This year, for Halloween, The Simpsons animated series has been especially generous to its audience. First, a themed episode centered on Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, which saw the Kwik-E-Mart owner in Springfield speak again after eight years of silence. Then, last night, the usual Treehouse of Horror installment arrived, enriched by a masterful parody. The 37th special, in fact, featured a stop-motion opening sequence inspired by the beautiful 1993 animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas, created by Tim Burton. You can watch it below.
The Simpsons: The Nightmare Before Christmas Parody
Produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, a stop-motion specialist team best known for their work on Robot Chicken, the parody of The Nightmare Before Christmas sees the Simpson family and the residents of Springfield singing a quirky number composed by the series’ music team. Bleeding Fingers (literally Bleeding Fingers) performs a rendition of This Is Halloween, the song from the film’s soundtrack written by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the The Simpsons theme.
Many of the puppets appearing in the sequence are a bizarre fusion of The Simpsons characters and those from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Bart resembles Jack Skellington, Homer as the Mayor of Halloween Town, Marge as Sally, Santa’s Little Helper as the ghost dog Zero, and Ned Flanders as the bug-filled creature Oogie Boogie. “When I was a kid, in my room I had a painting of Jack Skellington, and right beside it one of Homer Simpson. It felt like a real sign from fate—the entire project,” explained sculptor Jim McKenzie to Entertainment Weekly. “I believe that, in the age of artificial intelligence, taking part in something truly handmade is something truly special.”
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