Kamp Krusty
"Kamp Krusty" | ||
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Couch gag The family finds Fred Flintstone, Wilma, and Pebbles already sitting on the couch.[1] | | |
Commentary | Matt Groening Al Jean Mark Kirkland David Silverman | |
"Kamp Krusty" is the fourth season premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 60th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 24, 1992.[2] In the episode, the children of Springfield attend Kamp Krusty, a summer camp named after Krusty the Clown. The camp is extremely unpleasant, leading to the campers rebelling against the camp director. Meanwhile, with the kids away, Homer and Marge enjoy more time together, and Homer becomes physically and emotionally healthier.[3]
The episode was written by David M. Stern and directed by Mark Kirkland.
Plot
To appease the restless campers, Mr. Black tells the children that Krusty himself is coming to visit. However, "Krusty" turns out to be a poorly disguised Barney Gumble, and the ruse does not fool Bart. Bart then leads the campers in revolt, driving out Mr. Black and the bullies and changing the camp's name to Camp Bart. Meanwhile, Homer and Marge see a breaking news report of the campers' revolt. After learning that Bart is the leader of the rebellion, Homer instantly loses the hair he grew and regains the weight he lost since the children went to camp.
The real Krusty is informed of Kamp Krusty's conditions, and returns from London to visit the camp. He apologizes to the campers for their ordeal and his unawareness of their plight; Mr. Black had bribed him with a "dump truck full of money", which placated Krusty into ignorance. To make it up to the campers, Krusty takes them for "two weeks at the happiest place on Earth: Tijuana!". As "South of the Border" (sung by Gene Merlino) plays, a montage is shown of Krusty and the campers vacationing in Tijuana, but Krusty misses the bus home at the end of the trip.
Production
The idea that the children should go to a camp run by Krusty was first suggested by
After he saw the completed episode, James L. Brooks called the writers and suggested that the "Kamp Krusty" script be used as a plotline for a film. However, the episode ran very short, and to make it barely fit the minimum time the Kamp Krusty song had to be lengthened by a number of verses. The episode was also chosen to be the first episode of the season, further complicating matters. As Jean told Brooks, "First of all, if we make it into the movie then we don't have a premiere, and second, if we can't make 18 minutes out of this episode how are we supposed to make 80?"[6]
Along with the following episode, "A Streetcar Named Marge", "Kamp Krusty" was a holdover from the previous season's production run. It was the final episode to be produced in this run and so the last animated at Klasky Csupo, before the show's producers Gracie Films moved its domestic production to Film Roman.[4][7]
Cultural references
Bart’s dream sequence at the beginning of the episode ends with the students destroying Springfield Elementary School to Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” mirroring the ending of the 1979 film Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.
Some elements of the plot are borrowed from the
The scene where Lisa gives a bottle of
The scene where Kearney beats a drum to make the campers work in the sweatshop is taken from the slave galley scene in the 1959 film Ben-Hur.[6] The episode ends with the song "South of the Border". According to the DVD commentary, the song is not sung by Frank Sinatra but by another artist impersonating him.[5]
When Krusty is confronted by the reporters, he is asked "if him and
While the plot of the episode is similar to that of the 1991 video game spin-off from the television series called Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly, the two are unrelated as the video game was released well before the first airing of the "Kamp Krusty" episode.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Kamp Krusty" finished 24th in ratings for the week of September 21–27, 1992, with a
Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, ultimately saying the episode began the Simpsons' fourth season in an amazing way.[10]
Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, had mixed views about the episode. They said that it is "A bit baffling to non-Americans unfamiliar with the summer camp system. But top grade stuff nonetheless. Anyone who's worked as a counsellor in such a place can testify to this episode's authenticity."[1]
The episode's reference to Ben-Hur was named the 31st greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film's Nathan Ditum.[11]
References
- ^ a b c Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Kamp Krusty". BBC. Archived from the original on August 31, 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2007.
- ^ Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Groening, Matt; Stern, David; Kirkland, Mark (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d Kirkland, Mark (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d Jean, Al; Kirkland, Mark (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b Jean, Al (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Bernstein, Sharon (January 21, 1992). "'The Simpsons' Producer Changes Animation Firms". Los Angeles Times. p. 18. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ Kirkland, Mark; Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ The Associated Press (September 30, 1992). "Nielsen ratings". Daily Breeze. p. D4.
- ^ Rabin, Nathan (April 1, 2012). "The Simpsons (Classic): "Kamp Krusty"". www.avclub.com. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ Ditum, Nathan (June 6, 2009). "The 50 Greatest Simpsons Movie References". Total Film. GamesRadar. Retrieved July 22, 2009.