"
Treehouse of Horror II" is the seventh episode of
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
third seasonThe Simpsons
' third season originally aired on the Fox network between September 19, 1991 and May 7, 1992. The show runners for the third production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss who executive produced 22 episodes the season, while two other episodes were produced by James L....
, the second
Simpsons Halloween episode, and the first Halloween episode where names in the closing credits were replaced by 'spooky name' parodies. The episode aired on October 31, 1991. The first segment, "The Monkey's Paw", is a direct reference to W.W. Jacobs's short story
The Monkey's Paw"The Monkey's Paw" is a short story of horror by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with...
, in which the Simpsons's wishes all backfire on them after purchasing a cursed hand of a monkey. In the second part, "The Bart Zone", Bart has omnipotent powers, and turns Homer into a
jack-in-the-boxA jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a box with a crank. When the crank is turned, it plays a melody, often "Pop Goes the Weasel"...
, resulting in the two spending more time together. The segment was a parody of
The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964 and remains syndicated to this day. The show consisted of unrelated vignettes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events, usually...
episode "It's a Good Life". In the last part, "If I Only Had A Brain", Mr. Burns's head is
graftGraft may refer to:*Grafting, where the tissues of one plant are affixed to the tissues of another*Medical grafting, a surgical procedure to transplant tissue without a blood supply*Skin grafting, a type of organ transplant procedure involving skin...
ed onto Homer's head after Mr. Burns attempts to create a robot with Homer's brain.
Al JeanAl Jean is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons.-Biography:...
and Mike Reiss were the show runners for the Halloween special "Treehouse of Horror II", while
Al JeanAl Jean is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons.-Biography:...
, Mike Reiss,
Jeff MartinJeff Martin was a writer for The Simpsons during the first four seasons. He attended Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, as have many other Simpsons writers. He left along with most of the original staff in 1993, and has since written for several TV shows, including Listen...
,
George MeyerGeorge A. Meyer is an American producer and writer. Raised in Tucson, Arizona in a Roman Catholic family, Meyer attended Harvard University. There, after becoming president of the Harvard Lampoon, he graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry. Abandoning plans to attend medical school, Meyer...
,
Sam SimonSam Simon is an American television producer and writer, most notable as one of the original developers of The Simpsons, along with Matt Groening and James L. Brooks...
, and
John SwartzwelderJohn Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as a number of novels. He is credited with writing the largest number of The Simpsons episodes by a large margin...
were the writers.
Jim ReardonJim Reardon is an animation director and storyboard consultant, best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series, and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15...
was the director. In production order, this was the first episode to be animated by
AnivisionAnivision is a division of Sunwoo Entertainment, a large Korean animation studio. It was founded in March 1991, and then merged with Sunwoo Entertainment in April 2000...
, which was the first non-
AKOMAKOM is a South Korean animation studio that has provided much work since its conception in 1985 by Nelson Shin. Its biggest claim to fame is the overseas animation for 200 episodes of The Simpsons, to which that number is consistently rising. In fact, they animated the first two seasons of that...
overseas studio to work on the show. The episode was praised for "improvement from the first" Halloween special and
its parody of
The Twlight Zone.
Introduction
Despite warnings from Marge about getting nightmares, Homer, Lisa, and Bart eat massive amounts of candy that they received from their trick-or-treating.
The Monkey's Paw
Homer visits
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
and purchases a monkey's severed hand that grants wishes from a small booth at a
bazaarA bazaar is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The word derives from the Persian word bāzār, the etymology of which goes back to the Middle Persian word baha-char , meaning "the place of prices"...
despite the crippled vendor's warning about grave misfortune upon the well-wisher. Back in
SpringfieldSpringfield is the fictional city in which the American animated television series The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized city in an unknown state, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the city and its surroundings...
,
MaggieMargaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
is granted her first wish of a new
pacifierA pacifier is a rubber, plastic, or silicone nipple given to an infant or other young child to suck upon. In its standard appearance it has a teat, mouth shield, and handle...
