4th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons
"
Itchy & Scratchy Land
" is the fourth episode of the
sixth season
of the American animated television series
The Simpsons
. It first aired on
Fox
in the United States on October 2, 1994. Wanting a perfect family vacation, the
Simpson family
visits
Itchy & Scratchy
Land.
The episode was written by
John Swartzwelder
and directed by
Wes Archer
.
[2]
Plot
[
edit
]
Bart
and
Lisa
want to visit
Itchy & Scratchy
Land, an
amusement park
, but
Marge
has already planned a family vacation to a
bird sanctuary
. Bart and Lisa persuade their parents to visit the theme park by revealing it has areas for adults, including bars, bowling alleys and a
rehab center
.
Marge dislikes Itchy & Scratchy Land's violent themes and attractions, but the family's trip goes well until
Homer
and Bart start assaulting the park's mascot performers, with Bart launching a
stink bomb
into one's Itchy suit, and Homer kicking another in the rear. Both are arrested by park security and locked in a detention cell. Marge lectures Bart and Homer after they are released from custody.
Despite a park employee assuring the Simpsons the Itchy and Scratchy robots are programmed to only attack each other, they go rogue and start attacking humans. A worker refuses to allow the Simpsons to evacuate aboard a helicopter because of Bart and Homer's misdeeds. The power supply is cut, plunging the park into darkness.
A horde of Itchy and Scratchy robots advances on the Simpsons. While frantically throwing things to repel them, Homer discovers a camera flash short-circuits the robots' systems and immobilizes them. The Simpsons grab dozens of cameras from a gift shop and defeat the entire Itchy & Scratchy army. Employees thank the Simpsons for saving the park. Despite their ordeal, they agree this was their best vacation ever, but Marge insists that none of them ever mention it again.
Production
[
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]
"Itchy & Scratchy Land", written by the entire writing team but credited to
John Swartzwelder
, was a very difficult episode to produce. It involved creating an entirely new environment, which meant large amounts of writing and all new sets.
[3]
At the time that the episode was produced, new, more stringent
censorship
laws had been put in place. As a result, the Fox network tried to stop the writers from including
Itchy & Scratchy
cartoons in episodes. In response, the writers created this episode, which they decided would be as violent as possible. The network threatened that if the episode was produced, they would cut the
Itchy & Scratchy
parts out themselves, but relented when showrunner
David Mirkin
threatened to tell the media. The writers nevertheless promised to try not to overdo the violence.
[3]
Although the episode was quite difficult to animate, "Itchy & Scratchy Land" was "a dream come true" for the animators, as they enjoyed animating scenes filled with violence.
[4]
Cultural references
[
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]
The opening "Itchy & Scratchy" cartoon is "Last Traction Hero", a reference to
Last Action Hero
(1993) and features the "
Anvil Chorus
" from
Verdi
's
Il Trovatore
.
Marge's memory of a visit to
Amish
country recalls
Peter Weir
's
Witness
(1985) and her memory of Homer and Bart scaring swimmers with shark fins recalls
Jaws
.
[2]
The helicopter ride, the logo on the helicopter's side, and certain story elements parody
Michael Crichton
's
Jurassic Park
and
Steven Spielberg
's
film adaptation
. Other elements, such as the park's claim to be the "theme park of the future" "where nothing can possibly go wrong" and the robots rebelling, are based on Crichton's
Westworld
(1973).
[2]
[3]
Homer
and
Marge
visit a '70s-themed restaurant; Marge notes "The waiter looks like
John Travolta
!" and the waiter says "Yeah,
looks like
"; Travolta's career was moribund when the episode was written.
[5]
The sound made by the vehicle that takes Bart to the detention facility resembles the one made by the ground shuttles carrying the fighter pilots inside the Rebel Base in
Star Wars
(1977).
[6]
The robots' vision is a reference to
The Terminator
(1984), while using flash-photography to destroy the robots is similar to one of the weaknesses in
Gremlins
(1984), in particular a scene where
Phoebe Cates
' character uses a Polaroid to fend off Gremlins. The birds attacking at the bird sanctuary is a spoof of
Alfred Hitchcock
's
The Birds
(1963); the birds flying into the phone booth is a parody of a scene from the film, with
Hans Moleman
standing in for
Tippi Hedren
.
[2]
Much of Itchy & Scratchy Land parodies
Disneyland
.
[3]
The park's slogan "The Violentest Place on Earth" is a riff on Disneyland's slogan "The Happiest Place on Earth".
Scratchtasia
is a parody of the
Sorcerer's Apprentice
segment of
Fantasia
(1940), with several shots and the music parodying it exactly.
