Whacking Day
| "Whacking Day" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 20 |
| Directed by | Jeff Lynch |
| Written by | John Swartzwelder |
| Production code | 9F18 |
| Original air date | April 29, 1993 |
| Guest appearance | |
| |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "I will return the seeing-eye dog"[1] |
| Couch gag | The Simpsons walk in, while the couch is replaced by a small wooden chair that they all sit on.[2] |
| Commentary | Matt Groening Al Jean Mike Reiss Jeffrey Lynch David Silverman |
"Whacking Day" is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 29, 1993.[1] The episode revolves around the fictional holiday "Whacking Day", celebrated annually, in which the citizens of Springfield drive snakes into the town square, then fatally club them. After Bart is expelled from school when he injures Superintendent Chalmers, he applies the knowledge he gains from Marge's homeschooling to help Lisa expose the fraudulent and cruel nature of the holiday.
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Jeffrey Lynch; Barry White, who had expressed a wish to appear in the show, guest stars as himself. It was pitched by George Meyer, who wanted to create an episode against the mistreatment of snakes. The episode includes the first appearance of Superintendent Chalmers, and features an Itchy & Scratchy parody of Oliver Stone's film JFK. "Whacking Day" won a Genesis Award for "consciousness-raising on behalf of animal issues".
Plot
Before an inspection from Superintendent Chalmers, Principal Skinner lures Bart, Jimbo, Kearney, Dolph and Nelson into the Springfield Elementary basement with the promise of free mountain bikes and locks them in to keep them out of the way. Bart escapes through a ventilation shaft, takes Groundskeeper Willie's tractor for a joyride and crashes into Chalmers. A furious Chalmers denies Skinner a promotion to assistant superintendent; outraged, Skinner expels Bart. Bart is quickly expelled from his next school, a private Christian school, so Marge decides to homeschool him.
Bart and Marge take a field trip to Olde Springfield Towne, where Bart learns about the origins of Springfield's annual "Whacking Day." Each year on May 10, the people of Springfield drive snakes to the center of town and beat them to death in a tradition supposedly dating from 1775 and involving Jebediah Springfield. Bart realizes the origin story is false because Jebediah was fighting in a Revolutionary War battle on the same date.
Having also learned that snakes respond to vibrations in the ground, Bart suggests to Lisa, who is appalled by Whacking Day, that they lure the snakes to safety by playing music with a lot of bass and laying the stereo speakers on the ground. Barry White, who was invited to kick off the Whacking Day festivities but left disgusted when he discovered what the holiday is about, agrees to help by singing "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe," attracting numerous snakes into the house.
The pursuing crowd arrives to kill the snakes, but they are soon turned around on the subject of Whacking Day by Bart's newfound knowledge. He reveals that the holiday was actually started in 1924 as an excuse to beat up the Irish. Lisa also tells the town about the positive influences that the snakes have had, such as killing rodents. The town agrees to give up the tradition. An impressed Skinner allows Bart to return to school, then realizes that he has left the bullies locked in the basement. Skinner and Willie race to the school with the mountain bikes to avoid a potential lawsuit.
