Weird Simpsons VHS (2015)

“D'oh!” — Homer

The cumulus clouds part, that big yellow type pushes towards the screen, and a heavenly choir announces a refrain known throughout the world:“The Simpsons”. The opening moments of WEIRD SIMPSONS VHS are familiar territory for any fan of The Simpsons, until they’re not. French animator Yoann Hervo sours the fanfare to set the mood immediately, taking a page out of David Fincher’s playbook, using a surreal cartooning style and a worn-out video cassette aesthetic to twist the Simpson family and the town of Springfield into something that is at once bizarre, funny, and deeply unpleasant.

As a reclusive superfan looks on, Bart hammers at a chalkboard like a deranged cymbal-banging monkey, an array of Lisas destroy Mr. Largo’s mind with a symphony of saxamaphones, an impossibly rotund Homer and his car become one on the commute home, and Marge finally lets Maggie take the wheel with predictable results. Matt Groening’s face is ever-present, eggplants hide in plain sight. This was recognizable at some point, before it was recorded over a precious home video and played one too many times. The sequence ends with a desolate take on the famed “couch gag.” Often used to fill time when an episode runs short and insert one last laugh, here the empty living room only fills the viewer with dread and confusion.

With WEIRD SIMPSONS VHS Hervo makes a name for himself and adds it to a growing list of artists and filmmakers who’ve reimagined the opening sequence of the longest-running prime-time animated series in the United States (both officially and unofficially), all putting their own distinct – and oft-times disturbing – spin on America’s favourite animated family.

A discussion with Character Designer and Animator YOANN HERVO and Composer VALENTIN DECLOUX.

Give us some background on yourself and the work you do.

Yoann: After passing a baccalaureate in applied arts in Brittany, I was accepted to L’École des Gobelins, in the animated filmmaking program in Paris. Upon graduation, I had the opportunity to be a character designer on the french show Hubert & Takako by Hugo Gittard at Xilam Studio.

A few contracts later, I‘m still a character designer, now on Amazing World of Gumball at Cartoon Network. 

I also make animated films in my bedroom, in the hope…

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