When you start watching Hitler’s Folly, the new film by Academy Award nominee Bill Plympton, the action starts immediately and you can’t help but get pulled in. And when you get to the end, you’ll probably do what I did – start over from the beginning and watch it again. BILL PLYMPTON podcast excerpt: "I was reading a newspaper and saw that Hitler was a big fan of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' I thought that was the most surreal thing I ever heard. Here is the most evil man in history, laughing over the antics of these dwarfs!" Hitler’s Folly is a mockumentary, a fake documentary, if you will, in the spirit of Spinal Tap or, if you want to be era-specific, I suggest H.G. Wells’ infamous radio play, “War of the Worlds.” In Plympton’s conceit, Adolf Hitler never lost his desire to become an artist – an animator, in fact, in the mode of Walt Disney. For Hitler, the German aggression of the second world war is nothing but an opportunity for him to create his cartoon magnum opus, an animated version of The Ring, featuring his Disney like creation, "Downey Duck." And those concentration camps? Wait until you learn what their real purpose was! BILL PLYMPTON podcast excerpt: "I didn't want to pay a lawyer $10,000 to go through the film and pay another $10,000 for rights, so we decided to release 'Hitler's Folly' for free. And if people like it, they can donate to my studio so we can make more films." By the way, Plympton calls Adolf Hitler a media star – “the Donald Trump of the past.” I don’t want to give away too much, but you will likely come to the end of Hitler’s Folly convinced that the Axis lost the Big One for a completely different reason than the one found in most history books. Hitler’s Folly will be streamed for free at
www.plymptoons.com beginning on Friday, June 3. This is Bill Plympton’s second visit to Mr. Media; the first was in April 2015 to promote his animated feature, Cheatin. Key interview moments: • 3:20 Filmmaker Bill Plympton explains what inspired him to create a fake history of Adolf Hitler in Hitler's Folly; • 10:10 Anyone can stream Hitler's Folly for free from Plympton's website, ; Plympton explains why he is giving his latest film away at no cost; • 13:00 The star of Hitler's Folly is actor Dana Ashbrook, best known as "Bobby Briggs" from the original run of "Twin Peaks." Bill Plympton • • • • • •