Difference between revisions of "The Simpsons: America's First Family"
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'''''The Simpsons: America's First Family''''' is a 50 minute program which features the production of ''The Simpsons'' produced by the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] in [[2000]]. A shorter version is included as a special feature in [[The Complete First Season]] boxset. It aired on BBC2 on June 23, 2000 as part of ''Simpsons Night'' on the channel. | '''''The Simpsons: America's First Family''''' is a 50 minute program which features the production of ''The Simpsons'' produced by the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] in [[2000]]. A shorter version is included as a special feature in [[The Complete First Season]] boxset. It aired on BBC2 on June 23, 2000 as part of ''Simpsons Night'' on the channel. | ||
| + | ==Plot summary== | ||
| + | {{incomplete}} | ||
| + | After the introduction, the narrator begins with how the show began, then an interview with [[Matt Groening]] about "[[Life in Hell]]" and how ''The Simpsons'' got [[The Simpsons shorts|started]]. [[James L. Brooks]] then explains that the crew behind ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]'' were looking for bumpers to put in between advertisement breaks, so they could make the breaks between acts entertaining. Groening explains about how the "Life in Hell" bumpers could have gone wrong, and decided he should create new characters, The Simpsons. [[Dan Castellaneta]] and [[Julie Kavner]] were immediately casted as [[Homer]] and [[Marge]] respectively, because they were both already working on ''The Tracey Ullman Show'', and [[Nancy Cartwright]] and [[Yeardley Smith]] were hired to voice [[Bart]] and [[Lisa]], two of the three kids, respectively. Yeardley Smith explains that she was originally brought in to voice Bart, but her voice was too girly. Nancy Cartwright also explains that she picked up the card for Lisa, but was not that excited about the part, so she picked up the card for Bart, and read the description of him, finding that she wanted to voice him. Smith then says that she auditioned for both Bart and Lisa, and a few days later, she got the part for Lisa. During her audition, Cartwright attempted to channel a 10-year old boy's voice into her head, and then came out with the voice of Bart. Kavner also explains that her voice was tired out, so she just exaggerated the tiredness for Marge's voice. Castellaneta started with a Walter Matthau impression for Homer's voice, but then the voice travelled down into the throat, and the voice sounded more dopier and the emotions of the voice were easier to control. Groening then tells us that the reason for the characters in the shorts being wierdly-drawn is because he drew the little sketches, and thought that the animators would clean them up, but instead they just traced over the drawings. During the shorts, The Simpsons was popular, so FOX, the network the Tracey Ullman Show was broadcast on, took a leap into the void - and gave the offer to transform The Simpsons into a half-hour program. | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[Al Jean]], who has been the show runner for several seasons, explains that FOX commited $10,000,000 to produce 13 episodes, and Groening tells us that FOX was a little hesitant about the series, because primetime animation was something that had not been done for "about a generation". Jean and his partner joined ''The Simpsons'' because no-one else wanted the job, because animation was dead on primetime since ''The Flintstones'' twenty-years earlier. Al Jean was encouraged to join the show by James L. Brooks, Sam Simon and Matt Groening because the stories planned out were hilarious and the characters were great. By Christmas 1989, "[[Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire]]", a Christmas special was broadcast. ''The Simpsons'' turned into a hit show, popping up on magazine covers, and hundreds of merchandise being released. Groening praised the amount of bootleg Bart merchandise being released during the show's [[Season 1|first season]], because he thought it was amazing how people could take a cartoon character and make him their own. FOX then moved ''The Simpsons'' to a new time slot, and ended up facing ''The Cosby Show''. ''The Simpsons'' eventually won the battle for the top ratings, and ended up in the top ten for the entire second season. By the end of the first season, America had a new star - Bart. However, the kids who watched the show latched onto Bart, while the adult viewers latched onto the parents, Homer and Marge. Groening explains the personalities of Homer, and that he expresses his love for food. [[Mike Scully ]]explains that Homer could not be without Marge, as she pulls Homer in from bad ideas. Marge is the anchor for the family, as Kavner explains, and is the one that holds everything together. Lisa is the only character on the show which has intelligence, making her a genius and a prodigy. