Before the release of Blazing Saddles (1974) established Brooks as a major comedic talent, The Producers was practically considered an underground film. This was the kind of movie that was hard to see prior to the video cassette era and could only be found on college campuses and the repertory film circuit. The Producers enjoyed a die-hard cult following for several years until the cable and VHS market brought the film to the attention of the general public.

Mel Brooks would continue to work with Gene Wilder after the release of The Producers. The duo went on to collaborate on two brilliant comedy classics in the early 1970s, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein (1974).

Years later, Brooks returned to lampooning the world of the theatre with a remake of To Be or Not to Be (1983), a World War II-era comedy about a Polish theatre troupe who foil the Nazis with a mistaken identity plot. Hitler was once again used as the target of numerous jokes but the film, despite the presence of Mel Brooks and his real-life wife Anne Bancroft in the leads, lacked the sheer lunacy of The Producers and Brooks' other comedies.

The band U2 named its album Achtung Baby after a line in the film spoken by the Franz Liebkind character.

In 2001 Mel Brooks adapted The Producers into a smash Broadway musical starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

In 2005 a movie version of the Broadway musical was made with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane reprising their original roles.

by Andrea Passafiume