Rainier Wolfcastle

Simpsons character


name=Rainier Luftwaffe Wolfcastle
gender=Male
hair=Platinum Blond
job=Actor
relatives=Wife: Maria
Daughter: Greta
appearance="The Way We Was" (as McBain) and "Radio Bart" (as himself)
voiceactor=Harry Shearer

Rainier Luftwaffe Wolfcastle (voiced by Harry Shearer) is a recurring character featured in the television cartoon "The Simpsons".

Profile

An Austrian American, musclebound actor, Wolfcastle is a parody of bodybuilder, actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger. His ex-wife, who appeared in one episode, is named Maria Shriver Kennedy Quimby (as in the real Schwarzenegger's wife Maria Shriver), and he was seen at a gathering of members of the Quimby family, who are modeled after the Kennedys. In the episode "Homerazzi" he remarries Maria Shriver Kennedy Quimby. His daughter Greta Wolfcastle used to have a crush on Bart Simpson.

Wolfcastle is a veteran of many violent action movies, most notably the "McBain" series (unrelated to the 1991 action film by the same name). It is frequently suggested that his career is on the decline since a movie featuring a "magic ticket" similar to "Last Action Hero". He battles frequently with weight issues, though tries to pass it off as something he is doing for a role. His films are sometimes critical failures, as Jay Sherman introduced Wolfcastle in an interview on his TV show as "star of the reprehensible McBain movies", including "McBain: Let's Get Silly", featuring the character performing standup comedy in front of a brick wall for an hour and a half. It cost $80 million.

According to various "Simpsons" episodes, Wolfcastle began his acting career as a child in Austria, appearing on long television commercials advertising bratwurst. At roughly the same time, he began experimenting with bodybuilding, and his physique earned him a starring role in several gay pornography films, shelves of which were seen by Homer during one of Wolfcastle's debt-induced garage sales. He was also the primary actor on advertisements for "PowerSauce Bars"; bars claiming to boost muscle growth, but which were in fact a mash of apple cores and Chinese newspapers. Rainer Wolfcastle is an Anti-Semite as revealed in Today I Am a Clown.

He owns a Ferrari F40 and a Hummer H1.

Character history

The character was originally referred to both within the show and by the production team as McBain, taken from the role he portrayed in the fictional action film franchise. However, for a short time, "The Simpsons" could not use the McBain name because a movie of the same name (unrelated to "The Simpsons" character) was released in 1991. During this time, the movie's producers refused to give Twentieth Century Fox and Matt Groening's production company clearance to use the "McBain" name, so the name of Rainier Wolfcastle was used to sidestep this. Later, the use of "McBain" as both Wolfcastle's alter-ego and continuing series of films returned to the show.

The name "Rainier" is the French variant of "Rainer", a given name common in Germany and Scandinavian countries (as Ragnar). Also, "Rainier" is a common reference to Mt. Rainier, a large mountain within view of Seattle, Washington. Most "Simpsons" character names come from streets and landmarks near Portland, the hometown of "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening. [Citation
last1 = Hamilton| first1 = Don
title = Matt Groening's Portland
newspaper = Portland Tribune
date = 2002-07-19
year = 2007
url = http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=12392]

Jobs

Rainier Wolfcastle has, in different "Simpsons" episodes, been a presenter at the Academy Awards, a spokesperson for the PowerSauce energy bar, a celebrity judge in radio station KBBL's contest "How Low Will You Go" (along with Krusty the Klown and Madeleine Albright), hosted a short-lived talk show, and appeared on "Inside the Actors Studio" with James Lipton (in which he shoots Lipton after getting into character as McBain). He was married to Maria Quimby in the past, and his daughter Greta dated Bart in the episode, "The Bart Wants What It Wants". He also was co-owner of a Planet Hollywood spoof, along with "Chuck Norris, Johnny Carson's third wife, and the Russian mafia".

Apart from the "McBain" series, Wolfcastle also played Radioactive Man in an ill-fated live-action movie version of the comic book series. Wolfcastle has also ventured into comedic roles; in one episode he carries Homer in an oversized Snugli for babies, remarking, "I used it to carry Rob Schneider in the movie "My Baby is an Ugly Man"." His other films include "Help, My Son is a Nerd," "Mrs. Mom," "Frankenberry: The Movie," "I Shoot Your Face," "I Shoot Your Face Again" and "Diaper Genie." (The last one was actually referenced by Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Simpsons Movie [ [Springfield has gone into anarchy, attacking the dome with anything they find.] Cargill: [to President Schwarzenegger] Look what they're doing to our dome! [A television shows people trying to break through the dome. An elephant also charges it, and is knocked out cold as soon as he collides with the dome. The camera zooms in to this point, and shows a small crack forming.] Cargill: Do you know what that is, sir? President Schwarzenegger: [a little woried] A crack? Cargill: That's right, sir! First, let me state the problem: people have gotten out of the dome before, and they're gonna do it again - and when they do, there's gonna be hearings - investigations-- President Schwarzenegger: GOTT IN HIMMEL! I'll have to go back to making family comedies! [looks at a movie poster titled "Diaper Genie" and groans] ] .)

Politics

Rainier Wolfcastle appears to have political ambitions, as noted by his candidacy for mayor in the recall election of Mayor Diamond Joe Quimby. He is a member of the inner circle of the Springfield Republican Party, which meets at Burns' mansion and includes Burns, Krusty, Dr. Hibbert, The Rich Texan, Count Dracula and Bob Dole.

Wolfcastle has campaigned as Republican Mayoral candidate and as a supporter of Sideshow Bob for Mayor.

The President in The Simpsons Movie was Arnold Schwarzenegger, but he looked like Rainer. the difference was the haircolor.

Prejudices

Hints that Wolfcastle may have some anti-Semitic or Neo-Nazi views derives from Schwarzenegger having had to disavow Nazi sympathies due to his father Gustav Schwarzenegger's onetime Nazi Party membership.cite news
url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0814-07.htm
title=Austrian Archives Reveal Nazi Military Role of Actor's Father
author=Tracy Wilkinson and Matt Lait
publisher=Los Angeles Times
date=August 14, 2003
accessdate=2006-11-14]

When Krusty the Clown says, "I thought I was a self-hating Jew, but it turns out that I'm just an anti-semite" and nearby Wolfcastle enthusiastically responds, "We have so much to discuss". His lead-in announcer on "Up Late with McBain" dresses in a full SS uniform, complete with Nazi armband, and introduces himself as an Obergruppenführer, which was a high ranking officer in the SA and later the SS. In the episode "See Homer Run", in a stump speech he refers to himself as being, among other things a "...son of a [http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/2003-08-24-arnold-father_x.htm Nazi] ...". However, in one of his films, after saving UNICEF supplies from a doomed transport plane, he afterwards leaps onto one of the "Commie-Nazi" enemy jet fighters, pops open the cockpit, and snaps the neck of the enemy leader who appears to look like Hitler.

Despite his aforementioned involvement in the gay porn industry, Rainier himself may also be homophobic, as evidenced by his accusing the entire audience of the "Up Late with McBain" show of being homosexuals after they booed him for describing his band leader's outfit as making him "look like a homosexual".

See also

* Characters from "The Simpsons"
* List of fictional characters within The Simpsons

References