"Whacking Day" is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 29, 1993.[1] The episode revolves around the fictional holiday "Whacking Day", celebrated annually, in which the citizens of Springfield drive snakes into the town square, then fatally club them. After Bart is expelled from school when he injures Superintendent Chalmers, he applies the knowledge he gains from Marge's homeschooling to help Lisa expose the fraudulent and cruel nature of the holiday.
| "Whacking Day" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 20 |
| Directed by | Jeff Lynch |
| Written by | John Swartzwelder |
| Production code | 9F18 |
| Original air date | April 29, 1993 |
| Guest appearance | |
| |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "I will return the seeing-eye dog"[1] |
| Couch gag | The Simpsons walk in, while the couch is replaced by a small wooden chair that they all sit on.[2] |
| Commentary | Matt Groening Al Jean Mike Reiss Jeffrey Lynch David Silverman |
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Jeffrey Lynch; Barry White, who had expressed a wish to appear in the show, guest stars as himself. It was pitched by George Meyer, who wanted to create an episode against the mistreatment of snakes. The episode includes the first appearance of Superintendent Chalmers, and features an Itchy & Scratchy parody of Oliver Stone's film JFK. "Whacking Day" won a Genesis Award for "consciousness-raising on behalf of animal issues".
Plot
During an inspection by Superintendent Chalmers at Springfield Elementary School, Principal Skinner lures Bart, Jimbo, Kearney, Dolph, and Nelson into the school's utility basement with the promise of free mountain bikes and locks the door. Bart escapes through a ventilation shaft and takes Groundskeeper Willie's tractor for a joyride, accidentally crashing into Chalmers. Enraged at Bart for costing him a promotion, Skinner promptly expels Bart from the school. After Bart is quickly rejected from a private Christian school, Marge decides to homeschool him. Marge assigns Johnny Tremain; Bart is uninterested until she lets slip the title character has a deformed hand. Bart says "They should call this book Johnny Deformed", and reads it avidly.
Meanwhile, the local holiday Whacking Day is approaching. Each year on May 10, the people of Springfield drive snakes to the center of town and beat them to death. The tradition appalls Lisa, who finds no support from any of the adults of the town. After Marge takes Bart on a field trip to Olde Springfield Towne, he discovers that the origins of Whacking Day, which supposedly involved Jebediah Springfield, is a lie because it conflicts with a major Revolutionary War battle in which he took part. Bart reads The Truth About Whacking Day by Bob Woodward.
On Whacking Day, Barry White arrives to begin the festivities, but quickly leaves in disgust when he discovers what the holiday is about. Bart suggests to Lisa that they lure the snakes to safety by playing music with heavy bass from the stereo speakers. White, who just happens to be walking by, agrees to help by singing "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe", attracting hundreds of snakes into the house.
The pursuing crowd arrives, but they are soon turned around on the subject of Whacking Day by Bart's newfound knowledge; the first Whacking Day was actually held in 1924 as an excuse to beat up Irish immigrants. Lisa also tells the town about the positive influences that the snakes have had on the town, such as killing rodents. The townspeople agree to give up the tradition.
Skinner is impressed with Bart's efforts and welcomes him back to the school, but then realizes in horror that he completely forgot about Jimbo, Dolph, Kearney and Nelson, who are still in the utility basement; they are shown talking about their feelings and comforting each other. Skinner and Willie race to the school with the mountain bikes for the boys to avoid a potential lawsuit. When Willie asks Skinner what they will do if the boys are dead, Skinner assures him that the two of them will ride the bikes into Mexico. However, Willie mutters to himself that he plans on turning Skinner over at the Mexican border.
