The Simpsons has been on TV in some form or another since 1989 and by now just about every TV viewer in America has the theme song memorized, along with the show's intro. Besides the obvious art style shifts over the years, the show has had more or less the same opening for its entire run, complete with remixes, deconstructions, and the ever-popular "couch-gag" at the end.
Of course, one of the internet's favorite pastimes is taking nostalgic content and remaking it with some new spin or unique flavor, and The Simpsons is no stranger to fan content. So, it isn't a surprise that some fans have taken to recreating the show's introduction with their own particular perspective, and one of those remixes has been blowing up lately in the news.
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One fan of the show has recreated the entire opening animation of The Simpsons with nothing more than stock footage. Every scene and iconic Springfield location has been cut and replaced with the closest approximation the original artist could find in a catalog of media specifically meant to be used for splicing together quick presentations and ads. Using a variety of scenes and some creative editing, the video attempts to recreate the cinematography, subject, and style of the original intro.
Bart Simpson's chalkboard writing detention is replaced with a young boy writing on a chalkboard, which transitions to a skateboarding kid in order to represent his escape from school. Homer driving his car and noticing the plutonium on his back is replaced with a sleepy driver smacking himself to stay awake, mirroring the hand motion of the original.
While not every scene can be easily captured with stock footage, the emphasis for this fan-made video has been placed on capturing the motion and framing of the original intro. The result is a bizarre stock footage presentation that looks nothing like The Simpsons, yet still feels exactly like the show's introduction.
It goes to show how important motion, framing, and design are to the look and appeal of any TV show, that the same effect can be captured with entirely unrelated footage. No doubt the fan who made it spent a lot of time getting it just right, and in the end it certainly paid off.
The Simpsons is now available on Disney Plus.
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Source: Matthew Highton/Youtube