. Next, Bart wishes for the Simpsons to be rich and famous. Instantaneously, the Simpsons are overflowing with money, and are instantly recognized everywhere. However, the people have quickly tired of the family's annoying antics, cheesy merchandise and celebrity treatment. Horrified by these wasteful wishes, Lisa wishes for world peace, and all countries declare peace and destroy all weapons by throwing them into a giant furnace. Before long, Kang and Kodos realize the human race is "ripe for the plucking" and enslave the Earth armed only with a
slingshotA slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The forked Y-shaped frame has two rubber strips attached to the uprights, leading back to a pocket for holding the projectile.It is normally fired by holding the frame in the non-dominant hand, extended at arms length...
and a club, declaring "your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons". Kang then crowns himself king of Earth. The people angrily blame the Simpsons. Determined to make a wish that cannot be twisted, Homer demands a turkey sandwich, though the turkey turns out to be a little too dry. Hoping to see Flanders suffer, Homer gladly hands the paw over to Flanders. Ned's first wish is to "Get rid of those awful aliens," which is accomplished when Moe is chases Kodos away with a board with a nail in it. As they retreat, the aliens proclaim that one day humans will make bigger boards with bigger nails and eventually destroy themselves with their own power. Everyone celebrates and after Flanders wishes to "spruce up the ol' homestead", his house is converted into an opulent castle, causing Homer to be jealous.
The Bart Zone
In Bart's nightmare, Springfield is held in a grip of
terrorFear is an emotional response to a threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. Some psychologists such as John B. Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have suggested that fear is one of a small set of basic or...
by Bart, who has
omnipotentOmnipotence is unlimited power.Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed. In the philosophies of most Western monotheistic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one of a deity's characteristics among many, including...
powers. Bart turns whomever isn't happy and content with his "rule" is turned into another being, and even history is changed to suit Bart's pleasure. When Homer refuses to turn off a
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
game so that Bart can watch "The Krusty the Clown Show", Bart transports him into the football stadium in place of the ball for an
extra pointExtra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
kick. As Homer creeps back into the house, trying to surprise Bart with a blow to the back of the head, Bart transforms him into a
jack-in-the-boxA jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a box with a crank. When the crank is turned, it plays a melody, often "Pop Goes the Weasel"...
. Marge suggests that the two see Dr. Marvin Monroe, who says that Bart is desperate for paternal affection. Despite being a jack-in-the-box, Homer spends quality time with Bart, and they soon become a normal, loving family. Bart restores Homer's body and tells him he loves him, and kisses him. Bart wakes up screaming.
If I Only Had a Brain
In Homer's nightmare, after
Mr. BurnsCharles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character and antagonist in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Mr. Burns is the intensely evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear...
fires Homer for laziness and incompetence, Homer answers a classified ad to become a grave digger. Meanwhile, Burns is nearing the completion of his giant robotic laborer, whom he hopes will eventually replace weak-bodied human workers. The only remaining step is to implant a human
brainThe brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as jellyfish and starfish have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all...
into the machine's body. Searching a graveyard the following night, Burns mistakes Homer, snoring in an open grave, for a newly buried corpse and, despite signs that Homer may still be alive, removes Homer's brain with an ice cream scoop and places it in the robot. However, Robo-Homer is just as lazy and incompetent as he was as a human, using his x-ray vision to locate donuts. Burns declares the experiment a failure and, after restoring the brain to Homer's still-living body, kicks the robot, which topples over and crushes Burns. After the psychotic scientist tells Smithers to get some surgical tools and ether, Homer wakes up screaming after Bart bites him. While going to the bathroom, Homer finds Mr. Burns's head grafted on his shoulder. Homer repeatedly mumbles that it's all a dream, and Mr. Burns sarcastically reassures him, "Oh that's right, it's all a dream...or is it" and laughs maniacally.
The episode ends with a joke preview for the next episode of
The Simpsons where Lisa wants Homer to go to an all-night spaghetti dinner with her while Mr. Burns, still grafted on Homer's shoulder, wants Homer to come with him to a conference held by Queen Beatrix of the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
. Homer grumbles that he hates having two heads and the credits roll.
Production
For this episode,
Al JeanAl Jean is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons.-Biography:...
and Mike Reiss were the show runners, while
Al JeanAl Jean is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons.-Biography:...
, Mike Reiss,
Jeff MartinJeff Martin was a writer for The Simpsons during the first four seasons. He attended Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, as have many other Simpsons writers. He left along with most of the original staff in 1993, and has since written for several TV shows, including Listen...
,
George MeyerGeorge A. Meyer is an American producer and writer. Raised in Tucson, Arizona in a Roman Catholic family, Meyer attended Harvard University. There, after becoming president of the Harvard Lampoon, he graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry. Abandoning plans to attend medical school, Meyer...
,
Sam SimonSam Simon is an American television producer and writer, most notable as one of the original developers of The Simpsons, along with Matt Groening and James L. Brooks...
, and
John SwartzwelderJohn Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as a number of novels. He is credited with writing the largest number of The Simpsons episodes by a large margin...
were the writers.
