How This Became The DARKEST Simpsons Intro Ever

In this episode of The Simpsons Theory, I examine perhaps the darkest Simpsons intro opening every storyboarded by graffiti artist, Banksy.

Al Jean, Simpsons showrunner and producer, reached out to Banksy to storyboard a couch-gag for the show, and the result was 1 minute and 43 seconds of pure introspective horror - which was greenlit by series creator, Matt Groening. It was a project that was as controversial off-screen as it was on-screen. There were censor issues, dramatic changes and staff-protests.

So let's get into it.

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[OrangeHarrisonRB]

1992's Itchy & Scratchy The Movie episode also depicted animation in a Korean sweatshop and the production company protested and threatened to send it back.
So, even for Simpsons, the Simpsons did it first.

[alexpotts]

It's odd - this may be one of the few times in history where a workplace dispute has taken the form of an employer insisting that its workers are oppressed, and the workers insisting that they aren't.

[keiviroque]

It’s ironic how Banksy, in trying to raise awareness for sweatshops, only showed how unaware he is about the working conditions of Korean cartoonists.

[JagoHazzard]

I feel like as a parody, it's so far removed from reality that it's toothless. Like most of Banksy's work, it's subversive, but not in a way that's actually going to upset anyone. Least of all the people who might actually need to hear the message. He's the court jester of the art world. He allows rich people to pretend they're right-on and self-aware, but will never actually make them uncomfortable. Basically, if he was any good as a satirist, major media corporations wouldn't be hiring him to make jokes about them.

[reallythatbad]

Banksy always struck me as the guy who hates consumerism and how its ruined society while regularly buying $800 bottles of wine.

[AvaEvaThornton]

You mentioned the Vietnamese hats in the original draft, the panda in the broadcast version also seems to be conflating South Korea with China, all around some pretty uncomfortable vibes. And not all of them intentional.

[TheDanishGuyReviews]

I still don't get how Banksy is anonymous in this day and age, with cameras and ways to track people online.

[adeadphish]

Banksy goes so over the top and so edgy that his parody feels like all shock value, little substance. Case and point, Dismaland was so heavy handed it was memed into the ground rather than sending a meaningful message.

[daniexists]

To be honest with the bit about AKOM, they were probably worthy of said target. There has been stories for years about how bad their output got in the wake of The Simpsons, with one of my favorites being that one of their segments for Animaniacs was planned for season one but kept getting screwed up over and over that it got pushed off until the tail end of the show because they wouldn't stop sourcing from The Simpsons to the point where Yakko, Wakko and Dot started having Krusty's mouth.

[mechajay]

1:46 Ralph: "The Rat is a Symbol for Obviousness."

[lelpato]

not to be all "well they both have a point" but i feel that AKOM deserved some shit for devaluing their animators and i also feel like banksy has a history of being, or at least often coming across as, a know it all for stuff he doesn't really know much about at all

[tayloreh]

It may not be the simpsons animators working conditions, but it represents (exaggerated for comedic effect) the conditions of making fast fashion, and other forms of merchandise. Even if it doesn't represent how 20th Century Fox manages every aspect of the brand, it points to bigger issues in outsourcing and capitalism, and I really really love that the show has made such a tradition out of letting artists art.

[joseaguilar]

I think Banksy did it as an F-You, he didn't expect them to actually run it.

[MattanzaMafiaFedora]

Really well done, Lydia. I love Banksy but I can see he probably didn't think this one too heavily through. Still, he had good intentions behind his message, and we should also see this as a means to discuss trying to keep ourselves from exploiting other nations for cheap labour.

[Its_Charlie_Young]

AKOM worked on the original Transformers show, too. And honestly the AKOM animated episodes were quite shoddily animated...they kept giving Optimus a white back when it's meant to be red.
Also, seeing Hasbro mentioned at 9:08...no wonder Transformers figures get leaked way before they're officially shown, what with factory workers possibly stealing samples to illegally sell to people.

[thepoetoffall]

Ok… now stop paying attention to the animators, and start paying attention to the merch. Sure. The animators have ok working conditions. But are you prepared to tell me the that the people making the merchandise can say the same? I doubt you can.

It’s well known that factory workers in the textile industry are treated and paid like shit. Pretending otherwise is willfully ignorant.

[JJKane]

Al Jean: Banksy, I don't think the South Korean animation team will like drawing themselves in such conditions and stereotypical depictions

Banksy: South Koreans will like what I tell them to like

[otaking]

Clerks: The Animated Series did the same joke years prior, and they never got any pushback.

[Arcee]

And I thought that the Lee Hardcastle Simpsons couch gag was darkest one of all.

[larryinc]

The couch gag does almost implode on itself to becoming a parody of Banksy. Trying to be socially aware, but only highlighting how it's all shock no substance and highlights how uninformed they are of a real issue. I thought it was amusing when I first saw it, I like dark humor and thought it was a kind of "lets make the silly thing very serious" subversion, but it almost becomes funnier when it's like "Wait, you were actually trying to deliver a message with that?".