Treehouse Pt 7 - They shoulda listened to the God-fearing Christian in their midst

Here's the original ending to the cartoon. Abe has fallen out of his wheelchair and is asleep on the floor.

The ghosts and ghouls come in.

Frank Grime's spirit yanks out Homer's soul and eats it.

Homer drops dead.

The smell of death is like smelling salts to Abe, who wakes up and slowly pushes himself up on his arms.

He trembles as he gets ready to have his say.

Happy his predictions about the evils of Halloween have come to fruition, he shouts "I...WAS...RIGHTTTTT!"

...and bursts into flames, satisfied.

as he gloats his corporeal self burns to a crisp as he gleefully tells us , "We're all going to HELLLL!"

The end

Well that's how I was hoping the cartoon would go...Want to see the animatic?

Treehouse pt 6

Treehouse Opening Pt 5 - The Fear Of Paganism

I love Abe...He's so lumpy!

Do you think superstition is God's funniest creation as I do? Of course, parasites are right up there...

Treehouse Opening Pt 4 - Dire Consequences of Trick or Treating

Believe it or not I really wanted to do some straight story stuff with the Simpsons. By 'straight' I mean a narrative story (as opposed to a song or strictly abstract visuals). I was dying to do a caricature of the Simpsons characters' personalities as well as their design. - like what I do with the Hanna Barbera characters.

I think Abe is a fun character. Old and cantankerous, I figured I'd make him older and more cantankerous. I thought I'd throw in that he'd also be very religious and superstitious as many old timers are.

*An animation history irony:

People tend to think of cartoons as exaggerations of reality - and that was pretty much taken for granted up until the 1960s. 

 In 1960, Hanna and Barbera created the first prime time animated cartoon - the precursor to the Simpsons and every other cartoon sitcom that followed.

The characters and situations in the Flintstones were inspired by the live action "The Honeymooners". So you would imagine that the animated show would be much more exaggerated than its live-action counterpart.  
 

The Honeymooners

Flintstone

While I love the Flintstones, the irony is that it is really a toned-down version of the Honeymooners. The live characters in the Honeymooners are much more exaggerated than the cartoon. They have more depth to the personalities and a much broader range of expressions and gestures.

I don't know how this came about, but the Flintstones' animation style must have seeped into the consciousness of generations of TV watchers all the way to today. Every animated sitcom that has been ever made is less exaggerated than characters in live action sitcoms - and even less exaggerated than real people in general (and even less exaggerated than Hanna Barbera cartoons).

So I wanted to do an experiment and reverse the trend by animating the Simpsons using their same basic personalities, but adding more range and expression to the acting - by caricaturing what is already there in a milder form.

Alas, Matt, Al and I came up with so many ideas - including a song, that we couldn't fit them all into the minute and a half slot. Maybe they'll let me animate a whole episode one day.

Treehouse Opening Pt 3 - Abe's Warning

 Abe: "Liars and deceivers,

Concealers of the TRUTH!

 On Hallow's Eve there's worse to fear

than Men who torment Youth!

 

The Lord abhors your vile disguise!

You think to cloak your SIN!

 While out their lurk the fiends of HELL,

 Who crave your souls within!