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Difference between revisions of "Last Tap Dance in Springfield"

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{{EpisodePrevNext|Kill the Alligator and Run|It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge}}
|image = Last Tap Dance in Springfield promo.gif
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{{Episode
|Episode Number = 246
+
|image= Last Tap Dance in Springfield promo.png
|productionCode = BABF15
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|number= 246
|originalAirdate = May 7, 2000
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|season=11
|blackboardText = "I will not dance on anyone's grave"
+
|snumber=20
|couchGag = The living room is a jungle. Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie swing in on vines gracefully, like {{W|Tarzan}}. Homer, swings too far and crashes, like {{W|George of the Jungle}}.
+
|prodcode= BABF15
|Written By = [[Julie Thacker]]
+
|airdate= May 7, [[2000]]
|Directed By = [[Nancy Kruse]]
+
|blackboard= "I will not dance on anyone's grave"
 +
|couchgag= The living room is a jungle. Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie swing in on vines gracefully, like {{W|Tarzan}}. Homer, swings too far and crashes, like {{W|George of the Jungle}}.
 +
|showrunner1= Mike Scully
 +
|writer= [[Julie Thacker]]
 +
|director= [[Nancy Kruse]]
 +
|DVD features=yes
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''Last Tap Dance in Springfield''' is the twentieth episode of [[season 11]]. It originally aired on May 7, 2000. The episode was written by [[Julie Thacker]] and directed by [[Nancy Kruse]].
+
"'''Last Tap Dance in Springfield'''" is the twentieth episode of [[season 11]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and the two-hundred and forty-sixth episode overall. It originally aired on May 7, [[2000]]. The episode was written by [[Julie Thacker]] and directed by [[Nancy Kruse]].
  
==Synopsis==
+
== Synopsis ==
After seeing "Tango de la Muerto" at the local theatre, [[Lisa]] is inspired to learn the art of the dance, tutored by none other than former child actress Little Miss [[Vicky Valentine]]. Meanwhile, [[Homer]] decides to increase his visual acuity with laser eye surgery.
+
{{Desc|After seeing "[[Tango de la Muerte]]" at the local theater, [[Lisa]] is inspired to learn the art of the dance, tutored by former child actress Lil' [[Vicki Valentine]]. Meanwhile, [[Bart]] and [[Milhouse]] cause devastation at the [[Springfield Mall]].}}
  
 
== Plot ==
 
== Plot ==
The Simpsons are visiting the mall, buying equipment for Bart's upcoming camping trip. [[Homer]] gets his eyes examined at the {{W|optometrist}}, while Marge and Lisa go to see ''{{W|Tango}} de La Muerte'', a romantic film. Lisa is entranced by a character called "Lisabella", a plain and bookish woman who is revealed to be beautiful when she is chosen to be the lead male's dance partner. The film charms Lisa so much that she now wants to become a dancer. Homer, meanwhile, takes the laser surgery and neglects the eyedrops used to prevent crusting and as a result has his eyes crusted, so he can't see. He is later tricked by Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney (who pretends to be Marge) into buying them cigarettes and Jack Daniels.
+
At home, [[Homer]] sits close to the TV, watching ''[[The Cyborganizer]]'', struggling to see what's happening due to his eyesight. [[Marge]] tells him she's taking Bart to the [[Springfield Mall|mall]] to buy supplies for his upcoming camping trip and suggests that Homer goes with them to get his eyes tested. At the mall, the family visits [[Eye Caramba]], leaving Homer there while they shop. Bart doesn't want to shop because he finds it boring, so he threatens to throw a tantrum until Marge agrees to get everything for him. Back at Eye Caramba, Homer has his eyes tested and finds out he needs glasses. Unable to decide on any, he opts for laser eye surgery instead. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa finish Bart's shopping and notice ''[[Tango de la Muerte]]'' playing at the [[Springfield Cinema]] in the mall. They decide to watch it.
  