[3]
The area where the cartoon
Scratchtasia
is being shown and the documentary it is a part of is reminiscent of the
Great Movie Ride
pre-show in MGM Studios at the
Walt Disney World Resort
in
Orlando, Florida
.
Pinnitchio
is a parody of
Pinocchio
(1940). Homer and Marge dance at T.G.I. McScratchy's "where it's constantly
New Year's Eve
"; this is a parody of
Pleasure Island
at Walt Disney World where every night from 1990 through New Year's Eve 2005 was celebrated as though it were New Year's Eve.
Walt Disney
's alleged
antisemitism
is spoofed in the character of
Roger Meyers Sr.
in his cartoon
Nazi Supermen Are Our Superiors
.
[3]
Euro Itchy & Scratchy Land is a parody of
Disneyland Paris
, then known as EuroDisney, which at the time was failing.
[3]
Coincidentally, EuroDisney officially changed its name to Disneyland Paris on October 1, 1994, exactly one day before this episode aired in the United States.
Reception
[
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]
In its original broadcast, "Itchy & Scratchy Land" finished 67th in ratings for the week of September 26 to October 2, 1994, with a
Nielsen rating
of 9.0, equivalent to approximately 8.6 million viewing households. It was the third-highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following
Beverly Hills, 90210
,
The X-Files
, and tied with
Melrose Place
.
[7]
The "Bort" joke in the episode inspired
vanity plates
among fans.
Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood called it "an untypical episode, with an especially thin plot", but added that "anyone that's been to Disneyland will get the point".
[2]
The episode placed seventh in a 2003
Entertainment Weekly
list of the top 25 episodes of the series, with the authors remarking, "When the animatronics attack, the showdown between man and machine?okay, Homer and a giant robot mouse?is an uproarious rebuttal to capitalism run amok."
[6]
The episode ranked sixth on
Today
'
s top ten
The Simpsons
episodes list, compiled in 2007.
[8]
In 2019,
Consequence
ranked it tenth on its list of top 30
Simpsons
episodes.
[9]
In 2014,
The Simpsons
writers picked "Scratchtasia" from this episode as one of their nine favorite "Itchy & Scratchy" episodes of all time.
[10]
Legacy
[
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]
The scene in the gift shop where Bart finds a personalized license plate with the name "
Bort
" has become part of popular culture, inspiring
vanity plates
among fans and souvenirs in
The Simpsons
-themed stores at
Universal Orlando
.
[11]
[12]
Writer
Bill Oakley
said he always liked the joke but was surprised it took on a "legendary status".
Planet Simpson
author
Chris Turner
called the joke "unmistakably Simpsonian".
[11]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Groening, Matt
(1997).
Richmond, Ray
; Coffman, Antonia (eds.).
The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family
(1st ed.). New York:
HarperPerennial
.
ISBN
978-0-06-095252-5
.
LCCN
98141857
.
OCLC
37796735
.
OL
433519M
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000).
"Itchy & Scratchy & Marge"
. BBC
. Retrieved
August 2,
2007
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Mirkin, David (2005).
The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Itchy & Scratchy Land"
(DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^
Archer, Wes (2005).
The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Itchy & Scratchy Land"
(DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^
Ryan, Kyle.
"The Simpsons (Classic): "Itchy & Scratchy Land"
"
.
The A.V. Club
.
- ^
a
b
"The best
Simpsons
episodes, Nos. 6-10"
. Entertainment Weekly. January 29, 2003
. Retrieved
January 16,
2022
.
- ^
Elber, Lynn (October 7, 1994). "NBC strong second to ABC's lead".
Sun-Sentinel
. p. 4E.
- ^
Enwright, Patrick (July 31, 2007).
"D'Oh! The top 10 'Simpsons' episodes ever"
.
Today.com
. Retrieved
January 16,
2022
.
- ^
"The Simpsons' Top 30 Episodes"
.
Consequence
. December 17, 2019
. Retrieved
January 16,
2022
.
- ^
"The Simpsons' Writers Pick Their Favorite 'Itchy & Scratchy' Cartoons"
.
Vulture
. March 26, 2014
. Retrieved
March 27,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Siegel, Alan (October 7, 2014).
"What Real-Life "Bort" License Plates Tell Us About the Power of
The Simpsons
"
.
Slate
. Retrieved
January 16,
2022
.
- ^
O'Neal, Sean (July 11, 2013).
"Universal Orlando needs more "BORT" license plates in the Simpsons gift shop"
.
The A.V. Club
. Retrieved
January 16,
2022
.
External links
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]