The Simpsons opening sequence
The Simpsons opening sequence is one of the most memorable hallmarks of the American TV show The Simpsons. Almost every canonical episode begins with it.
The sequence
The sequence opens with the show's title zooming in on the camera while moving forwards through cumulus clouds. It continues to zoom in on the town and then through a window of Springfield Elementary, where we see Bart writing lines on the class chalkboard, presumably set as a punishment by one of his teachers for some mischievous deed or wayward comment. When the school bell rings, Bart leaves in a hurry, chuckling, and the camera pans to show him flying off on his skateboard. The next shot shows Homer leaving the power plant, with a small uranium bar stuck on his back (which he later throws away). Mr. Burns and Smithers are seen in the background looking at a layout plan when the end-of-shift whistle blows. Burns puts his watch up to his ear and shakes it, as if he believes it has stopped. During the first season opening sequence, instead of Mr. Burns and Smithers, an unknown employee is seen eating a sandwich with tongs.
The next shot shows Marge and Maggie checking out at a supermarket, with Maggie inadvertently being scanned along with the groceries. The cashier rings her up at $847.63 (which was the monthly cost of raising a baby in 1989)[citation needed] and Maggie is mistakenly packaged. Marge wonders where Maggie is. She pops out of one of the shopping bags, and Marge sighs in relief. The sequence then introduces Lisa, who is told to leave a band rehearsal due to her non-conforming playing, and does so while playing her baritone saxophone. The family is shown on their way to their house at 742 Evergreen Terrace. The members of the family weave dangerously through traffic and in between fellow Springfield citizens—first Homer, who discards the stuck uranium bar from his back by throwing it on the street, then Bart, who unsafely weaves through the sidewalks of downtown. Marge's car is shown wading through the traffic with tires screeching, then the camera cuts to Maggie holding a steering wheel, making it appear that Maggie is driving, the camera then zooms out revealing the wheel to be just a toy for her, as the camera then pans out to show Marge driving.
The Simpsons all arrive home at the same time. Homer arrives first, parking his car before the garage, while Bart lands on the car roof with his skateboard. As Homer steps out of the car, he quickly dodges Lisa zooming by on her bike and says, "D'oh!", and then screams as he sees Marge's car coming towards him. Then the scene shifts to Marge's sight, inside the car, showing Homer running away from her until he goes in through the door. Upon entering their house, they speed towards the living room couch where, in comedic parallel with the audience, they settle down to watch their "must-see" TV show.
In the first season, the sequence was modified in two places, one where Bart steals a bus stop sign he skateboards past, which causes a bus to drive past the stop, and the five people waiting run after the bus; and later when Lisa gets home shortly before Homer.
For each episode, the sequence includes a number of variations:
- Bart writes something different on the chalkboard (see chalkboard gag).
- Lisa may play a different solo on her saxophone.
- The family attempts to sit on the couch as something goes awry in an often surreal manner (see couch gag).
The couch gag sequence is frequently used to make the show longer or shorter, depending on the length of the episode itself. Most couch gags last only about five seconds, but one of the longest (in "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular") lasted 90 seconds, cutting between many couch gags (the rest of the title sequence was cut short). There are several kinds of opening; as of season 17, the show frequently uses only the clouds, driveway and couch gag. Homer leaving work, the chalkboard, Lisa's saxophone solo, etc. are not used as often.
In the syndicated version, part or all of the opening sequence is usually cut in order to include more commercials in the show's allotted timeslot. The first season opening sequence featured a number of differences from the later seasons, including a scene in which in place of Mr. Burns and Smithers at the power plant was a co-worker eating a sandwich. In addition, Bart snatched a bus stop sign, forcing several dazed Springfieldians to chase the bus, which was replaced from the second season by a sequence showing Bart weaving his skateboard between a group of characters, and a shot of Lisa riding her bike on the way home, which was changed to a camera whip pan across a crowd of characters towards the Simpsons' house.
The series' theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989, when Groening approached him wanting a "retro" style piece. Taking two days to create, it is perhaps the most recognizable music piece of his career. In a 1999 Los Angeles Times article, Elfman joked that the theme earns him $11.50 every time it is played.[1]
The current arrangement, which dates back to the third season, is orchestrated by Alf Clausen. In Episode 1F11 ("Bart Gets Famous"), Bart whistles the tune and Marge tells him "not to whistle that annoying tune."
The music in the opening was remade in the third season.[citation needed]
Parodies within the show
In six episodes, the opening sequence was parodied:
- Once as "The Thompsons" in the episode "Cape Feare".
- Once as "The Hurricane" in the episode "Hurricane Neddy".
- In "Treehouse of Horror IX", where many elements of the sequence are seen with more gruesome results. Bart breaks his neck skateboarding off the car, causing Lisa to trip on her bicycle catapulting her into the wall, Homer is run over by Marge, etc. Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees sit on the family's couch, wondering where the family is.
