In our silly lil game, we sometimes see things pop in that we have no clue as to their Origin. They seem familiar, but we just can’t pinpoint from where. So that is why we decided to make a fun lil reminder out of it. To let you know just Where did THAT Come From?
Wowza… as if the Superheroes Sequel stuff wasn’t enough to keep us tappers busy, EA decided to stick with their past mini-events and drop July 4th stuff on us. As a lot of us suspected, this year’s President was none other than Teddy Roosevelt. Of course, with different donut splurging opportunities, it may seem prohibitive to add these to your town. I’ll admit I snatched these up faster than you can say “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Since I know everyone isn’t familiar with everything that’s ever appeared in the Best. Show. Ever., I’m more than happy to strap on my rough riding boots and pince nez eyeglasses and Bully on like Bart to show you appearances by the 26th President of the United States in my favorite cartoon.
Oh, Teddy Roosevelt. He is a very interesting president. The kind of man that used the word ‘bully’ back when it meant “worthy/jolly/admirable” versus it’s current negative connotation. I’m a history major so this addition is the sort of thing that gets me excited but let me just sum up President Teddy Roosevelt as an uber popular American President who made some big changes. I immediately think of the National Park system, the Panama Canal, his Great White Fleet, “speak softly but carry a big stick”, Rough Riders, the Square Deal, etc. Since this a Simpsons site and not a history lesson, suffice to say you can find a lot on the interwebs. Here’s a quick synopsis from Lisa Simpsons.
Or might I suggest a quick read over at http://millercenter.org/president/biography/roosevelt-life-in-brief ?
The first thing that always comes to my mind Simpsons-wise other than the episode I close with when I think about Theodore Roosevelt is Mr. Burns leading calisthetics in “King-Size Homer” (S7:E7). “I want to see more Teddy Roosevelts and less Franklin Roosevelts.” Lol… this is an awful joke. I also remember Grampa practicing his award acceptance speech for ghost writing an Itchy & Scratchy episode in “The Front” (S4:E19). “Thank you for this award. It is a tribute to this great country that a man who once took a shot at Teddy Roosevelt could win back your trust.”
But there’s more than just dialogue. Going back to what some consider the classic era of the show, Teddy featured in “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington” (S3:E2). Lisa wins a Reader’s Digest contest with a patriotic essay inspired by nature. The win means she’s entered in the national contest so our favorite family heads to Washington D.C. In the United States capitol, Lisa’s patriotism is shaken when she realizes her state senator is a corrupt individual taking bribes from lobbyists at the . Why would an oil lobbyist want to drill for oil in Theodore Roosevelt’s head on Mount Rushmore?
The answer is they wouldn’t I guess since it was just an FBI sting to take down a corrupt senator and the odds of there being oil there are probably nill. This appearance takes us down a rabbit hole of appearances of Mount Rushmore in the show. You could go with the giant model in “I Love Lisa” (S4:E15) during the President’s Day Pageant? Skinner uses Teddy to project his sales of orange drink. How about “Lisa the Treehugger” (S12:E4) as Lisa’s giant log traverses the US? It passes the monument to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt among other things. Mount Rushmore is also in “Bart-Mangled Banner” (S15:E21), “Mobile Homer” (S16:E13), “We’re on the Road to D’ohwhere” (S17:E11), “Treehouse of Horror XX” (S21:E4), “Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson (S23:E10), and “Treehouse of Horror XXIII” (S24:E2).
I only went back to this first two I mentioned to capture screenshots. I think it is common knowledge that Theodore Roosevelt is one of the four presidents on the United States National Landmark so if you want to see every image from the show of Mount Rushmore, watch the episodes I mentioned. Here’s a beautiful picture of the actual object in the Black Hills of South Dakota which has appeared so much in the show.
Okay… I also like the Mayan Gods messing with it in the last episode I mentioned so here you go.
There’s more Teddy in the show besides a a large-scale mountain sculpture carved into a granite batholith formation. In “The Day the Violence Died” (S7:E18), we see Teddy Roosevelt in the very first Itchy Cartoon that was ever made by none other than Chester Lampwick. Bart calls him “a fat oaf” but Milhouse knows his presidents. Itchy’s first appearance doesn’t go too well for the Old Knickerbocker.
Teddy was also one of Homer’s “political powers” when he got cabin fever in “Mountain of Madness” (S8:E12).
The episode where President Theodore Roosevelt is most prominent though is one of the newer ones, “Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts” (S23:E2). After Bart fakes being an eccentric English widow and ruins the elementary school auction, Super Nintendo Chalmers is none too happy with Skinner being fooled. Skinner challenges the superintendent to teach Bart himself and Chalmers agrees. Poor guy… it’s been years since he taught and the last time he got beat up by the Breakfast Club. Chalmers starts off with American History but actually manages to perk Bart’s interest with the exploits of one Teddy Roosevelt… “a president who actually was a cowboy.”
The one book by Bart makes me giggle. “A Man, a Plan, a Canal, Panama! The 800 Best Loved Theodroe Roosevelt Palindromes.” Bart surfs the interwebs and focuses on pages showing Roosevelt as a canal builder, an explorer, a sportsman, and a father of a hottie.
I love the video of Roosevelt surviving his assassination attempt and dispatching the would-be assassin who looks like Moe.
