Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most beloved characters in comedies from 1980 to 2009.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most beloved characters
00:10in comedies from 1980 to 2009.
00:13Animated characters are not included, unfortunately.
00:15And heads up, there will be spoilers.
00:24Happy Gilmore, Happy Gilmore.
00:33One of Adam Sandler's most enduring comic roles, Happy is not a happy camper.
00:37An unsuccessful hockey player turned golfer, Happy is short-tempered and prone to hilarious
00:41outbursts.
00:50Happy even throws hands with none other than Bob Barker of The Price is Right, his golfing
00:54partner, and quickly learns the score.
01:00Happy's determination to win the tournament to save his grandmother's house from foreclosure,
01:04however, wins the day.
01:05As it turns out, Happy was based on Sandler's childhood friend, who too had been a hockey
01:09player with a truly fast swing.
01:11Sandler's physical comedy and line delivery are spot on, making Happy one of his most
01:16iconic roles.
01:30With many iconic lines, Mandy Patinkin's Inigo Montoya proves that even villainous
01:35henchmen are human too, and are sticklers for the proper use of vocabulary.
01:39From his politesse-induling The Dread Pirate Roberts and friendship with gentle giant Fezzik,
01:44his swashbuckling Hamlet's greatest motivation is to avenge his father's death.
01:56This six-fingered Claudius turns out to be Count Rugen, whom Inigo finally duels in the
02:00climax of the film, finally uttering what he had been dying to say to him for all these
02:05years.
02:06It's a great parody of the typical revenge plot, with the most endearing comic character.
02:30What do you get when you put a tomboy in a beauty pageant?
02:32Comedy gold, obviously.
02:34Gracie is a rough-and-tough FBI agent, constantly overlooked and disregarded by her colleagues.
02:38When they receive information of a possible terrorist attack at a beauty pageant, Gracie
02:42goes undercover as Miss New Jersey.
02:49Hilarity ensues, as Gracie struggles with and warms up the beauty pageant world, as
02:54well as successfully foiling a terrorist plot regarding a bomb in the crown.
02:58In the end, Gracie reconciles both her masculine and feminine sides.
03:01Sandra Bullock's charm and chops as an actor in portraying Gracie's toughness and
03:05femininity elevate the film to a whole new level.
03:25Leslie Nielsen already gave a spectacular comic performance in Airplane, with this now
03:30iconic line.
03:35Nielsen delivered yet another whopper of a performance in another parody series, this
03:39time on Detective Films.
03:41First appearing in the TV series, Police Squad, Nielsen's Lieutenant Frank Rebbon bumbles
03:45his way to solving mysteries, from getting bribed by his witnesses to shooting Shakespearean
03:50thespians in a park.
03:57Nielsen's straight-faced line delivery is a pitch-perfect recreation of your regular
04:01police detective.
04:02It also brings the comic idiocy of his police work to stark relief.
04:06Nobody is going to call this guy Shirley any time soon.
04:22These great ones are also dum-dums.
04:24Bill and Ted are regular high school students, destined to be founders of a great utopia.
04:28First though, they have to pass history class or else this utopia will vanish into the mist.
04:32They are helped by fellow citizen Rufus, and, well, themselves.
04:42That's right, their future selves also come to tell them excitedly about their own, soon-to-come
04:49time-travelling adventures.
04:51Which is righteous.
04:52Sure enough, Bill and Ted meet, befriend and kidnap several historical figures, including
04:56Napoleon, Socrates, Beethoven and more.
04:59Their history report turns out to be a winner, and they pass the course with flying colours.
05:03Which is like, you know, totally cool.
05:15If you thought Jane Austen's Emma was clueless, wait till you see her modern counterpart.
05:19Cher Horowitz is more than spoiled and privileged.
05:22She also has unique opinions on US immigration policy.
05:25More to the point, she also has a penchant for matchmaking, taking on the awkward Ty
05:28Frazier as her new project.
05:31Although Cher is convinced that searching for love in high school is as useless as searching
05:34for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie, it doesn't take long for her head to be turned as well.
05:41Cher's quirky and intermittently shrewd superficiality is comic, especially as she realises the clueless
05:47one may just be herself after all.
06:03This ghoulishly fun performance by Michael Keaton has to be seen to be believed.
06:07After a married couple, the Maitlands, get into a car accident and come back as ghosts,
06:11they must contend with the presence of the Deets family living in their home and scare
06:15them away.
06:16It's their daughter, Beetlejuice, who agrees to help scare the family away, but his morbid
06:20ways and crude personality wreak havoc.
