Bart's Inner Child
Encyclopedia
"Bart's Inner Child" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons
' fifth season
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 11, 1993. In the episode, Marge realizes that she is no fun because of her constant nagging and seeks help from self-help guru Brad Goodman, who then uses Bart's irreverent attitude as a new example of how people should behave. The entire town of Springfield
begins to act like Bart, who at first enjoys things but begins to feel that his role as a troublemaker is usurped. During the inaugural "Do What You Feel" festival, several things go wrong and the town decides to stop acting like Bart.
The episode was written by George Meyer
and was the first episode of the show to be directed by Bob Anderson
. Actor Albert Brooks
guest stars in the episode as Brad Goodman, a self-help guru modelled after John Bradshaw
. It was Brooks' third of five appearances on the show. Singer James Brown
guest stars as himself and he sings his 1965 song "I Got You (I Feel Good)
". In 2006, Brooks was named the best Simpsons guest star by IGN
, while Brown's appearance has been described as "hilariously over-the-top."
The episode features cultural references to several films, television shows, and songs, including the 1939 film Gone with the Wind
, Scott Joplin
's piano rag
"The Entertainer
" and the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
cartoons. In its original broadcast, "Bart's Inner Child" finished 40th in the weekly ratings with a Nielsen rating
of 11.8, and was viewed in 11.12 million households.
. He rushes to the address from the advertisement, where Krusty the Clown is giving it away, and brings it home. Bart and Lisa are thrilled, but Marge is concerned about the potential dangers. However, Homer brushes aside her worries; he has grand plans of building a theme park in their yard, and decides to charge others a fee to use the trampoline. Inevitably, however, people begin to get injured, and Homer accepts Marge's advice to get rid of the trampoline. After failing at his various attempts to do so, Bart steps in to help, by chaining the trampoline to a pole and waiting for Snake to break the chain and steal it for himself.
Marge and Homer argue later that night. Homer tells Marge that even though getting the trampoline was a mistake at least he is willing to try new things, while she is boring and nags too much. Marge disagrees, but discovers that Bart and Lisa agree with Homer's assessment. She becomes annoyed and stays the night at Patty and Selma's house. While there, she is introduced to an infomercial
featuring self-help guru Brad Goodman, who supposedly can help her with her "chronic nagging." After Marge and Homer watch a Brad Goodman video, Marge is more tolerant and the two of them get along better. Observing how out of control Bart is, they take the family to see Brad Goodman's live lecture in the hopes that it will change him. Bart interrupts the lecture, and Brad Goodman encourages the town to follow Bart's spontaneous attitude. Soon, the whole town begins to act like Bart, which means Bart's rebellious ways are no longer unique, putting him in a slump.
To celebrate their new-found attitude, the town holds a "Do What You Feel" festival. However, the festival soon goes awry because those responsible for building the stages and maintaining the rides "didn’t feel like" doing a thorough job, resulting in a runaway Ferris wheel
and more. Arguments begin, as everybody has been encouraged to always say exactly what is on their mind, and soon a riot
starts. Bart is quickly blamed for starting the whole "Do As You Feel" trend. The town chases after Bart, but Homer drives by in a float and saves him. The town gives up the chase despite the float's slow speed and decides to go to the old mill to get some cider
. The Simpson family returns home where they try to figure out what the lesson of the episode was, before finally concluding that everyone is fine the way they are and start to watch television.
and directed by Bob Anderson
. It was Anderson's directorial debut on The Simpsons. Meyer's inspiration for the episode came from the fact that he was going though therapy at the time and he thought it would be a good idea "to send up these self-help gurus".
Actor Albert Brooks
guest starred in the episode as Brad Goodman. It was Brooks' third appearance on the show after playing Jacques in "Life on the Fast Lane
" and Cowboy Bob in "The Call of the Simpsons
". He would later guest star as Hank Scorpio in "You Only Move Twice
", Tab Spangler in "The Heartbroke Kid
" and Russ Cargill in The Simpsons Movie
. Executive producer David Mirkin
describes Brooks as "really weird to direct" because "almost every one of his takes is flawless, but each one has different material. He makes up the stuff as he goes." He uses a combination of the jokes in the script and his own material and because many of his takes are different, it is difficult for the producers to decide which lines to use. Goodman was based on the American self-help author John Bradshaw
, who popularized such psychological ideas as the "wounded inner child
" and the dysfunctional family
.
