National Comedy Center to House Mel Brooks' 150,000-Item Archive as Spaceballs II Nears April 27 Release
Updated
Updated · Jamestown Post Journal · May 13
National Comedy Center to House Mel Brooks' 150,000-Item Archive as Spaceballs II Nears April 27 Release
4 articles · Updated · Jamestown Post Journal · May 13
Nearly 150,000 creative and production documents plus more than 5,000 photographs from Mel Brooks’ career will be catalogued, curated and later displayed at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown.
The collection spans more than six decades, starting with Brooks’ handwritten World War II comedy notes and extending through drafts, revisions, storyboards and production files from films including Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Producers and Spaceballs.
Rare items include the original handwritten “Springtime for Hitler” lyrics, extensive visual-development materials and many never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos of Brooks directing and rehearsing.
Brooks, 99, said preserving the archive at comedy’s national repository honors both his life’s work and the legacy of Carl Reiner, whose own archives joined the center’s permanent collection in 2021.
The announcement lands as Brooks prepares for the April 27 theatrical release of Spaceballs II, tying a new film to a broader effort to preserve his influence on American comedy.
What unmade projects or lost jokes are hidden within Mel Brooks's newly donated 15,000-document archive?
At 100, will Mel Brooks's planned 'Spaceballs' sequel be a triumphant final act or a risk to his celebrated legacy?
Does preserving comedy in a museum honor its legacy or tame its rebellious, counter-cultural spirit?