Yellow is the hottest color: an interview with Mike Rice about The Simpsons and its emotional power

On the occasion of coming to Israel as part of the Animax Festival, screenwriter-producer Mike Rice talks about his long-time work on The Simpsons, and reveals who was a homer voter and who consistently refused to adhere to the series

Yellow is the hottest color: an interview with Mike Rice about The Simpsons and its emotional power

In the middle of the phone interview with Mike Rice, he starts to gasp. The American filmmaker has been involved in various production and screenwriting roles in The Simpsons, from its inception in 1989 to the present, and among the hundreds of episodes it has accompanied, it turns out that there is one who cannot speak without crying. This is "Lisa's Substitute" from the end of season two, in which Lisa is turned on by her substitute teacher, and Homer first realizes how lacking intellect and emotion to be a proper role model for his daughter. "The truth, excuse me, I just can't talk about it, it excites me too," admits his emotional interlocutor, who is in his Los Angeles office, "so let's move on to the next question, please."

The talk with Rice takes place on the occasion of his coming to Israel, as part of the Animax Festival which opens at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque on Tuesday, August 2. The screenwriter-producer, American of Jewish origin, will hold several master classes, meetings with the audience and lectures, and one of them will talk about the Jewish motifs in the series. In this context, he tells me that one of the episodes that provoked the most gasps is about our religion:

"Every fan of The Simpsons has this one episode, the very thought of which tears him," the creator ruled. "For me, this is the episode with Lisa and the teacher, and for many others, it's the episode from the beginning of season three where Krusty the clown reunites with his father after years of disconnection. After the broadcast, we were inundated with phone calls. Someone called to tell me that, thanks to watching, he contacted his father after 25 years of alienation. At the beginning, we thought we were just a light, sometimes laughable comedy, but slowly, between the end of the second season and the middle of the third season, they understood what emotional reactions we could cause. "

Five years ago, we also talked to Al Gin, the lead producer of the series

Closes thirty years with the yellow family. Illustrated Mike Rice (Photo: PR)

The Simpsons (Photo: PR)

And you continued with this emotional line for a few more seasons, but at some point you stopped. One of the notable differences between the contemporary seasons and what was before them is the gradual disappearance of emotion from the series. How and why did this happen?

"I'll ask you a question - after 27 seasons, what else are we left to do? What emotion do we still have to touch? We've covered everything. Give me an emotional aspect that we haven't exhausted yet. Each member of the family has already experienced a crush on someone who has not returned love, and found himself Wanted by suitors he had no interest in. Marge was almost betraying Homer, Homer was almost betraying Marge, everyone already felt unappreciated and in general, I think we touched every aspect of human being, and we no longer have anything left to deal with. "

Another difference between early and late seasons is that there are more and more episodes of Lisa today. why did this happen?

"It is true that she is more dominant, and I think that comes for two reasons: First of all, although I and many of my colleagues prefer Bart and Homer, Gene, the lead producer of the series, feels closer to Lisa than any other and more substantial explanation : Of the five family members, Lisa is the one with the most awareness of what's going on around her, so her character is especially important to us, because we're constantly looking for issues we haven't dealt with, and she's our hatch for a broad spectrum of social, trendy and topical issues. "

Ten times the "Simpsons" have foreseen the reality, including Trump's leap

And no more topical, of course, than the presidential election. The conversation between us is on the back of the Republican conference in anticipation of Donald Trump's victory, and Rice admits that he is frustrated that, even in this context, the series has nothing to innovate: everything that is happening with the now-sensational candidate has been prophetically predicted 16 years ago. Nor will more allegorical and metaphorical directions be innovative, as we have long seen in the "Simpsons" a figure of a bastard billionaire who leaps to power on the back of populist slogans.

"I suggested we do a season next season in which Mister Burns takes on the role of governor, and then reminded me that it was already," says Rice, referring, of course, to one of the exemplary, perfect and important episodes of the series, "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" from Season Two . "As much as we try to open a gap with reality, it somehow always manages to catch up with us. It's amazing. I'll give you another example: I thought the Chief and Vigm were unbelievably dumb, but then a cop came up to me and said 'Tell me, you base the figure. His about deep questioning, right? Because many police chiefs I know behave exactly like this. "The truth is wild with no imagination."

By the way, Chief Wigm and Homer would vote for Trump, right?

"Obviously, no doubt at all. They are exactly his audience."

"As much as we tried to open a gap with reality, it always manages to catch up with us." Mike Rice and the Yellow Family (Photo: PR)

The Simpsons (Photo: PR)

Rice, 56, has also previously written episodes for several other television series, such as "The Thousand," and co-authored several films, such as the "Ice Age" series, all along with his ongoing work on ritual creation the size of "The Simpsons." Despite the magnificent resume, he turns out to be a humble, kind and patient person, who chats with me at length and shows great interest in the novel between the yellow heroes and the Israeli audience.

Reyes is curious about how popular the series is in Israel, and it is surprising to hear what the first episode we were exposed to here. In the United States, the pilot took place at Christmas and described how the family adopts her dog. In Israel of the 1990s, perhaps not to alienate the local audience who did not know Christmas, we were introduced to
"Some Enchanted Evening," in which Bart, Lisa and Maggie find themselves at the mercy of a babysitter who is nothing but a wanted delinquent. "Oh my gosh, this is one of our worst episodes," the screenwriter-producer was horrified, and I had to agree with him, but remembered that it didn't stop my classmates and me from falling in love with the Yellow Heroes, and continuing to follow their feats, every Monday night on Channel 1.

