This previous weekend on The Simpsons, Homer made a quite stunning transformation (particularly for a non-Halloween episode). Whereas he’s all the time been a bit chubby, the episode noticed him develop into an precise hippopotamus, but it surely all made sense inside the context of the episode.
Written by Dan Vebber, the season 38 season premiere of The Simpsons is titled, “The Kids’s E book Job,” and it is about reclusive kids’s guide writer Constance Clavinger (Emma Thompson) coming to Springfield Elementary to debut her new guide. Homer is tasked with selecting her up from the airport, which is when he finds out that she plans to kill off her iconic character, The Plucky Little Goat. So Homer desperately tries to cease her, which leads to a automobile crash and a severely concussed Homer, who imagines himself as a Peppa Pig-like hippopotamus as he ventures by way of a wide range of kids’s-book-inspired settings. Whereas this sequence lasts lower than a minute, it manages to pack in references to a number of celebrated kids’s guide authors, together with Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and Richard Scarry (the Busytown collection).
The Simpsons co-producer Mike Value sat down with Polygon to share some particulars on how that sequence took place, in addition to what to anticipate from the remainder of season 38.
Warning: Spoilers forward for the Season 38 premiere of The Simpsons.
Polygon: To get began, can we speak in regards to the season premiere?
Mike Value: Dan Vebber wrote the script. He had the concept for it after which I used to be put along with him to co-run it. I keep in mind, as we labored out the story, we all the time knew it was going to be this story the place Homer has to choose her up and he or she goes loopy, like a bit little bit of a replay of that film Get Him to the Greek. Matthew Nastuk did an incredible job directing it. In a approach, the entire genesis of the present centered round that sequence the place Homer’s in all the assorted kids’s books. We constructed the entire episode main as much as that second. We knew we wished that from the very starting.
Dan is a big fan of illustrators and youngsters’s books. There have been sure ones that I keep in mind studying to my son when he was little, and all of us love Richard Scarry and Eric Carle. Dan was instrumental in getting in a few of the ones that I wasn’t actually acquainted with, like Iggy Peck, Architect, Make Method for Duckings, and Do not Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. That sequence was going to be longer, however we’ve obtained so many tales occurring, so we did that sequence the place we shouted out a bunch of them, with Moe because the Pungent Cheese Man and Skinner as Captain Underpants.
Stepping into the remainder of the season, is there something you may share in regards to the upcoming “Treehouse of Horror”?
Oh sure, it’s totally thrilling. There’s a bit little bit of a Nightmare Earlier than Christmas component in it. For the opening sequence, we obtained the Stoopid Buddy folks to do a stop-motion recreation of our characters just like the Nightmare Earlier than Christmas characters. The three tales are all totally different, all enjoyable, some actually gory stuff, some actually scary stuff.
Is there something to say in regards to the season general? Had been there any objectives or something for the season?
We by no means actually go right into a season pondering, “What are we going to do that season?” Each episode is its personal distinctive factor. Showrunner Matt Selman, I can not say sufficient nice issues about him, he is so encouraging of us to take the massive swings, to do tales that we name “format breakers.” There’s numerous these arising. There’s numerous simply nice, common good-time Simpsons episodes, too.
Author Cesar Mazariegos has one coping with Moe present process a sleep research and it seems that his desires infuse all people else’s desires on the town. It is a bit bit like that Nicolas Cage film Dream State of affairs, with a bit little bit of a homage to Sleepless in Seattle and Harry Met Sally form of Nora Ephron motion pictures of the ‘80s. I can not fairly clarify it with out giving the entire thing away, but it surely’s actually enjoyable. Meg Ryan is guest-starring in that.
The second episode has to do with a chimpanzee that the Simpsons undertake from a spot the place outdated showbiz animals get adopted. Homer will get very anxious as a result of he learns that chimpanzees tend to tear peoples’ faces off and assault peoples’ crotches.
Brian Kelley has a terrific Krusty one which offers with a disastrous factor that occurs at Krustyland.
Are there any deep-cut Simpsons characters that get a highlight this season?
There is a massive Fats Tony episode arising the place Fats Tony has a brand new rip-off, which is to be a manufacturing marketing consultant on a Godfather-type film being made. Owen Wilson is the visitor star on that one and Joe Mantegna is simply fantastic as Fats Tony. He is actually, actually humorous on this.