Itchy & Scratchy Land

"Itchy & Scratchy Land" is the fourth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 2, 1994. Wanting a perfect family vacation, the Simpson family visits Itchy & Scratchy Land.

"Itchy & Scratchy Land"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 4
Directed byWes Archer
Written byJohn Swartzwelder
Production code2F01
Original air dateOctober 2, 1994 (1994-10-02)
Episode features
Chalkboard gag"I am not the reincarnation of Sammy Davis Jr."[1]
Couch gagThe family is beamed onto the couch the same way the characters are in the original Star Trek series.[2]
CommentaryMatt Groening
David Mirkin
Dan Castellaneta
Yeardley Smith
Wes Archer

The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Wes Archer.[2]

Plot

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

"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

Much of Itchy & Scratchy Land parodies Disneyland.[3] Euro Itchy & Scratchy Land is a parody of Disneyland Paris, then known as EuroDisney, which at the time was failing.[3] The park's slogan 'The Most Violentest Place on Earth' is a reference to Disney parks being referred to as 'The Happiest Place on Eart' Several scenes, such as the helicopter ride, the logo visible on the helicopter's side, and certain story elements, parody the Michael Crichton book and film Jurassic Park. Other parts of the episode, such as the park's claim to be the "theme park of the future" and the phrase "where nothing can possibly go wrong," as well as the plot of the robots at the park rebelling, are based on another Crichton story, Westworld.[2][3] The Simpsons visit the fictional Five Corners in a brief scene while driving to Itchy & Scratchy Land. It is most likely based on the real USA attraction, the Four Corners, which contains Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. "Scratchtasia" is a reference to the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment of the Disney film Fantasia, with several shots and the music parodying it exactly.[3] In addition, 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 the 1940 Disney film Pinocchio. 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. Hans Moleman being attacked by predatory birds while in the phone booth is a spoof of the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds.[2] Walt Disney's alleged antisemitism is spoofed in the character of Roger Meyers, Sr. in his cartoon Nazi Supermen Are Our Superiors.[3] 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 the 1977 film Star Wars.[5] Marge's Amish flashback recalls Peter Weir's 1985 film Witness.[2] The robots' vision is a reference to The Terminator, while using flash-photography to destroy the robots is similar to one of the weaknesses in Gremlins, in particular a scene where Phoebe Cates' character uses a polaroid to fend off Gremlins to escape.

Reception
The "Bort" joke in the episode inspired vanity plates among fans.

Critical reception

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."[5]

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 is number six on Today's top ten The Simpsons episodes list, compiled in 2007.[6]

In 2019, Consequence ranked it number ten on its list of top 30 Simpsons episodes.[7]

In 2014, The Simpsons writers picked "Scratchtasia" from this episode as one of their nine favorite "Itchy & Scratchy" episodes of all time.[8]

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.[9][10] 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".[9]

Ratings

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.[11]

References
  1. 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.
  2. Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge". BBC. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
  3. Mirkin, David (2005). The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Itchy & Scratchy Land" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. Archer, Wes (2005). The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Itchy & Scratchy Land" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. "The best Simpsons episodes, Nos. 6-10". Entertainment Weekly. January 29, 2003. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  6. Enwright, Patrick (July 31, 2007). "D'Oh! The top 10 'Simpsons' episodes ever". Today.com. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  7. "The Simpsons' Top 30 Episodes". Consequence. December 17, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  8. "The Simpsons' Writers Pick Their Favorite 'Itchy & Scratchy' Cartoons". Vulture. March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  9. Siegel, Alan (October 7, 2014). "What Real-Life "Bort" License Plates Tell Us About the Power of The Simpsons". Slate. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  10. 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.
  11. Elber, Lynn (October 7, 1994). "NBC strong second to ABC's lead". Sun-Sentinel. p. 4E.
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