Parody Film

Although the subgenre is often overlooked by critics, parody films are commonly profitable at the box office. Parody is related to satire, except that "parody is more often a representation of appreciation, while a satire is more often...pointing ...out the major flaws of an object through ridicule." J.M. Maher notes that the "difference is not always clear" and points out that "some films employ both techniques". Parody is found in a range of art and culture, including literature, music, theater, television, animation, and gaming.

The first film parody was The Little Train Robbery (1905), which makes fun of The Great Train Robbery (1903), in part by using an all-child cast for the Western spoof. Historically, when a genre formula grows tired, as in the case of the moralistic melodramas in the 1910s, it retains value only as a parody, as demonstrated by Buster Keaton shorts that mocked that melodrama genre.

Influential parody actors and creators from the first half of 20th century included the Marx Brothers (active 1905–1949), W. C. Fields (active 1898–1946), Mae West (active 1907–1978), Laurel and Hardy (1927-1955), and Bob Hope (active 1924–1998). The 1970s and 1980s have been called the "golden age" of parody movies, led by Mel Brooks and the "ZAZ trio" (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker). Brooks' parodies included a Western parody, Blazing Saddles (1974), a horror parody, Young Frankenstein (1974), and a space opera parody, Spaceballs (1987). The ZAZ trio is best known for their film which parodies a number of 1960s and 1970s genres (from exploitation film to kung fu film), The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) and their air disaster film parody, Airplane! (1980). Woody Allen also contributed several parodies.

In the 2000s, the increasing availability of digital cameras (and then smartphones) that could shoot video and accessible editing software made it possible for amateur and early-stage professional creators to make parodies and post them online.

• Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900)
• The Little Train Robbery (1905)

• The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)
• Teddy at the Throttle (1917)

• Mud and Sand (1922)
• Three Ages (1923)
• Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925)
• Yes, Yes, Nanette (1925)

• Free and Easy (1930)
• Movie Crazy (1932)
• Number Seventeen (1932)
• Once in a Lifetime (1932)
• Sons of the Desert (1933)
• Babes in Toyland (1934)
• Satan Met a Lady (1936)
• The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (1937)
• Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937)
• Sh! The Octopus (1937)
• The Gorilla (1939)

• The Great Profile (1940)
• You Nazty Spy! (1940)
• A Chump at Oxford (1940)
• Playmates (1941)
• Hellzapoppin' (1941)
• Crazy House (1943)
• Along Came Jones (1945)
• The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)

• Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
• Jack and the Beanstalk (1952)
• Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
• Beat the Devil (1953)
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955)
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
• The Court Jester (1956)

• Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)
• Carry On Cleo (1964)
• A Shot in the Dark (1964)
• Dr. Strangelove (1964)
• Carry On Spying (1964)
• Harum Scarum (1965)
• The Great Race (1965)
• Carry On Cowboy (1965)
• Don't Lose Your Head (1966)
• For a Few Dollars Less (1966)
• Carry On Screaming! (1966)
• Our Man Flint (1966)
• In Like Flint (1967)
• Casino Royale (1967)
• The Ambushers (1967)
• The Dove (1968)
• Zuckerkandl (1968)

• Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
• Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
• Secret Magic Control Agency (2021)
• America: The Motion Picture (2021)
• The Mean One (2022)
• Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022)
• DC League of Super-Pets (2022)
• Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
• Strays (2023)
• Barbie (2023)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

• Gehring, Wes D. Parody as Film Genre: Never Give a Saga an Even Break. Praeger, 1999. ISBN 0-313-26186-5, 978-0-313-26186-2