Treehouse of Horror II
Encyclopedia
"Treehouse of Horror II" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons
' third season
. It first aired on the Fox network
in the United States on October 31, 1991. It is the second annual Treehouse of Horror episode, consisting of three self-contained segments, told as dreams of Lisa
, Bart
and Homer
. In the first segment, which was inspired by W. W. Jacobs
's short story The Monkey's Paw
and The New Twilight Zone
episode "A Small Talent for War
", Homer buys a Monkey's Paw that has the power to grant wishes, although all of the wishes backfire. In the second part, which parodies the Twilight Zone
episode "It's a Good Life
", Bart is omnipotent, and turns Homer into a jack-in-the-box
, resulting in the two spending more time together. In the final segment, Mr. Burns
attempts to use Homer's brain to power a giant robotic laborer.
The episode was written by Al Jean
, Mike Reiss
, Jeff Martin
, George Meyer
, Sam Simon
and John Swartzwelder
while Jim Reardon
was the director. The episode is presented in a similar format to the previous season's "Treehouse of Horror
" and contains several similarities to the previous episode, such as Marge's opening warning, the tombstones in the opening credits and the appearance of the alien characters Kang and Kodos. "Treehouse of Horror II" was the first episode that employed the "scary names" idea, in which many of the credits have unusual names. The episode contains numerous parodies and references to horror and science fiction works, including The Twilight Zone, Frankenstein
, Bride of Frankenstein
, The Thing with Two Heads
and Invasion of the Body Snatchers
.
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had a 12.1 Nielsen rating
and finished the week ranked 39th. The episode received positive reviews, and in 2006, IGN
listed the third story as the eighth best Treehouse of Horror segment. The episode was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Award
s: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special and Alf Clausen
for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
.
is watching the news on Halloween
night while eating candy. Marge
and the kids return home after trick-or-treating
with a big haul of candy. Despite warnings from Marge that eating the candy will cause nightmares, Homer, Lisa
, and Bart
eat from the large candy pile. That night, all three try to sleep, and Lisa is the first to have a nightmare.
. Homer purchases a severed monkey's hand that will grant four wishes, despite the vendor's warning that the wisher will meet with grave misfortune. Back in Springfield
, Maggie
is granted that first wish: a new pacifier
. Next, Bart wishes for the Simpsons to be rich and famous. His wish is granted, but the people quickly tire of the family's annoying antics, cheesy merchandise and celebrity treatment. Horrified by these wasteful wishes, Lisa wishes for world peace, and all countries declare peace and destroy their weapons. The aliens Kang and Kodos realize the human race is "ripe for the plucking" and, armed only with a slingshot
and a club, enslave the Earth. The people angrily blame the Simpsons. Determined to make a wish that cannot be twisted, Homer demands a turkey sandwich, but the turkey turns out to be a little too dry. With all of the wishes used, he goes to throw out the paw, but his neighbor Ned Flanders
asks about it. Hoping to see Flanders suffer, Homer gladly hands the paw over. Ned's first wish is to "Get rid of those awful aliens," which is accomplished when Moe chases after Kodos with a board with a nail sticking out of it, then brings them back to the flying saucer, discussing the consequence of the monkey paw to evidently "cause the human race to create a board with a nail in it so big, to doom mankind". Everyone celebrates and after Flanders wishes to "spruce up the ol' homestead", his house is converted into an opulent castle, making Homer jealous. Lisa wakes up from her nightmare and begs Bart to keep her company. Bart sleepily complies after Lisa gives him a candy necklace. Bart then has a nightmare.
by Bart, who has omnipotent
powers. Bart turns whoever is not happy and content with his "rule" into another being, and even history is changed to suit Bart's pleasure. When Homer refuses to turn off a football
game so that Bart can watch "The Krusty the Clown Show" (which has been running for 346 consecutive hours), Bart transports him into the football stadium in place of the ball for a field goal kick. As Homer creeps back into the house, trying to surprise Bart with a blow to the back of the head, Bart transforms him into a jack-in-the-box
. Marge suggests that the two see Dr. Marvin Monroe. The doctor says that Bart is desperate for paternal attention from Homer, and suggests that the two spend more time together. Despite being a jack-in-the-box, Homer spends quality time with Bart, and they soon become a normal, loving family. Bart turns Homer back into a human and the two share a warm family moment, causing Bart to wake up screaming. Bart and Lisa wake Homer and Marge and beg them to let them sleep in their bed. As the two crawl into bed, Homer laments that he has to go to work in a few hours and dozes off, becoming the last one in the episode to have a nightmare.
