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The story of how two brothers and five other men parlayed a small business loan into a thriving paper goods concern is a long and interesting one … and here it is. — Box factory manager, “Bart Gets Famous” Happy … Continue reading
Goodbye, Bart! Remember: Lie, cheat, steal, and listen to heavy metal music! — Satan, “Bart Gets Hit By A Car”
The scenery accompanying Bart’s post-collision arrival in Hell wraps up many elements from Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden Of Earthly Delights” in a neat little package. While the Simpsons layout team pulled off this kind of mimicry several times, I would say this instance is unique in that it’s one where they don’t really use any animation tricks to make the scene seem more Springfieldian — the source material pretty much stands as is. Compared to something like this, for example.
The above scene from Bosch’s painting is actually just one third (fourth, really) of his famous triptych, which depicts a wide range of human activity. Camping, for example:
And nobody likes jury duty:
Hey good lookin’, we’ll be back to pick you up later! — Some guy
[whistle] He’s in for some lovin’. — Homer, “Radio Bart”
I can’t believe they invented it! Mr. Microphone: a wireless microphone that dialed into your FM radio for merriment galore. Keep in mind that this was the 70s, and this website didn’t exist yet — people had to pass the time somehow.
While The Simpsons properly parodied the catcalling Roger Daltrey type, they sadly left any riffs of this guy on the cutting room floor.
On a related note, cinephiles may also recall that the Toy Story movies included a character named “Mr. Mike” who fulfilled the toys’ broadcasting needs.
—ockman, just outside the county courtroom, where an argument about chowder has spilled over into the biggest trial in Springfield history. Behind these doors, a federal judge will ladle out steaming bowls of rich, creamy justice in a case the media have dubbed, “Beat-Up Waiter”. This reporter suggested “Waitergate”, but was shouted down at the press club. — Kent Brockman, “The Boy Who Knew Too Much”
A very subtle reference tucked into The Boy Who Knew Too Much is Brockman having the first bit of his name cut off when covering the Freddy Quimby trial, a hat tip to newshound Wally Ballou of the Bob & Ray radio show, who would begin his broadcasts in the same way.
Ballou, played by Bob Elliott (father of Chris, grandfather of Abby) both in the studio and in the live production above, was apparently also the inspiration for the schmo working in a box factory in Bart Gets Famous, but I can’t say I see it. Hear it, maybe.
I’m not convinced! I’ve had bad luck with aphrodisiacs! — Some guy, “Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy”
(Today’s post was recommended by SHSer @tjl via Twitter. Are you following SHS? Do so right now: @mcgarnagle_shs)
Though his image may just be a combination of other Simpsons characters (I see a cross between Lenny and Milhouse), the voice of the aphrodisiac-scorned Spittle County rube appears to be a take on a ubiquitous vocal styling popularized by vaudeville-radio-talkie star Ed Wynn.
Wynn’s ululating delivery made him a popular comic actor in a 60-year-long career that took him all over the map, but he’s probably best known in popular culture for his performance as the Mad Hatter in Disney’s animated Alice In Wonderland:
Tonight, on Eye On Springfield, we meet a man who’s been hiccuping for 45 years. — Kent Brockman
[hic] Kill me. — Hiccuping guy, “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie”
The unfortunate man depicted above is most likely based on Charles Osborne, an American who in 1922 emerged from a pig slaughtering accident with a nonstop case of the ol’ singultus.
And henceforth he was the hiccup guy. For 68 years straight, Osborne hiccuped between 20 and 40 times per minute, an ailment supposedly caused by a malfunction of the part of the brain that normally inhibits such behavior. Apparently, the hiccups abruptly stopped a year before his death, which must have been unsettling at that point.
But the previous factoids have all been a mean ruse to cover my true motives for today’s entry. Presenting … Mr. Hiccup (!), a bizarre Italian cartoon I discovered in my research. I know I casually drop a lot of YouTube videos on this site, but you would be advised to round out the remainder of your trip watching this one:
Whatever team of geniuses came up with Mr. Hiccup gives the various Simpsons writers rooms a run for their money, di certo.
I tried to enroll in school, but your Principal Skinner turned me away because of my shabby clothes. — “Timmy O’Toole”, “Radio Bart”
Timmy O’Toole’s ill-considered trip down the well is based on a similarly subterranean fishing expedition made by toddler Jessica McClure back in 1987.
Jessica (pictured above post-fall, with a scar visible from a scrape sustained in her rescue) became a media sensation when she tumbled down an eight-inch-wide abandoned well casing in her backyard in Midland, Texas.
As in the Simpsons ep, her rescue was effected by digging a tunnel parallel to the well shaft and then slowly digging horizontally to free her as she hung out in the dark without food and water (which would have aggravated any internal injuries she might have picked up in the fall) for 58 hours. But then: light.
Ultimately, Jessica turned to be pretty much fine, merely sustaining an amputated toe and the aforementioned scar throughout the ordeal. Today, she is alive and well, and enriched by a $800k trust fund that donors built up for her during her time underground. Unsure if she got a cut of the revenues from the ensuing TV movie adaptation of the episode, which I was not expecting to feature a young Will Oldham.