Production
Writer George Meyer, who was very "animal conscious", was interested in writing an episode related to an annual ritual held in a Texan town, where the townspeople would beat rattlesnakes with sticks. Meyer did not have time to pen the episode himself, so the idea was given to John Swartzwelder.[3] The subject matter of "beating snakes" worried the staff who thought that many would deem it cruel, even though the episode's message is against the mistreatment of snakes.[3] The episode's first act was one of the shortest the staff had ever written at that time, roughly ten pages in length, but with no ideas to expand, they left it as it was.[3] Due to this, the main plot does not start until the beginning of the second act, as the writers could not come up with much material for it.[3]
In order to speed up animation, director Jeffrey Lynch "begged" storyboard artists Kevin O'Brien and Steve Markowski to help him with the episode. The three spent several months on the episode.[4] Barry White wanted to guest star on the show, so he was written into the plot. He sang "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" specially for the episode, rather than using a recorded version.[3]
The song Grampa was supposed to sing in his flashback, showing how he posed as a German cabaret singer in World War II, was "Lili Marlene" by Marlene Dietrich. The staff could not get the rights to it because, according to the people who own the song, "everybody makes fun of it". Much of the flashback was pitched by Conan O'Brien.[5]
The episode marks the first appearance of Superintendent Chalmers. The staff wanted to introduce a boss for Skinner, and Wallace Wolodarsky pitched his name. Much of the dialogue and interactions between Skinner and Chalmers were ad-libbed by Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria, respectively.[3]
Cultural references
The untitled Itchy & Scratchy short, with "guest director" Oliver Stone, is a parody of the scene where footage is shown of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald in Stone's film JFK: someone is heard to shout, "Oh God! Get his gun!" as the screenplay draws to a close.[2] Bart makes a joke about Oprah Winfrey's appetite for baked ham. The song "O Whacking Day" uses the same tune as the Christmas carol "O Tannenbaum", known in English as "O Christmas Tree".[1] Additionally, Bob Woodward is shown to be the author of the book The Truth About Whacking Day.[1]
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Whacking Day" finished tied for 25th in the weekly ratings for the week of April 26 – May 2, 1993 with a Nielsen rating of 12.2. It was the highest rated show from the Fox Network that week.[6]
For "consciousness-raising on behalf of animal issues",[7] the episode was awarded the Genesis Award for "Best Television Prime Time Animated Series" in 1994.[8]
Jeffrey Lee Puckett of The Courier-Journal cited "Whacking Day" as "the series' richest episode". He wrote: "In 22 remarkable minutes, 'Whacking Day' skewers the quality of America's educational system, self-aggrandizing politicians, greed, the mob mentality, sexuality in the age of political correctness and the whole notion of political correctness, and makes a hero of Barry White."[9]
Chris Vognar of The Dallas Morning News noted the episode was one of the fourth season's best episodes in his review of the DVD.[10]
The show's creator Matt Groening considers Homer's "I am evil Homer" fantasy to be one of the greatest moments in the show's history.[11]
Andrew Martin of Prefix Mag named Barry White his fifth favorite musical guest on The Simpsons out of a list of ten.[12]
A 2003 article in The Journal News reported that records show genuine "Whacking Days" having taken place in Eastchester, New York from 1665 onwards: "That one day every spring be chosen for the destroying of rattle snakes." The article quoted show runner Al Jean as saying: "I agree with the premise of the episode: leave the snakes alone. They didn't hurt anybody."[13]
Since 2009, citizens in North Queensland, Australia, have held an annual "Toad Day Out" every March 29 in which thousands of cane toads (an invasive and highly destructive species not native to Australia) are captured and humanely destroyed. The event was inspired by the episode.[14]
In The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin writes “'Whacking Day' is arguably the purest and most scathing attack on mob mentality in The Simpsons’ oeuvre, purer and more trenchant even than 'Marge Vs. The Monorail'...By the time Mayor Quimby shows up at the Simpson home—where the snakes have found shelter from the mob after being attracted by the bass in Barry White's voice—to bask in Springfield’s hatred of snakes, he’s surprised and a little disgusted to discover that the angry mob has turned unexpectedly into an aggregation of snake-fanciers. 'You’re nothing but a pack of fickle mush-heads!' he yells in disgust, to which the mob can only add, 'He’s right!' and 'Give us hell, Quimby!'
In 'Whacking Day and The Simpsons, the mob can be a force for good, a force for bad, or, in this case, a force for evil that morphs into a force for good. That’s the duality of mob mentality in The Simpsons: What the mob gives it can also take away and no show has ever spoofed the madness of crowds as adroitly or consistently as The Simpsons, especially in its radiant, God-like prime."[15]
References
- ^ a b c d Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M..
- ^ a b Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Whacking Day". BBC. Retrieved February 12, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f Jean, Al (2004). The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season Commentary for the Episode "Whacking Day" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Lynch, Jeffrey (2004). The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season Commentary for the Episode "Whacking Day" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Reiss, Mike (2004). The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season Commentary for the Episode "Whacking Day" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ "Nielsen Ratings/April 26 – May 2". Press-Telegram. May 5, 1993. p. C-6.
- ^ Lycan, Gary (June 20, 1994). "Using Awards to Fight Cruelty to Animals – Preview: Show Cites Media and Entertainment Contributions to Cause of Humane Treatment". The Orange County Register. p. F-10.
- ^ "Free Willy, Simpsons Win Genesis Awards". Rocky Mountain News. January 30, 1994. p. 56A.
- ^ Puckett, Jeffrey Lee (March 27, 1999). "Toons for Our Times". The Courier-Journal. p. 12S.
- ^ Vognar, Chris (June 18, 2004). "A Fine Song and Dance: Simpsons Musical Spoofs are Worthy of an Encore". The Dallas Morning News. p. 16-H.
- ^ Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season Commentary for the Episode "Whacking Day" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Martin, Andrew (October 7, 2011). "Top 10 Best Musical Guests On 'The Simpsons'". Prefix Mag. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
- ^ Serico, Chris (July 31, 2003). "Move Over, Homer! Eastchester Had Its Own 'Whacking Day'". The Journal News. p. 9-A.
- ^ Kym Agius & Evan Schwarten (March 27, 2011). "Thousands killed in "Toad Day Out"". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ^ Rabin, Nathan. "The Simpsons (Classic): Whacking Day". The A.V. Club.
External links
