This is a list of cultural references to the 1964 film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Film

The 1998 film Deep Impact discussed preparations for surviving a massive asteroid strike upon the Earth, and mineshafts are drafted into service for this reason, in an echo of the survival plan in Dr. Strangelove. Additionally, a lottery system is proposed for selection of candidates for survival, much like that proposed by Dr. Strangelove himself.

In the 1987 film, Raising Arizona, the initialisms "P.O.E." and "O.P.E." appear written on the back of a men's room door shortly after Gale and Evelle have escaped from prison.

The National Lampoon film Men In White features a character based on Dr. Strangelove called Dr. Strangemeister - wheelchair bound (when he wants to be), he conspires with aliens to abduct the Earth's population; and it is up to 2 garbagemen called Ed and Roy to stop this scheme.

Steve Buscemi's character Rockhound in Armageddon (1998) straddles a nuclear warhead much like the ending with Slim Pickens' character T. J. Kong does during the final scene.

In the 1992 film Stay Tuned, Spike's (Jeffrey Jones' character) control center is modeled after the War Room. The homage comes complete with a Dr. Strangelove impersonator.

In Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) Martin, a hitman played by John Cusack is accused of being a psycho. His response, "Don't rush to judgment on something like that until all the facts are in." is an echo of Buck Turgidson's response to the same assertion made about General Ripper. "We-he-ell, uh, I'd like to hold off judgement on a thing like that, sir, until all the facts are in."

In The Mummy Returns, a log bridge falls into a ravine with several pygmies on it. One pygmie runs one way across the falling bridge to get off of it, and then runs back the other way. After realizing it can't escape, it straddles the log and waves its hand in the air like Major Kong atop the bomb.

Television

The popular television series The Simpsons contains several references to Dr. Strangelove. Here are only a few examples:

:*In the episode "Homer the Vigilante", Homer Simpson rides a bomb à la Major Kong.
:*The episode "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" features a war room in the style of the film's, with Professor Frink as Dr. Strangelove. In a different scene, Sideshow Bob whistles "We’ll Meet Again".
:*The episode "$pringfield " is an obvious parody of the title.
:*General Turgidson appears in Treehouse of Horror XIII, again in Mayor Quimby's war room.

On Mystery Science Theater 3000, Dr. Strangelove is one of many films used as a source of "riffs." A few examples:

:*During Cave Dwellers (Episode #301), when the character Thong seems to grow suspicious, Crow T. Robot (pretending to be Thong) declares, "I smell a rat, a big commie rat!" mimicking General Buck Turgidson. When the teacher in the short Cheating (from Episode #515) catches a student cheating, Tom Servo offers a similar imitation: "I smell a big commie rat!" Variations on the line are spoken during other episodes as well.
:*During Junior Rodeo Daredevils (From Episode #407), Crow mimicks part of Strangelove's post-apocalyptic plan (complete with spurious German accent): "Animals are to be bred und slaughtered!" This line also recurs during Operation Double 007 (Episode #508) and other episodes.
:*In a host segment during Mitchell (Episode #512), Gypsy, trying to figure out an escape plan, has a blackboard on which the the letter sequences "O.E.P.", "E.O.P.", and "P.O.E." appear, a reference to General Jack D. Ripper's three-letter recall code.
:*Near the end of Wild Wild World of Batwoman (Episode #515), following an explosion, Tom Servo sings a variation of Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again", which was played over Dr. Strangelove's closing sequence.
:*Strangelove's line "Mein Fuhrer, I can valk!" is used during The Atomic Brain (Episode #518), Village of the Giants (Episode #523), Danger: Diabolik (Episode #1013), and others.
:*When the titular dragon of The Sword and the Dragon appears, Servo imitates Strangelove, likening the dragon to the film's doomsday weapon: "The whole point of having a dragon iss to tell the vorld you have a dragon! Vhy did you keep it a zecret?!"
:*During Parts: The Clonus Horror (Episode #811), when a character played by Keenan Wynn approaches the runaway clone, Servo mimicks Wynn's Strangelove character, Colonel "Bat" Guano: "You one of them preverts?" (sic)
:*Early in The Horrors of Spider Island (Episode #1011), a curly-haired man with glasses is greeted by Servo as "Doctor Strangelove!"

The Saturday morning cartoon version of The Tick had a recurring character named "Doctor Strangepants." He was confined to a wheelchair, spoke with a pronounced German accent, and had a hair style very similar to Sellers in the movie. He was a science advisor for Mayor Blank, and was frequently seen in closed meetings with various civil leaders, advising them on how to deal with various threats to the city. Usually, these plans involve giant versions of regular objects.

