# Guillermo del Toro's Simpsons opener **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328 "2013-10-04T05:20:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/21 "2013-10-04T16:27:30Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Was there any significance to Stephen King writing on the classroom door? They were both writing “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” which is a reference to The Shining. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/22 "2013-10-04T16:33:24Z")
More: The alien from Alien, Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still, Nosferatu, the fly from The Fly, the mummy, the invisible man, and Death. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/23 "2013-10-04T16:34:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > They were both writing “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” which is a reference to The Shining. :smack: Duh. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/24 "2013-10-04T16:40:54Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > They were both writing “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” which is a reference to The Shining. :smack:! Duh. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/25 "2013-10-04T18:07:39Z")
Also visible: the Elemental from Hellboy 2, [Ro-Man](http://morejpegs1.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/Ro-Man1.jpg), (whoa), the green lizard from [20 Million Miles to Earth](http://media.cinemasquid.com/blu-ray/titles/20-million-miles-to-earth/383/screenshot-med-01.jpg), Johnny Eck and Schlitzie from **Freaks** , and Inspector Clay with the shovel from **Plan 9 From Outer Space**. Does anyone recognize the probe-looking ship that collided with Kang and Kodos’ ship? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/26 "2013-10-04T18:12:52Z")
“Krusty: Now doing funerals.” You could also see the corpses of the Tracey Ullman-era Simpsons buried under the power plant, right above (I guess) a Godzilla skeleton. Behind Maggie are “Good and Bloody” candies and three magazines: Bleeder’s Digest, Better Tombs and Gargoyles, and The Ghost of Newsweek. The Cthulhu drawing is really great and I just noticed that the raven that lands on Poe’s shoulder has three eyes. And Hans Moleman is drawing Alfred Hitchcock’s shadow on the wall during that big pan through all the miscellaneous monsters. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/27 "2013-10-04T18:20:01Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Johnny Eck and Schlitzie from **Freaks** , Excellent! ETA: that goes for Marley23 as well. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/28 "2013-10-04T18:25:27Z")
I think that’s the first new Halloween credit for Sam Simon since Treehouse III or IV. He’s been Sam “Sayonara” Simon all that time, but in that one he’s simonsam@twitTERROR - his Twitter handle is @simonsam. I wonder if he told them he wanted a different credit or if someone made a point of reaching out to him since he’s been so ill. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/29 "2013-10-04T18:41:40Z")
I’ve drifted away from The Simpsons (as we’ve all), but that was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/30 "2013-10-04T23:16:08Z")
I saw producer Mike Reiss at MomoCon earlier this year and he said that the Simpsons Halloween show had something that he was as proud of as anything they’ve ever done. Don’t know if the opening was it, but I’ll be watching the show this Sunday anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/31 "2013-10-04T23:40:35Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > The scarab from **Chronos** in the checkout line I KNEW I recognized that thing. Does anyone know when Treehouse is airing this year? I don’t have a working TV, so I need to make arrangements to catch it. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/32 "2013-10-04T23:44:21Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Also visible: the Elemental from Hellboy 2, [Ro-Man](http://morejpegs1.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/Ro-Man1.jpg), (whoa), the green lizard from [20 Million Miles to Earth](http://media.cinemasquid.com/blu-ray/titles/20-million-miles-to-earth/383/screenshot-med-01.jpg), Johnny Eck and Schlitzie from **Freaks** , and Inspector Clay with the shovel from **Plan 9 From Outer Space**. Also Lon Chaney from _London After Midnight_, and a couple of Saucermen. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/33 "2013-10-04T23:48:27Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo;16726736…the green lizard from [20 Million Miles to Earth] ([http://media.cinemasquid.com/blu-ray/titles/20-million-miles-to-earth/383/screenshot-med-01.jpg](http://media.cinemasquid.com/blu-ray/titles/20-million-miles-to-earth/383/screenshot-med-01.jpg))… [/QUOTE] Nitpick - movie was made in black & white. The Ymir was greenish in some of the publicity though. [20 million miles to earth poster - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1121&bih=674&q=20+million+miles+to+earth+poster&oq=20+million+miles+to+earth&gs_l=img.1.2.0l3j0i24l7.3124.8284.0.10185.25.14.0.11.11.0.129.1341.10j4.14.0....0...1ac.1.27.img..0.25.1408.XOUaK0_uDxA) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/34 "2013-10-04T23:55:37Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Does anyone know when Treehouse is airing this year? I don’t have a working TV, so I need to make arrangements to catch it. This Sunday night. Yes, almost four weeks before Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/35 "2013-10-05T00:03:00Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Nitpick - movie was made in black & white. The Ymir was greenish in some of the publicity though. [20 million miles to earth poster - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1121&bih=674&q=20+million+miles+to+earth+poster&oq=20+million+miles+to+earth&gs_l=img.1.2.0l3j0i24l7.3124.8284.0.10185.25.14.0.11.11.0.129.1341.10j4.14.0....0...1ac.1.27.img..0.25.1408.XOUaK0_uDxA) He was blue on the cover of _Famous Monsters of Filmland_, IIRC… ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/36 "2013-10-05T00:19:02Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I love the bit with all the Phantoms - with the Phantom of the Paradise in Largo’s place. > > (Also how many of his own movies he slipped in - I caught Pacific Rim, Hellboy, Blade II, and 2 separate Pan’s Labrynth…I’m sure there were more that I missed, too.) Homer’s appearance on the couch was a reference to [The Devil’s Backbone](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256009/?ref_=sr_6). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/37 "2013-10-05T01:40:12Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Does anyone recognize the probe-looking ship that collided with Kang and Kodos’ ship? Yes. That is the [cavorite spaceship](http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/CavoriteSphereSPFX.jpg) from The First Men in the Moon, the [1964 movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058100/?ref_=sr_1) based on the [H.G. Wells book](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Men_in_the_Moon) of the same title. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/38 "2013-10-05T02:15:31Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Yes. That is the [cavorite spaceship](http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/CavoriteSphereSPFX.jpg) from The First Men in the Moon, the [1964 movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058100/?ref_=sr_1) based on the [H.G. Wells book](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Men_in_the_Moon) of the same title. Exxxxcellent. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/39 "2013-10-05T03:24:31Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > This Sunday night. Yes, almost four weeks before Halloween. better than a month later. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328/40 "2013-10-05T12:59:04Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > I was pleased to see Phantom of the Paradise. I recognized Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera and The Phantom from comics, but who are the middle two? Herbert Lom from the 1962 Hammer Film version and Claude Rains from the 1943 Universal Studios one. [http://filmdope.com/Gallery/ActorsL/10506-14847.gif](http://filmdope.com/Gallery/ActorsL/10506-14847.gif) > **[Claude Rains Is The Phantom Of The Opera (1943) | Claude Rains Picture...](https://fanpix.famousfix.com/gallery/claude-rains/p16026389)** > > 02 March 2025... Claude Rains Is The Phantom Of The Opera (1943) | Claude Rains Photo ID: 16026389. Picture of Claude Rains - - Latest Claude Rains image. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toros-simpsons-opener/670328.md?page=3)