. Meanwhile, Burns is nearing the completion of his giant robotic laborer, whom he hopes will eventually replace weak-bodied human workers. The only remaining step is to implant a human brain
into the machine's body. Searching a graveyard
the following night, Burns mistakes Homer, snoring in an open grave, for a newly buried corpse and, despite signs that Homer may still be alive, removes Homer's brain with an ice cream scoop and places it in the robot
. However, Robo-Homer is just as lazy and incompetent as he was as a human, using his x-ray vision to locate donuts. Burns declares the experiment a failure and, after restoring the brain to Homer's still-living body, kicks the robot, which topples over and crushes Burns. Afterward, he tells Smithers to get some surgical tools and ether.
Homer wakes up screaming after Bart bites him. While going to the bathroom, Homer finds Mr. Burns's head grafted on his shoulder. Homer repeatedly mumbles that it's all a dream, and Mr. Burns sarcastically reassures him, "Oh that's right, it's all a dream; or is it?" and laughs maniacally.
In a faux sneak preview for the next episode, Lisa reminds Homer that her class is hosting an "all you can eat" spaghetti dinner while Burns reminds him that they have a reception for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands that same night. This causes Homer to remark how he hates having two heads.
"Treehouse of Horror II," the second edition of the Treehouse of Horror series of episodes, was written by Al Jean
, Mike Reiss
, Jeff Martin
, George Meyer
, Sam Simon
, and John Swartzwelder
. Jim Reardon
was the director. The episode is presented in a similar format to the previous season's "Treehouse of Horror
", and contains several similarities to the previous episode, such as Marge's opening warning, the tombstones in the opening credits and the appearance of the alien characters Kang and Kodos. "Treehouse of Horror II" was the first episode that employed the "scary names" idea, in which many of the names in the opening and closing credits have unusual nicknames. The idea came from Al Jean, who was inspired by old issues of EC Comics
. Although the names quickly became more silly than scary, there have been a wide variety of special credits. For example, the director's name is given as Jim "Rondo" Reardon, a reference to his idol, Rondo Hatton
. The "scary names" became such a burden to write that they were cut for "Treehouse of Horror XII" and "Treehouse of Horror XIII", but after hearing complaints from the fans, Jean decided to bring them back. The alien characters Kang and Kodos had been introduced the previous year. There was a debate about whether to include them all Halloween specials after the episode; eventually, the writers agreed to make it a tradition.
During the beginning of the segment "The Monkey's Paw", Hank Azaria
faked some Arabic. Usually, the writers get inspiration for the Halloween specials from old horror stories, but recently, the writers tried to conceive of their own stories instead of creating more parodies. Also, when the Moroccan salesman tries to warn Homer Simpson, saying "You'll be sorry", the animators forgot to move his lips. They only realized their error after the broadcast, so they decided not to change it. While writing the segment, Sam Simon, one of the writers, wanted the fingers to go down in such an order so they would eventually have the middle finger sticking up
. Once the animation would have been complete, however, they could not have gone through; Fox would have refused to air the episode. They had considered the alternative of deliberately blurring the middle finger themselves, but decided that Fox would have also refused. For this episode, there were a lot of loop lines; for instance, the ending to "The Monkey's Paw" was added to the last second. As a result of the loop, they still retained Flander's old house next to his newly-created castle. In order to make the episode fill the time needed, the animators often extended the laughing time for Kang and Kodos.
