Ivy Supersonic

NEWS ROUNDUP

A collage of random Simpsons-related pictures.

Howdy pard’ners, this here’s a roundup of Simpsons news items from all over yonder.

  • Former Simpsons composer Alf Clausen has dropped his wrongful termination lawsuit against the show, from which he was fired via email in 2017. Clausen, who was passed over for The Simpsons Movie in favor of Hans Zimmer, was replaced by Zimmer’s “Bleeding Fingers” composing collective, and the orchestra he led for decades was replaced with a more budget-friendly synthesizer. Simpsons producers claimed they let him go because “they didn’t think the classical- and jazz-inclined Clausen was up to the challenges of more contemporary tunes.” You know, like a parody of “America” from the 1957 musical West Side Story or “Tonight (Quintet),” also from West Side Story. [Deadline]
  • Way back in 2006, I wrote a quick post about fashion designer Ivy Supersonic accusing Simpsons producer Sam Simon of stealing her idea for a squirrel/rat character and putting it in the Ice Age movies, which he had nothing to do with. Recently, there were some viral tweets claiming Disney no longer owns the character Scrat as a result of her long legal crusade, which doesn’t appear to be, uh, true. Charles Kenny of The Animation Anomaly did some digging and cleared some things up. [The Animation Anomaly]
  • Holy shit you guys…. there was a thing about trucks in Canada, and wouldn’t you know it… The Simpsons featured a truck once!!!! [Reuters]
  • What happens when Universal Studios’s Simpsons contract expires in 2028? Will Disney try to do their own version of Springfield? Podcast: The Ride discussed that and more in an episode all about The Simpsons Ride. Here’s my proposal: a version of CityWalk called Hulu Highway featuring businesses from Disney’s more “adult” properties: Moe’s Tavern from The Simpsons, Paddy’s Pub from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Drunken Clam from Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers from Allen Gregory, ISIS Headquarters from Archer, etc. [Podcast: The Ride]
SUDDENLY SIMON

Ivy Supersonic, who according to Wikipedia is “a New York fashion designer, entertainer, publicist, promoter, event planner, and animated character designer,” sent out a press release claiming that former Simpsons producer Sam Simon helped steal her idea for the squirrel thing from the Ice Age movies and tried to blackmail her into starring as his wife in a TV show (????):

“Sam Simon is not a man of his word — he is a man of many words that do not hold true. He said Howard Stern asked him to be a writer on the show,” Supersonic said. “He was considering it but said he would not do it unless I had a starring role as his wife. I was blown away when Ice Age 2 hit the theaters. Simon’s partner and writer Matt Groening, was one of the writers on Ice Age 2, released by 20th Century Fox. Sam Simon’s Simpson cartoon short premiered in front of Ice Age 2. There is nothing more I hate than someone who is dishonest to land me in the sac. I am more than outraged, I am eternally livid!” Supersonic says angrily.

[Ivy Supersonic press release]