Adam Shankman’s 2005 film also starred Brittany Snow, Carol Kane, and Brad Garrett.

The Pacifier director points out ‘Nazi subplot’ in the Vin Diesel movie

Adam Shankman's 2005 film also starred Brittany Snow, Carol Kane, and Brad Garrett.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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June 11, 2026 5:47 p.m. ET

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Vin Diesel in 'The Pacifier'. Credit:

- Adam Shankman is reminding fans about the "Nazi subplot" in his 2005 Disney movie *The Pacifier*.

- The movie features a teenage character who bleached his hair, leading Vin Diesel's character to believe something nefarious was afoot.

- The director also spoke about the impact *The Sound of Music *had on him.

Adam Shankman is reminding fans of a "Nazi subplot" in a 2005 Disney film.

While chatting with Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers on their *Las Culturistas* podcast, the director of *The Pacifier* brought up the film's subplot that involved one of the children Vin Diesel babysat performing in a community production of *The Sound of Music *as a Nazi character.

"By the way, you know that I did make a movie with a Nazi subplot that has* The Sound of Music*, which is* The Pacifier*," Shankman began. "Max Thieriot has a plot where Vin Diesel discovers [that] he's bleached his hair blonde and finds a swastika armband in his dressing room and thinks that the kid is a Nazi."

Adam Shankman in Los Angeles in May 2026.

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty

Shankman said Diesel's Shane Wolfe "follows him to one of his meetings where he meets up in an alley with other blonde guys wearing Nazi armbands." However, Shane discovers that Seth Plummer (Thieriot) isn't up to anything nefarious. "They're just rehearsing a production of *Sound of Music*," Shankman added. "So, I got to make the Disney movie with the Nazi subplot."

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For the uninitiated, *The Pacifier *follows Navy SEAL Shane as he gets assigned to babysit five children, whose dead father conducted a highly classified government science experiment that is located somewhere in their house. Naturally, hilarity ensues as Shane tries to protect the family while taking care of the children.

Alongside Diesel and Thieriot, *The Pacifier *also starred Brittany Snow, Lauren Graham, Carol Kane, and Brad Garrett.

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Elsewhere on the podcast, Shankman talked about *The Sound of Music*'s impact on him. "It's funny because all roads lead back to both culture and also being gay. I really fought between two subjects because they were both very impactful for me," he said.

"I would say the culture that made me know culture was for me would have to be seeing *The Sound of Music *for the first time," shared Shankman, noting that he was about 3 or 4 years old when he first saw the 1965 movie musical.

"I saw that that opening shot with those flutes and coming down and finding Julie Andrews spinning in a circle skirt on the top of that mountain," he added. "I suddenly was born."

Faith Ford, Brittany Snow, Vin Diesel, and Lauren Graham in Los Angeles in January 2005.

John Sciulli/WireImage

Shankman spoke about Maria's (Andrews) story, a character who "has so much good and so much love in her, who is also naughty and kind of a rule breaker and then lives this insane fantasy life in wealth," but "never giving up being who she is."

He continued, "And then gets fallen in love with by this stud [Christopher Plummer] and finding love and all that. I was just like, 'I want that. This is me.'"

Watch Adam Shankman's full appearance on *Las Culturistas *below.

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Source: “EW Comedy”