The second segment is based on The Twilight Zone
television series episode "It's a Good Life
." That episode had also inspired the third segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie
, which starred Nancy Cartwright
in her debut feature film role. The segment parodies the naration of The Twilight Zone, and the producers were pleased with Harry Shearer
's portrayal of Rod Serling
. In addition, though it took a long time, the design of the monster version of Snowball II
by Rich was greatly enjoyed by the producers, who thought it looked "just hideous, just right". Bart's prank call Moe was thought of by John Swartzwelder
, one of the writers; however, Hank Azaria detested the line. According to George Meyer
, the animation for when Bart sits up, screaming, was extremely tough, especially to make the mouthlines natural.
In the third segment, Burns and Smithers go down to the lab during Homer's nightmare. The animators decided to make the animation a bit more impressive, and decided to do the concave and convex images of Burns and Smithers. Even though it was tough and took up more time, the producers felt that it was a necessary tour-de-force. Originally, Homer's robotic voice was done post-animation in order to avoid stress on the voice actor. One of the writers who created the Davy Crockett joke thought it was so funny that he actually mimicked the actions of Mr. Burns putting on Homer's brain in the writing room; the producers thought that it was hilarious, so they decided to add it into the episode.
gang scurry by as trick-or-treaters, à la It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
. Marge's hair in the opening segment recalls Elsa Lanchester
's character in Bride of Frankenstein
. The plot of Lisa's nightmare is a reference to W. W. Jacobs
's short story The Monkey's Paw
, and The New Twilight Zone
episode "A Small Talent for War
". Near the beginning of the segment, Moroccan soldiers stop and search the Simpsons, finding souvenirs taped to Homer's body which he was attempting to smuggle out of the country. This is a reference to the opening drug-smuggling scene of the film Midnight Express
. A billboard advertisement with Bart saying "Get a Mammogram, Man!" can be seen. This was a meta-reference to Bart's popular slogan "Don't have a cow
, man!"
The plot of Bart's nightmare is a parody of The Twilight Zone
episode "It's a Good Life
", which was remade as part of Twilight Zone: The Movie
. Jasper's transformation into a dog is a reference to the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers
. The scene in which Homer goes out with Bart during Bart's nightmare to spend time with the boy, as well as the music accompanying the scene, parody an old anti-smoking public service announcement
, while the church layout was taken from a Norman Rockwell
painting.
Homer's nightmare is based on much of the film Frankenstein
, and the end references The Thing with Two Heads
. While Mr. Burns scoops out Homer's brain, he hums the tune of "If I Only Had a Brain
" which is sung by the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz
. Burns also calls the robot that had Homer's brain a "clinking, clattering cacophany of colligenous cogs and camshafts", similar to the Wizard's line to the Tin Man: "You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of colligenous junk!" In Homer's nightmare, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson is broadcast on a TV. When Mr. Burns puts on Homer's brain, he says "Look at me! I'm Davy Crockett
", a reference to Crockett's popular image as a frontierman who wore a hat of raccoon
fur.
and was viewed in approximately 11.14 million homes. It finished the week ranked 39th. It was the highest rated show on Fox the week it aired, tied with In Living Color
.
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood praised the episode as "A marked improvement on the first, uneven Hallowe'en special. All three tales succeed, with Bart's nightmare of gaining awesome powers being perhaps the most successful". Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict lauded the episode for having "wonderfully wild moments", especially "the parody of The Twilight Zone's 'It's a Good Life,' with Bart in the place of Billy Mumy's omnipresent monster". He gave the episode a score of 90 out of 100 a possible score. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson critiqued the episode as "not so hot their first couple of years", though he admitted that "the 1991 incarnation does top the original from 1990". However, he thought that "None of the three stories stands out as particularly excellent, though the monkey’s paw one probably works the best. Chalk up this episode as a decent Halloween set". He thought the best quote was “Damn it Smithers, this isn’t rocket science. It’s brain surgery!"