Singer James Brown
guest stars as himself. Brown makes an appearance at the "Do What You Feel" festival, during which he sings his 1965 song "I Got You (I Feel Good)
". After a bandstand collapses, he proclaims "Hey, wait a minute, hold on here. This bandstand wasn't double-bolted." He described the experience as "good, clean, and humorous. And we need more of that around." According to Mirkin, the writers like to give guest stars awkward lines which then sound funny coming from them. They knew Brown would not be "the greatest actor in the world" but still "gave him these incredibly hilarious, stiff lines that killed." Mirkin described Brown's line as "horrible" but because of Brown's reading, "you have something that just sounds perfectly wrong and it makes it funny." In his book Planet Simpson, Chris Turner
describes James Brown's performance as "hilariously over-the-top" and uses it as an example of how the early seasons of the show would include celebrity cameos and not point out the "enormity of their fame."
. There is a sequence of Homer trying to push the trampoline off a cliff, but once pushes it over the edge and it falls down, it lands on a pillar of rock and bounces back up. This is a reference to the Chuck Jones
-directed Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Looney Tunes
cartoons. The background imitates the desert landscape from the cartoons. At church, Reverend Lovejoy plays the classic rag
"The Entertainer
" by Scott Joplin
on the organ.
of 11.8, and was viewed in 11.12 million households. It was the highest rated show on Fox that week.
In 2006, Albert Brooks was named the best Simpsons guest star by IGN
, who said he "captivate[s] the audience with his unique characters". In Planet Simpson, Chris Turner also praised Brooks' performance, writing that "Brooks went for a subtle, slow-burn lampoon rather than broad caricature: his Goodman doesn't ooze insincerity, he just lightly dribbles it. [...] Through a dozen little touches, Brooks created a timeless Simpsons character."
MSNBC
's Patrick Enwright listed the episode as his ninth favorite in the show in 2007, saying it "brilliantly skewers new-agey self-help gurus" and adding that "it's also noteworthy for clever pop-cultural references." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, described it as "A very bizarre episode in which everyone just has a good time." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote: "A certified classic, 'Child' mocks the self-help field and makes a good point along the way. Of course, it does all this with scads of clever moments and becomes a great show. As one who works in psychology, it's hard to resist this program's spoofery." Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict gave the episode a grade of B+ and described Homer's escapades with the trampoline as "the episode's brightest spot." Turner described the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner homage as "one of the show's most overt and inspired tributes to the Warner cartoons." Bill Gibron of DVD Talk
gave the episode a score of 4.5 out of 5.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated 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 family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
The Simpsons (season 5)
The Simpsons fifth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 30, 1993 and May 19, 1994. The show runner for the fifth production season was David Mirkin who executive produced 20 episodes. Al Jean and Mike Reiss executive produced the remaining two, which were both hold overs...
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 11, 1993. In the episode, Marge realizes that she is no fun because of her constant nagging and seeks help from self-help guru Brad Goodman, who then uses Bart's irreverent attitude as a new example of how people should behave. The entire town of Springfield
Springfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...
begins to act like Bart, who at first enjoys things but begins to feel that his role as a troublemaker is usurped. During the inaugural "Do What You Feel" festival, several things go wrong and the town decides to stop acting like Bart.
The episode was written by George Meyer
George Meyer
George 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...
and was the first episode of the show to be directed by Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (director)
Bob Anderson is an animation director on The Simpsons. He also contributed additional sequence direction on The Simpsons Movie....
. Actor Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks
Albert Lawrence Brooks is an American actor, voice actor, writer, comedian and director. He received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for his role in Broadcast News...
guest stars in the episode as Brad Goodman, a self-help guru modelled after John Bradshaw
John Bradshaw (author)
John Elliot Bradshaw is an American educator, counselor, motivational speaker and author who has hosted a number of PBS television programs on topics such as addiction, recovery, codependency and spirituality. Bradshaw is active in the self-help movement, and is credited with popularizing such...
. It was Brooks' third of five appearances on the show. Singer James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
guest stars as himself and he sings his 1965 song "I Got You (I Feel Good)
I Got You (I Feel Good)
"I Got You " is a hit song by James Brown. Released as a single in 1965, it was one of Brown's signature songs, and is arguably his most widely-known recording.-Description:...
". In 2006, Brooks was named the best Simpsons guest star by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, while Brown's appearance has been described as "hilariously over-the-top."
The episode features cultural references to several films, television shows, and songs, including the 1939 film Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...
