Zoolander (2001)

Zoolander is a 2001 comedy film directed by Ben Stiller. The film is based on a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the VH1 Fashion Awards television specials in 1996 and 1997. The short films and the movie feature Derek Zoolander, a dimwitted male model. The title role is played by Ben Stiller, and in the feature film (which Stiller directed), Zoolander's agent, Maury Ballstein, is played by Stiller's father Jerry Stiller. It was banned and never released in Malaysia and Singapore.

The movie's box office was hurt by the fact that it opened two weekends after the September 11, 2001 attacks; it was among the first comedy films after the occurrence to enter theaters. In the trailer for the Oliver Stone movie World Trade Center, a poster for Zoolander can be seen in the background as the shadow of the first plane to hit the WTC passes over New York City.

Zoolander's name is derived from the last names of male models Mark Vanderloo and Johnny Zander. The original combination had been "Zanderloo," which Ben Stiller felt was too close to the original sources.

Throughout most of the film, Zoolander shows an inability to turn left. (Quote: "I'm not an ambi-turner.") To compensate, he will continuously turn right until he faces the correct direction. So, rather than making a 90° turn left, Zoolander will turn 270° right. However, a goof showed him exiting the awards show by turning left. In fact, an inability to turn left is one symptom experienced by those with Hemispatial neglect, a condition caused by damage to the right hemisphere of the brain. Patients with this problem compensate in the same way as Zoolander, turning right until they are facing the desired direction.

"Blue Steel" is the name of a male model pose in Zoolander. The film's protagonist Derek Zoolander invented the pose and he protects it as a trade secret (it is supposedly patented). It is his claim to fame, along with his "Spiky Black Hair". The style of the pose is identical to all his other named poses, which include "Le Tigre" and "Ferrari". This contributes to the running joke that despite his reputation as a male model, Zoolander knows only one pose. However, his "Magnum" pose that saved the Prime Minister is different from the others because he turns left, The reason he could not complete the pose Magnum was because he could not turn left, until the final scene where he uses "Magnum" to save the day.

The name of the character Jacobim Mugatu is a reference to the Star Trek episode "A Private Little War." In the episode, there is a predatory, venomous primate called a "Mugato". It, like Zoolander's Mugatu, has bright white hair. The name of the character Matilda Jeffries is a reference to Star Trek set designer Matt Jeffries. Ben Stiller has said he is a huge Star Trek fan.

Additionally, when it is revealed that he was a former keytar player for Frankie Goes to Hollywood, his real last name is shown to be "Moogberg": a reference to the Moog synthesizer and its inventor, Robert Moog.

"Derelicte" is the name given to the fashion line designed by Will Ferrell's character Mugatu. It is described by Mugatu in the film as "a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique." The fashion line consists of clothing made from everyday objects that could be found on the streets of New York. Derelicte is a parody of a real fashion line created by John Galliano in 2000.

Mugatu is also a parody of the Bond villain Blofeld, who (in the films) is famous for his white cat. Mugatu on the other hand, is always seen with a white poodle.

In December 2008, according to media reports Ben Stiller did confirm that he intends to make a sequel to this movie, currently called 'Zoolander 2' which is presumably only a working title at this early stage.