RoboCop

RoboCop is an American cyberpunk multimedia franchise. It is set in a dystopian near-future and tells the story of Alex Murphy, a police officer who is killed in the line of duty and subsequently resurrected as the title character RoboCop, a cyborg law enforcement officer.

The franchise began in 1987 with the release of the original film. It was a box office and critical success, and sequel films appeared in 1990 and 1993. The franchise has also spawned animated and live-action television series, video games, and several comic book series, including crossovers with Terminator. In 2014, a remake of RoboCop appeared and did well at the box office.

In addition to its storytelling, the RoboCop franchise is noted for its satire of 1980s and 90s pop culture, particularly in its in-universe newscasts, advertisements, and television programs. Among of the best-known of these are the "I'd Buy That for a Dollar" segments, where a man finds himself in risqué situations while manic-sounding music plays in the background. Then, when the implications of the situations become clear (or are escalated), the man looks directly into the camera and lasciviously says, "I'd buy that for a dollar!" The segments became a running gag in the original three movies, and were referred to in other RoboCop media such as the comic books and the 2014 remake.

The RoboCop franchise has been referred to several times in The Simpsons media.

References

Television episodes

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 3 42 "Treehouse of Horror II" In the "Homer's Nightmare" segment, Mr. Burns and Smithers put Homer's brain into a robot body. When Homer wakes up following the procedure, he has gridlines superimposed over his vision and sees Mr. Burns standing over him and talking to him, both of which are reminiscent of Murphy's awakening scene in RoboCop. 11 246 "Last Tap Dance in Springfield" Homer watches a TV show called The Cyborganizer, which is a spoof of RoboCop. 250px 15 322 "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot" Two of the entries in Robot Rumble are references to RoboCop: Ralph-O-Cop is a wordplay on the movie. Killhammad Aieee bears a very strong resemblance to the ED-209 droid. 16 512 "Future-Drama" Chief Wiggum and the rest of the Springfield police force are shown to have become RoboCops in the future. 18 398 "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot!" When Santa's Little Helper begins training to become a police dog, Bart envisions SLH becoming a dog version of RoboCop. 23 495 "Holidays of Future Passed" Snake Jailbird is shown to have become a RoboCop-like cyborg in the future, with machine-gun arms like the ED-209. 26 565 "Walking Big & Tall" In the future version of the Simpson family seen at the end of the episode, Bart bears a strong resemblance to RoboCop.

Comic stories

Picture Comic issue Story name Reference Chief Wiggum's Felonious Funnies 1 Future Cop! In Chief Wiggum's dream of being a cop in the future, an anti-drug poster at police headquarters reads "Talk to Your Kids about Nuke", which was the designer drug being produced and sold by the villain's gang in RoboCop 2. Murphy is a former partner of Wiggum's and is upset that Wiggum doesn't keep in touch. Murphy also appears to be friends (or partners) with an ED-209.

Video Games

Picture Game Reference The Simpsons Game In the Xbox and PS3 versions, the Bart Simpson playable character's shield item is a metal head to turn into "Robo-Bart", a robotic version of himself.

Common cast and crew

Cast

Picture Name Role in the RoboCop franchise Role on The Simpsons Leeza Gibbons Played newscaster Jess Perkins in RoboCop and RoboCop 2. Voiced herself in the Season 12 episode "Homer vs. Dignity". Jamie Hyneman Special effects crew (uncredited) in RoboCop. Voiced himself in the Season 23 episode "The Daughter Also Rises". Michael Keaton Played Raymond Sellars in the 2014 remake of RoboCop. Voiced Jack Crowley in the Season 12 episode "Pokey Mom". Jim Lau ADR voice in the 2014 remake of RoboCop. Voiced a Hong Kong doctor in the Season 7 episode "Bart on the Road".

Crew

Picture Name Role in the RoboCop franchise Role on The Simpsons Isa Alsup Compositing supervisor for the 2014 remake of RoboCop. Compositor for The Simpsons Movie. Gary Burritt Negative cutter for RoboCop 3. Negative cutter for The Simpsons Movie. Sandy De Crescent Music contractor for RoboCop 2. Music contractor for The Simpsons Movie and for the album The Simpsons Movie: The Music. Bruce Fowler Orchestrator for the 2014 remake of RoboCop. Supervising orchestrator for The Simpsons Movie and for the album The Simpsons Movie: The Music. Robert Glass Re-recording mixer for RoboCop 3. Sound re-recording mixer on the Season 4 episode "Lisa's First Word". Bret Haaland Animator for the "Johnny Rehab" commercial, which was seen in RoboCop 3. Animator for three episodes and layout artist for two episodes, all during Season 1. Justin Kohn Stop-motion technician (robot monster crew) in RoboCop 2. Stop-motion animator for the stop-motion puppet segment in the Season 23 episode "Ned 'n' Edna's Blend Agenda". Andy Nelson Re-recording mixer for RoboCop 3. Sound mixer for The Simpsons Movie. David Silverman Director of the "Johnny Rehab" commercial in RoboCop 3. Longtime producer, director and animator, including directing The Simpsons Movie; also voiced himself in the Season 26 episode "Blazed and Confused". Gregg Vanzo Animator for the "Johnny Rehab" commercial in RoboCop 3. Animator and layout artist during Seasons 1 through 5; co-director of the Season 1 episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home"; assistant director for Do the Bartman; sequence director for The Simpsons Movie. Don Waller Special effects technician (uncredited) in RoboCop. Layout artist for the Season 1 episode "The Call of the Simpsons".

External Links

RoboCop (franchise) at Wikipedia

Cultural references

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