Planet Simpson: How A Cartoon Masterpiece Defined A Generation - Hardcover

Turner, Chris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0306813416 ISBN 13: 9780306813412

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2004

Synopsis

Planet Simpson is the first book to bring in-depth analysis to that most important pop-cultural institution of the last decade-Fox TV's "The Simpsons"-and use the show as a microcosm of the Western culture it has hilariously (and mercilessly) reflected and influenced. In an age of unprecedented transformation, "The Simpsons" alone has had the depth, intelligence, scope, and, most importantly, humor to chart the links between popular culture and the world we live in. Planet Simpson is broken down into scathingly funny chapters analyzing each major character's relationship to different facets of the American character: Homer Simpson, the ultimate everyman of the American century; Lisa Simpson, the voice of the show's social conscience; Bart Simpson, punk icon; Marge Simpson, maternal voice of moral authority and anchor of Simpsons family values; C. Montgomery Burns, unchecked capitalism personified...and every bit character on down from Barney to Smithers to Krusty the Clown, coupled with intelligent, friendly, and entertaining analysis of the show's greater themes. Going well beyond a critical discussion of a single television program, Planet Simpson will use "The Simpsons" as a window on the culture at large to deliver first-hand reportage of the Internet boom, the alternative-rock explosion, the triumph of irony, the cultural origins of anti-globalization, and other defining events and trends of our accelerated, confounding era.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

A smart, accessible and funny cultural analysis of The Simpsons, its inside stories and the world it reflects.

From Bart Simpson to Monty Burns, the Internet boom to the slow drowning of Tuvalu, Planet Simpson explores how one of the most popular shows in television history has changed the way we look at our bewildering times. Award-winning journalist Chris Turner delves into the most esoteric of Simpsons fansites and on-line subcultures, the show's inside jokes, its sharpest parodies and its ongoing love-hate relationship with celebrity to reveal a rarity of literary accomplishment and pop-cultural import — something never before achieved by a cartoon.

Complementing its satirical brilliance, The Simpsons boasts a beloved cast of characters, examined here in playful and scrupulous detail: Homer, selfish, tyrannical and not too bright, but always contentedly beholden to his family; Bart, pre-teen nihilist and punk icon; Lisa, junior feminist crusader; and Marge, archetypical middle-American mother, perpetually dragging her family kicking and screaming to higher moral ground. And while the voice actors behind the regular cast have eschewed celebrity, Turner considers why a stunning host of guests — Hollywood icons and has-beens, politicians, professional athletes, poets and pop stars — have submitted themselves to the parodic whims of the Simpsons' writers.

Intelligent and rambunctious, absorbing and comic, Planet Simpson mines this modern cultural institution for its imaginative, hilarious, but always dead-on, reflections on our world.

Excerpt from Planet Simpson

Three Fun Facts About "D'oh!"
1. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "d'oh" as "Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish."

2. The origins of "D'oh!" A Tracey Ullman–era Simpsons script called for Homer to respond to an unfortunate turn of events thus: "[annoyed grunt]." Dan Castellaneta, the voice-actor who plays Homer, improvised the exclamation, "D'oh!" It stuck.

3. The godfather of "D'oh!" Dan Castellaneta freely admits that he lifted Homer's famous yelp from James Finlayson, a Scottish actor who played a bald, cross-eyed villain in a number of Laurel & Hardy films in the 1930s. Finlayson's annoyed grunt was a more drawn-out groan — Doooohhh! Castellaneta sped it up to create Homer's trademark.

About the Author:

Chris Turner is an award-winning magazine journalist. His pop culture and technology reporting and essays for Shift magazine earned him six National Magazine Awards in the last three years, including the President's Medal for General Excellence in 2001-the highest honor in Canadian magazine writing. He is also a regular contributor of culture and technology reporting to Time and The Globe & Mail . Turner lives in Alberta.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0306813416
• ISBN 13: 9780306813412
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 464