Though “The Simpsons Movie” is already out in theaters, that didn’t stop Matt Groening and Co. from stopping by to share some news about the upcoming season, shamelessly plugging franchise tie-ins, and even answering a few questions from the audience. Because I’m not a diehard fan like others on the BE staff, it’s a bit difficult to elaborate on all the details of the panel without a solid background of the show, but I will offer up some nuggets of info that were discussed throughout the course of the presentation.
Groening started the panel off in grand fashion by introducing a never-before-seen deleted scene from the aforementioned “Simpsons” movie. The clip in question features Homer as he treks back to Springfield by way of a sausage truck. After letting Homer off at his stop, the driver (voiced by Hank Azaria) heads back to check on his sausages (and singing “checking my sausages”) only to discover that they’re all gone.
Later in the presentation, we were also treated to the opening few minutes of this season’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode, and while I’d really like to talk about it here, I’d rather not spoil it for anyone who may be reading this. Well, I’ll say just one thing: it has to do with those annoying advertisements that pop up on the corner of your TV screen while you’re watching a show, and it’s very, very funny.
The highlight of the panel? When an attendee requested that Groening sing the Spider-pig song and the entire cast/crew joined him in the jingle.
Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want to hear any details about the new season of the show, stop reading now.
* In this year’s new season, a rival comic book shop will open in Springfield, and the owner will be voiced by Jack Black. Comic book legend Alan Moore will also cameo as himself.
* Another episode will feature Ralph Wiggum running for a major political position when the people of Springfield write him onto the ballot, unknowingly causing a domino effect that makes him the election front-runner.
* Spider-pig will return in the season premiere, but only briefly.
* “The Simpsons” theme park ride is still in its early stages, but voice acting has already been recorded (Yeardley Smith even accidentally leaked some news about Sideshow Bob appearing), and will be replacing the “Back to the Future” ride at Universal Studios.
* The script for “The Simpsons Movie” went through 166 drafts (and four years) before finally arriving at the final product. So if you’’e wondering why the movie was so darn good (and maybe it isn’t, but I haven’t had the chance to see it yet), that’s why.
