History Fridge / JojoRabbit

* The more indoctrinated Jojo is into Nazism, the more the imaginary Hitler is AdolfHitlarious, but the more that Jojo begins to question Nazism, the more Hitler becomes less friendly. The more Jojo views Jews as people and not the monsters of Nazi propaganda, the more Hitler's racism and antisemitism becomes monstrous and horrifying. Hitler reduced to a pathetic little maniac begging for a "Heil" reflects Jojo, and by extension Germany's, final disillusionment with Nazism.
* It may not be planned, but it's just another level of "Fuck off Hitler" that Taika's Hitler keeps trying to give Jojo cigarettes. Hitler would be furious that he's portrayed as a guy pushing smoking[[note]]This is because Hitler's Nazi Germany was one of, if not the first country in history to push and actively enforce anti-smoking campaigns and Hitler himself hated smoking[[/note]].
** It also shows that Jojo knows very little about Hitler as a person and his politics in general. Rather, he thinks that offering each-other cigarettes is just something adults do, and so he imagines Hitler would also do this.

* Throughout the film, {{unicorn}} are mentioned again and again, namely Hitler likes to eat them for dinner. This is a funny joke, as unicorn are the picture of innocence and purity. The fridge brilliance comes in the fact that Jews are depicted with horns by the Nazis. Not just Jojo got an {{Animal Motif}}, the Jewish people got one as well.
** This also means, subconsciously, Jojo know Hitler isn't the upstanding guy Jojo wants to believe he is. No ten-year-old thinks their hero eats unicorn, regularly at that.

* The realization that Klenzendorf abruptly showed up at Jojo's house with Rosie's bike during the Gestapo raid because he witnessed Rosie's execution (or at least the events leading up to it). He immediately ran over to protect Jojo (and by extension Elsa). Note that he tells Jojo to not go out as he leaves: he doesn't want Jojo to see his mother's hanging body.

* Yorki stating that his uniform is ''not'' paper, but a paper-like material developed by German scientists. This is a silly reference to an actual practice in Germany as shortages of certain materials developed during both World Wars. ''Ersatz'' (German for 'substitute' or 'replacement') products included ''ersatz'' coffee, ''ersatz'' rubber, and ''ersatz'' sausage, and yes, that's where [[CaptainErsatz the trope name]] came from.

* Elsa breaks down crying after Jojo reads the [[BlatantLies blatantly made-up]] breakup letter from her fiance. Jojo interprets this as her believing his lies, but it's later revealed that her fiance is already dead, so Jojo's false letter instead reminded her that she will, in fact, never see him again.

* Jojo's facial scarring after his accident with the grenade apparently making him hideous and possibly frightening other children if he went back to school seems to be an InformedDeformity, as it really isn't that bad, even just after he leaves the hospital. The reactions only make sense when it's remembered that this is in Nazi Germany, where Nazi ideology would indeed treat slight disfigurements or any aberration from the Aryan ideal with disgust.

* The realization that Klenzendorf abruptly showed up at Jojo's house with Rosie's bike during the Gestapo raid because he witnessed Rosie's execution (or at least the events leading up to it) and immediately ran over to protect Jojo (and by extension Elsa). Note that he tells Jojo to not go out as he leaves: he doesn't want Jojo to see his mother's hanging body.

** It also shows that Jojo knows very little about Hitler as a person and his politics in general.

* The more indoctrinated Jojo is into Nazism, the more the imaginary Hitler is AdolfHitlarious, but the more that Jojo begins to question Nazism, the more Hitler becomes less friendly. The more Jojo views Jews as people and not the monsters of Nazi propaganda, the more Hitler's racism and antisemitism becomes monstrous and horrifying.
* It may not be planned, but it's just another level of "Fuck off Hitler" that Taika's Hitler keeps trying to give Jojo cigarettes. Hitler would be furious that he's portrayed as a guy pushing smoking[[note]]This is because Hitler's Nazi Germany was one of, if not the first country in history to push and actively enforce anti-smoking campaigns[[/note]].

* Were the Russians seriously going to execute Jojo, a ten-year-old boy, via firing squad with all the other Nazi war criminals if Captain K hadn’t intervened? In fact, they probably were. The Soviets were not known for their light-handed treatment of Germany at the end of the war.

* Elsa breaks down crying after Jojo reads the [[BlatantLies blatantly untrue]] breakup letter from her fiance. Jojo interprets this as her believing his lies, but it's later revealed that her fiance is already dead, so Jojo's false letter still reminded her that she will, in fact, never see him again.
* The more indoctrinated into Nazism, the more the imaginary Hitler is AdolfHitlarious, the more that Jojo begins to question Nazism, the more Hitler becomes less friendly. The more Jojo views Jews as people and not the monsters of Nazi propaganda, the more Hitler's racism becomes monstrous and horrifying.