Marge takes her to the Dance School of "Little" Vicky Valentine, a former child actor who made her fortune tap dancing through many movies. Lisa says that she wants to learn the Tango, but Vicky forces her into tap lessons.
+
In the film, [[Eduardo]] chooses [[Lisabella]] to be his dance partner, which interests Lisa because Lisabella is similar to her in many ways. After the film, Lisa decides she wants to become a dancer. Soon after, Marge and Lisa visit [[Lil' Vicki Valentine's School of Dance]], where Lisa is pressured by [[Vicki Valentine]] to enroll in a tap dancing class, despite wanting to do tango dancing. When Marge tries to speak up for Lisa, Vicki tells her not to live through her child.
  
Bart and [[Milhouse]] are excited about their camping trip, until they are informed that [[Nelson]] will beat them up all week. They jump off the [[School Bus|bus]], and decide to go camp in the mall instead. They have a wonderful time, eating all the candy and playing with the sports goods, until [[Chief Wiggum]] is called in to catch the vandals. The chief thinks that it's a giant rat's fault, and after some failed booby traps, sets a {{W|Cougar|Puma}} loose to catch it. The Puma finds the boys, who escape after distracting it with a ball of pink yarn. Wiggum sees the end of the yarn protruding from the Puma's mouth, and decides the case is closed, believing the rat has been eaten.
+
Outside [[Springfield Elementary]], the kids prepare to go to camp. On the [[School Bus|bus]], [[Nelson]] tells Bart and [[Milhouse]] he'll spend the whole week pounding on them, so Bart and Milhouse get off the bus before it leaves. Realizing their parents think they're at camp, the two decide to do whatever they want. They go to the mall and stay overnight. They enter the mall just before it closes, hiding in the vents until it's shut down for the night. The two then fall out of the vents and into a candy store, where they gorge themselves. They wreak havoc in multiple stores, leaving a trail of destruction. The next day, [[Chief Wiggum]] demands the mall be shut down to deal with what they think is a giant rat.
  
Lisa is upset to learn that she simply cannot dance (even [[Ralph]] is a natural), and is relegated to 'curtain puller' for the classes first dance recital. She doesn't tell her parents out of shame, but then [[Professor Frink]] appears with a solution - a couple of motors, which when attached to her shoes, will make them tap for her whenever a loud sound is made. He also reveals that his next project was transforming a ball-&-weasel toy into a deadly weapon. The show begins, and her shoes pick up the tapping of the other performers. She becomes the star, matching an envious Little Vicky tap for tap, but when the audience applauds the shoes go haywire. The truth is revealed, and after some failed reassurances, Homer and Marge suggest that Lisa become a playwright, writing a play about people coming to terms with things (and to "load it up with lots of swears" in the vein of {{W|David Mamet}}). However, the ball-&-weasel toy, apparently fully turned into a weapon, managed to escape from its matrix, causing Frink to warn everyone to stay back. Homer foolishly ignores Frink, thinking it was simply a harmless ferret, and ends up being electrocuted as the ending screen comes on (in a similar fashion to old movies).
+
Meanwhile, Lisa struggles in her tap dancing class, disliking the teaching method and constantly falling. She asks Lil' Vicki what she's doing wrong, but Vicki only tells her to stop falling. The next day, Lisa tries to tell Homer and Marge she doesn't want to dance anymore, but they're so proud and supportive that she decides against it. She then watches one of Lil' Vicki's older films, where Vicki dances with [[Bojangles]] and her cat, [[Powder Puff]]. Lisa gets annoyed that even the cat dances better than she does.
  
==Production==
+
[[File:Last Tap Dance in Springfield.png|thumb|left|Lisa dances on stage alongside Lil' Vicki.]]
According to the DVD commentary, episode writer Julie Thacker came up with the story when she started enrolling her five daughters into dance classes during the summer. She noted that she didn't particularly like the teachers' methods and the other children's rude parents.
+
At the mall, the police set traps for the giant rat, but [[Chief Wiggum]] gets caught in one. Meanwhile, Lisa finds out she's excluded from the dance recital due to her inability to dance well. [[Professor Frink]] overhears and takes Lisa to [[Frink's house|his lab]], showing her a chip that can make her tap shoes self-tapping. Back at the mall, the police release a mountain lion to catch the giant rat. The mountain lion finds Bart and Milhouse, chasing them until it gets distracted by balls of yarn. It eats one and returns to the police, who think it ate the giant rat.
 +
 
