Original artwork, not a still
It's that damn Hansel! He's so hot right now!
— Zoolander · 2001
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Mugatu's idea of a compliment, and the film's joke about how quickly fashion consumes its idols: Hansel is the next big thing only until someone else is. The line is the movie's most portable catchphrase and a ready-made meme caption for any trend, from a gadget to an actor, that everyone is suddenly talking about. Mugatu repeats the pattern in later lines, as the franchise leans on it.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for ZoolanderShow the scene
In Zoolander (2001, directed by Ben Stiller), rising model Hansel McDonald has just knocked Derek Zoolander off the top of the male-modelling world. Fashion mogul Jacobim Mugatu, played by Will Ferrell, is hunting for a model to brainwash into assassinating the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and he invokes Hansel as the name of the moment. He is the villain, and his obsession with whoever is currently fashionable drives his plot. Stiller named Mugatu after the Mugato, the poisonous-horned white ape of the original Star Trek episode A Private Little War.
Sources (3)
- Wikipedia: ZoolanderPlotReference checked
- Wikiquote: ZoolanderJacobim Mugatu sectionReference checked
- Zoolander Fandom: Jacobim MugatuQuotes; TriviaReference checked
Context reviewed
