''Disco Beaver from Outer Space'' is an early production by ''
National Lampoon'', made for
HBO in 1979.
The short film is a collection of comedy sketches, contained within the main story which is centered on two characters: the protagonist, an extraterrestrial in the form of a human sized (and bipedal)
beaver; and the antagonist, a
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...
called "Dragula".
Among the various side gags (which arise as the "viewer" channel-surfs) is a short concert by a stereotyped band of Irish singers called "The Spud Brothers" (potato-shaped puppets).
Tagline: National Lampoon's mockery of everything that is wrong with cable TV.
Plot
The film is essentially a
shaggy dog story
In its original sense, a shaggy dog story or yarn is an extremely long-winded anecdote characterized by extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents and terminated by an anticlimax.
Shaggy dog stories play upon the audience's precon ...
, leading up to a single play-on-words joke based on "beaver" also being a euphemism for female genitals. At the film's climax, the vampire is frightened by the Beaver; in his delirium, he begins seeing double, thus seeing ''two'' images of the Beaver. He cries, "Split beaver!" and disintegrates.
Cast
*
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career.
A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. B ...
- Dr. Van Helsing
*
Rodger Bumpass
Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his long-running role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as ...
*
Peter Elbling
The Times Square Two was a two man act of music, comedy, acting and juggling.
Their performance of "I've Got a Funny Feeling for Ophelia" on the summer TV series ''Dean Martin Presents'', starring The Golddiggers, Joey Heatherton, and Frank Sina ...
- Dragula, Queen of Darkness
*
Alice Playten
*
James Widdoes
James Widdoes (born November 15, 1953, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), sometimes billed as Jamie Widdoes, is an American actor and director.
Early life
Widdoes graduated from The Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1972, and is a memb ...
- Construction worker
*
Lee Wilkof
Lee Wilkof (born June 25, 1951) is an American actor and veteran of the Broadway stage. He originated the roles of Samuel Byck in ''Assassins'' and Seymour in ''Little Shop of Horrors, ''later earning a Tony Award nomination for the 2000 revival ...
*Michael Simmons
*
Sarah Durkee
See also
*
List of National Lampoon films During the 1970s and early 1980s, a few films were made as spin-offs from the original ''National Lampoon'' magazine, using some of the magazine's creative staff to put together the outline and script, and were cast using some of the same actors th ...
External links
*
American television films
HBO network specials
National Lampoon films
1979 television films
1979 films
1979 comedy films
{{1970s-comedy-film-stub