SATIRE IN ANIMATION
Satire (from Latinsatura, not from the Greek mythological figure satyr) is a literary genre, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to bring about improvement. It is used in graphic arts and performing arts as well. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, the purpose of satire is not primarily humour but criticism of an event, an individual or a group in a witty manner.
Satire usually has a definite target, which may be a person or group of people, an idea or attitude, an institution or a social practice. It is found in many artistic forms of expression, including literature, plays, commentary, and media such as song lyrics. Often the target is examined by being held up for ridicule, ideally in the hope of shaming it into reform. A very common, almost defining feature of satire is a strong vein of irony or sarcasm. Also, parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are devices frequently used in satirical speech and writing.
The essential point, however, is that "in satire, irony is militant"[. This "militant irony" (or sarcasm) often professes to approve values that are the diametric opposite of what the satirist actually wishes to promote.
Origins of The Simpsons
Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of Brooks’ office. Brooks had asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series. However, when Groening realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work, he chose another approach and formulated his version of a dysfunctional family. He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name.
The Simpson family as they first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show.
The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned-up in production. However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial short episodes.
In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. Jim Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching. The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not air until May 1990 because of animation problems.
The Simpsons was the Fox network's first TV series to rank among a season's top 30 highest-rated shows. Its success prompted Fox to reschedule the series to compete with The Cosby Show, a move that hurt the ratings of The Simpsons. In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons—a claim rejected by the courts.
The show was controversial from its beginning. The rebellious lead character at the time, Bart, frequently received no punishment for his misbehavior, which led some parents and conservatives to characterize him as a poor role model for children. At the time, then-current President George H. W. Bush said, "We're going to strengthen the American family to make them more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons." Several US public schools even banned The Simpsonsmerchandise and t-shirts, such as one featuring Bart and the caption "Underachiever (‘and proud of it, man!')". Despite the ban, The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated US$2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales.
Characters
The Simpsons sports a vast array of secondary and tertiary characters.
The Simpsons are a typical family who live in a fictional "Middle American" town of Springfield. Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant—a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge Simpson, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, a baby who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. The family owns a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball II. Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. Despite the passing of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays, the Simpsons do not physically age.
The show includes an array of quirky characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, and local celebrities. The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokesters or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. However, a number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV.
Setting
The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield, without any geographical coordinates or references to US states that might identify which part of the country it represents. Nevertheless, fans have tried to determine the town's location by taking the town's characteristics, surrounding geography, and nearby landmarks as clues. As a response, the show has become intentionally evasive in regard to Springfield's location. The name "Springfield" is a common one in America and appears in over half of the states. Springfield's geography, and that of its surroundings, contain coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, tall mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires. Despite this, Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.
Themes
The Simpsons uses the standard setup of a situational comedy or "sitcom" as its premise. The series centers around a family and their life in a typical American town. However, because of its animated nature, The Simpsons's scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom. The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant, the show can comment on the state of the environment. Through Bart and Lisa's days at Springfield Elementary School, the show's writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.
Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left-wing bias. Al Jean admitted in an interview that "We [the show] are of liberal bent." The writers often evince an appreciation for progressive ideals, but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum. The show portrays government and large corporations as callous entities that take advantage of the common worker. Thus, the writers often portray authority figures in an unflattering or negative light. In The Simpsons, politicians are corrupt, ministers such as Reverend Lovejoy are indifferent to churchgoers, and the local police force is incompetent. Religion also figures as a recurring theme. In times of crisis, the family often turns to God, and the show has dealt with most of the major religions.
Hallmarks
Opening sequence
Shot from an overblown, extended couch gag (often used when an episode is running short).
The Simpsons' opening sequence is one of the show's most memorable hallmarks. Most episodes open with the camera zooming through the show's title towards the town of Springfield. The camera then follows the members of the family on their way home. Upon entering their house, the Simpsons settle down on their couch to watch television. The opening was created by David Silverman, the first task he did when production began on the show. The series' distinctive theme song was composed by musicianDanny Elfman in 1989, after Groening approached him requesting a retro style piece. This piece, which took two days to create, has been noted by Elfman as the most popular of his career.
One of the most distinctive aspects of the opening is that several segments are changed from episode to episode. Bart writes something different on the school chalkboard, Lisa may play a different solo on her saxophone, and a different visual gag accompanies the family as they enter their living room to sit on the couch.
A number of neologisms that originated on The Simpsons have entered the popular vernacular. Mark Liberman, director of the Linguistic Data Consortium, commented that "The Simpsons has apparently taken over from Shakespeare and the Bible as our culture's greatest source of idioms, catchphrases and sundry other textual allusions." The most famous is Homer's annoyed grunt: "D'oh!" So ubiquitous is the catchphrase that it is now listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, but without the apostrophe. The first listed usage comes not from The Simpsons, but from a 1945 BBC radio script in which the writers spelled the word "dooh". Dan Castellaneta says he borrowed the phrase from James Finlayson, an actor in early Laurel and Hardy comedies, who pronounced it in a more elongated and whining tone. The director of The Simpsons told Castellaneta to shorten the noise, and it went on to become the well-known exclamation in the TV series.
Other Simpsons expressions that have entered popular use include "excellent" (drawn out as a sinister "eeeexcelllent…" in the style of Charles Montgomery Burns), Homer's triumphant "Woohoo!" and Nelson Muntz's mocking "HA-ha!" Groundskeeper Willie's description of the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" was used by conservative National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg in 2003, after France's opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq. The phrase quickly spread to other journalists. "Cromulent", a word used in "Lisa the Iconoclast" has since appeared in the Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English. "Kwyjibo", a fake Scrabble word invented by Bart in "Bart the Genius" was used as one of the aliases of the creator of the Melissa worm. "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords", also known as the Overlord meme, was used by Kent Brockman in "Deep Space Homer" and has seeped into popular culture to describe a number of events. Variants of Brockman's utterance are used to express mock submission, usually for the purpose of humor. It has been used in media, such as New Scientist magazine. The dismissive term "Meh" has also been popularized by the show.
INTRODUCTION TO FILM
TheSimpsons
NAME PERIOD ______
ASSIGNMENT:
List five (5) satirical comments made by the Simpsons cartoon in the opening segment.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Chose one major character,
Simpson, Bart
Simpson, Homer
Simpson, Lisa
Simpson, Maggie
Simpson, Marge
And one minor character,
Bouvier, Patty Muntz, Nelson
Bouvier, SelmaNahasapeemapetilon, Apu
Carlson, Carl Mann, Otto
Comic Book Guy Prince, Martin
Flanders, Ned Santa’s Little Helper
Flanders, Rod Scratchy the Cat
Flanders, Todd Simpson, Abraham
Gumble, Barney Skinner, Seymour
Hibbert, Dr. Julius Smithers, Waylon
Itchy the Mouse Snowball II
Krabappel, Edna Szyslak, Moe
Leonard, Lenny Terwilliger, Robert (Sideshow Bob)
Van Houten, Milhouse Wiggum, Clancy
Wiggum, Ralph Groundskeeper Willie
Burns, Charles Montgomery
Krustofski, Herschel (Krusty the Clown)
And use this chart to develop a character analysis:
Analyzing Characters from The Simpsons
Character / Satirical characteristics / Comment or criticism made about contemporary society through the character