 +
Just before the dance recital, Lisa tells Vicki she can dance now, but Vicki refuses to let her join. When [[Ralph]], the lead, can't perform due to eating plastic candy, Vicki decides to take his place in the show. She opens the curtains, taking away Lisa's one job. As Vicki and the kids dance to "[[On the Spaceship Lollipop]]", Lisa's shoes start tapping, pulling her onto the stage. Vicki sees this and, thinking Lisa is trying to upstage her, dances harder. Lisa's shoes keep up until the audience applauds the pair. The applause causes Lisa's shoes to malfunction, sending her off stage and scaring the audience. Homer trips her to stop the shoes, bringing her to a halt. Vicki is shocked to learn Lisa used self-tapping shoes, but tells her she understands. Professor Frink then says the shoes weren't actually on, meaning Lisa danced on her own, but Homer points out the switch was set to on. Frink gets annoyed at Homer because he was trying to spare Lisa's feelings.
 +
 
 +
Lisa apologizes to her parents, saying she won't be the "Broadway baby" they imagined, but Homer reassures her she can still write a depressing Broadway play. Just then, a weasel-and-ball toy rolls across the room, causing Frink to panic. Homer dismisses it and goes to play with it, but ends up getting hurt.
 +
 
 +
== Production ==
 +
According to writer [[Julie Thacker]], the idea of the episode arose because she needed to figure out what to do with her five daughters during the summer, so she took them to dance class. Thacker did not like the teacher of the dance class or the other mothers.<ref name="Thacker">{{Com|Thacker, Julie|Last Tap Dance in Springfield|Eleventh|(2008).|link=Julie Thacker Scully}}</ref> According to showrunner [[Mike Scully]] (who is also Thacker's husband), the teachers of dance academies often had showbiz aspirations at one point in their lives, and they took out their failure on the children they taught. The episode was also one of the rare instances where the A and B plots both focused on the Simpson kids.<ref name="Scully">{{Com|Scully, Mike|Last Tap Dance in Springfield|Eleventh|(2008).|link=Mike Scully}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
The role of Vicki Valentine was originally offered to [[Shirley Temple]], who Valentine is based on. However, Temple turned the role down, and [[Tress MacNeille]] ended up voicing her instead.<ref name="Scully"/> Milhouse's line about there being a safe in every [[Four Seasons]] hotel room is based on one of Scully and Thacker's children, who was apparently obsessed with safes in hotel rooms.<ref name="Thacker"/>
 +
 
 +
For the tap dancing, Julie Thacker brought in footage of one of her children tap dancing for the animators to use as a guide.<ref name="Thacker"/> They also used the film ''{{W|Singin' in the Rain}}'' for inspiration. [[Colin Heck]], who was new to the show at the time, animated the tap dance recital.<ref name="Kruse">{{Com|Kruse, Nancy|Last Tap Dance in Springfield|Eleventh|(2008).|link=Nancy Kruse}}</ref>
  
==Gallery==
 
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
File:Last_Tap_Dance_In_Springfield.jpg
+
File:BABF15 Script.jpg
File:Lat_tap_dance.jpeg
 
File:Last_dance_spring.jpg
 
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
== External links ==
 
*{{snpp capsule|BABF15}}
 
*{{imdb episode|id=0767444|episode=Last Tap Dance in Springfield}}
 
  
 +
== Reception ==
 +
As of January [[2025]], "Last Tap Dance in Springfield" has a 7.1 rating on {{W|IMDb}}.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0767444/ IMDb - "Last Tap Dance in Springfield"]</ref>
 +
 +
== In other languages ==
 +
{{LanguageBox
 +
|de=yes
 +
|deName=Sie wollte schon immer Tänzerin werden
 +
|deTrans=She always wanted to be a dancer
 +
|es=yes
 +
|esName=El último baile de claqué en Springfield
 +
|esTrans=The last tap dance in Springfield
 +
|la=yes
 +
|laName=El último tango en Springfield
 +
|laTrans=Last Tango in Springfield
 +
|fr=yes
 +
|frName=Tais toi et danse !
 +
|frTrans=Shut up and dance!
 +
|qu=yes
 +
|quName=Le Dernier Continental à Springfield
 +
|quTrans=The Last Continental in Springfield
 +
|it=yes
 +
|itName=Ultimo tip-tap a Springfield
 +
|itTrans=Last Tap Dance in Springfield
 +
|jp=yes
 +
|jpName=リサのタップはうまく踊れない
 +
|jpTrans=Lisa can't tap dance well
 +
}}
 +
 +
== References ==
 +
{{Reflist}}
 +
 +
{{Images|ep=yes}}
 
