Fortnite

BROOKS BLOTTER

Marge and Lisa exiting a movie theater. Lisa is gushing. Behind them are posters for Ella McCay.
(Gracie Films)

Oscar-winning writer/director James L. Brooks’s latest film, Ella McCay is being released soon, and he’s enlisted some old friends to help him market it: the Simpsons.

As of this posting, The Simpsons‘s social media accounts have posted about the film three times. One post has a video with Julie Kavner, the voice of Marge who also has a role in the film, introducing a trailer. In the video, James L. Brooks is identified as “co-creator” of The Simpsons, which is a little eyebrow-raising, given Matt Groening is the sole credited creator. OK, maybe “co-creator” is a little more descriptive to the average person than the nebulous title of “executive producer,” and Brooks did develop the show alongside Groening and the late Sam Simon, so maybe all three should be considered creators. Nevertheless, it’s not a great look for a multi-millionaire Hollywood legend to be grabbing a little more credit for himself decades later. Or are they soft-launching Brooks as the true visionary behind the show in the event Groening suddenly has to withdraw from public appearances…?

Another post features a poster for the film with the cast drawn in Simpsons style, with the caption “They’re not from Springfield, but they’d fit right in.” Would they? Seems like kind of a reach.

The latest post features a particularly shameless animated promo where Lisa and Marge exit a theater gushing about how great the film was. “It’s a very terrific movie,” Marge opines, while Lisa is ecstatic that “finally a movie gets me.” It’s reminiscent of the Riverdale episode where characters go see Love, Simon, a film coincidentally directed by the show’s executive producer.

Both The Simpsons and Ella McCay are produced by Brooks’s company Gracie Films, and the film is being distributed by Disney under the 20th Century Studios label, so maybe a little corporate synergy is to be expected. The Simpsons is, of course, no stranger to promotion – Bart was hawking Butterfingers before the series even premiered – but it’s intensified since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox. The show started pumping out promotional shorts for Balenciaga, Bad Bunny, opera superstar Andrea Bocelli and more, for which they’ve won multiple advertising industry awards. Last month, there were even two couch gags involving Fortnite in the show itself, promoting the Simpsons-themed Fortnite season.

Nor is this the first time Brooks has used the show to push his other projects. A couple years ago, Marge was featured in a promo for the Gracie-produced adaptation of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. And perhaps the Ella McCay campaign is not as egregious as the time Brooks insisted on doing a crossover with The Critic, another Gracie-produced animated sitcom, over objections from the staff (including Groening, who ultimately had his credit removed from the episode, for which Brooks publicly called him an ingrate).

Nevertheless, the Ella McCay cross-promotion still seems a little brazen, even considering everything. There was never an episode where Homer convinces Marge to see Spanglish. Ultimately, Brooks is the boss, and he gets what he wants. Maybe he’ll get the stars of Ella McCay to return the favor and promote the next Simpsons movie, which has just been pushed back to September 2027.

NOISELAND ARCADE

Homer, Bart, Marge and other characters in Fortnite.
(Epic Games)

They’ve have been to Australia, Japan, Africa, Brazil, England, China, Antarctica, and even Canada. Now the Simpsons are going to Fortnite Island, where you can finally achieve what Sideshow Bob has only dreamed of: kill Bart Simpson.*

After years of rumors, The Simpsons has been absorbed into the massively popular video game Fortnite in a major collaboration. Starting today, a month-long Simpsons-themed season will have players battle it out on an island map based on Springfield. Marge, Homer, and Ned Flanders are available as rewards with the purchase of a Battle Pass, while other characters (Lisa, Bart, Moe, Krusty, and Scratchy) are or will be available to purchase separately.

Among other stuff, a blog post announced there will be weekly fully-animated cutscenes shorts that will also be released on Disney+ about Homer gaining godlike powers from a shard of primordial energy so even non-gamers can enjoy inscrutable references to Fortnite lore (the first short, “Apocalypse D’oh,” is already up). So far there is voice acting from Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Hank Azaria. We hear some laughs from Nancy Cartwright-voiced characters Bart and Nelson in other footage, but no dialogue yet, and Harry Shearer’s characters Kang and Ned Flanders are conspicuously silent (Shearer usually doesn’t participate in these things, like The Simpsons Ride or that Family Guy crossover, so that’s to be expected). It’s a far cry from Lego Dimensions, which only had archival recordings of Castellaneta, or that time when Peter Griffin appeared in a Fortnite short but didn’t speak. Also, Matt Groening’s signature is everywhere, unlike the Futurama collaboration.