That Christmas episode, by the way, is one of the finest in the history of the series, and will accompany it in a host of more episodes that occur in Christmas. Another holiday that is being treated closely by Marice and his friends is of course Halloween, and the Simpsons Family episode is almost a world in itself, packed with thousands of tributes to horror classics, science fiction and fantasy.

"I think these chapters are squeezing the greatest creative effort out of us," Rice says. "They always arrive early in the season, and we invest all our energy into them, so it's a big challenge later to find renewed creative forces for the rest of the way. The main difficulty is finding proper materials that we haven't yet inspired from farms or parodies."

The creator you cited most of all in these chapters, including the series, is Stanley Kubrick. How do you explain your constant attraction to it?

"It is also due to the similarity between the mechanical orange hero and Bart and the fact that Kubrick's films are so iconic that we have to use one image, and everyone will already understand what we mean. We love Kubrick and assume that our audience loves him too, and what "The most gratifying thing we learned after his death was that he loved us too. He was a big fan of the series."

You are the Kings of the Reference, but there are also many salutes made to the series. At Animax, for example, country-inspired illustrations will be featured. What is your attitude toward all these gestures?

"I die for all our mention, even if he is as vicious and sarcastic as in" Family Guy. "This series is such a significant part of my life, it is so important to me and I love it, so I'm obviously excited that it has become part of pop culture."

About the Simpsons' homage to "The Mechanical Orange," the most cited film in the series

Moshik Lin's work from the tribute exhibition to be shown at the festival (Photo: PR)

The Simpsons (Photo: Moshik Lin, PR)

The only beetle that didn't like the series. John Lennon (Photo: Walla! NEWS)

You are already experienced in the kind of fan meetings that await you in the country. How old was the youngest fan you met, and how old was the oldest?

"Funny you ask, because I remember how at the beginning there was a discussion about what age we should be allowed to see, and the answer was waning over time. In the first few seasons they said it was only for people 12 and over, but today five-year-olds also follow us. For the other side of the scale: I Think that we have fans who were in their late thirties or early forties when the series started, so today they are already coming days. At the time, however, seniors hated us. I remember, for example, Gregory Peck and Brett Lancaster would not give us their voices. "

Is there anyone else you tried to recruit to the line-up and didn't succeed?

"Yes, Bruce Springsteen. We wanted and wanted, we asked and asked, and he refused and refused. The boss doesn't do such things."

And of the senses that were no longer alive at the beginning of the series, who would you most like to hear about, if only that were possible?

"The answer is clear: We hosted three Beatles members - Paul, George and Ringo. I wish we could complete the quartet, and win John too."

I have two questions about the future, but first, one final question about the past, basic and incredibly stupid - why are they yellow?

"That's not a stupid question at all! On the contrary, you know, I've already been asked a million questions about the series, and you're just the second to wonder about it. You had a six-year-old who wasn't ashamed, and when I had to answer it, I found out that I had no idea, and most of the crew didn't. To do some in-depth research, and not see you in full, but in large part it was a technical matter: because Bart, Lisa and Maggie's skin blends with the hair, and there is no separation of where one ends and the other begins, wanted a neutral color, so choose yellow. "

Work by Ze'ev Engelmayer from the exhibition at the festival (Photo: PR)

The Simpsons (Photo: PR)

And, sure, two last questions, both of which are on their way. Is there any chance we will see another full-length movie starring the family?

"I hope not, although the idea always hovers over us. We did not make it wholeheartedly at the time, and only after years when we pressed on to produce it. We did not create it with joy, but with concern - 'How can we give our fans something they do not get that way too? Free on TV? ' When we brought the end result to the world air, we felt no joy, but a sigh of relief, so there is no logical reason we would like to return to this nightmare again.

"The thing is, a second movie is like a second baby. At one point you already forget how difficult the first one was, so you're tempted to give birth to another. I hope we don't put pressure on us. Lots of mortgages failed at the box office this summer, so maybe that's what will make the studios understand that There is no point in "The Simpsons 2." I wish it didn't happen. "

And is there any chance that your visit to the country will inspire you to return the Simpsons to Israel, six years after they jumped in during the 21st season? Maybe Barrett will do a bar mitzvah here?

"You break into an open door here, because for years Gene has been rolling out the idea that Bart will do a bar mitzvah, but he says this nonsense only because he is a Catholic who doesn't understand, and every time I have to explain to him that it's something he does at age 13, and Bart as you know. Stuck at an early age, so it can't happen. Here's the downside to writing a series in which the heroes never grow up: there are many experiences that are out of bounds for them, and Bar Mitzvah is one of them. "

Not to be missed. From Tal Cantor's "In other words."

Student Festival 2016 (Photo: PR)

Rice will hold master classes on Friday, August 5, at 12 noon and the same day at 1:30 pm and the following day, Saturday, August 6, will give a lecture on the Jewish motifs in the series at 1:30 pm and a general lecture on her backstage at 8:00 pm .

From today's loans to everyone it's like, no matter what row or chair you sit on

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And three other things to note at the festival:

Asif - The best short animation films made this year in Israel, in an independent or student context, including Tal Cantor's "In other words", which has already traveled to important world festivals (Thursday, August 4, 20:00)

"The Red Turtle " - the first and perhaps last chance to see in Tel Aviv the fresh movie from Jibli's creator, their first international co-production, which has already been screened at Cannes and Jerusalem festivals and won them praises (Wednesday, August 3, 20:00 , Thursday, August 4, 4:30 p.m., Saturday, August 6, 12:00 p.m.

Cartoon Hive - Exhibitions of old and new illustrations around the Israeli band (throughout the festival)

For more details and to book tickets, see the official Animax Festival website.