Bart the General
Encyclopedia
"Bart the General" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons
' first season
, which premiered on the Fox network
on February 4, 1990. The episode deals with Bart
's troubles with the bully, Nelson Muntz
. Bart chooses to go to war with Nelson uniting the neighborhood children against him. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder
and directed by David Silverman
.
bakes a batch of cupcakes for Miss Hoover. Bart begs for one on the ride to school, until she eventually gives him a cupcake that fell on the floor. At school, a bully steals Lisa's cupcakes and steps on them, ruining them. Bart lunges at the bully to defend his sister, but is held back by Nelson Muntz
, the worst bully in the school. Bart struggles and inadvertently gives Nelson a bloody nose. Nelson promises to get Bart back after school. Bart spends the day lost in daydreams about Nelson killing him, and his classmates and family attending his funeral. After school, he attempts to sneak away, but is caught by Nelson, beaten up, thrown in a trash can, rolled downhill, until he gets home.
Homer
tries to give Bart advice, telling him that, according to the Code of the Schoolyard, Bart must defend himself. Homer teaches Bart to fight dirty, telling him to hit below the belt and throw mud in Nelson's eyes. Bart tries to follow his advice, but again finds himself beaten and rolled away in a trash can. Lisa suggests that Bart go to the toughest Simpson for advice - Grampa Simpson
. Bart finds Grampa at the retirement home, where he sees Grampa is being harassed by an elderly bully of his own. Grampa takes Bart to an army surplus store, where they meet Herman, a possibly unbalanced veteran. Herman tells Bart that he must make war on Nelson, and begins drawing up a battle plan.
Bart gathers other bullied kids from school and turns them into an army. After some training and marching, they gather hundreds of water balloons and ambush Nelson and his cronies. The bullies attempt to run, but Bart orders the use of 'saturation bombing' and the bullies are pelted with water balloons everywhere they turn. Nelson's henchmen surrender, claiming they were only following orders
. Nelson is taken prisoner and a peace treaty is drawn up, under which he recognizes Bart's right to exist
yet is permitted to remain a "figurehead of menace". In a postscript, Bart addresses the audience, telling them that war is not glamorous or fun, with the exceptions of the Revolutionary War, World War II
, and Star Wars
.
. It therefore did not feature a chalkboard gag or a couch gag. Instead, it just cut to an image of the Simpson house. David Silverman was the director and was kind of stressed, because he was doing storyboards for this episode while also directing "Bart the Genius
". Originally, he had planned to use the song "War" by Edwin Starr
in the episode. The plans were dropped, when they decided that the song did not really fit the story. The episode had problems with the censors, who did not want the characters to say "family jewels" on prime time television. The producers ignored the notes and "family jewels" remained in the episode. This act of attempted censorship was reflected in the part where Grampa Simpson writes a letter complaining of how sexualized television has become and gives a list of words he never wants to hear on TV again, one of which is "family jewels".
Two new characters were introduced in this episode. The first, Nelson Muntz
, remains a frequently used recurring character, while the second, Herman, has been used far less. The design of Herman, with the exception of his missing arm, was inspired by writer John Swartzwelder. His voice, as performed by Harry Shearer
, was partly inspired by George H. W. Bush
. The original idea for Herman was for him to have a differing story for the loss of his arm with every appearance.
from 1970 composed by Jerry Goldsmith
. Fox owned the rights to this film, so it was no problem to use the soundtrack. The marching sequence is a nod to Stanley Kubrick
's Full Metal Jacket
from 1987. The Longest Day
from 1962 is also referenced. Bart concludes the episode by stating that the only "good wars" are the American Revolution
, World War II
, and the Star Wars trilogy.
of 14.3. It was the highest rated show on the Fox Network that week. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said: "Some good lines and setpieces aside - we love Bart's fantasy of death at Nelson's hands - this episode nevertheless feels a bit unsure of itself, particularly towards the end." In a DVD review of the first season David B. Grelck gave the episode a rating of 3/5 and adds "Another episode that helped to propel Bart's popularity into the stratosphere ...". Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review that the episode "remains a primitive example of The Simpsons, but it’s a reasonably amusing and entertaining experience." and added that the episode "lacks the subtlety and cleverness found on later episodes, but it was onto something." Matt Groening notes on the commentary track that he finds it strange how controversial this episode seemed at the time of its release. Today, they would go a lot further and to him this episode now seems harmless. The episode's reference to Full Metal Jacket was named the eleventh greatest film reference in the history of the show by Nathan Ditum of Total Film
.
' s "The Tape
" were used in a Dartmouth College
experiment to study brain activity in relation to humorous moments in television shows. The results were published in a 2004 issue of the academic journal
Neurolmage. The researchers noted, "During moments of humor detection, significant [brain] activation was noted in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus
... and left inferior frontal gyrus".
