Treehouse of Horror II
- Episode aired Oct 31, 1991
- TV-14
- 30m
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
4.2K
YOUR RATING
The Simpson family receives a severed monkey's paw which can grant wishes, Bart gains magical powers which he uses to turn Homer into a Jack-in-the-box, and Mr. Burns uses Homer's brain to c... Read allThe Simpson family receives a severed monkey's paw which can grant wishes, Bart gains magical powers which he uses to turn Homer into a Jack-in-the-box, and Mr. Burns uses Homer's brain to create a robot.The Simpson family receives a severed monkey's paw which can grant wishes, Bart gains magical powers which he uses to turn Homer into a Jack-in-the-box, and Mr. Burns uses Homer's brain to create a robot.
Dan Castellaneta
- Homer Simpson
- (voice)
- (as Diabolical Dan Castellaneta)
- …
Julie Kavner
- Marge Simpson
- (voice)
- (as Ghoulie Julie Kavner)
Nancy Cartwright
- Bart Simpson
- (voice)
- (as Nefarious Nancy Cartwright)
- …
Yeardley Smith
- Lisa Simpson
- (voice)
- (as Yowling Yeardley Smith)
Hank Azaria
- Moe Szyslak
- (voice)
- (as Hellacious Hank Azaria)
- …
Harry Shearer
- Montgomery Burns
- (voice)
- (as Howlific Harry Shearer)
- …
Maggie Roswell
- Helen Lovejoy
- (voice)
- (as Mummified Maggie Roswell)
- …
Marcia Wallace
- Edna Krabappel
- (voice)
- (as Macabre Marcia Wallace)
- …
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the first Treehouse of Horror episode to have actually been broadcast on Halloween. This would not happen again until Treehouse of Horror X (1999) in Season 11.
- GoofsWhen the Moroccan salesman tries to warn Homer Simpson, saying "You'll be sorry", his lips don't move.
- Alternate versionsIn the Disney+ version, the end credits music plays over the "Next Week On The Simpsons" coda.
- ConnectionsEdited from The Simpsons: Homer Defined (1991)
- SoundtracksGet Together
(uncredited)
by Donal Mooney
Featured review
This is why the first three seasons were the best
The episode begins with a scene that was unfortunately removed in the seasons that followed, where Marge emerges from red theater curtains, warning parents that the show they're about to watch isn't suitable for children.
The removal of this scene might have been due to the realization that the show was enjoyed by kids as well. However, it was a charming moment that helped set the stage and create a relaxed atmosphere of anticipation.
In these early Halloween episodes, it was revealed that these fantastical stories were, in fact, the characters' fantasies. In less fortunate times in the series or in less well-received classic episodes, which were, in fact, non-canonical episodes for storytelling, like episodes centered around tales, they often started with what seemed to be a normal episode about the Simpson family's problems, only to disappoint when it turned into a tale. This episode follows that pattern, leading to the omission of such introductions in future Halloween episodes.
However, this episode is not bad; in fact, it's excellent. Here are some details that make me see it this way:
Firstly, the music, the orchestral television music used in the early seasons of the series. I'm not sure if Alf Clausen was the regular composer at the time, but in the early seasons, the music resembled that of tension and horror films rather than being the kind of music you'd expect for a satirical comedy like The Simpsons.
This choice of music makes comical scenes stand out, and it was a quality that disappeared in the modern era. In fact, in the first six seasons of The Simpsons, it was a recurring feature and added to the enveloping sound quality.
This use of music allowed for the portrayal of comedic situations but with an eerie undertone due to the cinematic background music. For example, when the monkey paw closes a finger, a scene adapted in an original way since older TV shows didn't show the paw closing the fingers, you can hear the background music reacting negatively to this simple event.
