The Simpsons has been entertaining and delighting viewers for over three decades, so much so that many elements of the series have now become ubiquitous within pop culture. Among those elements has been the series’ opening title sequence, which ends with some form of a different “couch gag.” The title sequence has definitely been lampooned or remixed countless times within the show itself, but a new viral video from Twitter user @MattHighton takes it to new heights. The video, which you can check out below, recreates the Simpsons opening sequence entirely with stock video clips.
Videos by ComicBook.com
It took a day, but here it is: The Simpsons intro recreated using ONLY stock footage. pic.twitter.com/f7gxh16LVC
โ Matthew Highton (@MattHighton) February 3, 2021
The end result is pretty fantastic, albeit with a much more chaotic take on the disparate elements of the title sequence. While some of the scenes in the animated version might not translate perfectly into the stock video realm, that arguably adds to the charm.
The most recent season of The Simpsons — which premiered to promising ratings last fall — brought some interesting firsts for the series, including a new voice actor for the long-running supporting character Carl Carlson. The Flash and Becker star Alex Dรฉsert voiced Carl, taking over the role from Hank Azaria for at least that episode. This comes after the series’ creative team promised to no longer have white actors voice non-white characters, a change that was announced last summer amid conversations of social justice and Black representation in media. Last year, The Simpsons confirmed that it would also be scaling back appearances of Apu (who was also voiced by Azaria), after years of backlash from fans and the documentary The Problem With Apu.
“I think it’s really important when people express themselves about racial issues, what they feel is unfair or upsetting or distressing or makes them angry, sad or hurt,” Azaria said in a 2018 interview. “The most important thing to do is listen, try to understand, try to sympathize, which is what I’m doing. I know that The Simpsons guys are doing that too; they’re giving it a lot of thought, and we’ve discussed a little bit. They will definitely address โ maybe publicly, certainly creatively within the context of the show โ what they want to do, if anything, with the character.”
What do you think of The Simpsons’ intro being recreated with stock video? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!