I was poking around for items for tomorrow’s link dump when I came across this from a blog called “Art Brut(e)”: See I was going to be really clever and somehow link “Mom and Pop Art” with “Duck Amuk” to Larry Johnson and it was going to be really clever, but the conceit doesn’t work anymore so– eh, why don’t you pick up an Art Forum or something. “Duck Amuck” is one of the most memorable Merrie Melodies ever and, prior to clicking that link, I hadn’t actually watched the whole thing (~7 min) in years. It’s still very clever and quite funny. I cracked up when Daffy’s parachute was replaced with an anvil (William Faulkner could write an anvil gag that would really make you think). In terms of “Duck Amuck” and The Simpsons the first thing that sprang to mind was Snowball II after Bart makes it more interesting in the second Treehouse of Horror: But then I got to thinking about all the other times the show broke the fourth wall with animation. (Note: this is not meant to be an exhaustive list.) First up is “Brush with Greatness” and it’s never ending MC Escher line for the “H2WHOA!” ride: Next is “The Front” and it’s fantastically crappy reused background of water cooler/nondescript door/cleaning lady: In Boy Scoutz N the Hood we learn that cartoons don’t need to be 100% realistic and, lo and behold, there are two Homers: Finally, there are a lot of couch gags that play around with how the Simpsons are animated, but two in particular seem genuinely “fourth-wall-ish”. The one in “Lisa the Beauty Queen” and “Duffless” has the family running literally out of frame: And then there’s the infinitely receding couch from “Homer Badman” and “Two Dozen and One Greyhounds”: I always thought that one must have been fun to animate, just keep drawing the family smaller and smaller until they’re basically dots.
An ongoing ramble by Charlie Sweatpants . .