Banksy scripts the Simpson’s opening ‘couch’ sequence

The signs are there right from the opening credits, a bird carries a rat through the parting clouds as the ‘Simpsons’ logo appears. As the camera descends into Springfield two characters are seen sawing the head off a statue and then it swoops past ‘Lard Lad Donuts’ to reveal the name Banksy scrawled across a sign proclaiming ‘Krusty’s Now Doing Funerals’. Bart appears writing “I must not write all over the walls” on the customary blackboard before finally the family are shown on the couch. Its at this point things get dark, the scene transitions to a sweat shop factory where children are working on animation cells and T shirts, kittens are being shredded for their fur for Bart Simpson toys – you get the point pretty quickly, reinforced by slow Soviet style music. And that’s the strange thing, the whole sequence seems to be attacking 20th Century Fox’s / The Simpsons production and marketing arms – and yet they still signed it off. It’s creating quite a stir in the US (where it has aired already) and the episode appears in the UK on 21st October. You can watch the opening sequence on the BBC  here (Youtube have taken the video down due to a copyright violation claim by Twentieth Century Fox).

Banksy Simpsons Opening sequence ( copyright Twentieth Century Fox )