Jim ReardonJim Reardon is an animation director and storyboard consultant, best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series, and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15...
was the director. "Treehouse of Horror II" was the first episode that employed the "spooky credits" idea, partially based on the EC comics that the writers had seen as kids. Though fun originally, each year became more of a burden, and they finally abandoned the tombstone jokes and the warnings. However, after each year, the Halloween specials became more and more gruesome. The writers were especially proud of Jim's nickname, Jim "Rondo" Reardon, a reference to Reardon's idol,
Rondo HattonRondo Hatton was an American actor who had a brief, but prolific career playing thuggish bit parts in many Hollywood B-movies. He was known for his brutish facial features which were the result of acromegaly, a disorder of the pituitary gland.-Biography:Hatton was born Rondo K...
. There was a debate about whether to include Kang and Kodos into the Halloween specials after this episode; eventually, the writers agreed to make it a tradition. During the beginning of the segment "The Monkey's Paw",
Hank AzariaHank Albert Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, comedian and voice artist. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons...
faked some Turkish. Usually, the writers get inspiration for the Halloween specials from old horror stories, but recently, the writers tried to conceive of their own stories instead of creating more parodies. Also, when the Turkish salesman tries to warn Homer Simpson, saying "You'll be sorry", the animators forgot to move his lips. They only realized their error after the broadcast, so they decided not to change it. This episode contains more movie references than any other Simpsons episodes.
While writing the episode, Sam Simon, one of the writers, wanted the fingers to go down in such an order so they would eventually have the
middle finger sticking upIn western culture, the finger , also known as the middle finger, is an obscene hand gesture, often meaning the phrase "fuck you" or "up yours"...
. Once the animation would have been complete, however, they couldn't have gone through; Fox would have refused to air the episode. They had considered the alternative of deliberately blurring the middle finger themselves, but decided that Fox would have also refused. The design for Kang and Kodos was lifted off the cover of an EC comic that the animators just happened to have laying around. Rich originally thought that the animation of the constant drooling for Kang and Kodos would be too hard to animate, but the animators simply used the same motion over and over again. Just like Rodd and Todd Flanders, the producers could never remember which one was Kang and which one was Kodos; as a result, the voice actors usually switched. The actual names Kang and Kodos were based on
Star TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series.The original Star Trek was an American television series, created by Gene Roddenberry, which debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons, following the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation...
. For this episode, there were a lot of loop lines; for instance, the ending to "The Monkey's Paw" was added to the last second. As a result of the loop, they still retained Flander's old house next to his newly-created castle. In order to make the episode fill the time needed, the animators often extended the laughing time for Kang and Kodos.
The producers were relatively pleased with
Harry ShearerHarry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author and radio host. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...
's portrayal of Rod Sterling. In addition, though it took a long time, the design of the cat by Rich was greatly enjoyed by the producers, who thought it looked "just hideous, just right".
Bill MumyCharles William "Bill" Mumy, Jr. , is an American actor, musician, pitchman, instrumentalist, voice-over artist and a figure in the science-fiction community...
, who did the voice acting for Bart in the segment Bart's Nightmare, and
Nancy CartwrightNancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...
, who appeared in this Halloween special, would both appear in the Twilight movie. Bart's prank call Moe was thought of by
John SwartzwelderJohn Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as a number of novels. He is credited with writing the largest number of The Simpsons episodes by a large margin...
, one of the writers; however, Hank Azaria detested the line. According to
George MeyerGeorge A. Meyer is an American producer and writer. Raised in Tucson, Arizona in a Roman Catholic family, Meyer attended Harvard University. There, after becoming president of the Harvard Lampoon, he graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry. Abandoning plans to attend medical school, Meyer...
, the animation for when Bart sits up, screaming, was extremely tough, especially to make the mouthlines natural. After Burns and Smithers go down to the lab during Homer's nightmare, the animators decided to make the animation a bit more impressive, and decided to do the concave and convex images of Burns and Smithers. Even though it was tough and took up more time, the producers felt that it was a necessary tour-de-force. Originally, Groudskeeper Willie was intended to be Swedish, but Dan couldn't do a Swedish accent as well as a Scottish, so the writers changed the roles. Homer's robotic voice was done post-animation in order to avoid stress on the voice actor. One of the writers who created the Davy Crockett joke thought it was so funny that he actually mimicked the actions of Mr. Burns putting on Homer's brain in the writing room; the producers thought that it was hilarious, so they decided to add it into the episode.