's piano rag
Classic Rag
Classic Rag is a term used to describe the style of ragtime composition pioneered by Scott Joplin and the Missouri school of ragtime composers...
"The Entertainer
The Entertainer (rag)
"The Entertainer" is sub-titled "A rag time two step", which was a form of dance popular until about 1911, and a style which was common among rags written at the time.Its structure is: Intro AA BB A CC Intro2 DD....
" and the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros., while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese...
cartoons. In its original broadcast, "Bart's Inner Child" finished 40th in the weekly ratings with a Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 11.8, and was viewed in 11.12 million households.
Plot
Homer comes across an advertisement in the newspaper for a free trampolineTrampoline
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched over a steel frame using many coiled springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes....
. He rushes to the address from the advertisement, where Krusty the Clown is giving it away, and brings it home. Bart and Lisa are thrilled, but Marge is concerned about the potential dangers. However, Homer brushes aside her worries; he has grand plans of building a theme park in their yard, and decides to charge others a fee to use the trampoline. Inevitably, however, people begin to get injured, and Homer accepts Marge's advice to get rid of the trampoline. After failing at his various attempts to do so, Bart steps in to help, by chaining the trampoline to a pole and waiting for Snake to break the chain and steal it for himself.
Marge and Homer argue later that night. Homer tells Marge that even though getting the trampoline was a mistake at least he is willing to try new things, while she is boring and nags too much. Marge disagrees, but discovers that Bart and Lisa agree with Homer's assessment. She becomes annoyed and stays the night at Patty and Selma's house. While there, she is introduced to an infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
featuring self-help guru Brad Goodman, who supposedly can help her with her "chronic nagging." After Marge and Homer watch a Brad Goodman video, Marge is more tolerant and the two of them get along better. Observing how out of control Bart is, they take the family to see Brad Goodman's live lecture in the hopes that it will change him. Bart interrupts the lecture, and Brad Goodman encourages the town to follow Bart's spontaneous attitude. Soon, the whole town begins to act like Bart, which means Bart's rebellious ways are no longer unique, putting him in a slump.
To celebrate their new-found attitude, the town holds a "Do What You Feel" festival. However, the festival soon goes awry because those responsible for building the stages and maintaining the rides "didn’t feel like" doing a thorough job, resulting in a runaway Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
and more. Arguments begin, as everybody has been encouraged to always say exactly what is on their mind, and soon a riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
starts. Bart is quickly blamed for starting the whole "Do As You Feel" trend. The town chases after Bart, but Homer drives by in a float and saves him. The town gives up the chase despite the float's slow speed and decides to go to the old mill to get some cider
Cider
Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
. The Simpson family returns home where they try to figure out what the lesson of the episode was, before finally concluding that everyone is fine the way they are and start to watch television.
Production
"Bart's Inner Child" was written by George MeyerGeorge Meyer
George 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...
and directed by Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (director)
Bob Anderson is an animation director on The Simpsons. He also contributed additional sequence direction on The Simpsons Movie....
. It was Anderson's directorial debut on The Simpsons. Meyer's inspiration for the episode came from the fact that he was going though therapy at the time and he thought it would be a good idea "to send up these self-help gurus".
Actor Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks
Albert Lawrence Brooks is an American actor, voice actor, writer, comedian and director. He received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for his role in Broadcast News...
guest starred in the episode as Brad Goodman. It was Brooks' third appearance on the show after playing Jacques in "Life on the Fast Lane
Life on the Fast Lane
"Life on the Fast Lane", also known as "Jacques To Be Wild", is the ninth episode of The Simpsons first season, which originally aired on March 18, 1990. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by David Silverman. Albert Brooks guest starred as Jacques, a French bowling instructor, with...
" and Cowboy Bob in "The Call of the Simpsons
The Call of the Simpsons
"The Call of the Simpsons" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons first season, and originally aired February 18, 1990. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Wesley Archer...
". He would later guest star as Hank Scorpio in "You Only Move Twice
You Only Move Twice
"You Only Move Twice" is the second episode of The Simpsons eighth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 3, 1996. The episode, based on a story idea by Greg Daniels, has three major concepts: the family moves to a new town; Homer gets a friendly, sympathetic...
", Tab Spangler in "The Heartbroke Kid
The Heartbroke Kid
"The Heartbroke Kid" is the seventeenth episode of the sixteenth season of The Simpsons. It was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham and directed by Steven Dean Moore. The episode first aired on May 1, 2005...
" and Russ Cargill in The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
. Executive producer David Mirkin
David Mirkin
David Mirkin is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up...
describes Brooks as "really weird to direct" because "almost every one of his takes is flawless, but each one has different material. He makes up the stuff as he goes." He uses a combination of the jokes in the script and his own material and because many of his takes are different, it is difficult for the producers to decide which lines to use. Goodman was based on the American self-help author John Bradshaw
John Bradshaw (author)
John Elliot Bradshaw is an American educator, counselor, motivational speaker and author who has hosted a number of PBS television programs on topics such as addiction, recovery, codependency and spirituality. Bradshaw is active in the self-help movement, and is credited with popularizing such...
, who popularized such psychological ideas as the "wounded inner child
Inner child
Inner child is a concept used in popular psychology and Analytical psychology to denote the childlike aspect of a person's psyche, especially when viewed as an independent entity. Frequently, the term is used to address subjective childhood experiences and the remaining effects of one's childhood...
" and the dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
.
Singer James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
guest stars as himself. Brown makes an appearance at the "Do What You Feel" festival, during which he sings his 1965 song "I Got You (I Feel Good)
I Got You (I Feel Good)
"I Got You " is a hit song by James Brown. Released as a single in 1965, it was one of Brown's signature songs, and is arguably his most widely-known recording.-Description:...
". After a bandstand collapses, he proclaims "Hey, wait a minute, hold on here. This bandstand wasn't double-bolted." He described the experience as "good, clean, and humorous. And we need more of that around." According to Mirkin, the writers like to give guest stars awkward lines which then sound funny coming from them. They knew Brown would not be "the greatest actor in the world" but still "gave him these incredibly hilarious, stiff lines that killed." Mirkin described Brown's line as "horrible" but because of Brown's reading, "you have something that just sounds perfectly wrong and it makes it funny." In his book Planet Simpson, Chris Turner
Chris Turner (author)
Chris Turner is a Canadian author. He is the author of Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation, published in 2004...
describes James Brown's performance as "hilariously over-the-top" and uses it as an example of how the early seasons of the show would include celebrity cameos and not point out the "enormity of their fame."
Cultural references
The episode features cultural references to several films, television shows, and songs. The scene with a field full of injured children from the trampoline is a reference to the field of injured soldiers shot in the film Gone with the WindGone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
. There is a sequence of Homer trying to push the trampoline off a cliff, but once pushes it over the edge and it falls down, it lands on a pillar of rock and bounces back up. This is a reference to the Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
-directed Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros., while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese...
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
cartoons. The background imitates the desert landscape from the cartoons. At church, Reverend Lovejoy plays the classic rag
Classic Rag
Classic Rag is a term used to describe the style of ragtime composition pioneered by Scott Joplin and the Missouri school of ragtime composers...
"The Entertainer
The Entertainer (rag)
"The Entertainer" is sub-titled "A rag time two step", which was a form of dance popular until about 1911, and a style which was common among rags written at the time.Its structure is: Intro AA BB A CC Intro2 DD....
" by Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...
on the organ.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Bart's Inner Child" finished 40th in the weekly ratings during the week of November 8–14, 1993 with a Nielsen ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 11.8, and was viewed in 11.12 million households. It was the highest rated show on Fox that week.
In 2006, Albert Brooks was named the best Simpsons guest star by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, who said he "captivate[s] the audience with his unique characters". In Planet Simpson, Chris Turner also praised Brooks' performance, writing that "Brooks went for a subtle, slow-burn lampoon rather than broad caricature: his Goodman doesn't ooze insincerity, he just lightly dribbles it. [...] Through a dozen little touches, Brooks created a timeless Simpsons character."
MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's Patrick Enwright listed the episode as his ninth favorite in the show in 2007, saying it "brilliantly skewers new-agey self-help gurus" and adding that "it's also noteworthy for clever pop-cultural references." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, described it as "A very bizarre episode in which everyone just has a good time." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote: "A certified classic, 'Child' mocks the self-help field and makes a good point along the way. Of course, it does all this with scads of clever moments and becomes a great show. As one who works in psychology, it's hard to resist this program's spoofery." Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict gave the episode a grade of B+ and described Homer's escapades with the trampoline as "the episode's brightest spot." Turner described the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner homage as "one of the show's most overt and inspired tributes to the Warner cartoons." Bill Gibron of DVD Talk
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
gave the episode a score of 4.5 out of 5.
External links
- "Bart's Inner Child" at The Simpsons.com