Weiner, Ellis
Entry updated 1 September 2025. Tagged: Author.
(1950- ) US author, humorist and editor, a former member of the National Lampoon editorial team. His first book-length work was The Great Muppet Caper! The Making of the Masterpiece (1981), a spoof behind-the-scenes production account of The Great Muppet Caper (1981), the second Muppets film. Of direct sf interest is National Lampoon's Doon (1984), a very broad Parody of Frank Herbert's Dune (fixup 1965) which transposes the Arrakis/Dune desert planet setting to Arruckus/Doon the dessert planet, whose sugary wastes are infested with dangerous wild pretzels (replacing sandworms) but spawn the mind-altering Drug beer (replacing spice), the whites of whose addicts' eyes become permanently red rather than blue, and so forth; there is some intermittently amusing play with Herbert's italicized internal monologues. The 1985 British reissue from Grafton is mildly notable for a cover by Bruce Pennington, who entered into the spirit by spoofing his own iconic artwork for the UK Dune series.
Weiner's Howard the Duck (1986) novelizes the unsuccessful film Howard the Duck (1986; vt Howard ... A New Breed of Hero) directed by George Lucas and starring the titular Marvel Comics character. Atlas Slugged AGAIN: The "Secret Sequel" to the Towering Masterpiece: A Parody (2015 ebook) applies the raucous parodic technique of Doon to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (1957), to perhaps ultimately tiresome effect. [DRL]
Ellis Weiner
born Pikesville, Maryland: 31 October 1950
works (selected)
- The Great Muppet Caper! The Making of the Masterpiece (New York: Bantam Books, 1981) [pb/photographic]
- National Lampoon's Doon (New York: Pocket Books, 1984) [pb/Doug Beekman]
- Howard the Duck (New York: Berkley Books, 1986) [pb/]
- Letters from Cicely (New York: Pocket Books, 1991) [tie to the tv series Northern Exposure: pb/]
- Atlas Slugged AGAIN: The "Secret Sequel" to the Towering Masterpiece: A Parody (place not given: Kindle Edition, 2015) [ebook: na/Adam Abromowicz]
links
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