[The long of it]
I was inclined to like "Margical History Tour" even before it started. Episodes that transplant the Simpsons to other worlds literature or history intrigue me; I like to see how the characters we're so familiar with "translate" to their new surroundings. Tonight's show doesn't just live up to my expectations. It's one of the best "history skit" episodes in the show's, um, history.
The history tour of the title begins at the Springfield public library. The incompetence that pervades the city's institutions has stripped the shelves of books, leaving Bart, Lisa, and Milhouse with no source material for their school reports. Marge steps in by telling them some stories about prominent people in history.
The show starts with a bang, since first sketch of the night, detailing the life of Henry VIII, is the strongest. Part of the fun of these sketches is in seeing how much historical fact gets referenced. The Henry VIII story hits all the obvious points, but then goes the extra step beyond. Homer, naturally, is the monarch and food enthusiast, and most of the story details his adventures as history's first serial monogamist. Marge is one of his wives. That would be what I'd expect. It's more of a surprise Marge becomes the cleverly-named Margarine of Aragon. Ned Flanders plays the role of Thomas More, the chancellor who unsuccessfully tries to keep Homer from straying from the Roman Catholic Church. Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour step in as themselves, sort of. The funniest casting choice is more obscure: Itchy & Scratchy step in as Punch and Judy.
Luckily, you don't have to be a history buff to appreciate this first sketch. The whole scene where Homer and Marge explain their divorce to Lisa is hilarious. The divorce isn't Lisa's fault, Marge says, it's just that she came out the wrong sex and ruined everything. Lisa's attempt to remedy the problem may be lowbrow, but I laughed anyway. Reverend Lovejoy is good as the priest who blesses people in Homer's newly-formed church in the name of "The Henry, the Hank, and the Holy Harry." I also liked the procession of wives whose heads are literally on the chopping block. (The last one defiantly says, "You didn't dump me -- I dumped you" before the axe falls.)
I like Lisa in regular episodes, but in these three-sketch shows her segment is usually noticeably weaker than the others. Not so tonight. In Marge's retelling of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Lisa is Sacagawea, the Native American woman who helped guide the two explorers. Milhouse's is cast as Charbonneau [sic?], Sacagawea's unappreciated fur-trader husband, which plays nicely on the unrequited-crush theme of "normal" episodes. Best of all is Lenny and Carl, a natural team who take on the Lewis and Clark roles. In the opening scenes, Sacagawea's tribe welcomes the white man, pauses a beat, and then hastily adds, "and Carl." There's another good lowbrow joke here, too: At one point, Carl uses a squirrel for a handkerchief. I also liked the dig at the rainy Pacific Northwest weather.
The third sketch is also Lisa-heavy, although it's really Bart's show. The bad boy of cartoons becomes Mozart, the bad boy of classical music. When I first heard that there would be a Bart-as-Mozart sketch I immediately thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if the cast Lisa as Salieri?" Evidently the writers had the same idea because, sure enough, there she is, trying her best to undermine Mozart's career. I liked the irony that Lisa, so musically talented in her "normal" life, would be overshadowed by her brother. In addition to the casting twist, the night's final sketch has the best (and probably the only) opera about the effects of beans on the human digestive tract, plus some of Bart's creative piano playing.
Lately, the show's animation has been improving. (Maybe "Futurama's" excellent computer-assisted work inspired the "Simpsons" staff to reach for a higher level?) "Margical History Tour" keeps the trend going, with the elaborate costumes of Tudor-era England, and the fancy backdrop of 18th-century Vienna. I loved the way the artists combined Lisa's usual hair points with Sacagawea's twin braids. They also drew Bart's hair longer and droopier for the final sketch, giving a convincingly dandy-ish look.
As I said before, I just innately like the concept of having occasionally seeing Our Favorite Family in another time and place. If you feel the same way, you'll like this episode. With clever casting, attention to historical detail, and eye-pleasing animation, this is one history tour worth taking.
[The short of it]
I'm inclined to like these "history skit" episodes, and this one does not disappoint. The opening story about Henry VIII is the best of the night, but all three segments were strong. Each "translated" the "Simpsons" cast into the past well, with good casting choices. Some, like Homer as Henry VIII, are no-brainers. Others, like Lenny and Carl as Lewis and Clark, prove some thought was behind the writing. It was fun to seem how much historical fact was referenced in Marge's fanciful retelling, too. The animation, from Lisa's Sacagawea hairstyle to the baroque backgrounds of old Vienna, continues at its new and improved level. In all, this is one of the best "history skit" episodes in the show's, um, history. (A)
[DYNs]
... the library (incorrectly) refers to a "Xerox machine" as opposed to a "copy machine" or a "Xerox (TM) brand copier"? ... the clink of Milhouse's glasses hitting the floor? ... Lisa mumbles about the compass needle being painted on as she stalks away from Lenny and Carl?