In 2006, IGN
published a list of the top ten Treehouse of Horror segments, and they placed the third segment at number eight. They wrote, "'Treehouse of Horror II' contained three quality segments, but [the third] was easily the best. Featuring a story reminiscent to Frankenstein, this episode made us laugh from beginning to end with Homer's crazy antics. [...] The humor that is derived from the multiple movie and literary parodies was enough to leave a last impression on us as an audience - and who doesn't like a robot whose primary function is to find donuts?" Writing for the Star Tribune
, Neal Justin rated the episode as the one of his ten favorite episodes, writing, "The annual Halloween specials glow because all the rules are thrown out, never with more ingenuity than in this second installment." The episode's reference to Midnight Express was named the 18th greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film
' s Nathan Ditum.
The episode was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Award
s: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special and Alf Clausen
for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
.
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 3)
The Simpsons third season originally aired on the Fox network between September 19, 1991 and May 7, 1992. The show runners for the third production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss who executive produced 22 episodes the season, while two other episodes were produced by James L. Brooks, Matt...
. It first aired 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...
in the United States on October 31, 1991. It is the second annual Treehouse of Horror episode, consisting of three self-contained segments, told as dreams of Lisa
Lisa 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...
, 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...
and 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...
. In the first segment, which was inspired by W. W. Jacobs
W. W. Jacobs
William Wymark Jacobs , was an English author of short stories and novels.-Writings:Jacobs is now remembered for his macabre tale "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Toll House"...
's short story The Monkey's Paw
The Monkey's Paw
"The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with an...
and The New Twilight Zone
The New Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is the first of two revivals of Rod Serling's acclaimed 1950/60s television series of the same name. It ran for two seasons on CBS before producing a final season for syndication.-Series history:...
episode "A Small Talent for War
A Small Talent for War
"A Small Talent for War" is the second segment of the fifteenth episode from the first season from the television series The New Twilight Zone....
", Homer buys a Monkey's Paw that has the power to grant wishes, although all of the wishes backfire. In the second part, which parodies the Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
episode "It's a Good Life
It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)
"It's a Good Life" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a 1953 short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby.-Synopsis:...
", Bart is omnipotent, and turns Homer into a jack-in-the-box
Jack-in-the-box
A jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a box with a crank. When the crank is turned, it plays a melody, often "Pop Goes the Weasel". At the end of the tune there is a "surprise", the lid pops open and a figure, usually a clown or jester, pops out of the box...
, resulting in the two spending more time together. In the final segment, Mr. Burns
Montgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
attempts to use Homer's brain to power a giant robotic laborer.
The episode was written by Al Jean
Al Jean
Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...
, Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss
Michael "Mike" Reiss is an American television comedy writer. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series The Simpsons and co-created the animated series The Critic...
, Jeff Martin
Jeff Martin (writer)
Jeff Martin is an American television producer and writer. He was a writer for The Simpsons during the first four seasons. He attended Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, as have many other Simpsons writers...
, 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...
, Sam Simon
Sam Simon
Samuel "Sam" Simon is an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. He submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was...
and 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...
while Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon is an animation director and storyboard consultant, best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series, and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15...
was the director. The episode is presented in a similar format to the previous season's "Treehouse of Horror
Treehouse of Horror
"Treehouse of Horror" is the third episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 25, 1990. The episode was inspired by 1950s horror comics, and begins with a disclaimer that it may be too scary for children. It is the first of a...
" and contains several similarities to the previous episode, such as Marge's opening warning, the tombstones in the opening credits and the appearance of the alien characters Kang and Kodos. "Treehouse of Horror II" was the first episode that employed the "scary names" idea, in which many of the credits have unusual names. The episode contains numerous parodies and references to horror and science fiction works, including The Twilight Zone, Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
, Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American horror film, the first sequel to Frankenstein...
, The Thing with Two Heads
The Thing with Two Heads
The Thing with Two Heads is a 1972 film, starring Rosey Grier, Ray Milland and Don Marshall directed by Lee Frost, and written by Wes Bishop. Frost and Bishop also had parts in the movie....
and Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1978 science fiction film based on the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. It is a remake of the 1956 film of the same name. It was directed by Philip Kaufman and starred Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Leonard Nimoy.A San Francisco health inspector and...
