The Simpsons producer and writer Al Jean talks new Halloween short, predicting the future, and how joining Disney opened more doors.
The Simpsons is currently in its 36th season and streaming on Disney+. The series started in December 1989 and has been going strong ever since. Even those who do not watch the series can name many of the main characters, and even quote some of the catchphrases and iconic lines.
The franchise was acquired by Disney in March 2019, which means that Disney+ subscribers can stream episodes where The Simpsons poked fun at Disney and its characters. Hilarious.
The new Halloween short, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, features many Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars villains joining Sideshow Bob in song to celebrate the season. We spoke with producer and writer Al Jean to discuss the new short. He also talks about joining Disney, the claims that The Simpsons predicts the future, and more.
Al Jean Can’t Believe Sideshow Bob Is A Disney Villian
Tessa Smith: How fun was it to be able to include so many characters in this new Halloween short?
Al Jean: Well, I know that we have Thanos and Darth Vader. I never would have dreamed of that as a kid who grew up reading Marvel and then watching Star Wars. They’re all in one place. This is insane. And of course, the big reason we did it was because we could get Kelsey Grammer in one of these shorts to play Sideshow Bob, who now is a Disney villain. So that’s great.
Tessa Smith: Would you ever have thought you would be able to call (0:49) Sideshow Bob a Disney villain?
Al Jean: No, I mean, but there’s a million things with The Simpsons where I would never have thought they would have. But yeah, we were writing Disney jokes in 1990. Now you can stream them (1:00) on Disney Plus, you know, at the drop of a hat.
Tessa Smith: So where did this idea come from, to get all these villains together?
Al Jean: Well, I thought, oh, we’ll do a short with Kelsey. And I didn’t want to do anything near Christmas because we have a different double episode coming up then. So Halloween was the target. And then I thought, oh, the most wonderful time of the year would be a great song to have him sing. It would be really ironic. Once we had that, it was actually a really fast day with the other writers to just go through it. And, of course, with David making a list of all the Disney villains we could stick in. He always does a fantastic job directing.
Tessa Smith: How many are there?
Al Jean: About one hundred.
Can The Simpsons Predict The Future?
Tessa Smith: The Simpsons often predicts the future. Is there ever anything people point out that you forget you covered?
Al Jean: Let’s hope that there’s more good things we’re predicting in the future. Yeah, I forget. Sometimes people fudge it, which we don’t like, where they try to make it look like we said something that we didn’t, but there’s ones where I go, geez. There was one about a flu epidemic hitting Springfield and then there were murder hornets. And I go, this is just weird. I mean, that was like 1992 when we were writing that.
Tessa Smith: Is there anything you’ve ever wanted to do that you haven’t been able to do with the Simpsons yet?
Al Jean: We’ve done a lot, but what’s interesting is when you think of a new idea. I had an idea about Willie posing on OnlyFans. I think, you could do that on the Simpsons and OnlyFans and the internet didn’t exist when we started. I don’t know if that’ll come to fruition, but I’m working on that as a script.
Tessa Smith: You have an amazing core cast, of course, but also incredible guest stars. Is there ever anyone that you really wanted that you just weren’t able to nail down?Â
Al Jean: Well, we’ve never gotten a president on the show and I’ve kind of given up on that. I wrote an episode that’s coming out a little bit, that’s got a little cameo by Glenn Close. It’s Homer’s mother. I’m like, we get Glenn Close every time we want her to be Homer’s mother. Amazing. She’s so nice about it and happy to do it. I never get over it.
Be sure to watch our full interview with The Simpsons Producer Al Jean to learn more about this short, and the behind the scenes of working on The Simpsons.
The Simpsons short, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is now streaming on Disney+.
About The Most Wonderful Time of the Year – A New Short from The Simpsons
Sideshow Bob teams up with the most infamous villains of Disney+ to share the true meaning for the Halloween season. Filled with music, mayhem, and madness, this short from The Simpsons is simply to die for.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is now streaming on Disney+.
