Rainier Wolfcastle

Rainier Wolfcastle
The Simpsons character
First appearance	"The Way We Was" (as McBain) "Radio Bart" (as himself)
Voiced by	Harry Shearer
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Actor

Rainier Luftwaffe Wolfcastle (voiced by Harry Shearer) is an action hero star and a close parody of actor/bodybuilder/politician Arnold Schwarzenegger. This basis has been drawn out over the series. Wolfcastle is a native of Austria, as is Schwarzenegger; he got his start as a child acting in national commercials, most notably for the bratwurst company Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen. Wolfcastle's wife is named Maria, just like the real Schwarzenegger's now divorced wife Maria Shriver. Maria is a member of the political Quimby dynasty. Like Schwarzenegger, Wolfcastle is an active member of the Republican Party and owns a Hummer. In the episode "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", Bart Simpson tells Wolfcastle that his "last movie really sucked" (along with Chief Wiggum's line of "'Magic Ticket' my ass, McBain!"), alluding to Schwarzenegger's then-recent film Last Action Hero, which had been a disappointment at the box office. Wolfcastle owns a restaurant named Planet Springfield, a parody of Planet Hollywood, which Schwarzenegger co-owned with other celebrities. Wolfcastle has starred in many action movies, most notably the McBain series (a parody of action movies such as Die Hard) and the movie of Radioactive Man, a loose parody of the Batman television series. When clips of the McBain films are played in the order in which they aired, they form a mini-movie with a full storyline. The credits of the mini-movie had captions, "But McBain will be back in You Have The Right To Remain DEAD" parodying the early James Bond movies along with the style of music traditionally used in those films. Wolfcastle's more recent movies have gained less renown, and he is even forced to do comedies and even standup comedy. Wolfcastle has made appearances as an Academy Award presenter, a celebrity spokesperson, and a celebrity judge. In a recall election of Mayor Quimby, Wolfcastle ran for his seat. He has a daughter named Greta who had a crush on Bart in the episode "The Bart Wants What It Wants".

The writers invented Wolfcastle as the action hero McBain for the episode "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?". Because they liked the scene involving the character from that episode, they used him again in "The Way We Was", which was recorded and aired before "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" The McBain films satirize clichés of action films. The character was originally named McBain, until an actual film called McBain was released in 1991. That film's producers refused to allow the show to use the name, so "Rainier Wolfcastle" became the name of the actor playing the McBain role. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, doubles as Wolfcastle when Harry Shearer is absent from table reads.

In The Simpsons Movie, a characterization of Schwarzenegger is the President of the United States. He is very similar to the design of Wolfcastle but with more wrinkles under his eyes and a different hairstyle.

Rainier Luftwaffe Wolfcastle is a recurring character in the animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. The character is a parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Role in The Simpsons

Wolfcastle is a veteran of many action movies, most notably the McBain series (unrelated to the 1991 action film by the same name). He is a parody of bodybuilder, actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger.

According to various Simpsons episodes, Wolfcastle began his acting career as early as childhood in Austria, appearing on long TV commercials advertising bratwurst. He owns a Ferrari F40 and a Hummer H1. His daughter Greta Wolfcastle (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) used to have a crush on Bart Simpson ("The Bart Wants What It Wants").

Jobs

File:Mcbain-mendoza.JPG

Wolfcastle portrays "McBain"

Rainier Wolfcastle has, in different Simpsons episodes, been a presenter at the Academy Awards, a spokesperson for the PowerSauce energy bar, a celebrity judge in radio station KBBL's contest "How Low Will You Go" (along with Krusty the Klown and Madeleine Albright), hosted a short-lived talk show, and appeared on Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton (in which he shoots Lipton after getting into character as McBain). He also was co-owner of a Planet Hollywood spoof, along with "Chuck Norris, Johnny Carson's third wife, and the Russian mafia".

Apart from the McBain series, Wolfcastle also played Radioactive Man in an ill-fated live-action movie version of the comic book series. Wolfcastle has also ventured into comedic roles; in one episode he carries Homer in an oversized Snugli for babies, remarking, "I used it to carry Rob Schneider in the movie My Baby is an Ugly Man." His other films include Help, My Son is a Nerd; Mrs. Mom (movie based on a Marge Simpson script); Frankenberry: The Movie; I Shoot Your Face; I Shoot Your Face Again and McBain: Let's Get Silly!, a 90 minute movie consisting of McBain performing stand-up comedy in character, which was said to have cost 80 million dollars to produce.

Politics

Rainier Wolfcastle appears to have political ambitions, as noted by his candidacy for mayor in the recall election of Mayor Diamond Joe Quimby. He is a member of the inner circle of the Springfield Republican Party, along with Burns, Krusty the Clown, Dr. Hibbert, The Rich Texan, Count Dracula and Bob Dole. Wolfcastle has campaigned as Republican Mayoral candidate and as a supporter of Sideshow Bob for Mayor; However, he disagrees with his party on the issue of stem cell research (Schwarzenegger is noted as more socially liberal than a majority of Republican politicians on such issues).

Character

The writers invented Wolfcastle—as the action hero McBain—for the episode "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?". Because they liked the scene involving the character from that episode, they used him again in "The Way We Was", which was recorded and aired before "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?". The McBain films were meant to satirize clichés of action movies.

The character was originally named McBain, after the fictional film franchise. When the movie McBain was released in 1991, the movie's producers refused to allow the show to use the name, so the name "Rainier Wolfcastle", to represent the actor's real name, was created to use instead. Later, the use of the name returned to the show.

Wolfcastle was based on actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This basis has been drawn out over the series. Wolfcastle's wife is named Maria à la Schwarzenegger's wife Maria Shriver. In the episode "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", Bart Simpson tells Wolfcastle that his "last movie really sucked" (Along with Chief Wiggum's line of "Magic Ticket, my ass, McBain!"), alluding to Schwarzenegger's film Last Action Hero, which was panned by critics. Wolfcastle owns a restaurant named Planet Springfield, a parody of Planet Hollywood, which Schwarzenegger co-owned with other celebrities. Wolfcastle is Republican like Schwarzenegger, and owns a Hummer like Schwarzenegger. In the reverse case, The Simpsons Movie's portrayal of Schwarzenegger as President of the United States is modeled after and sounds similar to Wolfcastle.

Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, doubles as Wolfcastle when Harry Shearer is absent from table reads. He ad-libbed the line "On closer inspection, these are loafers" in the episode "A Star Is Burns".