Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" is the funniest movie ever made. Just ask Mel Brooks. He is quite certain of it, and of course, millions of us who can cheer ourselves up some by dropping a line of authentic frontier gibberish agree. The humor half-life of the comedy bits contained in the film is such that, 40 years later, we still laugh at the mere mention of schnitzengruben or a laurel and hearty handshake. Yes, 40 years. And on May 6, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Mel are commemorating the occasion with a 40th anniversary Blu-ray release of the movie, complete with a new featurette, "Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West." Sitting in his office, the esteemed funnyman takes time to talk about how he got away with the comedy that scared the #@$! out of Warner Bros. executives — and gives his thoughts about Twitter, late pal Mickey Rooney and the power of laughter. What a nice guy!

Q: I wonder if you could get this movie made today. In the "Blaze of Glory" documentary you talked about the number of times Richard Pryor said, 'Use the N-word here, use the N-word there. Use it twice there ... '

A: Yeah, I didn't want to use the N-word so much, but Richard forced me to. He said something really interesting. He said, 'You know, the N-word is used properly in two basic ways: One is when bad people use it, and we're sure they are bad people because they use it. We don't want them to succeed or prosper, we want them to fail and we want the black guy to succeed because they used that word. And the second use is as a term of affection among the brothers. It made a lot of sense. I was going to use it three or four times, I ended up using it 16 or 17 times because of Richie.

Q: And you originally wanted him to star in addition to working with you on the screenplay?

A: I wanted him to be Black Bart, to be the black sheriff. But Warner Bros. wouldn't do it. They said, 'He's been taking drugs and we don't know. We don't want to take a chance.' Two years later he was the No. 1 comedy star in the country. But they wouldn't do it. So I was going to quit, and Richard said, 'Please. Direct the movie. Don't quit. We've written a great movie here, said a lot of wonderful things. If you leave, it just ain't gonna be the same movie.' So I said, OK. And when we were auditioning, you know, for our Black Bart, we both saw Cleavon Little and we jumped in the air and said, 'That's the guy!' Richard said something interesting. He said, 'I've got a mustache, and I'm coffee colored. I could be Cuban. But Cleavon is really black. He's gonna scare the s—- out of the West.'

Q: You got a little emotional in the documentary, talking about the late, wonderful Madeline Kahn. Is looking back on all this an emotional roller coaster for you?

A: Oh no, it wasn't a roller coaster. It's really a resting place for sweet, wonderful memories of what I did then and that life then. That wonderful plateau of happiness in my life. You know, my wife [Anne Bancroft] was still with me, still alive. Harvey Korman, Cleavon, Richard — all the people that left, you know? It was a great, wonderful time in my life. I've gotten through many, many battles with all these losses. I watch the movie and my heart sings. I love it. I wrote it, and even so, I laugh a lot.

Q: Sure, and you had all these talented people bringing their best to the party also, like Gene Wilder as The Waco Kid and Madeline Kahn playing Lili Von Shtupp.

A: You know, [the American Film Institute] had a list of the 100 greatest comedies, it was like five or six. I said, 'What are you, crazy?' It's No. 1 all the way.

Q: I totally agree. So, is it time for those questions again about Broadway and 'Blazing Saddles.'

A: I think about it. I've got a couple of tunes. I'm thinking about The Waco Kid and the Black Sheriff doing a duet, something like, you know, 'You're Just in Love' — you know, the Irving Berlin song? You don't get it, you're just black. (Sings) Why do people hate me, why am I an outcast, why do they treat me without any respect? And then the counterpoint would be, 'Well, you're just black.' A cute song for that.

Q: How far along are you? Is this something we can look forward to?

A: I'm toying with it. We'll see. There's no big rush. I've got a couple of tunes in it already — one of them is the 'Ballad of Rock Ridge,' which is a lovely song. And then Madeline's great song: 'I'm Tired.'

Q: Have you had your eye on anybody around today that could play those roles? It would be hard to cast, wouldn't it?

A: No. There's always somebody, always somebody good that's going to come around. I won't say any names now because I don't know when I'll finish it and I don't know when I'll cast it. But it'll be a new guy who rides into town with a shiny badge, and that's the guy, you know?

Q: "Blazing Saddles" had so much to say about racism. And now your son, Max, has this graphic novel out about 'The Harlem Hellfighters' — and Will Smith snapped up rights. You must be so proud.

A: I am, I am! It's a little-known fact about the 369th black regiment in World War I that the American army didn't want to use except as truck drivers and cooks and bottle washers. The French took them in as a fighting unit and they ended up winning the Croix de Guerre — they were an incredible unit. It's a beautiful book.

Q: Somebody told me that Carl Reiner says you have a Twitter account, but can't use it. Is that true?

A: The truth is, I don't use it much. But I used it the other day to salute Mickey Rooney. Once in a blue moon I use the Twitter, but I don't use it too often. People use it to say 'I brushed my teeth. I think I missed one.' You know, you get a lot of gossipy nonsense, so I'm careful how I use it.

Q: What did you say about Mickey?

A: We were at the racetrack together. I posted the last picture he ever took. You know, we're going to miss him a lot. He was the complete talent. Nobody was more talented, nobody, than Mickey Rooney. He could sing and dance exquisitely. He could act — he could tear your heart out, as you know if you saw 'National Velvet.' And he was funny and peppy.

Q: You've been quoted in the past that there might have been some anger in your humor, having lost your father at two years old. Now, do you find that humor helps you through this time that — well, I know I've lost some friends and it's hard to lose so many people in your life.

A: Humor can conquer over anything. Laughing blows the dust off your soul.

Q: What is on the front burner for you right now?

A: I have been a secret producer. I did about eight or 10 movies hiding my name. Nobody knows I'm connected to them. They're called Brooksfilms. They're very — there's 'The Fly' with Jeff Goldblum, 'The Elephant Man,' there's 'Frances' with Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer. I made '84 Charing Cross Road' with Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft; 'The Doctor and the Devils' Jonathan Pryce and Twiggy. That is my next project: I am putting them together in a box set! And I'm finally taking credit for them with a little oval picture of me, Mel Brooks. I was afraid to be associated with them because of my mad comedy. Some of these pictures were quite profound and serious. They should be out in two or three months.

Q: One more thing: What's the best recipe for staying positive?

A: Thank God every time you wake up and realize you're alive. OK, I'm up! Things are going to be OK.