* Jojo's facial scarring after his accident with the grenade apparently making him hideous and possibly frightening other children if he went back to school seems to be an InformedDeformity, as it really isn't that bad even soon after he left the hospital. The reactions only make sense when it's remembered that this is in Nazi Germany, where Nazi ideology would indeed treat slight disfigurements or any aberration from the Aryan ideal with disgust.

* Were the Russians seriously going to execute Jojo, a ten-year-old boy, via firing squad with all the other Nazi war criminals if Captain K hadn’t intervened? Probably, they were not known for their light-handed treatment of Germany at the end of the war.

* Jojo's facial scarring after his accident with the grenade apparently making him hideous and possibly frightening other children if he went back to school seems to be an InformedDeformity, as it really isn't that bad even soon after he left the hospital. The reactions only make sense when it's remembered that this is in Nazi Germany, where Nazi ideology would indeed treat slight disfigurements or any aberration from the Aryan ideal with digust.

* The more indoctrinated into Nazism, the more the imaginary Hitler is AdolfHitlarious, the more that Jojo begins to question Nazism, the more HItler becomes less friendly. The more Jojo views Jews as people and not the monsters of Nazi propaganda, the more Hitler's racism becomes monstrous and horrifying.

* It may not be planned, but it's just another level of "Fuck off Hitler" that Taika's Hitler keeps trying to give Jojo cigarettes. Hitler would be furious that he's portrayed as a guy pushing smoking.

* Jojo's facial scarring after his accident with the grenade apparently making him hideous and possibly frightening other children if he went back to school seems to be an InformedDeformity, as they really aren't that bad. The reactions only make sense when it's remembered that this is in Nazi Germany, where Nazi ideology would indeed treat slight disfigurements or any aberration from the Aryan ideal with digust.

* The [[ArtisticLicenseHistory artistic license]] taken with Hitler's character makes sense given that he's just the manifestation of a child who has a head full of propaganda and an imperfect understanding of the world.
* Klenzendorf demands papers from Elsa, but then lets her go even though she gives incorrect responses to his questions. Klenzendorf likely already knew that Elsa is an impostor before he questioned her, given his familiarity with Rosie Betzler and his puzzled expression when Elsa introduces herself. Demanding her papers in the first place would therefore be a ruse to ensure that ''he'' be the one to test her, not the Gestapo. Klenzendorf also noticeably tilts his head while reading, literally turning a blind eye to her papers.

* The aftermath of the Gestapo visit, more specifically, its effect on Jojo's psyche. It's possibly the first time in his life that Jojo has been legitimately ''terrified'' of a Nazi in any context, and that fear manifests afterwards in Imaginary Hitler launching into a bullying rant exhorting Jojo into prioritising his loyalty to Nazism over his friendship with Elsa. During this rant, Waititi stops playing Hitler as Jojo's goofy buddy... and starts playing him as ''the actual Hitler''. Jojo's fear was strong enough to change his perception of Hitler from "best friend" (a fun-loving cheer-leader) to "absolute monster" (a reflection of the actual man).

* The ending may seem happy and uplifting, until you realise that Jojo and Elsa are in post-WWII Germany with no family or known means of supporting themselves. Even if Jojo's father is alive, intact, sane and able to make it back to his family home after years of partisan resistance, they're going to have to fend for themselves for some time. And even then, if they wind up stuck in East Germany, life won't exactly be a dance party. Though there's a bit hope for them, as Yorki, his mother, and perhaps the rest of his family are still alive by the end. If they're as apathetic toward Nazi ideology as Yorki, then that's probably the best place for Jojo and Elsa to seek shelter.
* Were the Russians seriously going to execute Jojo, a ten-year-old boy, via firing squad with all the other Nazi war criminals if Captain K hadn’t intervened? Probably, they were not known for their light-handed treatment of Germany at the end of the war.

* The ending may seem happy and uplifting, until you realise that Jojo and Elsa are in post-WWII Germany with no family or known means of supporting themselves. Even if Jojo's father is alive, intact, sane and able to make it back to his family home after years of partisan resistance, they're going to have to fend for themselves for some time. And even then, if they wind up stuck in East Germany, life won't exactly be a dance party.
** Yorki, his mother, and perhaps the rest of his family are still alive by the end. If they're as apathetic toward Nazi ideology as Yorki, then that's probably the best place for Jojo and Elsa to seek shelter.
* Were the Russians seriously going to execute Jojo, a ten-year-old boy, via firing squad with all the other Nazi war criminals if Captain K hadn’t intervened?
** [[TruthInTelevision Yes.]] The Soviets were not known for their light-handed treatment of Germany at the end of the war.

* Were the Russians seriously going to execute Jojo, a ten-year-old boy, via firing squad with all the other Nazi war criminals if Captain K hadn’t intervened?