Well hello there all you Addicts. Tapping fingers tired from all that ghost busting? Well, pull up a chair and spend a little time with The Wookiee. I’m here today to try and let you know just where in the heck I think the Clawing Zombie originates from…
It may not seem like it as you read all the wonderful posts that come zinging into your ultraweb device, but a lot of work goes on behind the scenes for some of this zany stuff. While I am nowhere near as talented as Bunny or Alissa … I spent some time this weekend doing research the good old fashioned way.
That’s right, I had fun of my own doing all sorts of non-Simpsons things (they actually exist) and procrastinated looking up info about the Clawing Zombie until the very end.
Like any good procrastinator though, I got around to actually “working” and the result is… I really don’t know where it comes from lol. If you do, I’d love to hear and would give you full credit.
You’d think this post would end here but that’d be no fun. I do have a guess about the origin of this community prize and Jebus knows this furry guy loves to ramble.
I believe the clawer is none other than Snowball I. What’s that you say? Snowball I was a white cat? Hmmm…. I could have sworn he was whatever color the animators desired for the episode they were creating.
I am aware of the white snowball in episodes such as “And Maggie Makes Three” and “Lisa’s Sax”…But what about all the other cameos by Snowball I?
Crazy, huh? Snowball I has appeared as a white, black and grayish cat. Any one familiar with The Simpsons knows that anything is possible in Springfield.
For this post, let’s just assume Snowball I is black and that Moe’s Tavern and King Toots are across from the Air Conditioner Store.
We all set? Alright Addicterinos, let’s press on!
In Treehouse of Horror III, my favorite segment is hands-down “Dial Z for Zombies”. I am a huge zombie fanatic and think this just might be the Best. TOH epsiode. Ever.
For the unfamilar, Bart does a book report to start it off: “From A, Apple, to Z, Zebra, Baby’s First Pop-Up Book is 26 pages of alphabetic adventure.” Did Bart actually read a book intended for pre-schoolers for this report? Well… mostly.
Of course Edna is none too thrilled with Bart’s report so she makes him find a different book. In the library, Bart notices the occult section and finds a Time Life Book of Magick and Spelles Vol. 1. The book tries to warn him away but of course Bart takes it home.
Evil… bad… cool!
Back at the Simpson house, Lisa is lamenting over her dead cat… Snowball I. “Don’t you remember that Snowball I died 4 years ago tonight, run over by the Mayor’s beer swilling brother Clovis.” Bart’s solution, bring Snowball back to life. “Let’s see what we got… How to get your skeletons their whitest… selling your soul in a buyer’s market… AH, here we are… raise the dead.”
At the Pet Cemetary… Bart recites the incantation (which includes scary words like Trebek and Walmart) but instead of bringing Snowball back to life, it reanimates the human corpses in the Cemetary right next to them.
The rest of the episode is human zombie centric, but who doesn’t love seeing Sideshow Mel eat Krusty, Zombie Skinner call Martin into the office for his chess club brain and Ned welcome zombies into his house?
Just for fun, go back and take a second look at Bart’s headdress in #4. Look familiar to anyone?
That’s pretty dope to this Wookiee. Any who… besides all the great visuals, the dialogue alone is awesome…
Lisa: Dad we did something very bad.
Homer: Did you wreck the car?
Bart: No.
Homer: Did you raise the Dead?
Lisa: Yes.
Homer: But the car’s ok?
Bart & Lisa: Uh huh.
Homer: Alright then.
****************
Bart: Dad… you killed the zombie Flanders!
Homer: He was a zombie?
I think my favorite part other than Homer holding a shotgun and saying “To the Book Depository” (historical irony any one?), is Homer’s interaction with Barney later at Springfield Elementary.
Homer: Barney? Not you too!
Barney: I’m not a zombie but hey… when in Rome. Wow… George Washington!
Homer: Take that Washington… Eat lead Einstein… Shows over Shakespeare!
Alright, where was I? I know there was a point to this ramble…
Oh yeah… so my theory about the Clawing Zombie is that Bart succeeded the second time he tried to resurrect Snowball I. A good number of people have asked for Lisa’s cat to be added to the game AND maybe, just maybe, the amazing designers at EA listened. As TOH III has been one of the treasure troves for Halloween Event Content (Zombies, House of Evil, Krusty Doll & King Homer), it’s not impossible. Well, thanks for reading another one of my rambles.
Wookiee out!
All original art and content © Up All Night, LLC and TSTOAddicts.com All Screen Shots of Game Graphics & Dialogue and Game Graphics from files ™ and © EA, Gracie Films and FOX. The Simpsons ™ and © FOX and its related entities. All rights reserved.
I’m so sad I missed Halloween last year. Zombies are my thing, I’ve got all the movies, all the books all the memorabilia… hopefully they come back next year, but I’m thinking it’ll probably be something different, maybe demons or werewolves or something. But the Scratching Zombie helps fill the holes in my heart.
I love me some zombies too… We may not have the hordes from the cemeteries like last year turning our characters into zombies but I am so thrilled we have 5 that will stick around all year!
I always thought it was Snowball I, first thing that came to mind when I saw in on the prize list.
I thought it was from the episode where Snowball 2 dies and they got a procession of other cats to replace him(her?). One of the died drowning in a fish bowl from what I remembered and that zombie cat very definitely has it’s head stuck in a fishbowl…
I will definitely look this up. Thanks for the comment!