[References]
"Magical Mystery Tour" (album) - title of episode a spoof
Henry VIII (English king) - first story explores highlights from his reign (See "Personal Comments & Observations" for more)
Magna Carta - after eating Homer wipes his mouth with this famous document
Catherine of Aragon (English queen) - in the first story, Marge cast on "Margarine of Aragon" (This is also a wordplay on "margarine")
"Get Out of My Dreams (Get Into My Car)" (song) - Homer tells Bart to "get out of my dreams and into my wife"
"Tomorrow" (song) - Anne Boleyn's calling card reads, "A son'll come out -- tomorrow!"
The New Yorker (magazine) - Homer reads "The Yorker," evidently the parent publication
"9th Avenue" by Saul Steinberg (illustration) - "The Yorker's" front cover shows how this famous drawing might have looked if drawn from the perspective of England
"the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost" (Christian benediction) - Rev. Lovejoy blesses Homer and Anne's marriage in the name of "the Henry, the Hank, and the Holy Harry"
"Oh, Henry!" (candy bar) - Anne says this as she and Homer consummate their marriage
Punch and Judy (puppet show) - Itchy and Scratchy fill in for these satirical puppets
Operation Iraqi Freedom - "embedded journalists" tag along on the Lewis and Clark expedition (travelling war correspondents aren't new, but I never heard the term "embedded journalist" until the recent war in Iraq)
Sacagawea (Native American guide) - second story about her (See "Personal Comments & Observations" for more)
The Jackson 5 (musical group) - Homer tells Lisa to join her other "untalented siblings," who resemble the lesser-known members of this group
"Amadeus" (movie) - Lisa points out Marge's third story based more on this movie than on history - both movie and story focus on the Mozart-Salieri rivalry - one of the highlights shows the emperor falling asleep at an otherwise well-regarded opera
"Beans, beans, he magical fruit" (schoolyard rhyme) "The Magic Flute" (opera) - both inspire Bart's opera about beans and flatulence
Beethoven's 5th Symphony - Nelson laughs in the symphony's signature cadence
"Animal House" (movie) - Homer sings about this movie
"American Graffiti" (movie) - title cards at end of movie show what happened to the principal characters, as Homer explains (Didn't "Animal House" do the same thing?)
Land'O'Lakes (brand of butter) - Lisa poses like the Native American woman in the Land'O'Lakes logo
[FFF]
Sign in front of library:
SPRINGFIELD
PUBLIC LIBRARY NOW WITH
WORKING XEROX
MACHINEPosters in the children's section:
EVERYBODY Yu-Gi-Oh! ITCHY &
POOPS PRICE GUIDES SCRATCHY[I & S]
THE VIDEO TUESDAYS
CHANNEL 6
READCalling card:
ANNE BOLEYN
"A SON'LL COME OUT --
TOMORROW!"Chancellor's office:
SIR THOMAS MORE
LORD CHANCELLORModesty banner:
PRINCE
UNDER
CONSTRUCTIONCastle storage room:
PIKE
STORAGEBook cover:
Ron Santo
--------------------
A LIFE AT THIRD BASEQuimby's sash:
3rd PRESIDENT
Quimby's map:
Oregon Louisiana
Country Territory Spanish
TerritoryMozart commemorative T-shirt:
OUT
BAT OF[angry Bart]
SALZBURG
Awards show banner:
AUSTRIAN MUSIK AWARDS
A SNUFF-FREE EVENTBart's prank sign:
I Am A
DummkopfOpera banner:
OPENING NIGHT:
MOZART'S
"THE MUSCIAL FRUIT"Door signs:
FOPS DANDIES
Magazine cover:
Snuffbox
MAGAZINE FOPS DROP
TO
MOAZART
FLOPLisa's sheet music:
REQUIEM
FOR MOZART Written By
Salieri[Personal Comments & Observations]
Springfield's library isn't the only one that has a problem with transients. Apparently, in larger cities the homeless have taken to congregating in libraries. The building is, by definition, open to the public; offers refuge from the weather; and has plenty of nice, comfy chairs. Not everyone is happy with the homeless people's choice in hangout spots, though; some patrons claim that they are disruptive enough to make using the library difficult. Librarians are caught in the middle. They obviously don't want people panhandling or causing other disturbances, yet if they make the building harder to get into, the libraries risk driving away the "real" patrons.