{{season 11}}
 
{{season 11}}
 +
 
[[Category:2000]]
 
[[Category:2000]]
[[Category:Episodes]]
+
[[Category:Lisa episodes]]
[[Category:Season 11]]
+
[[Category:Bart episodes]]
 
[[Category:Milhouse episodes]]
 
[[Category:Milhouse episodes]]
[[Category:Bart episodes]]
+
[[Category:Episodes written by Julie Thacker]]
[[Category:Lisa episodes]]
+
[[Category:Episodes directed by Nancy Kruse]]
  
 
[[sv:Last Tap Dance in Springfield]]
 
[[sv:Last Tap Dance in Springfield]]

Latest revision as of 09:17, February 10, 2025

Season 11 Episode
245 "Kill the Alligator and Run"
246
"Last Tap Dance in Springfield"
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge" 247
"Last Tap Dance in Springfield"
Last Tap Dance in Springfield promo.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 246
Season number: S11 E20
Production code: BABF15
Original airdate: May 7, 2000
Chalkboard gag: "I will not dance on anyone's grave"
Couch gag: The living room is a jungle. Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie swing in on vines gracefully, like Tarzan. Homer, swings too far and crashes, like George of the Jungle.
Showrunner: Mike Scully
Written by: Julie Thacker
Directed by: Nancy Kruse
DVD features


"Last Tap Dance in Springfield" is the twentieth episode of season 11 of The Simpsons and the two-hundred and forty-sixth episode overall. It originally aired on May 7, 2000. The episode was written by Julie Thacker and directed by Nancy Kruse.

Synopsis[edit]

"After seeing "Tango de la Muerte" at the local theater, Lisa is inspired to learn the art of the dance, tutored by former child actress Lil' Vicki Valentine. Meanwhile, Bart and Milhouse cause devastation at the Springfield Mall."


Plot[edit]

At home, Homer sits close to the TV, watching The Cyborganizer, struggling to see what's happening due to his eyesight. Marge tells him she's taking Bart to the mall to buy supplies for his upcoming camping trip and suggests that Homer goes with them to get his eyes tested. At the mall, the family visits Eye Caramba, leaving Homer there while they shop. Bart doesn't want to shop because he finds it boring, so he threatens to throw a tantrum until Marge agrees to get everything for him. Back at Eye Caramba, Homer has his eyes tested and finds out he needs glasses. Unable to decide on any, he opts for laser eye surgery instead. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa finish Bart's shopping and notice Tango de la Muerte playing at the Springfield Cinema in the mall. They decide to watch it.

In the film, Eduardo chooses Lisabella to be his dance partner, which interests Lisa because Lisabella is similar to her in many ways. After the film, Lisa decides she wants to become a dancer. Soon after, Marge and Lisa visit Lil' Vicki Valentine's School of Dance, where Lisa is pressured by Vicki Valentine to enroll in a tap dancing class, despite wanting to do tango dancing. When Marge tries to speak up for Lisa, Vicki tells her not to live through her child.

Outside Springfield Elementary, the kids prepare to go to camp. On the bus, Nelson tells Bart and Milhouse he'll spend the whole week pounding on them, so Bart and Milhouse get off the bus before it leaves. Realizing their parents think they're at camp, the two decide to do whatever they want. They go to the mall and stay overnight. They enter the mall just before it closes, hiding in the vents until it's shut down for the night. The two then fall out of the vents and into a candy store, where they gorge themselves. They wreak havoc in multiple stores, leaving a trail of destruction. The next day, Chief Wiggum demands the mall be shut down to deal with what they think is a giant rat.

Meanwhile, Lisa struggles in her tap dancing class, disliking the teaching method and constantly falling. She asks Lil' Vicki what she's doing wrong, but Vicki only tells her to stop falling. The next day, Lisa tries to tell Homer and Marge she doesn't want to dance anymore, but they're so proud and supportive that she decides against it. She then watches one of Lil' Vicki's older films, where Vicki dances with Bojangles and her cat, Powder Puff. Lisa gets annoyed that even the cat dances better than she does.

