Top Ten Facts About "Der Schuh Des Manitu"

On the picture:
Michael Bully Herbig in 2016.

Let's start with the obvious.
He co-wrote it together with co-actor Rick Kavanian and screenwriters Alfons Biedermann and Murmel Clausen.

Karl May is one of the most popular writers of German fiction, and used synonymously with westerns and adventure literature. His 19th century novels centering around the Native American Winnetou and his white blood brother Old Shatterhand have a huge, massive cult following and their many 1960s movie adaptations (which were European co-productions) are common knowledge to every German and still get aired very frequently. They are responsible for the very positive image Germans have of Native Americans, seeing them as heroic, brave and loyal ("Indianer" is not a negative term as "Red Indian" is in English, it's simply the German word, and not usually used in a discriminating context). While American westerns had them as antagonists, they are the heroes in Germany.

On the picture:

Lex Barker (as Old Shatterhand) and Pierre Brice (as Winnetou) on the left, Michael Bully Herbig (as Abahachi) and Christian Tramitz (as Ranger) on the left.

That's a gross of 70 million US Dollars compared to a 5.4 million dollar budget.

That's... quite a bit more.

On the picture:

Abahachi, stepping on a mouse trap.

It blew everything away in 2001 and has since been aired on T.V. countless times.

In the list of movies with the highest grossing films in Germany, it currently ranks at number 9, sandwiched between "The Lion King" and "Avatar".

In the Extra Large version, he also has a third role as their grandfather Grauer Star (a parody of Elvis Presley), but he only appears briefly and is only mentioned for much of the movie.

Often, the two characters appear on the same screen.
It's easy to spot the difference though: the one in a pink Apache custome who talks lile a sissy and walks like Paris Hilton is Winnetouch. But you might have guessed.

By the way, the humor is not mean spirited in any way, the characters may all be kind of stereotypical, but they are likable.

On the picture:

Winnetouch to the left, Abahachi to the right.

NOTE: There are scenes where they stand right next to each other, both facing the camera, but I found no pictures of these.

"(T)Raumschiff Surprise" is a 2004 parody of science fiction franchises such as "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" with numerous other little hommages to genre flicks. It is just as funny as "Der Schuh des Manitu", and had twice the budget to recreate Hollywood visual effects.
The story evolves around three members of the crew of the spaceship "Surprise" that need to travel back in time to prevent an intergalactic war. Just that the three guys are... well, have you seen "La Cage aux Folles" (The Birdcage)? That times three and incompetent on top. Again, all are likable characters and the parodies are light hearted and fun.
The movie is currently the second most successful German movie in Germany, after "Der Schuh des Manitu".

Herbig plays Mr. Spuck (a parody of Mr. Spock), Tramitz plays Captain Kork (a parody of Captain Kirk) and Kavanian has a triple role as Schrotti (a parody of Scotty), the antagonist Jens Maul (a silly mix of Darth Vader and Darth Maul) and minor character ...more

Hilmi Sölzer plays one of Santa Maria's henchmen, Hombre, and is actually more of a side character at first but he gets important towards the end, as (SPOILER) he becomes Winnetouch's boyfriend when taking him for hostage and turns against Santa Maria, stopping him in the end and convincing the Shoshones of Abahachi's and Ranger's innocence.

On the picture:

Clockwise: Sky du Mont (as Santa Maria), Christian Tramitz (as Ranger), Marie Bäumer (as Uschi), Michael Bully Herbig (as Abahachi), Tim Wilde (as John), Robinson Reichel (as Jim) and Hilmi Sözer (as Hombre).
Rick Kavanian as Dimitri is missing on the picture.

"Ich bin mit der Gesamtsituation unzufrieden" ("I am dissatisfied with this entire situation") and "Schau, schau, Schoschonen" ("well well, Shoshones") are quoted in everyday life, and despite being a parody itself, many scenes of the movie have been referenced and spoofed in other works. Many Germans know it by heart. It still gets aired frequently on T.V.. Simply put: it's a true classic comedy. Already, not even 20 years later. Heck, it's been a classic even when I first saw it 10 years ago.

Critics highly praised the movie's set design, costumes, and how they managed to recreate the atmosphere of the Karl May movies so precisely. It was felt that the movie was made by someone who loves the source material. However, the humor was not universally loved. It was felt that such a gag parade works on T.V., but not in a full length movie, and that the jokes were mostly flat. They were proven wrong by its ever growing popularity.

I think in the US it might would be rated PG-13. There is a lot of sexual innuendo throughout the movie which is mostly verbal (such as puns), or sight gags where a situation appears more intimate than it actually is. The only thing that might push it is a scene towards the end during a minecart ride where Winnetouch loses his pants due to the airstream (we see his "thing" flogging around fast for a second or so). The movie has no overly violent content other than shootings.

On the picture:

The FSK 6 logo as can be found on modern DVDs (before 2009, it was a short text in a yellow box on the back of the cover, now it is this logo on the front cover).

It contains 7 minutes of additional footage which was shot solely for T.V. airings. It shows the early lives of Abahachi and Winnetouch.

On the picture:

Part of the promotional poster for the Extra Large version.

There are something around zero Native Americans in Germany, they had to hire who resembled them closest. Redface is not seen as insensitive in Germany, probably because of the positive image Native Americans do have, and when Germans dress up as them, it's like Americans who dress up as cowboys. Redface can be found on carnival festivals or on children's costumes.

On the picture:
Chief Listiger Lurch and some of the Shoshones.

Pro7 has the exclusive rights to broadcast the movie, something that usually isn't the norm (often you get the same movies on a few channels within short time).