.
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had a 12.1 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...
and finished the week ranked 39th. The episode received positive reviews, and in 2006, 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...
listed the third story as the eighth best Treehouse of Horror segment. The episode was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
s: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special and Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen is an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of The Simpsons, of which he has been the sole composer since 1990...
for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-Total Awards:* CBS - 10* ABC - 7* NBC - 6* FOX - 3* Syndicated - 3* Discovery Channel - 2...
.
Plot
At the beginning of the episode, HomerHomer 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...
is watching the news on Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
night while eating candy. Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and the kids return home after trick-or-treating
Trick-or-treating
Trick-or-treating or "Guising", is a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy with the question "Trick or treat?"...
with a big haul of candy. Despite warnings from Marge that eating the candy will cause nightmares, Homer, Lisa
Lisa 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...
, and 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...
eat from the large candy pile. That night, all three try to sleep, and Lisa is the first to have a nightmare.
Lisa's Nightmare
In the first of three segments, the Simpsons visit MoroccoMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. Homer purchases a severed monkey's hand that will grant four wishes, despite the vendor's warning that the wisher will meet with grave misfortune. Back in 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...
, Maggie
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
is granted that first wish: a new pacifier
Pacifier
A pacifier is a rubber, plastic, or silicone nipple given to an infant or other young child to suck upon. In its standard appearance it has a teat, mouth shield, and handle...
. Next, Bart wishes for the Simpsons to be rich and famous. His wish is granted, but the people quickly tire of the family's annoying antics, cheesy merchandise and celebrity treatment. Horrified by these wasteful wishes, Lisa wishes for world peace, and all countries declare peace and destroy their weapons. The aliens Kang and Kodos realize the human race is "ripe for the plucking" and, armed only with a slingshot
Slingshot
A slingshot, shanghai, flip, bean shooter or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, with two rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket which holds the projectile...
and a club, enslave the Earth. The people angrily blame the Simpsons. Determined to make a wish that cannot be twisted, Homer demands a turkey sandwich, but the turkey turns out to be a little too dry. With all of the wishes used, he goes to throw out the paw, but his neighbor Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...
asks about it. Hoping to see Flanders suffer, Homer gladly hands the paw over. Ned's first wish is to "Get rid of those awful aliens," which is accomplished when Moe chases after Kodos with a board with a nail sticking out of it, then brings them back to the flying saucer, discussing the consequence of the monkey paw to evidently "cause the human race to create a board with a nail in it so big, to doom mankind". Everyone celebrates and after Flanders wishes to "spruce up the ol' homestead", his house is converted into an opulent castle, making Homer jealous. Lisa wakes up from her nightmare and begs Bart to keep her company. Bart sleepily complies after Lisa gives him a candy necklace. Bart then has a nightmare.
Bart's Nightmare
In the second segment, Springfield is held in a grip of terrorFear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
by Bart, who has omnipotent
Omnipotence
Omnipotence is unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed...
powers. Bart turns whoever is not happy and content with his "rule" into another being, and even history is changed to suit Bart's pleasure. When Homer refuses to turn off a football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game so that Bart can watch "The Krusty the Clown Show" (which has been running for 346 consecutive hours), Bart transports him into the football stadium in place of the ball for a field goal kick. As Homer creeps back into the house, trying to surprise Bart with a blow to the back of the head, Bart transforms him into a jack-in-the-box
Jack-in-the-box
A jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a box with a crank. When the crank is turned, it plays a melody, often "Pop Goes the Weasel". At the end of the tune there is a "surprise", the lid pops open and a figure, usually a clown or jester, pops out of the box...
