Interview with Al Jean, author of the new short of The Simpsons
Interview with Al Jean
The author, animator and producer of The Simpsons Al Jean is certainly known among fans of the bizarre adventures of the most yellow family in America. Author of the series since 1989, Al Jean then held several other roles concerning the production of the episodes. On the occasion of the release of Welcome to the Club, the new animated short from The Simpsons, Al Jean gave us a hilarious interview, which soon turned into a very pleasant chat.
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Interview with Simpsons author and producer Al Jean
First, thank you very much: the Simpsons have raised me more than my parents, so thank you for your work, I love it !(Laughs)
Now, my first question: You've been working with the Simpsons from the beginning, so how has the way of writing episodes and gags changed? During the years?
There are two main aspects: we have always worked hard to try to make the series fun and exciting by taking a cue from real life, but we started working before word processing and before Google, so these two things, writing and digital editing and above all having the information of the world at your fingertips is absolutely… You know we used to get away with inventing facts and statements like “I can't do it”. There was one of the first episodes where we mentioned the millionth digit of Pi, and we had to write to UCLA to get that number, while of course now you can google it in two seconds.| ); }
Everything in my life, you know, everything I've seen is Simpsons material, something that requires all your references, your stories, your energies, the things that have happened to you. I have two children who are a great source of inspiration. It's a reflection of life and it's great because I put my life into it and now I can watch it all on Disney Plus at the push of a button!
What can you tell us about Welcome to the Club, the new short film from The Simpsons?
In this short lisa tries to join the Disney Princesses, but she soon realizes that Disney villains are a lot more fun! You know, we filmed Ursula from the Little Mermaid and Scar from the Lion King, the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland and it was just a pleasure, like working with Tress MacNeille, who lends her voice to some of the characters in the short. The actress who played Ursula died this year, but we have the dubbing of her characters Dawnn Lewis, and we also worked with an animator who worked on the Little Mermaid, who animated Ursula in this short, and the animations are beautiful. | ); }
Images of the cartoon The Simpsons Oh, I can't wait to see it! It reminds me of something similar that happened to Leela in Futurama, when she decides that being the evil witch is a lot more fun than just going home.
It's always true, you don't remember the name of any of the Disney Princesses we make fun of in this short, but you remember the villains you like. Princesses are more tasteless! (Laughs)
You're right! Now, as you can see the Simpsons have forged my sense of humor, which I use in my real life, so I'd like to ask you: is it the same for you too? Do you sometimes find yourself talking as if you were Homer Simpson in your everyday life? Because it happens to me, like ... always.
Well there was one thing I really did, well there is more than one, but I did one thing that Homer did: I had a giant sandwich in my fridge that I kept eating every day and, okay, I haven't been as bad as him, but that gag is based on this episode. I mean, it all comes from you, you know, like the "Io AcCIUF-CIUFfo te" Valentine's Day card is tied to when I got to third grade, and now it's the most famous Valentine's card in the world. It's really weird, I mean, it's crazy how big things got.
And now I have my last question for you: is there any theme you would like to see in The Simpsons that you haven't covered yet?
I would love to see an episode where the writer is unable to write the episodes because the world is perfect! Well, it could happen, in the future (Laughs)
Pictures from the cartoon The Simpsons I don't know if I still have time for one last question, but I'll try anyway : What's your favorite Simpsons episode?
There are way too many for me, but one thing I'm thrilled about is we have two Halloween episodes this year and there's a great parody of Stephen King's IT book that I think people are going to like really; I mean that people had been hoping that we had done it for a while and now we have really done it.
Oh, I really like Halloween episodes, but my favorite is the X-Files!
Oh, thank you! And it was a real pleasure to have David and Gillian.
That episode is totally out of my mind and makes me laugh every time I see it, so thanks again! I read your name every day because I'm a huge Simpsons fan! By the way, Lord Palmerston or Pitt the Major?
Oohh, it's definitely Lord Palmerston.
Well, actually I think it was better Pitt the Major, but maybe it would be better to leave it here…
Ok, yes, it would be better!
To better understand the meaning of this apparently meaningless question about the British Prime Ministers, we attach an explanatory video below:
Welcome to the Club, the new animated short the Simpsons producer Al Jean worked, is available for exclusive viewing on Disney Plus (buy the latest generation Alexa Voice Remote 4K Fire TV Stick Ultra HD to enjoy it on your TV).
