Known as Mad magazine's "Maddest Writer" Dick DeBartolo's writing has been published in over 350 back-to-back issues since 1966. He's got plenty to say about the long history the magazine has in spoofing the Star Wars saga since it debuted in 1977. StarWars.com caught up with DeBartolo to talk about his favorite Star Wars moments from the very beginning.
What is your first Star Wars memory?
It was John Ficarra coming into my office at MAD magazine and saying, "Star Wars is going to be huge! I want you to see it when it opens and write a satire for MAD!" I didn't realize just how huge the first Star Wars movie would be. Trying to get into a screening was impossible. Saying I worked for MAD magazine didn't help. Since I already had a giant mustache, I thought about buying a curly wig and showing up at a preview claiming I was Gene Shalit. But I figured getting thrown out or arrested wasn't a good idea. I finally got to see it at a 2 a.m. screening. It was an exciting film, but all through it I kept thinking "How can I boil a movie with so much in it down to five or six MAD pages!?"
What was the first Star Wars parody for Mad Magazine that you wrote?
What is your favorite Star Wars parody that you've written for MAD?
Without question, hands down, my favorite parody was "Star Wars -- Re-hash of the Jeti!" And the reason? One was Mort Drucker's amazing art. But the bigger reason was that it ran eight pages! Artists and writers get paid by the page! I believe that particular satire was the longest one I ever wrote for MAD, and one of the few eight page articles that ever appeared in MAD.
Why is Star Wars so much fun to parody?
Parody is based on a couple of important things. One is that the reader has to be familiar with the material to appreciate the satire. With Star Wars you know the fans really know the films. Actually they know them so well it's a worry that we get something wrong in the satire. Fortunately we're MAD magazine, so if something is wrong we can always claim it was written that way for 'satirical purposes!' Also satire is better when it spoofs 'serious' scenes, and there are plenty of those in a Star Wars movie. And then there are all those action scenes and all that machinery! Lots of stuff to work with.
I was so thrilled with that letter I have it framed and hanging on the wall in my apartment. And I have a copy in my wallet! Would you like to see it? And it came at the most incredible time. It arrived just before MAD received a letter from the attorneys for George Lucas. They said they were suing MAD because of copyright infringement concerning the Star Wars satire. So Bill Gaines, the publisher of MAD at the time, simply wrote on the bottom of the lawyer's letter something like: "Gee, George liked it!" And he attached a copy of the letter George had sent to MAD complimenting myself and Mort Drucker, the artist of the satire. Needless to say we never heard from Lucas' attorneys ever again! And we've done all sorts of Star Wars-related satires since then. I was thrilled again when in his foreword to the new book MAD about Star Wars, George writes: "Perhaps most importantly, I have always defended MAD from my lawyers!"Why do you think there's so much crossover between Star Wars fans and MAD magazine fans?
Star Wars has a lot to do with imagination and I think MAD does too. Also, let's face it. Devoted Star Wars fans want to read everything that has to do with Star Wars. And since we do quite a bit of it, it's a natural crossover.
Jonathan Bresman, who pulled the entire project together, made sure there was a great mix of Star Wars parodies. There are the movies of course, but there are also fun Star Wars-based posters, fold-ins, ads, etc. It's a wonderful addition to the Star Wars craze, especially the 30th Anniversary. And I must add that Jonathan himself played a minor role in a Star Wars movie. One day I walked into the conference room at MAD to find Jonathan intently watching a DVD. Was it Star Wars? Well, sort of. It turns out that Jonathan had a stint working at Lucasfilm. He told me that one day while working there he was ordered to run around in a primitive Jar Jar Binks costume while being chased by a pick-up truck. The whole thing was filmed in order to give George Lucas a rough idea of what a scene from The Phantom Menace would look like. Jonathan didn't explain however, why he continues to wear that Jar Jar Binks costume to the office! Unless of course, it may have been a casual Friday.
I've been here at MAD for more than 40 years, back to high school days. I sent a script to MAD and had read in Writer's Handbook that unsolicited scripts had to be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope or it would just be trashed if rejected. Weeks after sending it in, I got back my own self-addressed, stamp envelope. I was so disappointed. Later I decided to open it to see if maybe there was a reject letter that said: "Close, try again" or something like that. But the envelope was stuffed with cardboard, and scribbled on the cardboard was a note. It said: "Ha, ha, thought your script was rejected. Well, we bought it! Please get in touch with us. We'd like you to write more for MAD." And there was a check stapled to the cardboard! It was signed by Nick Meglin, who recently retired as co-editor.
Jump ahead about 15 years and that letter from George Lucas comes along. What a great thing to know that satire, something I love writing, can produce income. Of course, I'm still waiting for my second check from MAD, which is now almost 44 years overdue. I rarely lose my temper, but if I don't get that check is the next five years, I'm going to call and complain! Well, maybe I'll wait six years until I complain! After all, I like working here.
To learn more about DeBartolo's long career with MAD, check out his memoir Good Days and Mad: A Hysterical Tour Behind the Scenes at Mad Magazine. He also hosts the daily podcast show called The Daily Giz Wiz, which you can learn more about here.