Dr. Strangelove is quoted many times in the television show Angry Beavers.

In Animaniacs, the episode called Sir Yaksalot, Wakko takes out a War Room door and they look into the War Room. In the background, a cartoon-ized version of Dr. Strangelove sits, fighting down his right hand.

In the Sealab 2021 episode "Red Dawn", Doctor Quinn rides a nuke he dropped on America, "The United States of Oppression," while screaming, "Nobody shucks my corn but me!"

In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Get It Done, nerd Andrew has been diagramming on his whiteboard when visitors arrive, causing him to exclaim "They'll see the big board!"

In the Futurama episode "A Big Piece of Garbage", the credit sequence contains a different version of Vera Lynn's song "We'll Meet Again". The episode contained an almost earth destroying garbage ball which mirrors the nuclear bombs in Dr. Stranglove.

In an episode of the animated series, Beast Wars, the Maximal Rattrap briefly rides a giant missile while exclaiming "yee-haw."

Print

In the Terry Pratchett book Jingo, during an argument between various leaders of the Ankh-Morpork army one member pleads, "Gentlemen, no fighting please. This is, after all, a council of war."

The cover of the March 11 2006 issue of The Economist depicts American president George W. Bush dressed in cowboy gear riding a nuclear bomb down to the earth while starring in a movie called "Dr. Strangedeal or: How I learned to stop worrying and love my friend's bomb". [1084] The cover served to parody Bush's 2006 deal to look the other way as India develops nuclear weapons.

In 1965 science fiction author Philip K. Dick released a novel about a post apocalyptic society titled Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb. This was not the originally intended title, but was suggested by his publisher to coincide with the popularity of the Kubrick film.

The The Ultimates Hardcover edition has a chapter titled: "How I learned to love the Hulk", an obvious reference to the title of Doctor Strangelove.

Computer games

The scene of nuke-riding was presented in the intro of computer game Nuclear War, made by New World Computing in 1989. The person who is riding the bomb is apparently dressed in cowboy outfit and is waving a cowboy hat.

In the first person shooter computer game Return to Castle Wolfenstein, a letter to a doctor Merkwurdigliebe can be seen. "Merkwurdigliebe" is Strangelove's real, non-anglicized name.

The "Strangelove" mod for Unreal Tournament enables players to ride atop certain missile weapons, complete with the famous whooping yell.

Music

The video for Muse's Time Is Running Out features military men and women sitting in a war room planning the destruction of the world around a table identical to the one in Dr. Strangelove as the band sings in the centre of the table.

Carter USM's song "Cheer Up It Might Never Happen" from the album Post Historic Monsters features the line "I wanna learn to love the bomb".

The band Local H has a song on their 1998 album "Pack Up the Cats" entitled "Hit The Skids Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love The Rock", which is a parody, or perhaps tribute to the film.

The British band Television Personalities released a single entitled "How I Learned To Love The Bomb" in 1986.

The video for Rush's Distant Early Warning features a boy riding a nuclear ICBM, echoing the scene in Dr. Strangelove.

The band Depeche Mode has a song called Strangelove, although aside from the title, ties to the movie are minimal, if any.

CRM-114

In Dr. Strangelove, the CRM-114 is the nomenclature of the Strategic Air Command encryption/decryption device aboard the B-52 Stratofortress (and also a frequent in-joke used by Kubrick in his other films). This has been referenced:

*In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Business as Usual", the characters make reference to a powerful Breen weapon called the 'CRM-114'.

*In Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange the serum which is given to the main character during the so-called "Ludovico treatment" is called 'Serum 114'. "CRM-114" is also the license plate number on the car Alex and his droogs drive in the beginning.

*In the first scene of Back to the Future, Marty McFly switches an amplifier with the words 'CRM-114' printed on it.

*The CRM114 Discriminator is the name of a data stream analyzer (SPAM filter), which achieves very high accuracy based on a "learning" algorithm.

*In the 2005 film Fun with Dick and Jane a financial transaction form is referred to as a 'CRM-114'.

Miscellaneous

The film inspired the nickname "Dr. Strangeglove" for Boston Red Sox slugger Dick Stuart, a first baseman notorious for fielding his position poorly.

In the internet movie This Land made by JibJab, George W. Bush is depicted riding a nuke saying, "And, yes, it's true that I kick ass!"

See also

List of cultural references to 2001: A Space Odyssey

List of cultural references to The Shining

List of cultural references to A Clockwork Orange

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