Downfall Parodies Timeline

September, 16

 * Downfall released in Germany.

February, 18

 * Downfall released in the United States.

August, 10

 * The first recorded parody, Sim Heil, is uploaded.

May

 * Wired and Laughing Squid covered the phenomenon.

October, 28

 * New York Times Magazine reported on the mass appeal of “Downfall” parody phenomenon:In the best parodies -- and “Hillary’s Downfall” is a good one -- Ganz embodies the role assigned him by the parodist by the time his glasses come off. This is the moment in the original film after Hitler has been informed that he cannot win; as he eases up on denial, he’s coming down on fury. In “Hillary’s Downfall,” you can’t believe how quickly the haircut and costume recede and the Hitler factor fades, eclipsed by Ganz’s tough old fork-tongued grandpa performance. Hitler becomes not the author of the Holocaust but a salty dog who, though all is lost, doesn’t stop piercing pretense and speaking in slangy, heartfelt language, expressing the most deeply felt needs of the human id. We may have repressed that speak-for-the-people Hitler, the one he decided to be in “Mein Kampf”; but in the form of these videos, he has returned.

April

 * Hitler Rants Parodies created.

October, 6

 * Telegraph published an article explaining the meme, as well as a selection of 25 best parodies.

January, 15
I think I’ve seen about 145 of them! Of course, I have to put the sound down when I watch. Many times the lines are so funny, I laugh out loud, and I’m laughing about the scene that I staged myself! You couldn’t get a better compliment as a director.
 * Downfall director Oliver Hirschbiegel expressed his approval of the meme to New York Magazine’s entertainment blog Vulture:Someone sends me the links every time there’s a new one…

April, 19

 * Constantin Film started sending DMCA takedowns to the parodies in YouTube.

October

 * Mass takedowns ended.

January, 14

 * Tom Harris uploaded his controversial parody.