By Fred Topel | Image property of respective holders
The Simpsons Ride
The Simpsons always break the rules. They've been chastising their parent company Fox for decades and keep getting away with it. Now that they have The Simpsons Ride, they are taking shots at theme park, as creator Matt Groening explained.
Matt Groening Has Fun with The Simpsons Ride
"Face it, the sad fact of these rides is that you have to wait a little bit in order to get on them," said Groening. "So what we try to do is both have fun with that waiting period and tell a story and we make fun of that. The safety video, the required safety video that come with all rides of this nature is really funny because it stars Itchy and Scratchy. The fact that we got away with it is truly amazing."
The ride actually has a story, written by the team of Simpsons creators. "I don't want to give too much away but it involves Sideshow Bob exacting his revenge on The Simpsons and anybody who happens to be on the ride as well. So we hve Kelsey Grammer, the voice of Sideshow Bob who's been fantastic and been a great friend of the show for 20 years, back and he really delivers the good and the chainsaw."
A ride has slightly different demands than a TV show or movie. "With the ride, we've never done it before so that is very difficult and we're trying to thrill you and entertain you and keep you laughing while we're throwing you around, so that's a tall order. It was really fun. With the show, it's the same animators and the same writers who've been working together for 20 years. We know each other really well and the actors all know the characters."
Also, the ride has certain safety issues. "With the ride, suddenly we're working with different technology and the thing about The Simpsons TV show is it won't kill you. But an amusement park ride that goes wrong, you know, you never know. So we have safety issues which we've never had on the show. We have safety issues on The Simpsons but that involves the healthiness of the snacks that we eat."
The Simpsons Ride is now open at Universal Studios Hollywood.
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