Tag: miscellaneous

As animation producer for The Simpsons, Rick Polizzi began working on the latest “Treehouse of Horror” episode months ago, and his work will pay on Sunday. After each Simpsons script is locked and the show’s brilliant voice cast has recorded the dialog, layout drawings are sent to a team of animators in South Korea, where the characters are brought to life. It’s Polizzi’s job to oversee the two-month-plus, trans-world, animation turnaround. Once an episode is back stateside, segments have to occasionally be tweaked, or dialog re-recorded. “If the show is not as strong as they like, they can rewrite a few things,” Polizzi said. “If the ending isn’t that strong and they want to punch it up, we can.” Because of the minimalist animation style used in The Simpsons, lines can often be changed without re-drawing faces. Read More >>>

“When my youngest daughter became addicted to the Simpsons, I found myself slowly drawn in. For her, the initial attraction was in the yellowness of the characters. For me it was the humorous yet highly sophisticated angle the series offers on science. As far as I am concerned, it is abundantly clear that the people behind the Simpsons are proceeding with a scientific rationale. The Simpson family is a system trapped in a dynamic yet extremely stable equilibrium. In 14 years, virtually nothing has changed irreversibly. In every episode, the writers change just one parameter in order to probe the response of the equilibrium system, but by the end of the episode, the system will have returned to its initial state.” Read More >>>

“Now that Rick Miller has reinvented “Macbeth” as a vehicle starring voices from The Simpsons, we think the rest of the entertainment world could use a shot of Simpsons magic. Here are some suggestions: ex-Simpsons executive producer Mike Scully says that he would like to see Homer in “Ham.” He thinks Marge is a natural to star in the Broadway musical “Hairspray” and Principal Skinner should star in a production of “Night Mother.” We’d like to see Homer get his own show on the Food Network because no one knows junk food better. Scottish groundskeeper Willie would have made a heck of a replacement for Mel Gibson in “Braveheart.” Read More >>>

For an actor with a small role, the time waiting backstage is a sweet agony — you know you’ll have your seconds in the sun, but most of the time you’re backstage, killing time and being quiet. Rick Miller was performing as a murderer in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” almost a decade ago, a tiny role that included considerable backstage time, which he used thinking up ways to torment the principals in the company. His most effective bit was doing lines from “Macbeth” as Homer Simpson. This not only drew big laughs from the cast, but allowed him to bring famous lines down to Springfield size, with cracks such as, “Is this a doughnut I see before me?” Read More >>>

“For those seeking sophisticated treatment of cultural issues from the nuclear family to feminism, professor Matthew Henry offers what may be considered an unconventional resource: The Simpsons TV show. “The Simpsons is a show that continually challenges us to think seriously about the world we live in today, to question our beliefs and examine our values, and to imagine the ways in which the world could be a better place,” Henry told about 200 people crowded into Aurora University’s Perry Theatre on Thursday for the program “The Simpsons and American Culture.” Read More >>>

When she discovered a lump in her breast as a young woman, a terrified Marcia Wallace returned to her hometown to have it removed. But circa 1970, the small community 70 miles southwest of Des Moines had no pathology lab. So the lump was esconced in a Chinese food carton which Wallace’s sister then drove to the capital city for testing. As Wallace imagined the worst, her sister confessed as how, along the miles of highway, she’d serenaded the package with the Cole Porter evergreen “Begin the Beguine,” substituting the word benign for beguine. “The thought of my sister singing to my lump made me laugh, and feel much less helpless,” says Wallace, an actress known by Simpsons fans as the voice of Edna Krabappel. Read More >>>

The first meeting of one of the newest clubs on campus consisted of nothing more than a small group of “The Simpsons” fanatics lounging on couches and watching their favorite show. No entrance requirements. No registration. No dues. The founders of SCimpsons, a club open to anyone looking to share a common love for the television series, held its first meeting on the fourth floor North Lounge at the International Residential College at Parkside. “At most meetings, we’ll be sitting around watching episodes. It’s basically a forum for ‘Simpsons’ fans to come together, watch ‘Simpsons,’ and have fun,” said Lee Gorlin, President of SCimpsons. Read More >>>

The Simpsons were pictured on the cover of August’s Psychology Today magazine. A feature article titled “Men Know from Homer, Women from Marge” is now available to read on the net, as the issue is now a month old. “Sure, we ogle “The Osbournes” and love “Everybody Loves Raymond.” But when it comes to a conjugal relationship that everyone understands, the hands-down winner is primary-colored and two-dimensional. Psychology Today visits the stars of America’s real reality TV show, “The Simpsons.” Read More >>>