Lisa dances on stage alongside Lil' Vicki.

At the mall, the police set traps for the giant rat, but Chief Wiggum gets caught in one. Meanwhile, Lisa finds out she's excluded from the dance recital due to her inability to dance well. Professor Frink overhears and takes Lisa to his lab, showing her a chip that can make her tap shoes self-tapping. Back at the mall, the police release a mountain lion to catch the giant rat. The mountain lion finds Bart and Milhouse, chasing them until it gets distracted by balls of yarn. It eats one and returns to the police, who think it ate the giant rat.

Just before the dance recital, Lisa tells Vicki she can dance now, but Vicki refuses to let her join. When Ralph, the lead, can't perform due to eating plastic candy, Vicki decides to take his place in the show. She opens the curtains, taking away Lisa's one job. As Vicki and the kids dance to "On the Spaceship Lollipop", Lisa's shoes start tapping, pulling her onto the stage. Vicki sees this and, thinking Lisa is trying to upstage her, dances harder. Lisa's shoes keep up until the audience applauds the pair. The applause causes Lisa's shoes to malfunction, sending her off stage and scaring the audience. Homer trips her to stop the shoes, bringing her to a halt. Vicki is shocked to learn Lisa used self-tapping shoes, but tells her she understands. Professor Frink then says the shoes weren't actually on, meaning Lisa danced on her own, but Homer points out the switch was set to on. Frink gets annoyed at Homer because he was trying to spare Lisa's feelings.

Lisa apologizes to her parents, saying she won't be the "Broadway baby" they imagined, but Homer reassures her she can still write a depressing Broadway play. Just then, a weasel-and-ball toy rolls across the room, causing Frink to panic. Homer dismisses it and goes to play with it, but ends up getting hurt.

Production[edit]

According to writer Julie Thacker, the idea of the episode arose because she needed to figure out what to do with her five daughters during the summer, so she took them to dance class. Thacker did not like the teacher of the dance class or the other mothers.[1] According to showrunner Mike Scully (who is also Thacker's husband), the teachers of dance academies often had showbiz aspirations at one point in their lives, and they took out their failure on the children they taught. The episode was also one of the rare instances where the A and B plots both focused on the Simpson kids.[2]

The role of Vicki Valentine was originally offered to Shirley Temple, who Valentine is based on. However, Temple turned the role down, and Tress MacNeille ended up voicing her instead.[2] Milhouse's line about there being a safe in every Four Seasons hotel room is based on one of Scully and Thacker's children, who was apparently obsessed with safes in hotel rooms.[1]

For the tap dancing, Julie Thacker brought in footage of one of her children tap dancing for the animators to use as a guide.[1] They also used the film Singin' in the Rain for inspiration. Colin Heck, who was new to the show at the time, animated the tap dance recital.[3]

Reception[edit]

As of January 2025, "Last Tap Dance in Springfield" has a 7.1 rating on IMDb.[4]

In other languages[edit]

Language Name Translation
Germany.png Deutsch "Sie wollte schon immer Tänzerin werden" She always wanted to be a dancer
Spain flag.png Español "El último baile de claqué en Springfield" The last tap dance in Springfield
Hispanic America.gif Español "El último tango en Springfield" Last Tango in Springfield
France.png Français "Tais toi et danse !" Shut up and dance!
Flag of Quebec.svg.png Français "Le Dernier Continental à Springfield" The Last Continental in Springfield
Italy Flag.png Italiano "Ultimo tip-tap a Springfield" Last Tap Dance in Springfield
Flag of Japan.png 日本語 "リサのタップはうまく踊れない" Lisa can't tap dance well

References[edit]


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Last Tap Dance in Springfield".
Season 11 Episodes
Beyond Blunderdome Brother's Little Helper Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner? Treehouse of Horror X E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder Eight Misbehavin' Take My Wife, Sleaze Grift of the Magi Little Big Mom Faith Off The Mansion Family Saddlesore Galactica Alone Again, Natura-Diddily Missionary: Impossible Pygmoelian Bart to the Future Days of Wine and D'oh'ses Kill the Alligator and Run Last Tap Dance in Springfield It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge Behind the Laughter