. Marge suggests that the two see Dr. Marvin Monroe. The doctor says that Bart is desperate for paternal attention from Homer, and suggests that the two spend more time together. Despite being a jack-in-the-box, Homer spends quality time with Bart, and they soon become a normal, loving family. Bart turns Homer back into a human and the two share a warm family moment, causing Bart to wake up screaming. Bart and Lisa wake Homer and Marge and beg them to let them sleep in their bed. As the two crawl into bed, Homer laments that he has to go to work in a few hours and dozes off, becoming the last one in the episode to have a nightmare.
Homer's Nightmare
In the third segment, Mr. Burns fires Homer for laziness and incompetence. Looking for work, Homer answers a classified ad to become a grave diggerGravedigger
A gravedigger is a cemetery worker responsible for digging graves used in the process of burial.-Fossors:Fossor or Fossarius , from the Latin verb fodere 'to dig', referred to grave diggers in the Roman catacombs in the first three centuries of the Christian Era...
. Meanwhile, Burns is nearing the completion of his giant robotic laborer, whom he hopes will eventually replace weak-bodied human workers. The only remaining step is to implant a human brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
into the machine's body. Searching a graveyard
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
the following night, Burns mistakes Homer, snoring in an open grave, for a newly buried corpse and, despite signs that Homer may still be alive, removes Homer's brain with an ice cream scoop and places it in the robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
. However, Robo-Homer is just as lazy and incompetent as he was as a human, using his x-ray vision to locate donuts. Burns declares the experiment a failure and, after restoring the brain to Homer's still-living body, kicks the robot, which topples over and crushes Burns. Afterward, he tells Smithers to get some surgical tools and ether.
Homer wakes up screaming after Bart bites him. While going to the bathroom, Homer finds Mr. Burns's head grafted on his shoulder. Homer repeatedly mumbles that it's all a dream, and Mr. Burns sarcastically reassures him, "Oh that's right, it's all a dream; or is it?" and laughs maniacally.
In a faux sneak preview for the next episode, Lisa reminds Homer that her class is hosting an "all you can eat" spaghetti dinner while Burns reminds him that they have a reception for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands that same night. This causes Homer to remark how he hates having two heads.
Production
Al Jean
Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...
, Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss
Michael "Mike" Reiss is an American television comedy writer. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series The Simpsons and co-created the animated series The Critic...
, Jeff Martin
Jeff Martin (writer)
Jeff Martin is an American television producer and writer. He was a writer for The Simpsons during the first four seasons. He attended Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, as have many other Simpsons writers...
, 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...
, Sam Simon
Sam Simon
Samuel "Sam" Simon is an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. He submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was...
, and 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...
. Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon is an animation director and storyboard consultant, best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series, and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15...
was the director. The episode is presented in a similar format to the previous season's "Treehouse of Horror
Treehouse of Horror
"Treehouse of Horror" is the third episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 25, 1990. The episode was inspired by 1950s horror comics, and begins with a disclaimer that it may be too scary for children. It is the first of a...
", and contains several similarities to the previous episode, such as Marge's opening warning, the tombstones in the opening credits and the appearance of the alien characters Kang and Kodos. "Treehouse of Horror II" was the first episode that employed the "scary names" idea, in which many of the names in the opening and closing credits have unusual nicknames. The idea came from Al Jean, who was inspired by old issues of EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
. Although the names quickly became more silly than scary, there have been a wide variety of special credits. For example, the director's name is given as Jim "Rondo" Reardon, a reference to his idol, Rondo Hatton
Rondo Hatton
Rondo Hatton was an American actor who had a brief, but prolific career playing thuggish bit parts in many Hollywood B-movies. He was known for his brutish facial features which were the result of acromegaly, a disorder of the pituitary gland.-Biography:Hatton was born Rondo K...
. The "scary names" became such a burden to write that they were cut for "Treehouse of Horror XII" and "Treehouse of Horror XIII", but after hearing complaints from the fans, Jean decided to bring them back. The alien characters Kang and Kodos had been introduced the previous year. There was a debate about whether to include them all Halloween specials after the episode; eventually, the writers agreed to make it a tradition.
During the beginning of the segment "The Monkey's Paw", Hank Azaria
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
faked some Arabic. Usually, the writers get inspiration for the Halloween specials from old horror stories, but recently, the writers tried to conceive of their own stories instead of creating more parodies. Also, when the Moroccan salesman tries to warn Homer Simpson, saying "You'll be sorry", the animators forgot to move his lips. They only realized their error after the broadcast, so they decided not to change it. While writing the segment, Sam Simon, one of the writers, wanted the fingers to go down in such an order so they would eventually have the middle finger sticking up
Finger (gesture)
In Western culture, the finger , also known as the middle finger, is an obscene hand gesture, often meaning the phrases "fuck off" , "fuck you" or "up yours"...
. Once the animation would have been complete, however, they could not have gone through; Fox would have refused to air the episode. They had considered the alternative of deliberately blurring the middle finger themselves, but decided that Fox would have also refused. For this episode, there were a lot of loop lines; for instance, the ending to "The Monkey's Paw" was added to the last second. As a result of the loop, they still retained Flander's old house next to his newly-created castle. In order to make the episode fill the time needed, the animators often extended the laughing time for Kang and Kodos.
The second segment is based on The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
television series episode "It's a Good Life
It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)
"It's a Good Life" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a 1953 short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby.-Synopsis:...
." That episode had also inspired the third segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 science fiction horror film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1959 and '60s TV series created by Rod Serling. Those starring in the film are: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers,...
, which starred Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...
in her debut feature film role. The segment parodies the naration of The Twilight Zone, and the producers were pleased with 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...
's portrayal of Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
. In addition, though it took a long time, the design of the monster version of Snowball II
Snowball (The Simpsons)
The name Snowball refers to five fictional cats that have been owned by the Simpson family in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The differences between them are:...
by Rich was greatly enjoyed by the producers, who thought it looked "just hideous, just right". Bart's prank call Moe was thought of 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...
, one of the writers; however, Hank Azaria detested the line. According to 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...
, the animation for when Bart sits up, screaming, was extremely tough, especially to make the mouthlines natural.
In the third segment, Burns and Smithers go down to the lab during Homer's nightmare. The animators decided to make the animation a bit more impressive, and decided to do the concave and convex images of Burns and Smithers. Even though it was tough and took up more time, the producers felt that it was a necessary tour-de-force. Originally, Homer's robotic voice was done post-animation in order to avoid stress on the voice actor. One of the writers who created the Davy Crockett joke thought it was so funny that he actually mimicked the actions of Mr. Burns putting on Homer's brain in the writing room; the producers thought that it was hilarious, so they decided to add it into the episode.
Cultural references
In the opening sequence of the episode, the PeanutsPeanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
gang scurry by as trick-or-treaters, à la It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a 1966 American prime time animated television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz....
. Marge's hair in the opening segment recalls Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
's character in Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American horror film, the first sequel to Frankenstein...
. The plot of Lisa's nightmare is a reference to W. W. Jacobs
W. W. Jacobs
William Wymark Jacobs , was an English author of short stories and novels.-Writings:Jacobs is now remembered for his macabre tale "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Toll House"...
's short story The Monkey's Paw
The Monkey's Paw
"The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with an...
, and The New Twilight Zone
The New Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is the first of two revivals of Rod Serling's acclaimed 1950/60s television series of the same name. It ran for two seasons on CBS before producing a final season for syndication.-Series history:...
episode "A Small Talent for War
A Small Talent for War
"A Small Talent for War" is the second segment of the fifteenth episode from the first season from the television series The New Twilight Zone....
". Near the beginning of the segment, Moroccan soldiers stop and search the Simpsons, finding souvenirs taped to Homer's body which he was attempting to smuggle out of the country. This is a reference to the opening drug-smuggling scene of the film Midnight Express
Midnight Express (film)
Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...
. A billboard advertisement with Bart saying "Get a Mammogram, Man!" can be seen. This was a meta-reference to Bart's popular slogan "Don't have a cow
Don't have a cow
Don't have a cow is a humorous cautionary phrase, dating from the late 1950s at least, possibly of US origin. The metaphoric warning means "don't get so worked up." If one pauses to reflect on the physical aspects of a human being giving birth to a full-grown cow, one can see what this phrase...