06:30Beetlejuice continues on his antagonistic ways when he agrees to help the Maitlands
06:34from getting exorcised, in exchange for marrying the Deets' daughter, Lydia.
06:38A bigger-than-life personality, even when he is small, Keaton's Beetlejuice is a scene
06:43stealer.
06:56Eddie Murphy already showed his comic chops as Reggie Hammond in 48 Hours, but Axel Foley
07:00in this iconic buddy cop film franchise is justly beloved.
07:04Street-smart, quick-witted and charismatic, Axel is initially on probation, reprimanded
07:08for ruining a sting operation with his reckless actions.
07:11Axel redeems himself though, with his sharp eye, impeccable police instincts and killer
07:16groove.
07:18Axel's down-to-earth charm and quick thinking is a good antidote to his hard-boiled superiors,
07:24and is perfect for a more comic take on the crime genre.
07:27Murphy's breakout performance shot him into international stardom.
07:30Axel's popularity as the leading man is enough to inspire multiple sequels.
07:45Guard your loins, because she is coming.
07:47If you don't know the difference between turquoise, lapis or cerulean, Miranda Priestly
07:51is here to call you out on your ignorance.
07:58Meryl Streep gives what would have been a two-dimensional villain true icy menace as
08:02Andy's horrific boss.
08:04Miranda is the editor of a fashion magazine, with the perfectionist-if-charismatic attitude
08:08that threatens to suck down-to-earth Andy into her fashion queen era.
08:12Miranda is the boss from hell alright, but she is also a character who has paid a very
08:16high price for her success.
08:18Also, her cerulean monologue about the relevance of fashion is justly iconic.
08:36This fourth war-breaking miscreant is one we cannot help but love.
08:40A slacker student, Ferris takes a day off faking an illness and even goes to the trouble
08:44of doctoring his attendance records at school.
08:51From there, he and his friends paint the town.
08:53Unfortunately, the school's dean, Edward Rooney, gets suspicious of Ferris' frequent
08:58absences and almost catches him in the act.
09:00I mean, you'd think it would be less trouble to go to school.
09:02On the other hand, we'd never get Matthew Broderick's pitch-perfect performance and
09:06his fourth war-breaking asides.
09:25Perhaps the most well-known-if-controversial mockumentary, Borat would be very different
09:29without its quirky protagonist.
09:31Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat is a fictional journalist from Kazakhstan going to America
09:35to make a documentary about American culture and customs.
09:40Dumb, provincial and laughably sexist and anti-Semitic, Borat also sends up the dumb,
09:51provincial and laughably prejudiced parts of American life.
09:53Much of the comedy stems from Borat's broken English and quirky guileless character, contrasting
09:58with the quirky Americans he encounters.
10:01Offensive or not, Baron Cohen's Borat is one of the most memorable comic personas in
10:04a while.
10:19Will Ferrell has portrayed many iconic characters, including the innocent and naive Buddy the
10:23Elf, but Ron Burgundy is an Anchorman who truly deserves the label of legendary.
10:28Burgundy is a bumbling Anchorman with no filter.
10:31He will also read anything that is put on the teleprompter.
10:34No thoughts, head empty.
10:41Ferrell actually took inspiration for the movie and the character from an interview
10:44with a 70s Anchorman, his mannerisms, accent and even sexism.
10:48Which checks out.
10:50Burgundy's buffoonery is filled with quotable lines and instances, including the now-meme
10:54legend.
11:06The Queen Bee of the school is the de facto queen of this film.
11:09There's nothing quite like an antagonist to steal the show, and Rachel McAdams'
11:13Regina George is proof of that.
11:15Regina is the leader of the Plastics, with a mean, plastic personality herself.
11:21Regina's meanness includes many hilarious lines and moments.
11:27From gaslighting new girl Kady to preventing Gretchen from making Fetch happen, McAdams'
11:32Regina's mean girl evil is at legendary levels.
11:35Fortunately, or unfortunately, she gets her comeuppance once Janice and Kady's plan
11:39to take down Regina is revealed, to the whole school's approval.
11:42Fetch may never happen, but Regina definitely did.
11:56The details of Dr Evil's childhood may be inconsequential, but they are certainly hilarious.
12:01Austin Powers has an iconic main character in Mike Myers' groovy James Bond send-up,
12:05Austin Powers.
12:06Before that, Myers had already proved his comic chops as Wayne in 1992's Wayne's
12:11World.
12:13From his iconic bored look, to his dead Pantones, to his fatherhood issues, Dr Evil is a lovable
12:16villain, and a pitch-perfect parody of the typically unsubtle Bond villain.