Cultural references
Lisa's dream is a reference to W.W. Jacobs's short story
The Monkey's Paw"The Monkey's Paw" is a short story of horror by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with...
, and the
New Twilight Zone episode "
A Small Talent for War"A Small Talent for War" is the second segment of the fifteenth episode from the first season from the television series The New Twilight Zone.- Synopsis :...
". The plot of Bart's nightmare is a parody of
The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964 and remains syndicated to this day. The show consisted of unrelated vignettes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events, usually...
episode "
It's a Good Life"It's a Good Life" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby...
", which was remade as part of
Twilight Zone: The MovieTwilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 film produced by Steven Spielberg as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1950s and 60s TV series created by Rod Serling. It starred Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers, Kathleen Quinlan, and John Lithgow...
. Homer's nightmare is based on much of the film
FrankensteinFrankenstein is a horror film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and very loosely based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley as well as the play adapted from it by Peggy Webling. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features Dwight Frye...
, and the end references
The Thing with Two HeadsThe Thing with Two Heads is a film, starring Rosey Grier, Ray Milland and Don Marshall directed by Lee Frost, and written by Wes Bishop. Frost and Bishop also had parts in the movie. The movie is in the 2004 documentary, The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made....
. Also, Marge's hair recalls
Bride of FrankensteinBride of Frankenstein is a horror film, the first sequel to the influential Frankenstein...
. In Lisa's nightmare, Moroccan soldiers stop and search the Simpsons, finding souvenirs taped to Homer's body which he was attempting to smuggle out of the country. This is a reference to the opening drug-smuggling scene of the film
Midnight ExpressMidnight Express is a film based on Billy Hayes' book of the same name adapted into screenplay by Oliver Stone. Hayes was a young American student sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey...
. While Mr. Burns scoops out Homer's brain, he hums the tune of "
If I Only Had a Brain"If I Only Had a Brain" is a song in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg...
" which is sung by the scarecrow in
The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical / fantasy film directed mainly by Victor Fleming from a script by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, and others and based on the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum...
. Burns also calls the robot that had Homer's brain a "clinking, clattering cacophany of colligenous cogs and camshafts", similar to the Wizard's line to the Tin Man: "You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of colligenous junk!" In the opening sequence of the episode, the
PeanutsPeanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000 , continuing in reruns afterward...
gang scurry by as trick-or-treaters, à la
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie BrownIt's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is an animated television special, based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.It was the third Peanuts special to be produced and animated by Bill Meléndez...
. In Homer's nightmare,
The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson is broadcast on a TV. The board advert with Bart saying "Get a Mammogram, Man!" was the first self-reference to Bart's popular slogan "Don't have a cow, man!" Jasper's transformation into a dog is a reference to the 1978 remake
Invasion of the Body SnatchersInvasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1978 science fiction film based on the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. It is a remake of the 1956 film of the same name. The original music score was composed by Denny Zeitlin....
. The scene in which Homer goes out with Bart during Bart's nightmare to spend time with the boy, as well as the music, is a parody of one of the old anti-smoking commercials, while the church layout was taken from a
Norman RockwellNorman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States, where Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four...
painting. The horse's head in Lisa's bed is a reference to a mirror scene in
The GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola, and Robert Towne . It stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard S...
. When Mr. Burns puts on Homer's brain, he says "Look at me! I'm
Davy CrockettDavid Crockett was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician; referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and often by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas...
, a reference to Crockett's popular image as a frontierman who wore a hat of
raccoonProcyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most widespread species, the Common Raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
fur.
Reception
The episode's reference to
Midnight Express was named the 18th greatest film reference in the history of the show by
Total FilmTotal Film, published by Future Publishing, is the United Kingdom's second best-selling film magazine. It offers film and DVD news, reviews, and features...
's Nathan Ditum. The authors of the book
I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood praised the episode as "A marked improvement on the first, uneven Hallowe'en special. All three tales succeed, with Bart's nightmare of gaining awesome powers being perhaps the most successful". Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict lauded the episode for having "wonderfully wild moments", especially "the parody of The Twilight Zone's 'It's a Good Life,' with Bart in the place of Billy Mumy's omnipresent monster". He gave the episode a score of 90 out of 100 apossible score. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson critiqued the episode as "not so hot their first couple of years", though he admitted that "the 1991 incarnation does top the original from 1990". However, he thought that "None of the three stories stands out as particularly excellent, though the monkey’s paw one probably works the best. Chalk up this episode as a decent Halloween set". He thought the best quote was “Damn it Smithers, this isn’t rocket science. It’s brain surgery!"
External links