Henry VIII -- He was the Elizabeth Taylor of his day, marrying six times. Tonight's episode makes it look as though he had all of his wives beheaded, but that's not true. Only *two* of his wives lost their heads, which means that the odds of surviving life with Henry were 2 in 3.
Marge played Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She really was the daughter of the King of Spain, as Homer mentioned. The real-life Henry VIII supposedly liked Catherine, the but couple's inability to produce a male heir threatened the Tudor dynasty, and so Catherine had to go. The Pope balked at dissolving the marriage, so Henry broke from Roman Catholic Church. (Thomas More tried to stop him and was executed for his trouble. He wasn't canonized for real until centuries later.) As head of the new Church of England, Henry's divorce request sailed through with remarkable ease. I guess if you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself. Although Henry was fond of Catherine before the divorce, they never reconciled the way Homer and Marge did in this episode.
I'd like to think that Lisa plays young Elizabeth I in this story. Both women were noted for their intellect, and "Lisa" is one of the 200 or so variants of "Elizabeth." Alas, Henry and Catherine's daughter was Mary, of "Bloody Mary" fame. Elizabeth was the offspring of Henry and Anne Boleyn, one of two wives mentioned by name in tonight's episode. Henry and Anne had no better luck in producing a male heir than Henry and Catherine. Like most husbands, Henry solved the problem by having Anne beheaded.
Jane Seymour was lucky number 3. Marge's retelling departs a little from history at this point. Far from being the annoying, flighty woman shown in the episode, Jane was Henry's best-loved wife. Perhaps it was because she bore the son he wanted. Sadly, Jane died giving birth to him.
Marge's story doesn't really touch upon Henry's remaining wives. Anne of Cleves, Miss #4, was an arranged marriage that didn't work out. Henry divorced her, but she got two castles and was named Henry's honorary sister. (She must've had a good divorce lawyer.) Catherine Howard was what we might today call a party girl. The "Jane Seymour" of this episode reminds me a little of her. Ms. Howard cheated on Henry, apparently forgetting that this was a man who founded a church specifically to get rid of one wife and had another decapitated. She became the second woman Henry had put to death. Catherine Parr was Henry's last wife; after about four years of marriage, Henry died, leaving Catherine a widow.
History provides two ironies to Henry's life. First, one of the daughters that he dismissed, Elizabeth I, went on to become one of England's greatest rulers. Secondly, we now know it's the *father* that determines the sex of the child. If Henry wanted someone to blame, he should have looked in the mirror.
[Some of this information comes from "An Incomplete Education," by Judy Jones and William Wilson, and "What Are the Seven Wonders of the World," by Peter D'Epiro and Mary D. Pinkowish.]
Sacagawea -- Until recently, the unsung hero of the Lewis and Clark expedition. She helped the two explorers navigate the terrain and greased the skids with the natives. She and her husband, the French fur trader Charbonneau, had a child; tonight's second story glosses over this point for obvious reasons.
The kid was shown on the Sacagawea dollar coin Marge holds up. The coin was the Mint's latest effort to wean America off of $1 bills. (Coins, apparently, are cheaper to produce in the long run, because they last longer.) Introduced with great fanfare, the gold-colored coin was indeed popular -- as a souvenir. As currency, however, it was a flop. (Speaking of coins, the Mint will be striking nickels commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition.)
Mozart and Salieri -- When "Amadeus" came out, producers decided to make a Mozart video for MTV. Really -- the idea was to draw a parallel between Mozart's erratic life and the modern rock'n'roll lifestyle, which may be why the writers used bad-boy Bart to play him. The movie emphasized Salieri's rivalry with the upstart composer. I don't know if the real-life Salieri tried to undermine his rival as shown in this story. I strongly doubt they were related, however.
Mozart died poor and was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave, so it's somewhat plausible that the spot is now home to a gas station. On the other hand, while the grave itself may be unmarked, the location of the graveyard was probably written down somewhere. It doesn't seem likely that people would later build anything on the site. Anyone know for sure?
Three of Germany's finest automakers are represented in the shot of the service station. There's a green late-model Mercedes, probably an E-class coupe, in the foreground. A blue Porsche 911 is behind it. You can see an orange Old Beetle peeking in from the right-hand side of the picture.
For those of you not familiar with the Pacific Northwest: The region has a reputation for being really rainy, which is why it poured as if on cue when the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean.