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== Trivia == |
== Trivia == |
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* In the real world, the Itchy and Scratchy Show would be deemed as too violent for children and would be rated TV-14. |
* In the real world, the Itchy and Scratchy Show would be deemed as too violent for children and would be rated TV-14. |
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− | * As Lisa won the Li'l Starmaker contest from A Star Is Torn |
+ | * As Lisa won the Li'l Starmaker contest from [[A Star Is Torn]], it is possibly implies that she was animated as a character in an Itchy and Scratchy episode. |
==Behind the Laughter== |
==Behind the Laughter== |
Revision as of 05:35, 30 March 2018
The Itchy & Scratchy Show is an animated TV show and a segment of The Krusty the Clown Show on KBBL-TV. The show involves an anthropomorphic psychotic mouse named Itchy killing an anthropomorphic hapless cat named Scratchy for heck of it. The show contains blood, gore, organs, and cartoon violence, like Happy Tree Friends which is more bloody and gruesome in a "cute" way, unlike Tom and Jerry and Spy VS Spy, which only contained mild slapstick violence (although the latter uses occasional gore under the penmanship of Peter Kuper).
Most of the time, each Itchy & Scratchy episode is based on some kind of theme that the Simpsons episode is being aired as.
For example, The Itchy & Scratchy episode "diePod Slaylist", shows Scratchy listening to a MyPod when Itchy turns the volume to extreme levels to make Scratchy's eye's explode, this is related with Lisa owning a MyPod.
History
Chester Lampwick invented Itchy in the year 1919 or 1920 and owns the rights to that character. Lampwick was also known as the "father of cartoon violence." Roger Meyers, Sr. (1890–1985) plagiarized Itchy and established Itchy and Scratchy Studios in 1921. Originally Itchy was called "Itchy the Lucky Mouse" (a parody of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit).[1] He starred in his first cartoon made by Lampwick, "Manhattan Madness".
Scratchy starred in his first cartoon in 1928, entitled That Happy Cat. The film, which is about fourteen seconds of animation showing the cat walking and whistling, then stopping and tipping his hat, did very poorly. It is someone who created Scratchy, or if he was plagiarized by Meyers Sr. or his dad in the same way that Itchy was.
Later that year, Itchy and Scratchy starred in their first cartoon together entitled "Steamboat Itchy" a parody of
Disney's Steamboat Willie featuring Mickey Mouse.
Along with the cartoon shorts, Itchy and Scratchy were featured in a wartime radio series,[2] at least two films - Pinitchio and Scratchtasia,[3] and television commercials for Laramie Cigarettes.[4] An X-rated Itchy & Scratchy titled "Itchy & Scratchy meet Fritz The Cat" was created during the 1970s. According to Comic Book Guy, only bootleg copies are available "because of its frank depiction of sex and narcotic consumption".[1]
At one point, additional characters were added to the pair on a show titled Itchy & Scratchy and Friends Hour: Uncle Ant, Disgruntled Goat, Flatulent Fox, Ku Klux Klam, Manic Mailman, Dinner Dog and Rich Uncle Skeleton. These characters parodied the addition of superfluous, two-dimensional characters to TV shows in an effort to draw viewer interest.[3]
Itchy and Scratchy Studios is currently run by Roger Meyers, Jr. (born 26 January 1956), the son of the cartoon's "creator." Itchy and Scratchy Studios was bankrupted after being sued by Lampwick for $800 billion, but was saved after receiving a large cash settlement from the government over its use of Mr. ZIP.[1]
The Itchy and Scratchy Show airs as a segment on The Krusty the Clown Show, though it moved to the Gabbo show during the latter's short-lived run.[5] The show underwent a non-violent retooling following a protest campaign led by Marge Simpson, but after Marge was later discredited, it returned to its original violent format.[6] The show has spawned an Academy Award-winning film adaptation,[7] amusement parks,[3] and a musical.[8]
The show is animated in South Korea. June Bellamy (a takeoff on voice actress June Foray) voices both Itchy and Scratchy.[9]
In 1995, the company renamed the studio to Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Studios via their Krustylu studio lot.
Poochie
Poochie was a dog character added to the Itchy & Scratchy lineup. According to the show's plot, the producers believed the cartoons were getting stale, and needed a new character to reinvigorate the show, despite the objections of one of the show's writers, who "at the risk of sounding pretentious", felt that Itchy and Scratchy comprised "a dramaturgical dyad". Homer Simpson gets the job of voicing Poochie, who is introduced in the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, The Beagle Has Landed. A product of marketing department thinking, Poochie was near-universally despised, and was killed off in his second appearance, to the joy of Bart, Lisa and every other person in Springfield, despite Homer's objections. In spite of this, Poochie has made a few appearances in future episodes, being possibly "revived" and also changing everyone else's minds. [9]
Characters
- Itchy (voiced by June Bellamy) - One of the main two characters of the show. He is an anthropomorphic mouse, who is constantly attacking his character pairing, Scratchy. Itchy almost always instigates the conflicts and kills Scratchy. In earliest episodes on the Tracy Ulman, Scratchy was trying to kill Itchy as well, but in later episodes, Itchy began to attack and kill a passive Scratchy, without even having a motive.
- Scratchy (voiced by June Bellamy) - One of the main two characters of the show. He is an anthropomorphic cat, who is repeatedly killed by Itchy. In the earliest episodes, the two were to the scale of real life cats and mice, with Scratchy trying to kill Itchy as well. But the series quickly established Scratchy as a friendly and demure innocent figure who trusts Itchy. Scratchy almost always meets a very bloody, gruesome fate at the hands of Itchy.
- Poochie (voiced by Homer Simpson) - A new character added into the series. Poochie is a very young, hip, laid-back beagle, who is supposed to entertain a younger demographic and bring life back to the show again. However, Poochie ended up being very annoying to the audience as he detracted from the violence, who would be removed and killed off permanently, shortly after his introduction.
Episodes
Theme Song
The opening theme is short and simple, and is sung by high-pitched chipmunk-like voices. The lyrics:
"They fight! And bite!
They fight and bite and fight!
Fight, fight, fight!
Bite, bite, bite!
The Itchy and Scratchy Show!"
The closing theme is much the same, only at a soft tempo and lyrics in the past tense, being sung by a female chorus and accompanied by a soft piano:[10]
"They fought! And bit!
They fought and fought and bit!
Fought, fought, fought!
Bit, bit, bit!
It was The Itchy and Scratchy Show!"
In Itchy & Scratchy & Marge, the theme song is changed after Marge complaining about the cartoon being too violent. It is in a similar format to the closing theme, but at a faster tempo. The Lyrics:
"They love! and share!
They share and love and share!
Love, Love, Love!
Share, share, share!
The Itchy and Scratchy show!"
End Credits
Assistant to Mr. Itchy
Dee Cappelli
Assistant to Mr. Scratchy
Scratchy's Wardrobe Provided by Botany 500
For a transcript of this episode send $25 to this station
Assistant Director
Storyboard Supervisor
Kevin O'Brien
Storyboard
Jeffrey A. Meyers
Martin Archer
Storyboard Assistant
John Rice
Character Design Supervisor
Character Design
Scott Alberts
Sean Applegate
Background Design Supervisor
Background Design
John Krause
Maria Mariotti
Color Design Supervisor
Kim Taylor
Color Design
Karen Bauer
Andrew Brandou
Paul Fetler
Adriana Galvez
Brian Mark
Background Producer
Adriana Galvez
Ink & Paint Supervisor
Phyllis Craig
Painters
Casey Clayton
Belle Norman
Animation Checkers
Merie Weson
Jackie Banks
Animation Camera
Patrick Buchanan
Robert Ingram
Ted Bemiller
Assistant Film Editor
Lee Harting
Track Reader
Broughton-Winicki
Character Layout Artists
Tibor Belay
Mark Ervin
Eric Keyes
Jeff LaFlamme
Istvan Majores
John Mathot
Dan Povenmire
Sondra S. Roy
William Tucker
Background Layout Artists
John M. Berman
Sarah Frost
Background Clean-Up
Jefferson R. Weekley
Animation Timing
George Chialtas
Adam Kijhlman
Lip Sync
Kent Holaday
Production Managers
Miles Lewis Horst
Barbara J. Cordova
Post Production Corrdinator
Anglea Ousey
Production Associates
Raymond M. Iacovacci
Helen Brennick
Laurie D. Temleton
Production Designer
I.S. Castman
Non Canon Appearances
Treehouse of Horror
In the Treehouse of Horror IX segment "The Terror of Tiny Toon", Bart and Lisa entered their television and were attacked by Itchy & Scratchy. At the end of the story, they broke out of the TV into the real world: Fortunately they were not a threat, as they were the same size as "real-world" cats and mice. When Scratchy fell in love with SnowballI II, much to his dismay, Marge decides to get him neutered.
Future
In the future, the show is viewable by hologram.[11]
Video games
A video game named The Itchy & Scratchy Game was released for Sega Megadrive/Genesis, Game Gear, Super NES and Game Boy.[12] Another game, Itchy and Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness, was released for Game Boy.[13] A level of the SNES/Genesis game Bart's Nightmare also prominently features Itchy and Scratchy. There was a special unlockable level in the The Simpsons Wrestling where only Itchy and Scratchy are playable.
The characters of Itchy and Scratchy also appear in The Simpsons Game, featured in the level Grand Theft Scratchy in the form of pimps and hoodlums.
Trivia
- In the real world, the Itchy and Scratchy Show would be deemed as too violent for children and would be rated TV-14.
- As Lisa won the Li'l Starmaker contest from A Star Is Torn, it is possibly implies that she was animated as a character in an Itchy and Scratchy episode.
Behind the Laughter
The Itchy and Scratchy Show is a parody of "Tom and Jerry" which first broadcasted in 1940.
Origins
The Itchy & Scratchy Show first appeared in Tracey Ullman Show short "The Bart Simpson Show", which originally aired November 20, 1988. They are based on Tom and Jerry and other cat & mouse cartoons. As a child, series creator Matt Groening and his friends would fantasize about an ultra violent cartoon and how much fun it would be to work on a show like that.[14] The names "Itchy" and "Scratchy" were inspired by "Pixie and Dixie", who were mice on the cartoon show Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks.[14] David Silverman, a director and producer for The Simpsons, states that the show is based on Herman and Katnip.[15]
Development
"Itchy and Scratchy" cartoons are often added when a show needs expanding[16] or when there is an issue that the writers wish to satirize.[17] The shorts are often hard for the writers and take a long time to develop and come up with a title for the short and in the end they do not fill up a large amount of time.[18] Writing the Itchy & Scratchy cartoons is quite often a group effort, with it being pitched out one gag after another.[19] Itchy & Scratchy are a favorite of John Swartzwelder, who has written many of the episodes that center around them and quite often pitches the ideas for the shorts.[18]
In several episodes centering around the production of The Itchy & Scratchy Show, such as "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", the show's staff are shown. Almost all of them are caricatures of the actual staff of The Simpsons. In the first scene at the production table the person in the lower right corner, wearing a squid T-shirt, is David X. Cohen. On the left side, the furthest away is Bill Oakley with Josh Weinstein next to him. Next to Weinstein is George Meyer, who is the writer who speaks out and gets fired. The animator shown designing Poochie is supervising director David Silverman. Others who appear include Dan McGrath, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Donick Cary, Ron Hauge, Ned Goldreyer and Mike Scully, who had to be added in later, as the animators "didn't have his photo" from which to get an accurate likeness.
Itchy is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and Scratchy is voiced by Harry Shearer.