". It was released in the US on the VHS release The Best of The Simpsons, Vol. 2 (1997), paired with "Moaning Lisa
". It was later re-released in the US in a collector's edition boxed set of the first three volumes of The Best of The Simpsons collections. It was re-released in the UK as part of VHS boxed set of the complete first season, released in November 1999. The episode's debut on the DVD format was as a part of The Simpsons season one DVD set, which was released on September 25, 2001. Groening, Brooks, and Silverman participated in the DVD's audio commentary
. A digital edition of the series' first season was published December 20, 2010 in the United States containing the episode, through Amazon Instant Video and iTunes
.
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 1)
The Simpsons first season originally aired between December 17, 1989 and May 13, 1990, beginning with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The show runners for the first production season were Matt Groening, James L...
, which premiered on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on February 4, 1990. The episode deals with Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
's troubles with the bully, Nelson Muntz
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and bully from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was introduced in Season 1's "Bart the General" as a bully but later turned into a friend of Bart Simpson, who is best identified by his signature laugh .-Role...
. Bart chooses to go to war with Nelson uniting the neighborhood children against him. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder
John Swartzwelder
John 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 Simpsons episodes by a large margin...
and directed by David Silverman
David Silverman
David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...
.
Plot
LisaLisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
bakes a batch of cupcakes for Miss Hoover. Bart begs for one on the ride to school, until she eventually gives him a cupcake that fell on the floor. At school, a bully steals Lisa's cupcakes and steps on them, ruining them. Bart lunges at the bully to defend his sister, but is held back by Nelson Muntz
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and bully from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was introduced in Season 1's "Bart the General" as a bully but later turned into a friend of Bart Simpson, who is best identified by his signature laugh .-Role...
, the worst bully in the school. Bart struggles and inadvertently gives Nelson a bloody nose. Nelson promises to get Bart back after school. Bart spends the day lost in daydreams about Nelson killing him, and his classmates and family attending his funeral. After school, he attempts to sneak away, but is caught by Nelson, beaten up, thrown in a trash can, rolled downhill, until he gets home.
Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
tries to give Bart advice, telling him that, according to the Code of the Schoolyard, Bart must defend himself. Homer teaches Bart to fight dirty, telling him to hit below the belt and throw mud in Nelson's eyes. Bart tries to follow his advice, but again finds himself beaten and rolled away in a trash can. Lisa suggests that Bart go to the toughest Simpson for advice - Grampa Simpson
Abraham Simpson
Abraham J. "Abe" Simpson, often known simply as Grampa, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and he is also the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer Simpson, and the grandfather of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson...
. Bart finds Grampa at the retirement home, where he sees Grampa is being harassed by an elderly bully of his own. Grampa takes Bart to an army surplus store, where they meet Herman, a possibly unbalanced veteran. Herman tells Bart that he must make war on Nelson, and begins drawing up a battle plan.
Bart gathers other bullied kids from school and turns them into an army. After some training and marching, they gather hundreds of water balloons and ambush Nelson and his cronies. The bullies attempt to run, but Bart orders the use of 'saturation bombing' and the bullies are pelted with water balloons everywhere they turn. Nelson's henchmen surrender, claiming they were only following orders
Superior Orders
Superior orders is a plea in a court of law that a soldier not be held guilty for actions which were ordered by a superior office...
. Nelson is taken prisoner and a peace treaty is drawn up, under which he recognizes Bart's right to exist
Right to exist
The right to exist is said to be an attribute of nations. According to an essay by the nineteenth century French philosopher Ernest Renan, a state has the right to exist when individuals are willing to sacrifice their own interests for the community it represents. Unlike self-determination, the...
yet is permitted to remain a "figurehead of menace". In a postscript, Bart addresses the audience, telling them that war is not glamorous or fun, with the exceptions of the Revolutionary War, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
.
Production
This episode was running too long to use the normal opening sequenceThe Simpsons opening sequence
The Simpsons opening sequence is an element that begins almost every episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. Starting with the season 20 episode "Take My Life, Please", the opening sequence was redone to go with the high-definition format of the show, and replaced the...
. It therefore did not feature a chalkboard gag or a couch gag. Instead, it just cut to an image of the Simpson house. David Silverman was the director and was kind of stressed, because he was doing storyboards for this episode while also directing "Bart the Genius
Bart the Genius
"Bart the Genius" is the second episode of The Simpsons first season, which originally aired on the Fox network on January 14, 1990. It was the first episode written by Jon Vitti. It was also the first ever episode to use the signature title sequence, as well as the first regular episode...
". Originally, he had planned to use the song "War" by Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".-Biography:...
in the episode. The plans were dropped, when they decided that the song did not really fit the story. The episode had problems with the censors, who did not want the characters to say "family jewels" on prime time television. The producers ignored the notes and "family jewels" remained in the episode. This act of attempted censorship was reflected in the part where Grampa Simpson writes a letter complaining of how sexualized television has become and gives a list of words he never wants to hear on TV again, one of which is "family jewels".
Two new characters were introduced in this episode. The first, Nelson Muntz
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and bully from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was introduced in Season 1's "Bart the General" as a bully but later turned into a friend of Bart Simpson, who is best identified by his signature laugh .-Role...
, remains a frequently used recurring character, while the second, Herman, has been used far less. The design of Herman, with the exception of his missing arm, was inspired by writer John Swartzwelder. His voice, as performed by Harry Shearer
Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. 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...
, was partly inspired by George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
. The original idea for Herman was for him to have a differing story for the loss of his arm with every appearance.
Cultural references
The episode featured several references to war films. Several lines of dialogue, Bart slapping one of his soldiers for "being a disgrace", and the music was lifted directly from the film PattonPatton (film)
Patton is a 1970 American biographical war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates, and Karl Michael Vogler. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a script by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H...
from 1970 composed by Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
. Fox owned the rights to this film, so it was no problem to use the soundtrack. The marching sequence is a nod to Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is an adaptation of the 1979 novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford and stars Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard and Adam Baldwin. The film follows a platoon of U.S...
from 1987. The Longest Day
The Longest Day (film)
The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
from 1962 is also referenced. Bart concludes the episode by stating that the only "good wars" are the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and the Star Wars trilogy.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Bart the General" finished 31st place in the weekly ratings for the week of January 29 - February 4, 1990 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 14.3. It was the highest rated show on the Fox Network that week. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said: "Some good lines and setpieces aside - we love Bart's fantasy of death at Nelson's hands - this episode nevertheless feels a bit unsure of itself, particularly towards the end." In a DVD review of the first season David B. Grelck gave the episode a rating of 3/5 and adds "Another episode that helped to propel Bart's popularity into the stratosphere ...". Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review that the episode "remains a primitive example of The Simpsons, but it’s a reasonably amusing and entertaining experience." and added that the episode "lacks the subtlety and cleverness found on later episodes, but it was onto something." Matt Groening notes on the commentary track that he finds it strange how controversial this episode seemed at the time of its release. Today, they would go a lot further and to him this episode now seems harmless. The episode's reference to Full Metal Jacket was named the eleventh greatest film reference in the history of the show by Nathan Ditum of Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
.
Use in scientific research
"Bart the General" and SeinfeldSeinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
The Tape
"The Tape" is the twenty-fifth episode of Seinfeld. It is the eighth episode of the show's third season. It first aired on November 13, 1991.The episode was written by Larry David and Don McEnery and Bob Shaw and was directed by David Steinberg.-Plot:...
" were used in a Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
experiment to study brain activity in relation to humorous moments in television shows. The results were published in a 2004 issue of the academic journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
Neurolmage. The researchers noted, "During moments of humor detection, significant [brain] activation was noted in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus
Gyrus
A gyrus is a ridge on the cerebral cortex. It is generally surrounded by one or more sulci .-Notable gyri:* Superior frontal gyrus, lat. gyrus frontalis superior* Middle frontal gyrus, lat. gyrus frontalis medius...
... and left inferior frontal gyrus".
Home release
The episode was released first on home video in the United Kingdom, as part of a VHS release titled The Simpsons Collection; the episode was paired with season one episode "There's No Disgrace Like HomeThere's No Disgrace Like Home
"There's No Disgrace Like Home" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons first season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 28, 1990. In the episode, Homer becomes ashamed of his family after a catastrophic company picnic and decides to enroll them in therapy. The...
". It was released in the US on the VHS release The Best of The Simpsons, Vol. 2 (1997), paired with "Moaning Lisa
Moaning Lisa
"Moaning Lisa" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons first season, and originally aired February 11, 1990. The episode was written by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, and was directed by Wes Archer. Ron Taylor guest stars in the episode as Bleeding Gums Murphy. The episode deals with Lisa's depression and...
". It was later re-released in the US in a collector's edition boxed set of the first three volumes of The Best of The Simpsons collections. It was re-released in the UK as part of VHS boxed set of the complete first season, released in November 1999. The episode's debut on the DVD format was as a part of The Simpsons season one DVD set, which was released on September 25, 2001. Groening, Brooks, and Silverman participated in the DVD's audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
. A digital edition of the series' first season was published December 20, 2010 in the United States containing the episode, through Amazon Instant Video and iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
External links
- "Bart the General" at The Simpsons.com