Voicing The Simpsons
Hangin' with Homer: What do Tony Blair, Magic Johnson and Meryl Streep
have in common? D'oh! Guesting on The Simpsons, of course
Calgary Herald
Wednesday, May 7, 2003
Page: C1 / FRONT
Section: Arts & Style
Byline: Nick Lewis
Column: On Television
Source: Calgary Herald
Asked why he wanted to record his voice as a character
on The Simpsons, British Prime Minister Tony Blair
turned to producer Al Jean and said, "I just want to
do one thing that will impress my kids."
This was six weeks ago, when Blair's approval rating
was plummeting because of his pro-war stance, and
outside 10 Downing Street, people were chanting
"Bush's lapdog" at him.
When he paid his visit to Homer Simpson, Blair
followed in the footsteps of Michael Jackson, Mel Gibson, Sir
Elton John and Dr. Stephen Hawking. Blair's episode is
set to air next season in November, and he will be the
first politician to guest on the show.
It used to be that the ultimate mark of celebrity in
North American pop culture was hosting NBC's Saturday
Night Live or appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone
magazine. But somewhere along the line, Rolling Stone
started putting pop-punks Good Charlotte and actress
Asia Argento on the cover, and Saturday Night Live
started asking U.S. Senator John McCain and skier
Johnny Mosely to host.
Now playing yourself on The Simpsons is the true
measure of celebrity.
It means you have become so important in the real
world that you can transcend the fictional boundaries of the
animated world.
"It's one of those things," says Simpsons co-producer
and Calgary native Joel Cohen. "Even as early as
Season 3, The Simpsons had Aerosmith and a bunch of
great guest actors. It became one of those cool
things, like hosting Saturday Night Live, and since
then it's come to a point where people now approach us."
The town of Springfield is coloured with a motley crew
of recurring characters, most of whom are voiced by six
staff actors. But over its 14-year run, The Simpsons
has also featured more than 250 celebrities voicing
characters based on themselves or as new foils to the
Simpson universe.
We've seen Richard Gere tell Lisa how to be more
"Zen," Paul McCartney swap recipes for lentil soup with
Apu, Mel Gibson ask Homer for advice on making action
films, and R.E.M. jam in the Simpson family garage.
Basketball legend Magic Johnson called Homer to
congratulate him on saving the nuclear power plant from
meltdown, The Ramones played Mr. Burns' birthday, U2
had concert security beat up Homer and Spider-Man
creator Stan Lee trashed a toy Batmobile at the
Springfield comic book store.
"Everyone always says it's something they want to do
for their kids, something their kids can love and respect
them for," Cohen says. "You know, Jackie Mason, who
plays Rabbi Krustofsky -- for him it's been an entry into
a whole new generation of fans. Because he obviously
appeals to an older demographic, but now there are
people who know him a bit for The Simpsons."
The demand to guest on The Simpsons is very high, with
even A-list Hollywood actors having to wait their turn
to appear in a plausible storyline. The show has
already featured Mel Gibson, Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and
George Clooney, and Cohen says they don't want to get
Tom Cruise just to cast him as "stocking clerk No. 7."
"There're some that we've heard that want to do the
show," he says. "If they're a really big celebrity, we'll move
quicker than for others."
For celebrities to be transformed into yellow,
four-fingered versions of themselves, they first need to possess
the ability to laugh at themselves. When 'N Sync
guested on a boy-band episode of the show, the group
walked in and out of rooms in a choreographed dance
sequence. Its most popular member, Justin
Timberlake, never said anything beyond, "Wuuurd."
"We'll hear from celebrities that really want to do
the show, for example Jon Bon Jovi, and we'll write a part for
him, and he'll read the part and go, 'Naaah, I don't
want to do it anymore,' " Cohen says. "Lyle Lovett's another
one like that. They begged us, begged us, begged us to
be on the show, and we're like 'Great,' and then they
went, 'Nah.'
"The show has a tone, a history of celebrities making
fun of themselves. Sometimes a celebrity doesn't realize
that, when they think they want to be in the show, and
then sometimes they don't want to participate when they
realize they have to poke a little fun at themselves."
Cohen says it's tough to know which of the 250 guest
celebrities were the biggest Simpsons geeks. But he
does know who have been popular with the Simpsons'
staff.
"I'm not supposed to say, but I will anyway," he says.
"Next year we have a show with Mr. T. I've only been here,
whatever, 3 1/2 years, but the two people who have
caused the most crowding in the recording studio have
been Mick Jagger and Mr. T. And I think Mr. T had more
of a crowd than Mick Jagger."
Scripts for The Simpsons are often completed nine
months before the air date, which means celebrities are
brought in early in production so the animation
doesn't get ahead of the voice work.
The schedule makes it tougher for the show to stay on
top of trends, but it ensures that no flash-in-the-pan
celebrities make the cut.
Appearing on the show isn't lucrative for the
celebrities looking to pad their wallets. As thanks for their time in
the studio, they are given a box of Simpsons
merchandise, including jackets, hats and T-shirts.
After their episode airs, creator Matt Groening sends
them autographed animation cels of themselves as a
Springfield character, which is the real lure for a
lot of them.
Cohen -- who was one of the writers responsible for
The Simpsons going to Toronto -- says he tries to get
Canadian celebrities on the show, too.
"I'm always pushing for Canadians to be on the show,
like Wayne Gretzky or Don Cherry," the former Calgarian
says. "But of course, these are people who would play
great in Canada; no one would know who the hell they
are here in the States."
Bruce Springsteen is the one celebrity The Simpsons'
producers keep asking to guest on the show, but he
has repeatedly turned them down over the years.
"The old producer, Mike Scully, must have tried him
three or four times," Cohen says. "And we've tried to bribe
him with all kinds of Simpsons merchandise. I'm sure
he has 18 Simpsons jackets at his house. But he just,
for whatever reason, has not yet said yes.
"It's not over, though. If he's reading the Calgary
Herald, let this be notice to him. I'm sure he gets the
subscription."
Simpsons Guest Star Facts
- The first guest on The Simpsons was actor/director
Penny Marshall, who voiced Ms. Botz in the very first
episode, which aired in 1989.
- The first celebrity to play himself on the show was
singer Tony Bennett, in Episode 3 of Season 2.
- Michael Jackson voiced a mental patient named Leon
Kompowsky who believes he's Michael Jackson, in
the first episode of Season 3. Jackson went
uncredited.
- The only member of the Beatles not to appear on The
Simpsons is John Lennon, who died nine years before
the show's creation.
- Academy Award winners who have appeared on the show
include Mel Gibson, Jack Lemmon, Dustin
Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Helen Hunt and Elizabeth
Taylor.
- Diff'rent Strokes child star Gary Coleman has
appeared as himself twice on the show, facetiously credited
the second time as Sir Gary Coleman.
- Jackson Browne and Steve Buscemi will appear as
themselves in this Sunday's episode, airing at 9 p.m. on
Global (Ch. 7).
- Next season's (Season 15) guests include Harry
Potter author J.K. Rowling, Sir Ian McKellen, Mr. T, Tony
Blair and Jerry Lewis. American Idol judge Simon
Cowell has been rumoured, but not confirmed.
