Treehouse of Horror XIII
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"Treehouse of Horror XIII" is the first episode of The Simpsons' fourteenth season, as well as the thirteenth Halloween episode. The episode aired on November 3, 2002, three days after Halloween. It is the second Treehouse of Horror to have a zombie-related segment, and the last Treehouse of Horror to have three separate writers credited for writing three stories (starting with "Treehouse of Horror XIV", only one writer is credited for writing the three stories).
This is also the first episode to use the digital ink and paint as a proof of concept, which led to the decision to have The Simpsons' animation converted from traditional cel to digital ink and paint.
In this year's installment, Homer buys a magic hammock that can create duplicates of anyone who lies in it in "Send in the Clones"; Lisa's call to end gun violence resurrects undead outlaws in "The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms"; and Dr. Hibbert invites everyone in Springfield to his island resort where everyone is turned into half-man, half-animal mutants in "The Island of Dr. Hibbert".
This is the first "Treehouse of Horror" special to be called "Treehouse of Horror" instead of "Simpsons' Halloween Special" in the opening or title sequence.
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[edit] Plot
The Simpson family and Ned Flanders hold a séance in the hope of communicating with the spirit of Maude Flanders. Bart tries to trick Ned by dressing up as Maude's ghost, but the real ghost of Maude, now a demonic spirit, appears instead.
[edit] Send in the Clones
Homer walks into the backyard to lie in his hammock, which soon collapses. He purchases a new one from a passing vendor, who warns him that it carries a curse. Disregarding this, Homer lies down and discovers that the new hammock can produce clones of anyone who rests on it. He inspects the first clone and notices that it does not have a belly button. He begins making and using clones to do all of his chores, which include helping Marge choose an outfit, visiting Grandpa to listen to one of his rambling war stories, and play a baseball game with Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Although things are going well with Homer and his clones, the clones are soon revealed to be stupider than he is. One clone takes on the challenge to kill Ned Flanders by cutting off his head with a chainsaw. Shocked by Ned's wrongful death, Homer immediately decides to get rid of the clones and the hammock. He bundles them in a truck and takes them to an isolated cornfield. When they arrive, Homer asks if anyone knows the way home; three clones raise their hands. Homer shoots the three with his shotgun and then abandons the rest of them, along with the hammock, presuming that none of the clones are smart enough to get anywhere without him. But the clones soon use the abandoned hammock to make an army of Homer clones, many of which are mutations, including a Homer drawn as he was when he appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show, a faceless Homer, a morbidly obese Homer, a Homer with thick, black glasses, and Peter Griffin of Family Guy. The "clone army" immediately consumes all of Gil Gunderson's crops and Gill himself, then attacks Springfield and destroys all of its buildings, except for Moe’s Tavern, which reports record business. US army officials gather in the Mayor's War Room, and determine that the clones will have eaten up America by the next day. Lisa then thinks of a solution to solve the problem, after getting the idea from Homer, who became upset when he found an empty doughnut box. She suggests that several helicopters hook gigantic, sprinkled doughnuts on cables and have the clones chase them into Springfield Gorge, luring the Homer clones to their doom.
In the end, Marge is glad to have her husband back, but is shocked to find that the Homer she has is a clone and the real Homer was the first to jump off the cliff. She starts to wonder how she can ever go on without the real Homer, until the clone Homer offers her a back-rub, which she accepts, almost immediately forgetting about Homer.
[edit] The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms
Bart and Lisa are at the Springfield Cemetery, mourning the loss of their pet goldfish, Goldie, who had always been there for them between August and October. Lisa inadvertently discovers the grave of William Bonney, a man who was killed at a young age by gun violence. According to his epitaph, he dreamed of a world without guns. In his memory, Lisa starts a gun control crusade, which makes Springfield 100% gun free — even the police no longer possess guns. The town is now defenceless, causing the corpses of William "Billy the Kid" Bonney and his cohorts, 'The Hole in the Ground' gang (Frank James, Jesse James, the Sundance Kid — without Butch Cassidy, as they're 'not joined at the hip' — and Kaiser Wilhelm II) to rise from the dead. The gang starts wreaking havoc on the town, until Professor Frink invents a time machine, which Homer uses to go back in time to stop the gun ban and destroy the zombies. Homer tells the citizens of Springfield to shoot at the zombies' graves, causing them to rise up and flee. Lisa feels guilty about banning guns, because sometimes they are the answer. Suddenly, a more futuristic Homer comes in to warn them about guns that have destroyed Earth in the future. He is then shot by Moe, who has had enough of all this nonsense and plans to use Frink's time machine to find some "caveman hookers".
[edit] The Island of Dr. Hibbert
In an elaborate parody of The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells, the Simpsons head out on a trip to "The Island of Lost Souls", where they find Dr. Hibbert running the island's resort. Marge says there were rumours he has gone mad. While the family is there, Marge has a feeling that things are not as they are supposed to be, consequently leading her on an investigation of the island, and resulting in her capture by Dr. Hibbert. She is then transformed into a blue humanized mountain lion. She returns to her room and she has sex with Homer (very violently), mauling him in the process. He soon after realizes that she has been mutated, then asides that he should have realized this during the sex.
Homer then embarks to find a cure for Marge's condition, but encounters Ned Flanders, who has also been mutated into a cow-centaur, in need of a milking. After Homer milks him, Flanders takes him to meet other Springfield inhabitants (while Homer sings "In the jungle the creepy jungle Homer rides a freak"), who have also been turned into mutants, including Bart (now a spider), Lisa (now an eagle) and Maggie (now an anteater, who is nearly eaten by Lisa until Homer intercedes). Homer, initially appalled at what everyone has become, eventually embraces the concept of being a mutant animal who does nothing but eat, sleep, mate and roll around in its own filth upon realizing how well it fits in with his personal lifestyle. The segment ends with a contently mutated Homer in the form of a walrus, and the rest of the Simpsons and Springfield mutants lounging aside the resort’s pool, intending to spend the rest of their days on Dr. Hibbert’s resort.
[edit] Ending
The entire Treehouse of Horror XIII episode concludes with an appearance by Kang and Kodos, observing that Dr. Hibbert’s skull-shaped island resembles their alien number 4.
[edit] Family Guy Reference
In the first segment, "Send in the Clones," a clone is of Homer is shown as Peter Griffin from the popular sitcom Family Guy, as a reference that Peter is basically a clone of Homer.
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: "Treehouse of Horror XIII" |
- "Treehouse of Horror XIII" at The Simpsons.com
- "Treehouse of Horror XIII" at the Internet Movie Database
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