- In a scene from "Simpsons Bible Stories" Bart is writing a chalkboard punishment with hieroglyphs when he hears Moses/Milhouse's horn being blown and leaves the classroom.
- In "The Heartbroke Kid", an overweight Bart cracks the pavement when he leaves the school, runs over pedestrians, hits Marge's car and sends it spinning off screen, and crushes the roof of Homer's car before stumbling into the living room apparently having a heart attack.
- In the episode "Little Big Girl", Bart is awarded a drivers license, and a section of the opening sequence is shown with Bart at the chalkboard writing "So Long Suckers". He bursts through the school doors in his car, instead of on a skateboard, and speeds away, doing all the same gags as the opening sequence, but instead of nimbly dodging all the obstacles he runs them over. Homer pulls into the driveway in Marge's car instead of his own, steps out to enter the house, and the other car lands on Homer, and Bart walks into the house.
Another element of the opening sequence parodied in the show is the scanner reading on Maggie. In "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", it was stated that, instead of reading "847.63", the scanner actually read "NRA4EVER", explained as "one of the hundreds of radical right wing messages inserted into every show by creator Matt Groening".
Other versions
Christmas version
A Christmas-themed version was animated for "Kill Gil: Vols. 1 & 2". It begins with two lines of instrumental "Jingle Bells" and then the normal theme music begins. This version is similar to the normal version, except for several key differences:
- Everything outside is covered with snow
- Bart's skateboard has been replaced with a snowboard
- Everyone is wearing winter clothes
- Mr. Burns and Smithers have been replaced by a Scrooge-esque Burns and Ghost of Marley-esque Smithers, and there are several Christmas banners in the plant
- Bleeding Gums Murphy has been replaced with Jasper in a santa costume; Maude remains in the pan across Springfield, along with Marvin Monroe, who is speaking to Chief Wiggum
- The Marge and Maggie's supermarket and car sequence have been cut
In the end, the family sits on the couch and the camera then pulls out to reveal that the family was in a Christmas ornament, which rests on a Christmas tree.
Callback version
For "He Loves to Fly and He D'oh's," the first new episode to air after the release of The Simpsons Movie, a callback sequence was animated. The sequence begins with Bart writing lines on the chalkboard, writing "I will not wait 20 years to make another movie". The school bell rings and he skates outside the door, showing the residents of Springfield restoring the town after the events of the movie. The multi-eyed creature from the movie is seen jumping onto Bart's shoulders, but is hit by a wrecking ball into a billboard of "Burns' Constructions", suggesting that Mr. Burns is attempting to make money from the incident. The camera then pans on a large shard of glass, a piece from the destroyed dome. Bart rides on the piece, and weaves in between characters from the movie; President Schwarzenegger, Colin, Moe Syszlak (in his "Emperor" attire), Russ Cargill, and the Medicine Woman, who waves her hand in a similar manner to Chief Wiggum. The family arrives home to 742 Evergreen Terrace, which is shown to be still under construction. Homer's car arrives with the "Pig Crap" silo strapped on top. The family arrive to sit on the couch, where Plopper the pig is current sitting, with the "Spider-Pig" tune is being played in the background. Homer than grabs Plopper and proclaims that the pig is "My summer love."
The Simpsons Movie version
The sequence was completely remade for The Simpsons Movie and features the orchestrated version of "The Simpsons Theme" as adapted by Hans Zimmer, which is slightly different from the first track of The Simpsons Movie: The Music CD.
The sequence begins with the "The Simpsons" logo appearing out of the clouds (accompanied by a singing choir singing "The Simpsons") with Professor Frink flying along in one of his inventions carrying a banner (Which says "MOVIE" on it) and saying "Moo-vie! On the big screen!!". Instead of going through the P of "SIMPSONS", the camera goes through the O of "MOVIE". The camera zooms in on the town, with several major landmarks popping-up, Springfield Electrical Wires, Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Professor Frink's astronomy orb, Springfield Prison, and the Springfield Gorge. The camera then zooms in to Mr. Burns, who is holding a toothbrush in his bathroom with Smithers who gives him toothpaste, the extra weight of the toothpaste causes frail Mr. Burns to collapse. The camera then zooms further past Moe's Tavern into the Kwik-E-Mart where Apu is secretly changing the expiration date on one of his products from 2006 to 2008. Next the camera cuts to Springfield Elementary where Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney are hoisting Martin Prince up a flagpole by his underwear and saluting it as if it were a flag. The camera then zooms through the window where Bart is writing lines for detention ("I will not illegally download this movie") before finishing with Green Day who are hosting a concert at Lake Springfield, playing their version of "The Simpsons Theme".
