Belated Halloween Greetings
So, Halloween has come and gone. Some people chose celebrate in strange ways, like having a pumpkin painted on their butt. Others just rather trick-or-treat safely with their kids. For me, there’s always been the annual Treehouse of Horror Simpson episode, which has become an institution unto itself. Still, one of my favorite parts has always been on of the earliest entries. Sure, there’s a lot to laugh at every Halloween, but I always consistently enjoy finding and viewing. The Simpsons rendition of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” Largely, the adaptation is fairly close. There have been some minor cuts of a bunch of lines, but it doesn’t really change the spirit of the Poe original. Of course, the “Simpsonization” of the classic occurs with how it’s animated, and the liberties taken with visual interpretation.
Contrast this, however, with other adaptations of “The Raven.” There’s an interesting version where Christopher Walken is reading. And what’s interesting there, perhaps, is Walken’s distinctive voice. He litterally infuses the poem with is own sense of rhythm, departing, many times, from the original series of beats Poe laid down. There’s another version that put’s Walken’s vocal track over a creepy bit of homemade stop-motion clay-mation.
But then again, that old Raven bit has grown hard to find on YouTube. So, here in its place is something funny, as well. Like the poke at The Munsters in the beginning, and then the resulting angry mob action, and the resulting irony with brocoli as a “deadly” vegetable.
November 9th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
[...] Every year, Kang and Kodos, those lovable aliens who want to take over and dominate Earth in most Tree House of Horror episodes had their predecessors and precursors. Notice, in the graphics posted below, the striking [...]