Production
Writer George Meyer, who was very "animal conscious", was interested in writing an episode related to an annual ritual held in a Texan town, where the townspeople would beat rattlesnakes with sticks. Meyer did not have time to pen the episode himself, so the idea was given to John Swartzwelder.[3] The subject matter of "beating snakes" worried the staff who thought that many would deem it cruel, even though the episode's message is against the mistreatment of snakes.[3] The episode's first act was one of the shortest the staff had ever written at that time, roughly ten pages in length, but with no ideas to expand, they left it as it was.[3] Due to this, the main plot does not start until the beginning of the second act, as the writers could not come up with much material for it.[3]
In order to speed up animation, director Jeffrey Lynch "begged" storyboard artists Kevin O'Brien and Steve Markowski to help him with the episode. The three spent several months on the episode.[4] Barry White wanted to guest star on the show, so he was written into the plot. He sang "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" specially for the episode, rather than using a recorded version.[3]
The song Grampa was supposed to sing in his flashback, showing how he posed as a German cabaret singer in World War II, was "Lili Marlene" by Marlene Dietrich. The staff could not get the rights to it because, according to the people who own the song, "everybody makes fun of it". Much of the flashback was pitched by Conan O'Brien.[5]
The episode marks the first appearance of Superintendent Chalmers. The staff wanted to introduce a boss for Skinner, and Wallace Wolodarsky pitched his name. Much of the dialogue and interactions between Skinner and Chalmers were ad-libbed by Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria, respectively.[3]
Cultural references
The untitled Itchy & Scratchy short, with "guest director" Oliver Stone, is a parody of the scene where footage is shown of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald in Stone's film JFK: someone is heard to shout, "Oh God! Get his gun!" as the screenplay draws to a close.[2] The song "O Whacking Day" uses the same tune as the Christmas carol "O Tannenbaum", known in English as "O Christmas Tree".[1] Additionally, Bob Woodward is shown to be the author of the book The Truth About Whacking Day.[1]
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Whacking Day" finished tied for 25th in the weekly ratings for the week of April 26 – May 2, 1993 with a Nielsen rating of 12.2. It was the highest rated show from the Fox Network that week.[6]
For "consciousness-raising on behalf of animal issues",[7] the episode was awarded the Genesis Award for "Best Television Prime Time Animated Series" in 1994.[8]
Jeffrey Lee Puckett of The Courier-Journal cited "Whacking Day" as "the series' richest episode". He wrote: "In 22 remarkable minutes, 'Whacking Day' skewers the quality of America's educational system, self-aggrandizing politicians, greed, the mob mentality, sexuality in the age of political correctness and the whole notion of political correctness, and makes a hero of Barry White."[9]
Chris Vognar of The Dallas Morning News noted the episode was one of the fourth season's best episodes in his review of the DVD.[10]
The show's creator Matt Groening considers Homer's "I am evil Homer" fantasy to be one of the greatest moments in the show's history.[11]
Andrew Martin of Prefix Mag named Barry White his fifth favorite musical guest on The Simpsons out of a list of ten.[12]
A 2003 article in The Journal News reported that records show genuine "Whacking Days" having taken place in Eastchester, New York from 1665 onwards: "That one day every spring be chosen for the destroying of rattle snakes." The article quoted show runner Al Jean as saying: "I agree with the premise of the episode: leave the snakes alone. They didn't hurt anybody."[13]
Since 2009, citizens in North Queensland, Australia, have held an annual "Toad Day Out" every March 29 in which thousands of cane toads (an invasive and highly destructive species not native to Australia) are captured and humanely destroyed. The event was inspired by the episode.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M..
- ^ a b Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Whacking Day". BBC. Retrieved February 12, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f Jean, Al (2004). The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season Commentary for the Episode "Whacking Day" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Lynch, Jeffrey (2004). The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season Commentary for the Episode "Whacking Day" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Reiss, Mike (2004). The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season Commentary for the Episode "Whacking Day" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ "Nielsen Ratings/April 26 – May 2". Press-Telegram. May 5, 1993. p. C-6.
- ^ Lycan, Gary (June 20, 1994). "Using Awards to Fight Cruelty to Animals – Preview: Show Cites Media and Entertainment Contributions to Cause of Humane Treatment". The Orange County Register. p. F-10.
- ^ "Free Willy, Simpsons Win Genesis Awards". Rocky Mountain News. January 30, 1994. p. 56A.
- ^ Puckett, Jeffrey Lee (March 27, 1999). "Toons for Our Times". The Courier-Journal. p. 12S.
- ^ Vognar, Chris (June 18, 2004). "A Fine Song and Dance: Simpsons Musical Spoofs are Worthy of an Encore". The Dallas Morning News. p. 16-H.
- ^ Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season Commentary for the Episode "Whacking Day" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Martin, Andrew (October 7, 2011). "Top 10 Best Musical Guests On 'The Simpsons'". Prefix Mag. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
- ^ Serico, Chris (July 31, 2003). "Move Over, Homer! Eastchester Had Its Own 'Whacking Day'". The Journal News. p. 9-A.
- ^ Kym Agius & Evan Schwarten (March 27, 2011). "Thousands killed in "Toad Day Out"". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
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