Homer Simpson might be the all-American suburban anti-hero but the Brits have no problem identifying with the beer-swilling couch potato from the nuclear power plant town of Springfield. A recent list of favourite animations by Channel 4 showed American humour rates highly with the Brits, as it does in New Zealand. And a top-five selection of history’s greatest cartoons by the Independent newspaper confirms the Americans are on top when it comes to animated hi jinks and mockery. In first place was The Simpsons, A dozen series ago, during the 1992 presidential election, George Bush senior awarded the animated couch-potatoes from Springfield the ultimate subversive accolade. The ideal American family, he said, should be a little “more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons”. For an out-of-touch Bush, it was a case of “Good night, John Boy”, and he lost the election. 
