Sim-Sim

Sim-Sim was purportedly the new female panda at the Springfield Zoo, provided by an anonymous donor. In reality, however, Sim-Sim was Homer Simpson wearing a panda suit as part of an elaborate practical joke played by Mr. Burns.

History
Sim-Sim was introduced to the Springfield Zoo at the Panda-Monium! exhibit, which was held in "her" honor. As a crowd gathered at the exhibit, the zookeeper announced that Sim-Sim was a new arrival at the zoo, courtesy of an anonymous donor. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Mr. Burns helped Homer get into the panda suit, then pushed him toward the viewing area. Moments later, Sim-Sim emerged from her cave, to applause from the audience.

Next, coached by Mr. Burns, Homer as Sim-Sim began dancing the. His dancing was so energetic that the zookeeper called for trainers to "calm her down" with electrical prods. As the trainers repeatedly zapped Homer with their prods, the zookeeper assured the audience that "Because of their thick, thick hides, pandas only feel the slightest tickle from these powerful electric shocks." Homer, however, lacking the protection of a panda's thick hide, felt the full jolt of the shocks and screamed in pain, but his screams went unheard as they were muffled by the panda suit. At one point, Homer made a "no more" gesture to one of the trainers, but she said, "Oh, she's saying 'I love you'", which drew more cheers from the audience. The shocks continued to the point where smoke was billowing out from the eyeholes of Homer's panda suit and Homer collapsed from the pain.

At that point, the zoo's bull panda, Ping-Ping, emerged from his cave, sniffed the air and moved in the direction of Sim-Sim to check out the new arrival. The zookeeper said, "With any luck, these two will become very, very close, if you know what I mean." As Ping-Ping advanced on him, Homer called for help from Mr. Burns, but Burns just laughed as he watched from behind the scenes. Homer then tried to run away from Ping-Ping, but he tripped and ended up sprawled over a rock with his behind in the air, which to Ping-Ping signified that Sim-Sim was ready to mate. The zookeeper noticed Homer's position and said, "Oh, look, she's presenting! We thought this would take years to happen!" Ping-Ping took Homer up on the inadvertent offer, grabbed Homer by the costume's hind legs, and started dragging him to his cave, to screams from Homer and loud cheers and whistles from the audience. A curtain then came down, covering the viewing area as Homer kept screaming and the sounds of a struggle continued. The zookeeper said, "Ping-Ping just asked Sim-Sim to marry him, and I think she just said yes", which drew still more applause from the audience. Homer made one last try to get away and actually got halfway out from behind the curtain. However, Ping-Ping quickly pulled him back inside, in spite of Homer's digging his costume's claws into the ground in a futile attempt to stay out of Ping-Ping's clutches. Moe, in the audience watching the spectacle, said, "Ha! You ain't goin' nowhere, cutie."

Later, after Ping-Ping fell asleep, Homer was able to escape. However, in the process, he lost the head of his panda costume and ended up being discovered by Lisa, who had also been in the audience.

Behind the Laughter

 * Sim-Sim's name is a pun on Homer's last name and a reference to Homer's being a fake, or "simulated", panda.
 * The name may also be a pun on Hsing-Hsing of the panda pair, who were a gift from China to the USA in 1972.