Cultural influence
In a 2006 article IGN.com ranked Itchy & Scratchy in tenth position on their list of the "Top 25 Simpsons Peripheral Characters", citing that "the Itchy & Scratchy Show shines a nice mirror on cartoons, showing just how funny cartoon violence really is."[20] In 2007, Vanity Fair named "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" the sixth best episode in the show's history, describing it as "a classic satire of network influence, obsessed TV fans, and programs that survive long after the shark has been jumped, the episode is a meta-celebration, a tongue-in-cheek rebuttal to everyone who claimed that the quality of The Simpsons had declined over the years."[21] Todd Gilchrist called it a masterpiece, stating it "could easily be packaged and sold by itself."[22] Comic Book Guy's phrase "Worst. Episode. Ever" was named as a quote that could be used in everyday life, as well as being one of the most popular quotes from the show, by The A.V. Club.[23]
Appearances
- Simpsons short – "The Bart Simpson Show"
- Simpsons short – "Simpson Xmas"
- Simpsons short – "TV Simpsons"
- Episode – "There's No Disgrace Like Home"
- Episode – "Krusty Gets Busted"
- Episode – "Bart Gets an "F""
- Episode – "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge"
- Episode – "Stark Raving Dad"
- Episode – "When Flanders Failed"
- Episode – "Bart the Murderer"
- Episode – "Homer Defined"
- Episode – "Like Father, Like Clown"
- Episode – "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"
- Episode – "Radio Bart"
- Episode – "Bart's Friend Falls in Love"
- Episode – "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"
- Episode – "Homer the Heretic"
- Episode – "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie"
- Episode – "Lisa's First Word"
- Episode – "Homer's Triple Bypass"
- Episode – "Brother from the Same Planet"
- Episode – "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show"
- Episode – "The Front"
- Episode – "Whacking Day"
- Episode – "Homer Goes to College"
- Episode – "Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood"
- Episode – "Deep Space Homer"
- Episode – "Burns' Heir"
- Episode – "Bart of Darkness"
- Episode – "Itchy & Scratchy Land"
- Episode – "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily"
- Episode – "Bart Sells His Soul"
- Episode – "Lisa the Vegetarian"
- Episode – "The Day the Violence Died"
- Episode – "Bart After Dark"
- Episode – "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show"
- Episode – "In Marge We Trust"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror IX"
- Episode – "Little Girl in the Big Ten"
- Episode – "Replaceable You"
- Episode – "How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window?"
- Episode – "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution"
- Episode – "Labor Pains"
- Episode – "Pay Pal"
- Episode – "Every Man's Dream"
- Episode – "Trust But Clarify"
- – The Simpsons Movie
Video game – The Simpsons Game
Video game – The Simpsons: Hit and Run
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Day the Violence Died
- ↑ The Old Man and the Key
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Itchy & Scratchy Land
- ↑ HOMЯ
- ↑ Krusty Gets Kancelled
- ↑ Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
- ↑ "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie"
- ↑ "Girls Just Want to Have Sums"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show
- ↑ Bart the Murderer
- ↑ Holidays of Future Passed
- ↑ The Itchy and Scratchy Game. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ↑ Itchy and Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Groening, Matt. (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ The David Silverman Interview. Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
- ↑ Scully, Mike. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Girly Edition" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ Jean, Al. (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Reiss, Mike. (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ Groening, Matt. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Girly Edition" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ Eric Goldman, Dan Iverson, Brian Zoromski (2006-09-06). Top 25 Simpsons Peripheral Characters. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
- ↑ John Orvted. "Springfield's Best", Vanity Fair,. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
- ↑ Gilchrist, Todd (2006-09-22). The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ↑ Bahn, Christopher; Donna Bowman, Josh Modell, Noel Murray, Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, Kyle Ryan, Scott Tobias (2006-04-26). Beyond "D'oh!": Simpsons Quotes For Everyday Use. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
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The Itchy & Scratchy Show | Itchy & Scratchy | Poochie | Mrs. Scratchy | Scratchy Jr. | Roger Meyers, Jr. | Chester J. Lampwick | June Bellamy | Krusty the Clown |List of Itchy & Scratchy cartoons | Itchy & Scratchy & Marge | Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie | Itchy & Scratchy Land | The Day the Violence Died | The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show | Treehouse of Horror IX | Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy |