trenches, Captain Blackadder and Private Baldrick are shot down and captured by Manfred von Richthofen (Adrian Edmondson). In a parody of wartime British propaganda, the Baron is portrayed as a stuffy martinet with an exaggerated Prussian accent who lacks a sense of humour, but tries to make up for it. He informs Blackadder and Baldrick, "For us, a toilet is a mundane, functional item. For you it is the focus of an entire culture!" Before retiring to his chateau, Richthofen comments that, "Gallant Lord Flashheart still eludes me." Soon after, Flashheart and Lieutenant George arrive to rescue their fellow flyers. At last facing his greatest adversary, Richthofen launches into a tedious soliloquy about chivalry and honor. Disgusted, Lord Flashheart shoots the Baron dead and screams, "What a poof!"
- Richthofen was featured in an episode of Fantasy Island, entitled "The Red Baron," in which a patron of the island wished to save the Baron (portrayed by Ron Ely) from his doom. (Oct. 27, 1979) [4]
- The pilot episode of the 1982 TV series Voyagers! sees the two main characters dog fighting Richthofen when they travel back in time.
- The Red Baron appeared as a villain in the original Scooby-Doo series.
- In the animated show SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, the Red Baron is parodied by the Red Lynx. The Red Baron is also parodied as the "Black Baron" in a Gumby episode where Gumby is an aviator of the First World War.
Science fiction
Song references and bands
Video game references
There have also been a number of World War I flight simulators involving Manfred von Richthofen. They include Hunt for the Red Baron, written and published by Small Rockets, Knights of the Sky by Microprose, and Red Baron by Dynamix and published by Sierra Entertainment which was followed up by a less successful sequel Red Baron II.
- Wings, a Cinemaware title in which the player is an Allied pilot in France during World War I, follows the vicissitudes of the Red Baron, from his rising to his death.
- Empire Earth has a German campaign in which four missions allow the players to control Manfred von Richthofen.
- Sky Kid, an arcade video game by Namco depicts the fanciful air journey of the "Red Baron" and the "Blue Max".
- Titles for the Atari system in the 1980s, and in 2006 by Namco for PlayStation 2, PSP, and Xbox game systems have also been released.[5]
- Red Baron 3D World War I Combat Flight Simulator.
- "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" is a computer game with Snoopy as the protagonist and Manfred von Ricthofen as the antagonist. The game is available for PlayStation 2, the PlayStation Portable and the PC. The game was followed by a sequel Snoopy Flying Ace with the same premise for the Xbox 360.
- The PC game Star Trek: Judgment Rites features the character Trelane from the original series TV episode Squire of Gothos imagining himself as World War I pilot complete with the Red Baron's signature Fokker Triplane.
- The arcade version of Trivial Pursuit included a player avatar called "Baron von Rightoften", designed to resemble the Red Baron.
- In the Nintendo DS game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, one of the characters is named Manfred von Karma. Like the Red Baron, he is known for having a perfect career. He also receives his comeuppance from a single bullet.
- The Red Baron is mentioned in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as a codename.
- In Thrillville: Off the Rails there is an arcade flying ace named Barry von Rictoven who is referred to several times as "The Red Barry" and flies a triplane.
- In Left 4 Dead there is an achievement, "Dead Baron", that can be earned by completing the Dead Air campaign, a campaign set in an airport.
- In League of Legends one of the champions, Corki, has a purchasable skin designated "Red Baron Corki" that is designed to make his aircraft a red World War I biplane.
Board game references
- The Red Baron was the inspiration for Avalon Hill's 1970s board game "Richthofen's War," one of the first World War I aerial combat board games.[6]
- The Red Baron was also prominently featured in "Snoopy & The Red Baron", a Milton Bradley skill game released in 1970.
Other Namesakes
A great variety of model airplanes of all scales, and flying balsa planes, portrait dolls and figurines representing the baron and his aircraft have been produced. The Red Baron name has been attached to small plush figures and teddy bears and is widely applied to products unrelated to the WWI ace.
- George Barris custom Hot Rod automobile, merchandised into the Hot Wheels toy cars and collectible scale cars, and also the Tom Daniels Monogram model car kit.
- Ghost of the Red Baron model kit by Monogram, shows a 1/6 scale skull with chrome stahelm (helmet) on an Iron Cross stand.
- Red Barron Onions, Unio Porrum, a leek type strain of red to purple color small non-bulbing, bunching onion for salads.
- Red Baron Onion, Unio Cepa, a bulbed large variety onion.
- Red Baron Crabapple, Malus Hybrida, a flowering tree.
- Red Baron Grass, Imperata, an ornamental Japanese blood grass.
- Red Baron Flowering plant, Protea, 5 foot tall semi tropical shrub with multiple flowerheads.
Sports
Rhinebeck Aerodrome
- The exploits of Richthofen and his peers inspired Cole Palen to create Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Rhinebeck, N.Y. Palen is credited with creating the kit-plane craze in the U.S., and was instrumental in restoring and/or retrieving priceless examples of World War I aviation. Palen built a replica Fokker Dr I, which he flew in hundreds of simulated dogfights at Rhinebeck.[8]
Notes
- ^ Wings at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ The Red Baron at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Revenge of the Red Baron at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Fantasy Island at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Snoopy and the Red Baron (1983), Snoopy vs The Red Baron (2006), Snoopy vs The Red Baron (2006) XBox version
- ^ Richthofen's War
- ^ Joe Pelletier's
Greatest Hockey Legends: Red Berenson
- ^ Rhinebeck Aerodome Official website