A View To A Kill/ James Bond

Joke Poo: The Hobbit’s Hole

Back in the early 2000s, I was working on the set of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It was a huge production, of course, and we were shooting a scene in Bag End, Frodo’s hobbit hole.

At one point, Elijah Wood was supposed to open the round green front door of Bag End. He’d run up, reach for the knob, and swing it open. Simple enough, right? Well, he couldn’t get the door to budge. It just wouldn’t open. The grips were called, and they tried and tried, but it wouldn’t budge.

Finally, they called in the set supervisor, a burly chap named Bob. He looked over the door, examined the hinges, and read the production notes. He scratched his head and said, “Here’s the problem. This door was made for McKellen!”

Alright, let’s analyze this Bond joke and then spice it up with some related humor.

Joke Dissection:

• Setup: We’re given a nostalgic backdrop: the 80s, “A View To A Kill,” Roger Moore’s final Bond outing, and Christopher Walken as the villain. This establishes a context of high-stakes espionage and glamorous locations.
• Premise: The core is the slapstick-esque situation of Roger Moore being unable to fit into his riding boots, a seemingly mundane problem disrupting the Bond image.
• Punchline: The punchline is a pun that uses the actors’ names: “These boots were made for Walken!” It connects the physical comedy of the ill-fitting boots to Walken’s role as the villain, creating a funny (albeit predictable) twist. The setup is what makes the predictability tolerable.
• Humor Type: The humor relies on a combination of situational irony (the suave Bond struggling with footwear), character juxtaposition (Moore’s Bond vs. Walken’s Zorin), and wordplay (the pun).

Key Elements to Leverage:

• Roger Moore’s Age/Later Bond Films: Moore was noticeably older in his later Bond films. This was a running joke at the time.
• Christopher Walken’s Quirky Persona: Walken is known for his distinctive speech patterns, mannerisms, and intense on-screen presence.
• “A View To A Kill” Specifics: The film itself is… not exactly a critical darling. The plot is a bit outlandish even by Bond standards (microchips in racehorses, flooding Silicon Valley, etc.)

Comedic Enrichment – Option 1: Witty Observation

“You know, that boot incident on ‘A View To A Kill’ really foreshadowed the film’s overall feel. Moore was visibly struggling to fill the role, just like his foot struggled with Walken’s boots. The film was like a Bond film two sizes too big for him… and possibly slightly unhinged, much like Walken himself.”

Comedic Enrichment – Option 2: Alternate Punchline

After the boots not fitting and Tiny Nicholas diagnosing the problem:

“Moore, exasperated, then suggested, ‘Perhaps we should call Q. He could at least install ejector seats in them!'”

Comedic Enrichment – Option 3: Amusing “Did You Know?”

“Did you know that Christopher Walken apparently ad-libbed a lot of his dialogue in ‘A View To A Kill’? It explains why some of Zorin’s lines sound like he’s simultaneously trying to explain quantum physics and order a cheeseburger.” This could then be followed by something like, “Perhaps the boots were just another of Walken’s ad-libs, a physical manifestation of his method acting. ‘I feel like a horse. Therefore, these boots are mine!'”

Explanation of why these options work:

• Option 1 uses metacommentary that links the boot joke to the broader sentiment about Roger Moore’s later Bond films, using the contrast in age.
• Option 2 capitalizes on the expectation that Bond can get himself out of any situation with the assistance of his gadgets and weapons, and creates a slightly sarcastic and self-aware punchline.
• Option 3 enhances the original joke using a funny anecdote about Walken.

The goal is to build upon the established elements and create new layers of humor that resonate with the original joke’s themes and characters. By adding in a touch of self-awareness and exploiting the actors’ real-life personas, we can elevate the joke beyond a simple pun.