The success of Simpsons in Fortnite could prove there is demand for a new Simpsons game. Not counting the freemium mobile game Tapped Out, which shut down earlier this year, there hasn’t been a “true” new Simpsons game since 2007’s The Simpsons Game. Could this herald a new era of Simpsons gaming?

*OK technically they’re not going anywhere because the Simpsons reality merged with the current Fortnite island, Oninoshima. And characters don’t really “die,” they are bloodlessly “eliminated.”

PANEL PIECES

Homer chokes Bart during a Disney Legends animated segment.

The Walt Disney Company recently held its biennial D23 convention celebrating Disney and its various properties, which thanks to corporate consolidation and a lack of antitrust enforcement also includes The Simpsons! Here’s a roundup of all the Simpsons-related stuff.

Continue Reading →

GROEN DRAIN

An image of Jonesy from Fortnite looking surprised at Futurama characters. Behind him is an image of Matt Groening's head in a jar, surrounded by question marks.

Fortnite recently announced a collaboration with Futurama: Fry, Leela, and Bender are purchasable characters, with other stuff inspired by the show also available in the game. However, there’s one thing missing: creator Matt Groening’s signature. It’s not present in Fortnite’s announcement post, the in-game item shop, or any of the advertising posted on social media. So what’s the deal?

The exact language is not publicly known, but it appears safe to say that Groening’s signature is contractually obligated to appear on merchandise and promotional art of the properties he created, which is why you see his name everywhere. This extends to the Simpsons profile pictures on Disney+, and even the NFT of Homer choking Bart.

However, in very, very rare circumstances, Groening will remove his signature or credit to implicitly indicate his disapproval. I know of only two instances: the 1995 Simpsons episode “A Star is Burns” because he was opposed to doing a crossover with The Critic, and the 2001 video game Simpsons Wrestling. It may seem a little silly considering the ubiquity of Simpsons merchandise, but Groening appears to take his endorsement seriously. Talking to a trading card magazine in 1994, Groening criticized the quality of the 1990 Topps set and lamented that “my name was on every one of those cards.”

I searched similar video game collaborations to see if perhaps this was a trend. The promo art for a 2015 Simpsons Minecraft skin pack does have Groening’s signature, as does this Animation Domination card game featuring Futurama characters (near Bender’s hand), which makes its exclusion from Fortnite odder.

Was it a mere oversight? Did Groening decline to approve the collaboration because of the writers’ strike? Obviously it exists to promote the Hulu revival, but I’m not sure if a signature necessarily constitutes crossing the picket line. Is it a weird technicality because Fortnite is using their in-game models instead of drawn promo art? Or did the peacenik-minded Groening object to his characters being used to propagate violence in a video game? If that’s the case, I think it’s a little misguided: my understanding of Fortnite lore is that characters don’t “die,” they are bloodlessly “eliminated” and are stuck in an endless loop where they regenerate. Even Batman uses guns in the game, come on. Also, the characters in question are canonically war veterans.

Perhaps we’ll never know the real reason. In the meantime, I shotgunned Goku while playing as Bender. This, to me, is the essence of gaming.

NEWS ROUNDUP

An image of Mario reporting the news.

Yee-haw, I’ve rounded up another batch of minor Simpsons news and other small findings from across the web.

  • Harry Shearer: not a fan of the Super Mario Bros. movie, apparently. [Twitter]
  • Speaking of Mario, here’s a 1991 ad where he previews Bart vs. the Space Mutants.
  • Showrunner Al Jean recently noted that the cigarette machine is now gone from Moe’s Tavern. In 2022, cigarettes were removed from a Krusty action figure prior to production. Coincidence…? smiley face in a tinfoil hat
  • Listen, if Avatar gets to be in Disney’s big celebratory anniversary commercial, then The Simpsons should get to be in the Disney racing game. [RacingGames]
  • Some Fortnite players were asked in a survey if they’ve heard about Bart Simpson and Peter Griffin, potentially leading to their inclusion in the game. Peter has been rumored for years, but I think Bart is unlikely mainly because he doesn’t fit the height requirement, unless they give him some sort of mecha suit like Morty. Homer on the other hand… [@SentinelCentral via GoNintendo]
  • Critic: The Disney+ Simpsons shorts are just commercials
    Defender: No they’re not, you’re just a hater!
    Al Jean: Hey, I just won another Clio, the advertising industry’s most coveted award! [Twitter]