, man!"
The plot of Bart's nightmare is a parody of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
episode "It's a Good Life
It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)
"It's a Good Life" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a 1953 short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby.-Synopsis:...
", which was remade as part of Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 science fiction horror film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1959 and '60s TV series created by Rod Serling. Those starring in the film are: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers,...
. Jasper's transformation into a dog is a reference to the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1978 science fiction film based on the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. It is a remake of the 1956 film of the same name. It was directed by Philip Kaufman and starred Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Leonard Nimoy.A San Francisco health inspector and...
. The scene in which Homer goes out with Bart during Bart's nightmare to spend time with the boy, as well as the music accompanying the scene, parody an old anti-smoking public service announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
, while the church layout was taken from a Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
painting.
Homer's nightmare is based on much of the film Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
, and the end references The Thing with Two Heads
The Thing with Two Heads
The Thing with Two Heads is a 1972 film, starring Rosey Grier, Ray Milland and Don Marshall directed by Lee Frost, and written by Wes Bishop. Frost and Bishop also had parts in the movie....
. While Mr. Burns scoops out Homer's brain, he hums the tune of "If I Only Had a Brain
If I Only Had A Brain
"If I Only Had a Brain" is a song by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg . The song is sung in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz by the characters that meet Dorothy...
" which is sung by the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
. Burns also calls the robot that had Homer's brain a "clinking, clattering cacophany of colligenous cogs and camshafts", similar to the Wizard's line to the Tin Man: "You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of colligenous junk!" In Homer's nightmare, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson is broadcast on a TV. When Mr. Burns puts on Homer's brain, he says "Look at me! I'm Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
", a reference to Crockett's popular image as a frontierman who wore a hat of raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
fur.
Reception
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had a 12.1 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...
and was viewed in approximately 11.14 million homes. It finished the week ranked 39th. It was the highest rated show on Fox the week it aired, tied with In Living Color
In Living Color
In Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series, which originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Century...
.
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood praised the episode as "A marked improvement on the first, uneven Hallowe'en special. All three tales succeed, with Bart's nightmare of gaining awesome powers being perhaps the most successful". Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict lauded the episode for having "wonderfully wild moments", especially "the parody of The Twilight Zone's 'It's a Good Life,' with Bart in the place of Billy Mumy's omnipresent monster". He gave the episode a score of 90 out of 100 a possible score. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson critiqued the episode as "not so hot their first couple of years", though he admitted that "the 1991 incarnation does top the original from 1990". However, he thought that "None of the three stories stands out as particularly excellent, though the monkey’s paw one probably works the best. Chalk up this episode as a decent Halloween set". He thought the best quote was “Damn it Smithers, this isn’t rocket science. It’s brain surgery!"
In 2006, 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...
published a list of the top ten Treehouse of Horror segments, and they placed the third segment at number eight. They wrote, "'Treehouse of Horror II' contained three quality segments, but [the third] was easily the best. Featuring a story reminiscent to Frankenstein, this episode made us laugh from beginning to end with Homer's crazy antics. [...] The humor that is derived from the multiple movie and literary parodies was enough to leave a last impression on us as an audience - and who doesn't like a robot whose primary function is to find donuts?" Writing for the Star Tribune
Star Tribune
The Star Tribune is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is published seven days each week in an edition for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. A statewide version is also available across Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The...
, Neal Justin rated the episode as the one of his ten favorite episodes, writing, "The annual Halloween specials glow because all the rules are thrown out, never with more ingenuity than in this second installment." The episode's reference to Midnight Express was named the 18th greatest film reference in the history of the show by 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...
The episode was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
s: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special and Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen is an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of The Simpsons, of which he has been the sole composer since 1990...
for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-Total Awards:* CBS - 10* ABC - 7* NBC - 6* FOX - 3* Syndicated - 3* Discovery Channel - 2...
.
External links
- "Treehouse of Horror II" at The Simpsons.com