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The Simpsons lives in [[Springfield]], with characters of several generations, non-vigilant cops, and jailbirds. Springfield is a town bursting with high culture, neighborhood grocers, fast food and is a town that never sleeps. With thousands of characters, Al Jean explains that ''Frasier'' is a great show, but viewers can expect the same characters every week. It is the same with ''The Simpsons'', but there's always new characters being introduced. [[Hank Azaria]], who voices many characters, first voiced [[Moe]], the bartender, and originally tried out for him with a less-than gravelly voice. Castellaneta, the voice of Homer, also voices [[Krusty the Clown]]. Azaria also voices [[Apu]], the owner of the [[Kwik-E-Mart]], and is surprised why many people think the voice is funny. Cartwright's favourite character is [[Ralph Wiggum]]. Castellaneta also voices [[Abraham Simpson|Grampa Simpson]], Azaria voices [[Chief Wiggum]], Cartwright voices [[Nelson Muntz]], Castellaneta voices [[Barney Gumble]] as well, Azaria also voices [[Lou|Lou the cop]] (who Azaria thinks sounds like Stalone), Castellaneta voices [[Mayor Quimby]], Nancy Cartwright voices [[Todd Flanders]] (although she doesn't know if she voices Todd or his brother, Rod), Castellaneta voices [[Groundskeeper Willie]] and Azaria enjoys voicing [[Professor Frink]]. Scully tells us that guest stars either voice themselves, or a different character, and then goes on to talk about [[Michael Jackson]], who was a big fan of the show, and voiced a character who thought he was Michael Jackson. [[Tom Jones]], who played himself in one episode, liked his drawing of the character. [[Mel Gibson]], another guest star who voiced himself, was at a test screening while he had not been to the bathroom in hours, so he planned to sneak out and leap behind a dumpster, and that was actually put into the episode in which he starred in. Jean explains that guest stars don't have to do what's written, including [[Joe Frazier]], whose character was in a fight with Barney Gumble in the episode he starred in. Originally, Joe Frazier lost the fight in the episode, but that was changed because Frazier said that he won't lose a fight to Barney, so in the end, Barney lost the fight. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The creators of the show work on one basic rule - ''The Simpsons'' is never a mere cartoon. Brooks explains that the plan was to take animation to the rules the crew follow in a live-action series. Jean also tells us that it was important to establish to the audience that The Simpsons was a real family, and that the audience could be emotionally moved by the show. The show has what is called "rubber-band reality", where characters don't walk off cliffs and walk in the air, they skateboard off cliffs, and fly over part of the cliff, think they are going to make it to the other side, and then the characters fall. Also, in sound effects, there are no boings or bleeps, there are close-as-possible-to realistic sound effects. | ||
| + | <!---END OF PART TWO---> | ||
{{Specials}} | {{Specials}} | ||
Revision as of 09:16, July 22, 2012
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Work in Progress! A work in progress is being carried out on this page by Phinbart, and may undergo critical changes while this message remains in place. |
The Simpsons: America's First Family
| ||||||
Special Information
|
The Simpsons: America's First Family is a 50 minute program which features the production of The Simpsons produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 2000. A shorter version is included as a special feature in The Complete First Season boxset. It aired on BBC2 on June 23, 2000 as part of Simpsons Night on the channel.
Plot summary
|
This article or section is incomplete.
|
After the introduction, the narrator begins with how the show began, then an interview with Matt Groening about "Life in Hell" and how The Simpsons got started. James L. Brooks then explains that the crew behind The Tracey Ullman Show were looking for bumpers to put in between advertisement breaks, so they could make the breaks between acts entertaining. Groening explains about how the "Life in Hell" bumpers could have gone wrong, and decided he should create new characters, The Simpsons. Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner were immediately casted as Homer and Marge respectively, because they were both already working on The Tracey Ullman Show, and Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith were hired to voice Bart and Lisa, two of the three kids, respectively. Yeardley Smith explains that she was originally brought in to voice Bart, but her voice was too girly. Nancy Cartwright also explains that she picked up the card for Lisa, but was not that excited about the part, so she picked up the card for Bart, and read the description of him, finding that she wanted to voice him. Smith then says that she auditioned for both Bart and Lisa, and a few days later, she got the part for Lisa. During her audition, Cartwright attempted to channel a 10-year old boy's voice into her head, and then came out with the voice of Bart. Kavner also explains that her voice was tired out, so she just exaggerated the tiredness for Marge's voice. Castellaneta started with a Walter Matthau impression for Homer's voice, but then the voice travelled down into the throat, and the voice sounded more dopier and the emotions of the voice were easier to control. Groening then tells us that the reason for the characters in the shorts being wierdly-drawn is because he drew the little sketches, and thought that the animators would clean them up, but instead they just traced over the drawings. During the shorts, The Simpsons was popular, so FOX, the network the Tracey Ullman Show was broadcast on, took a leap into the void - and gave the offer to transform The Simpsons into a half-hour program.
