Treehouse of Horror XXXV

"Treehouse of Horror XXXV"
The Simpsons episode
Promotional image for the episode
Episode no.	Season 36 Episode 5
Directed by	Timothy Bailey
Written by	Matt Selman Dan Vebber Rob LaZebnik
Production code	35ABF13
Original air date	November 3, 2024 (2024-11-03)

"Treehouse of Horror XXXV" is the fifth episode of the thirty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 773rd episode overall, it aired in the United States on Fox on November 3, 2024. It is the 35th Treehouse of Horror episode, and, like the other Treehouse of Horror episodes, consists of three self-contained segments: "The Information Rage" (a parody of Pacific Rim), "The Fall of the House of Monty" (a parody of The Fall of the House of Usher), and "Denim" (a parody of Venom). The episode was written by Matt Selman, Dan Vebber, and Rob LaZebnik and directed by Timothy Bailey.

In this episode, political outrage causes kaiju to destroy the town, Mr. Burns is haunted by the ghosts of his factory workers, and an alien pair of jeans takes Homer as its host. The episode received positive reviews.

Plot

"The Information Rage"

In a parody of the Pacific Rim films, the townsfolk are given free LED light bulbs thanks to Lisa's advocacy. The residents are happy to save money until they learn it is a progressive idea. This angers half the town.

Marge and Lisa wonder where the anger comes from and where it goes. As the news stokes the anger of both liberals and conservatives, a red kaiju rises from the sea and begins destroying the parts of town liked by liberals. Similarly, a blue kaiju arrives to destroy the parts liked by conservatives. The two monsters begin battling each other.

Professor Frink creates a large robot to be controlled by two siblings to stop them. Bart and Lisa are selected and perform a poor job due to their arguing. As more kaiju (based on 4chan, Facebook, Reddit, and Joe Rogan) appear, the siblings learn teamwork and chase them away. They warn the town not to feed the kaiju with their rage and to embrace their commonality. Three news cycles later, the kaiju have become more powerful, destroying the robot and the town.

"The Fall of the House of Monty"

In the Victorian era, Mr. Burns invites his corn syrup factory workers to his mansion for Thanksgiving dinner. He allows them to dine if one of them defeats him in pulling a wishbone. When Groundskeeper Willie beats him, Burns drops the food down a trap door out of arrogant anger, preventing them from eating. Agnes Skinner warns that he will be cursed for not fulfilling the promise of the wishbone. The next day at the factory, a hungry Homer falls into a vat of boiling corn syrup. As he tries to escape, he floods the factory in corn syrup and everyone is killed.

At the mansion that Friday night, Burns is visited by hungry ghosts of the workers. They chase him and he tries to feed them food to stop them. Instead, they want his soul, so Burns pours corn oil on himself and burns himself in the fireplace, causing the mansion to burn to the ground. Though Burns forgot about Hell as he is taken to it.

On Saturday, Waylon Smithers and Sideshow Mel investigate the fire and figured out what happened. As Sideshow Mel states that the Friday after Thanksgiving will be known as Black Friday, he and Smithers grab a rib and pull it apart just after the screen cuts to black.

"Denim"

In a parody of Venom, Homer is buying pants to impress Marge, who works in a diner nearby. A pair of jeans arrives on Earth, and Homer tries them on. He visits Marge just as Snake tries to rob the diner. The jeans, controlling Homer's legs, subdues him and impresses Marge. As the police arrive, the jeans make Homer run away.

The pair of jeans introduces itself as Denim, a symbiote from another planet, that requires a host to survive on Earth. In exchange for having Homer at its host, it helps Homer seduce Marge by helping him dance, but they cannot have sex because he cannot take Denim off.

As their relationship progresses, Denim prevents Homer from revealing the truth to Marge because it thinks Homer will get rid of Denim. Homer gets Denim drunk, which allows Marge to remove it. Enraged, Denim tries to kill Marge. Homer stops Denim, choosing it over Marge.

He thanks Denim for letting Marge live. Denim mentions that his kind is coming to Earth. It is then shown that more jeans are beginning to arrive on Earth.

Production

Prior to the first segment, an introduction was created by animator Jorge R. Gutierrez with a different animation style featuring the Simpsons characters as well as The Book of Life characters La Muerte and Xibalba in a lucha libre video game being played by Kang and Kodos. A punk rock version of the music of Jarabe Tapatío composed by Juan Carlos Enriquez is played over the segment with lyrics sung by Gutierrez, Enriquez, and segment producer Tim Yoon.

The first segment was written by Rob LaZebnik, who also served as the co-showrunner for the episode. He pitched the idea of rage from social media and news to executive producer Matt Selman, who suggested using kaiju monsters. The segment is a parody of the Pacific Rim franchise. Selman said the segment was a commentary of the rage on both sides of the political aisle where people chose "anger over commonality."

The second segment was written by Dan Vebber who liked Hammer Film Productions horror films. It was originally written for the thirty-first season episode "Thanksgiving of Horror". However, that episode ran long as the segment could not fit in the allotted time. The creators found it difficult to animate jump scares, which was commented on in the segment.

The third segment was Selman's idea and is a parody of the 2018 film Venom. He thought of the parody several years earlier and was quickly put into production after the previous year's writers' strike to catch up with the production schedule. The jeans that Homer wears in the "Denim" segment were animated by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios using stop motion animation. The Denim character was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. After Homer and Marge attempt to have sex while Homer wears Denim, Marge was supposed to comment that it was "the best dry humping of my life." Selman stated that producers were required to change the line, and the phrase "dry humping" was changed to "outer course".

In July 2024, at San Diego Comic-Con, Selman recorded the screaming of the Simpsons panel audience to be used in this episode. The screams were played over the Gracie Films logo during the end credits.

Reception

Viewing figures

Leading out of an NFL doubleheader, the episode earned a 0.93 rating and was watched by 3.18 million viewers, which was the most watched show on Fox that night.

Critical response

Daniel Kurland of Bloody Disgusting thought the "Fall of the House of Monty" segment was the best, highlighting the gore and the animation style of the old film stock. He also thought the "Denim" segment was based on a "dumb pun" but liked the combination of traditional and stop motion animation. He also liked the visuals of the opening by Gutierrez but thought it was "disconnected from the rest of the episode".

John Schwarz of Bubbleblabber gave the episode a 7 out of 10. He highlighted by opening by Gutierrez and thought the "Denim" segment was the best due to its collaboration with Stoopid Buddy and a plot reminiscent of the early seasons. He thought the "Information Rage" segment did not have enough depth in its political commentary.

Mike Celestino of Laughing Place thought the quality of the episode matched previous Treehouse of Horror episodes where the writers and actors can be more creative but noted that standard episodes also had more "conceptual 'non-canonical' outings" in recent seasons.

External links

• "Treehouse of Horror XXXV" at IMDb