In the second segment, something similar happens with the music. It imitates the style of music from The Twilight Zone, which it's parodying. It instrumentally mimics the music used in horror fiction from the 1950s and 1960s. Again, the music reacts the same way to simple events, such as Homer becoming a jack-in-the-box. It imitated the way the music reacted in the original episode, extending the last note of terror during the new body's swinging motion. There's also a percussion roll, popularly used in the 1950s and 1960s, as in the original episode when a child turned someone into a monster. It was an effort to parody and, as you can understand, it was virtuosic. One of the reasons for the series' decline is the disappearance of these details, as it's the details that make life interesting. People often don't pause to analyze them as I have just done, and that's why they struggle to understand why the series declined.
On the other hand, the third segment has a weaker story but is of normal quality. It's a parody of Frankenstein, but not exactly, as this time, it's about bringing a robot to life. However, the humor in this segment is excellent. This was a time when Mr. Burns was an evil old man, not insane, but an evil, out-of-touch person. This made it funnier, along with his way of speaking and reactions to unexpected events due to his outdated expectations regarding people's current behavior.
Expecting great episodes like "Who Shot Mr. Burns" and "The Springfield Files," well, they are, but... only two? In comparison to the great episodes of the early seasons that are more in number, like "Homer Alone," "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish," "Lisa's Pony," "Bart The Daredevil," "Stark Raving Dad," this very Halloween episode, "Brush With Greatness," "Homer's Odyssey," or in the fourth season, "Mr. Plow," etc.
The removal of this scene might have been due to the realization that the show was enjoyed by kids as well. However, it was a charming moment that helped set the stage and create a relaxed atmosphere of anticipation.
In these early Halloween episodes, it was revealed that these fantastical stories were, in fact, the characters' fantasies. In less fortunate times in the series or in less well-received classic episodes, which were, in fact, non-canonical episodes for storytelling, like episodes centered around tales, they often started with what seemed to be a normal episode about the Simpson family's problems, only to disappoint when it turned into a tale. This episode follows that pattern, leading to the omission of such introductions in future Halloween episodes.
However, this episode is not bad; in fact, it's excellent. Here are some details that make me see it this way:
Firstly, the music, the orchestral television music used in the early seasons of the series. I'm not sure if Alf Clausen was the regular composer at the time, but in the early seasons, the music resembled that of tension and horror films rather than being the kind of music you'd expect for a satirical comedy like The Simpsons.
This choice of music makes comical scenes stand out, and it was a quality that disappeared in the modern era. In fact, in the first six seasons of The Simpsons, it was a recurring feature and added to the enveloping sound quality.
This use of music allowed for the portrayal of comedic situations but with an eerie undertone due to the cinematic background music. For example, when the monkey paw closes a finger, a scene adapted in an original way since older TV shows didn't show the paw closing the fingers, you can hear the background music reacting negatively to this simple event.
In the second segment, something similar happens with the music. It imitates the style of music from The Twilight Zone, which it's parodying. It instrumentally mimics the music used in horror fiction from the 1950s and 1960s. Again, the music reacts the same way to simple events, such as Homer becoming a jack-in-the-box. It imitated the way the music reacted in the original episode, extending the last note of terror during the new body's swinging motion. There's also a percussion roll, popularly used in the 1950s and 1960s, as in the original episode when a child turned someone into a monster. It was an effort to parody and, as you can understand, it was virtuosic. One of the reasons for the series' decline is the disappearance of these details, as it's the details that make life interesting. People often don't pause to analyze them as I have just done, and that's why they struggle to understand why the series declined.
On the other hand, the third segment has a weaker story but is of normal quality. It's a parody of Frankenstein, but not exactly, as this time, it's about bringing a robot to life. However, the humor in this segment is excellent. This was a time when Mr. Burns was an evil old man, not insane, but an evil, out-of-touch person. This made it funnier, along with his way of speaking and reactions to unexpected events due to his outdated expectations regarding people's current behavior.
Expecting great episodes like "Who Shot Mr. Burns" and "The Springfield Files," well, they are, but... only two? In comparison to the great episodes of the early seasons that are more in number, like "Homer Alone," "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish," "Lisa's Pony," "Bart The Daredevil," "Stark Raving Dad," this very Halloween episode, "Brush With Greatness," "Homer's Odyssey," or in the fourth season, "Mr. Plow," etc.
helpful•10
- santifersan
- Oct 25, 2023
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