Once a year "The Simposons" writers are allowed to throw the continuity playbook out the window and create a single Halloween episode with a reality that is removed from the series. Treehouse of Horror has made a name for itself as an annual event for the show. To kick things off this year, Fox has recruited screenwriter and director Guillermo Del Toro.
Known for creating imaginative and creepy characters, Del Toro brought his brand of monsters to a 2-minute-45-second opening credits scene completely redone to include winks to his films, other classic horror films as well as some previous Treehouse of Horror moments.
EW reports that the director was originally asked to do a simple couch gag but decided to take on the task of reimagining the entire iconic opening credits.
"The Simpsons titles are so iconic and yet they've never been riffed in this vein," he says. "I really wanted to land the connections between the [show's] set pieces and the titles and some of the most iconic horror movies, and intersperse them with some of my stuff in there for pure joy. For example the idea that Ms. Krabappel could be outside the school with Alfred Hitchcock which is a reference to the sequence in The Birds that happens outside of the school in Bodega Bay. To use Chief Wiggum as the Cyclops from Harryhausen, dipping the [Lard Lad] donut in a water tank, to have the nuclear spill from Mr. Burns' plant create zombies - all of this stuff seems to make sense to interconnect. If Homer really gets a radioactive isotope, he could turn into a reaper from Blade. Or the famous shot that is always in the titles - Maggie driving and then you pull back and there's Marge driving, right? But in this case Maggie is driving, and she's driving the car from the horror movie from the 70s called The Car, which is one of my favorite guilty pleasure B-movies. And what if Lisa is in the music class, but she's in the music class with every Phantom of the Opera ever made? It was a unique opportunity."
You can check out the full video below. Comment and share your thoughts. What was your favorite moment from the video? Besides the Hypnotoad of course.
