All through its three and a half-decade run, “The Simpsons” has seemingly managed to parody just about each facet of common tradition. From main developments in political historical past to iconic film scenes, the present’s means to recreate historic moments was all the time a part of its allure, and “The Simpsons” acted as a method to showcase the animators’ abilities (not less than within the golden age).
The “Raiders of the Misplaced Ark” parody from the opening of season 3 episode, “Bart’s Buddy Falls in Love,” stands as among the finest examples. The hand-drawn recreation of Indy’s escape from the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors, reimagined as Bart escaping his house whereas being chased by an enraged Homer, was a genuinely spectacular demonstration of the animators’ talents, and apart from being humorous, proved that the present was being made by true craftsman.
Because the present has gone on, the film parodies have remained a constant ingredient, with “The Simpsons” most lately parodying an underrated Martin Scorsese film within the season 36 episode “Desperately Looking for Lisa.” At occasions, the long-running sequence has even parodied your entire plot of a movie, as was the case with the “Shinning” section of “Treehouse of Horror V,” which principally revealed your entire plot of “The Shining” to a era of youngsters too younger to have seen Stanley Kubrick’s film.
However there may be nonetheless a parody that creator Matt Groening has needed to do for many years that’s but to be realized, and it is perhaps the present’s most formidable parody but.
Matt Groening has needed to make Simptasia for many years
“The Simpsons” grew to become the longest working scripted primetime sequence a very long time in the past, and has been airing ever since. Now in its thirty sixth season, the present refuses to die regardless of the prevailing knowledge being that it misplaced its magic way back. Issues weren’t helped in that regard by Disney’s acquisition of Fox, which was accomplished again in 2019 and gave the impression to be the proper symbolic improvement for the best way wherein “The Simpsons” had misplaced just about the entire subversive energy that helped make it such a success again within the ’90s. Nonetheless, the Disney buyout is perhaps simply what Matt Groening must lastly notice his long-gestating concept for what may become probably the most vital parody within the present’s historical past.
Disney had a easy message for “The Simpsons” after the merger, which basically amounted to “hold doing what you are doing and we’ll keep out of it.” That is precisely what followers, and little doubt the writers who’d loved many years of non-intervention from Fox have been hoping for. However Groening may truly welcome some cooperation from his new overlords because the creator has been planning a “Fantasia” parody for actually many years.
Throughout the DVD commentary monitor for season 4 episode “A Streetcar Named Marge,” author and former showrunner Mike Reiss recalled how a desk learn for the sequence wherein Maggie escapes her daycare precipitated the learn to grind to a halt. The sequence itself was a parody of “The Nice Escape,” however the intensive stage instructions within the script meant the desk learn grew to become considerably of a bore to take a seat by way of. Fellow former showrunner Al Jean defined, “That is one purpose we do not have lengthy stage instructions as a result of they normally shut the desk learn down chilly. We’ll now put issues in parentheses that we do not need learn as a result of it simply kinda slows the laughs.”
This, it appears, is why Groening’s “Fantasia” parody has by no means come to fruition, with Reiss including, “I do know Matt, for 12,13 years you’ve got needed to do ‘Simptasia,’ you’ve got needed to do ‘Fantasia’ with ‘The Simpsons’ and it is like, no person desires to put in writing this 30-page script of stage instructions.”
Do we actually want a Simpsons Fantasia parody?
Disney’s legendary animated musical “Fantasia” went from a field workplace bomb upon its 1940 debut to a cultural touchstone. Probably the most formidable animated characteristic tried by Walt Disney on the time, “Fantasia” introduced the very best out of the corporate’s workforce of animators, and options a number of the best animation but seen on-screen, with legendary animators like Invoice Tytla contributing timeless sequences to the movie. A “Simpsons” model would hopefully do the identical factor for the present’s personal animators, although I can not assist however really feel the time for such a parody has lengthy since handed.
Through the years, “The Simpsons” has truly parodied sure sections of the movie. The episode “Itchy & Scratchy Land,” for example, reveals that creator of the animated show-within-a-show, Roger Meyers Sr., oversaw the creation of “Scratchtasia” which featured a bit based mostly on the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” section from “Fantasia.” Elsewhere, in “Treehouse of Horror IV,” Homer claims to be smarter than Ned Flanders’ model of Devil, earlier than Flanders transforms into Chernabog from “Evening on Bald Mountain.” There are a number of different moments like this when “The Simpsons” has acknowledged Disney’s seminal animated characteristic, however the “Simptasia” concept has by no means been produced.
Now, with the animation so clear and missing that hand-drawn contact that made the golden age episodes so charming, a “Fantasia” parody propelled by digital animation strategies made to imitate the model of hand-drawn masters simply looks like one other method to remind us all that “The Simpsons” is not what it as soon as was. Whereas Disney’s acquisition of Fox absolutely introduced the thought of “Simptasia” nearer, then, it does not essentially really feel like one thing the present must do at this stage.