12:27You could say he had the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane
12:33Number 6 – Elle Woods, Legally Blonde Franchise
12:39Oh my god, you guys.
12:44Looks like Elle is going to win the prize, of being one of the most beloved characters
12:47in comedy history.
12:48Like Clueless' Cher, Elle is rich and spoiled, but with an intelligence sharp enough to get
12:52her into Harvard Law School.
13:00Although initially in it for the boyfriend, and vastly underestimated by all around her,
13:05Elle bucks down to study and becomes a formidable lawyer.
13:08In the climax of the film, her particular knowledge of fashion and perms aids her in
13:11winning a murder case.
13:13Elle's success makes the feminist point that one can be a great lawyer and also like
13:17pink.
13:18Slay, queen.
13:19I mean, what is with comic films and bumbling detectives, eh?
13:37Jim Carrey has made his career creating unforgettable comic characters, such as Lloyd Christmas
13:41and Dumb and Dumber.
13:42Carrey's The Mask character is also the best example of a live-action cartoon we've
13:46ever seen.
13:47Our pick is Ace Ventura, another hilariously incompetent detective, trying to solve the
13:52case of a missing dolphin.
13:54Carrey's physical mannerisms and extravagant personality have us in raptures any time.
14:15Marty McFly's adventures and time travel have become one of the most beloved in cinema,
14:19and Marty himself is an iconic character.
14:21However, this series would have never been the same without Christopher Lloyd Dock, the
14:24inventor of time machines.
14:26Dock is an eccentric, frazzled scientist, combining typical absent-minded professor
14:30shenanigans with a modern attitude.
14:40More than that, Dock proves a benign and open-minded mentor to young Marty.
14:44Eventually, he grows convinced that time travel is dangerous for mankind, and destroys
14:48it.
14:49Inspired by the appearance and quirks of Albert Einstein and Leopold Stokowski, Dock proves
14:53that not all fictional scientists are evil masterminds.
14:58Who you gonna call?
15:06Dr Peter Venkman, of course, played by Bill Murray.
15:09A professor of parapsychology, Venkman, along with his fellow professors, create Ghostbusters
15:14after their first encounter with an actual ghost.
15:16Venkman's cynical charm and irreverent, deadpan humour make him the perfect leader
15:20of the Ghostbusters.
15:24As the Ghostbusters bumble their way into capturing ghosts and even establish themselves
15:27as a household name, Venkman is the face of the group, taking on the marketing, dealing
15:31with the police and checking out Dana, her apartment, I mean.
15:35Venkman's down-to-earth professionalism is a great comic contrast with the supernatural
15:38entities he captures.
15:49A man disguised as a woman has been a treasure trope in all comedy, to Shakespeare, to Some
15:54Like It Hot, to Tootsie.
15:56Hollywood legend Robin Williams' Mrs Doubtfire is one of the most memorable.
15:59After his wife takes custody of their kids, Daniel Hillard decides to disguise himself
16:03as a British nanny.
16:10Williams' excellent voice acting skills and physical comedy serve him well as Hillard
16:14struggles with passing as a believable and competent nanny to his kids.
16:18Even when the mask finally slips off, Hillard's love for his children manages to win over
16:22his bitter ex.
16:24Williams' comic charm carries the day.
16:29Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions.
16:33Dale Griffith, planes, trains and automobiles, because his stories are not even amusing accidentally.
16:43Clark W. Griswold, National Lampoon's vacation franchise, because nothing says Superdad like
16:48ruining everything.
16:53Alan Garner, The Hangover franchise, because he is literally too stupid to insult.
17:03Sally Albright, When Harry Met Sally, because we would all like what she's having.
17:29Lebowski, The Big Lebowski Sure, there is the Vietnam-obsessed Walter
17:38and his hilarious eulogy to poor, departed Donnie, but in the end, the crown has to go
17:42to the dude himself, also known as his dudeness, Duder or El Duderino if you're not into
17:47the whole brevity thing.
17:56The dude is a slacker bowler, mistaken for a different Lebowski altogether.
18:01The dude and his two friends go to the other Lebowski, who hires them to deliver a ransom
18:04for his kidnapped girlfriend, Bunny.
18:06The dude's laid-back, wise-ass attitude in the face of serious threats makes this
18:10character a joy to watch.
18:12He may be a loser, but at least he's housebroken.
18:17So which other iconic comic character do you always gird your loins for?
18:22Let us know in the comments down below.
18:23Bye!