Al Jean, who has been the show runner for several seasons, explains that FOX commited $10,000,000 to produce 13 episodes, and Groening tells us that FOX was a little hesitant about the series, because primetime animation was something that had not been done for "about a generation". Jean and his partner joined The Simpsons because no-one else wanted the job, because animation was dead on primetime since The Flintstones twenty-years earlier. Al Jean was encouraged to join the show by James L. Brooks, Sam Simon and Matt Groening because the stories planned out were hilarious and the characters were great. By Christmas 1989, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special was broadcast. The Simpsons turned into a hit show, popping up on magazine covers, and hundreds of merchandise being released. Groening praised the amount of bootleg Bart merchandise being released during the show's first season, because he thought it was amazing how people could take a cartoon character and make him their own. FOX then moved The Simpsons to a new time slot, and ended up facing The Cosby Show. The Simpsons eventually won the battle for the top ratings, and ended up in the top ten for the entire second season. By the end of the first season, America had a new star - Bart. However, the kids who watched the show latched onto Bart, while the adult viewers latched onto the parents, Homer and Marge. Groening explains the personalities of Homer, and that he expresses his love for food. Mike Scully explains that Homer could not be without Marge, as she pulls Homer in from bad ideas. Marge is the anchor for the family, as Kavner explains, and is the one that holds everything together. Lisa is the only character on the show which has intelligence, making her a genius and a prodigy.
The Simpsons lives in Springfield, with characters of several generations, non-vigilant cops, and jailbirds. Springfield is a town bursting with high culture, neighborhood grocers, fast food and is a town that never sleeps. With thousands of characters, Al Jean explains that Frasier is a great show, but viewers can expect the same characters every week. It is the same with The Simpsons, but there's always new characters being introduced. Hank Azaria, who voices many characters, first voiced Moe, the bartender, and originally tried out for him with a less-than gravelly voice. Castellaneta, the voice of Homer, also voices Krusty the Clown. Azaria also voices Apu, the owner of the Kwik-E-Mart, and is surprised why many people think the voice is funny. Cartwright's favourite character is Ralph Wiggum. Castellaneta also voices Grampa Simpson, Azaria voices Chief Wiggum, Cartwright voices Nelson Muntz, Castellaneta voices Barney Gumble as well, Azaria also voices Lou the cop (who Azaria thinks sounds like Stalone), Castellaneta voices Mayor Quimby, Nancy Cartwright voices Todd Flanders (although she doesn't know if she voices Todd or his brother, Rod), Castellaneta voices Groundskeeper Willie and Azaria enjoys voicing Professor Frink. Scully tells us that guest stars either voice themselves, or a different character, and then goes on to talk about Michael Jackson, who was a big fan of the show, and voiced a character who thought he was Michael Jackson. Tom Jones, who played himself in one episode, liked his drawing of the character. Mel Gibson, another guest star who voiced himself, was at a test screening while he had not been to the bathroom in hours, so he planned to sneak out and leap behind a dumpster, and that was actually put into the episode in which he starred in. Jean explains that guest stars don't have to do what's written, including Joe Frazier, whose character was in a fight with Barney Gumble in the episode he starred in. Originally, Joe Frazier lost the fight in the episode, but that was changed because Frazier said that he won't lose a fight to Barney, so in the end, Barney lost the fight.
The creators of the show work on one basic rule - The Simpsons is never a mere cartoon. Brooks explains that the plan was to take animation to the rules the crew follow in a live-action series. Jean also tells us that it was important to establish to the audience that The Simpsons was a real family, and that the audience could be emotionally moved by the show. The show has what is called "rubber-band reality", where characters don't walk off cliffs and walk in the air, they skateboard off cliffs, and fly over part of the cliff, think they are going to make it to the other side, and then the characters fall. Also, in sound effects, there are no boings or bleeps, there are close-as-possible-to realistic sound effects.
