Title card.
"Treehouse of Horror VI" is a Halloween-themed episode from the seventh season of the animated comedy series The Simpsons. It was first broadcast in the United States on the Fox Network on October 29, 1995. It was the highest rated program on Fox for the week in which it first aired. The episode is notable for its use of computer animation and for being the first episode of The Simpsons to feature live action footage.
In common with previous Simpsons Halloween specials, the episode is made up of three self-contained stories. The three segments which make up the program are "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores", "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace" and "Homer3". The title of the first segment is a reference to the 1958 science fiction movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. The second segment is a parody of the 1984 horror movie A Nightmare on Elm Street and its sequels, and features the Simpsons regular character Groundskeeper Willie as a Freddy Krueger-like killer. The third segment, in which 2D cartoon character Homer Simpson enters a 3D world, is primarily based on "Little Girl Lost", a 1962 episode of the TV series the Twilight Zone, in which a girl enters a fourth dimension.
The episode was nominated for a Prime Time Emmy Award. The segment "Homer3" won the grand prize at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
Opening[]
In a brief opening sequence, the Simpsons regular character Krusty the Clown appears as the ghostly Headless Horseman. He throws his decapitated head and the words "The Simpsons Halloween Special VI" appear in his blood.
"Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores"[]
Homer Simpson goes to a doughnut shop called Lard Lad. He asks for a colossal doughnut, like the one which the statue of the Lard Lad mascot outside the store is holding. When he is told that the store does not stock colossal doughnuts and that they do not exist, he angrily leaves the store and vows to get a colossal doughnut.
At night, Homer returns to the store and steals the giant statue's colossal doughnut. A freak ionic storm then causes the Lard Lad statue and other giant advertising mascots and images from billboards to come to life as monsters which attack the town of Springfield. Homer's daughter Lisa suggests that the attacks will stop if he returns the giant doughnut to Lard Lad. Homer eventually does so, but the attacks continue.
Lisa goes to see an executive at an advertising agency. He tells her that advertisements lose their power if people ignore them. If people could be persuaded to stop looking at the monsters, they would become lifeless again. He suggests that a jingle would help to get the message across. Lisa and musician Paul Anka perform the jingle "Ignore Them". The people of Springfield follow their advice and the monsters return to being lifeless advertising images. However, Homer Simpson keeps staring at Lard Lad's doughnut, which now has added sprinkles. His children Bart and Lisa drag him away, threatening to poke his eyes out if he does not stop looking, and the statue becomes lifeless once more.
"Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace"[]
Bart Simpson has a nightmare in which Groundskeeper Willie tries to kill him with a rake. When he wakes up, he sees that the scratches from the rake are still on his body. At school, he finds out that many other students have also had nightmares about Groundskeeper Willie.
A student falls asleep during a test and subsequently dies. Bart and Lisa Simpson tell their mother Marge about the incident. She inadvertently gives away that Groundskeeper Willie was responsible for the death, before reluctantly telling her children why they are in danger. Some time earlier, the parents of some students at Springfield Elementary School went to the school for a meeting. Against Groundskeeper Willie's advice, Homer Simpson turned up the thermostat, causing the boiler to overheat and set Willie on fire. The parents watched but did nothing except laugh as Groundskeeper Willie slowly burned to death, becoming nothing more than a skeleton in front of their eyes. Willie vowed that he would take revenge on the people who did not help him by going after their children, adding that he would attack them where their parents would be unable to defend them, in their dreams.
For several days, Bart and Lisa try not to go to sleep. Bart eventually decides that he will have to go to sleep to fight and defeat Groundskeeper Willie. He tells his sister Lisa to stay awake and watch him, so that she can wake him up if he appears to be in trouble. Bart dreams that Willie attacks him in the form of a lawnmower. Bart tricks Willie into going into a sandbox full of quicksand and he sinks. Bart thinks that he can return to his regular fun dreams, but he is soon confronted by Willie in the form of a spider-bagpipes hybrid. Lisa goes into Bart's dream to try to save him. Bart points out that if she is with him, she must be asleep and vulnerable to Willie's attack too. All seems lost for the two Simpson children, until their baby sister Maggie appears. She plugs up a vent in Willie's spider body, causing him to explode. The children are delighted to be free of Groundskeeper Willie forever.
The following morning, Bart and Lisa see Willie step off a bus. He is now just a normal man with no supernatural powers. He threatens to kill the children but realizes that he can do nothing because he left his gun on the bus.
"Homer3"[]
When Homer Simpson's hated sisters-in-law Patty and Selma come to visit, he tries to find a place to hide from them. His children Bart and Lisa are already hiding in the closet and, because they were there first, will not give up their hiding place to their father. Going to hide behind the bookcase, Homer finds himself in a strange new world, a world where he changes from being a 2D cartoon character into being a 3D computer generated character.
Through the wall, Homer is able to call out to his wife Marge for help. After consulting various people, Marge is told by scientist Professor Frink that Homer has entered the third dimension.
When Homer throws a cone at the floor, a hole appears which begins to suck everything into it, putting Homer in danger. Against Marge's wishes, Bart goes into the third dimension to help his father. A rope is tied around his waist so that he can be pulled back to safety. He tells Homer to jump over the hole and that he will catch him. Homer jumps but falls into the hole and disappears. Bart is pulled back and tells his family that his father is gone.
After falling through the hole, cartoon character Homer Simpson lands in the real world. He is frightened and unhappy in his new surroundings where people stare at him. However, his worries disappear when he sees a store with a sign which reads "Erotic Cakes".
External links[]
- The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror VI" on the Internet Movie Database.
- The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror VI" on the Big Cartoon Database.