The Simpsons Season 36 Episode Treehouse Of Horror Rekindles An Iconic Tradition From 29 Years Ago

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons Season 36, Episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV”

While The Simpsons Season 36’s Treehouse of Horror special wasn’t perfect, the episode brought back a welcome trope from previous Halloween outings. The Simpsons produced 38 Treehouse of Horror Halloween specials and these varied in quality over the decades. Some, like Season 6 Episode 6, “Treehouse of Horror V,” are among the best episodes of The Simpsons. Others could reasonably be called examples of the program’s nadir. Still others, like episode 1 of season 16, “Treehouse of Horror XV”, represent the moment The Simpsons divisively shifted its focus from character comedy to absurdist madness.

However, even Treehouse of Horror’s worst Halloween specials present an opportunity to The Simpsons to change your usual routine. Season 36, Episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV,” is no different. The tour comprises a weak Pacific Rim parody built around a toothless and disappointingly vague political satire, a much stronger parody of Edgar Allan Poe that sees The Simpsons parody of the iconic horror author for the second time, and a Poison parody in which Homer buys a pair of jeans inhabited by an alien symbiote. Although imperfect, this final segment managed to keep a fun series tradition alive.

The Simpsons Season 36 Venom Parody Changes Its Usual Animation Style

Homer’s sentient jeans are stop-motion animated

Like many independent threads before it, “Denim” from “Treehouse of Horror XXXV” changes temporarily The Simpsons‘animation style. According to Varietythe creators of The Simpsons partnered with Stoopid Buddy, the stop-motion animation studio behind Robot Chicken. Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, Homer’s jeans were animated by stop-motion puppets made from real-life jeans, and this was seamlessly incorporated into the traditional 2D animation of the rest of the segment. This is far from the first time the show has used its Treehouse of Horror Halloween episodes as a chance to play around with and experiment with alternative animation techniques.

Well before The Simpsons In the season 36 episode Treehouse of Horror, there was the final segment of season 7, episode 6, “Homer3”. In this segment, Homer was rendered in 3D animation after accidentally entering an alternate universe. The segment ended with 3D Homer venturing into the real world, mixing 3D animation with live-action footage. This innovative segment was one of the first examples of 3D animation working in conjunction with traditional 2D animation, and the show revisited 3D animation decades later. Season 29, Episode 4, “Treehouse of Horror XXVIII” featured two 3D-animated segments, “The Sweets Hereafter” and “Coralisa.”

The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror episodes changed the show’s style many times

The Simpsons used 3D animation for four Treehouse of Horror segments

The old segment parodied Sausage Party while the latter was a parody of Coraline. Season 32, Episode 4, “Treehouse of Horror XXXI,” included “Toy Gory,” a gruesome parody of the Pixar film. Toy Story franchise that was also animated in 3D. Meanwhile, another The Simpsons‘ many film parodies allowed the show to shift its style to a beautifully detailed anime aesthetic for season 34, episode 6, “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII.” “Death Tome”, a hilariously dark film Death Note parody, proved that The Simpsons It could work as an anime, a stop-motion animated series, a 3D animated show, or a unique mix of all these mediums.

Source: Variety