Bart wants to learn more about the man who killed more Spaniards than most people do in their entire lves. Take that standard oil! Bart loves trust busting, horse-riding, books, national parks created by Roosevelt, “horse poop and atheism” lol. Chalmers takes Bart horse riding through Springfield National Park. Does that waterfall look familiar?
Bart is all about TR. He even gets in an educational argument with Lisa over who the best Roosevelt was and then goes on to teach kids at school about TR.
Chalmer ends up having a whole group of boys to teach including Milhouse, Nelson, Jimbo and Dolph at his house. I hope they add this to the game at some point. The latter three love how TR always said bully. Lots of funny interactions courtesy of this dynamic “experiment into manly education.” I love Jimbo’s response to one of the lessons. “School failed me? Does school have to go to Summer Jimbo?”
“Boys need to explore! Build things! Wreck those those things! And then build them again.” The group is off to Springfield National Forest in search of a pair of Teddy’s lost spectacles. If this image doesn’t connect this character and the new decoration together, nothing will.
The park is super beautiful too.
Fortunately for Nelson, “there are no bad fathers in the wilderness.” Unfortunately for Nelson, he finds the spectacles but gets injured on the trip (“Gravity blows!”) and his mom is gonna sue the school resulting in Chalmers getting fired. He wasn’t even good enough for the worst school in America.
I disagree since he inspired the boys to start a group called the Brotherhood of the Spectacles and take the school hostage to get him back his job. Springfield National Park is connected to TR in this episode (history also connects him to National Parks) but you could also head to “Dial ‘N’ for Nerder”(S19:E14) if you want to see it actually named that or go through the potential heartache of thinking Martin may have died.
The park here bears a striking resemblance to Yosemite and in one of the episodes I’ll mention next, there are bears. Funny that the premium geyser offered during this same event parodies Old Faithful which is actually in Yellowstone. Only bears I know of from there are actually from Jellystone. If you think of the National Park as being synonymous with Springfield National Forest, you could also head to “The Call of the Simpsons” (S1:E7), lobbyists in “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington” (S3:E2), giant redwood shenanigans in “Lisa the Tree Hugger” (S12:E4), truffle pigs in “The Real Housewives of Fat Tony” (S22:E19) or everything coming up Milhouse in “Homer Scissorhands” (S22:E20) for more. Totbox did a fun post about the first one I mentioned that’s worth a read.
I might be alone but what I really think of with the addition of the Springfield National Park is Skinner in “On a Clear Day I Can’t See My Sister” (S16:E11). He once visited Sequoia National Forest and got a beach towel which he later regretted. “I’m going to exchange this beach towel I bought at Sequoia National Park. I learned too late that it implied tumescence.”
So there you go friends. The origins of new stuff that was offered for America’s Independence Day. What do you think of it all? Are you a fan of TR like me? Ever visited a National Park? I’m adoring all this new stuff. Sound off in the comments and have a safe and productive classy time like always. I’ll wrap this up with a few of my favorite TR quotes.
“If you could kicked the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
I’m off to hug a teddy bear. TTFN… Wookiee out!
Same boat, I can’t by the park anymore but want to 🙁
Today, the Gil Deal with Teddy Roosevelt reappeared in my town and I was able to snatch it up. I hope it reappears for you and others, as well.
I splurged on this. Normally anything over 150 donuts is an instant pass for me regardless of how awesome it is. But I’ve added a president to my Springfield every year for the past 2 years and wanted to continue the tradition for my 3rd. Given the choice between Washington (with a small, somewhat pathetic looking tree) and Teddy, it was a no brainer for me. This is now officially the most expensive thing I’ve ever bought in the game. 🙂
I’m looking for Gil’s deal as well. I want to get it! I have the donuts! HELP!
EA needs to get the gill deal fixed what type of tec support do they have where they can’t put something back in the store
Presidential conflict
https://imgur.com/a/Q9cRS
Doesn’t “bully” still mean that when used as an interjection? According to etymonline “bully” became negative the same time period that “bully” became an interjection. Before that it meant “sweetheart”. Etymologically it comes from Dutch where it meant lover/brother. Which….yeah. lol.
Totally unrelated but Lincoln’s head on Rushmore has more rock stuck to it than the others, so I was thinking: “We can’t blast that, it’s a load-bearing cheek!”
Funny how many people like him but the quest line dialogue basically trashes him with every liberal cliche possible. I know that political jabs are a big part of the Simpsons but it gets a little tiresome after awhile.
The Simpsons is almost more a parody of liberal thinking.
Oh, it all gets tiresome after a while…if you think about it. I mean, I can pick up on a meme, trope, or cliche pretty quickly, but I know that I have to instead try to ignore that and just enjoy the content as much as possible. I kinda go *—–* until something strikes me as funny or interesting then I go *lol*.
Help! My Gil deal has disappeared. What do I do?!
Here’s the usual advice we give, I’m quoting Bunny: “Exit out and come back in again. Try restarting device even. Double check to see if it reset and Gil is still wandering streets. It should be in the main opening screen of the Menu. If still no luck, contact EA.” The truth is this is effecting a lot of folks just like the last two deals. No clue why, but they’ve disappeared when people didn’t immediately buy the offer. I know EA is aware and hopefully they can fix it. Upsets me when this sort of stuff happens but not much we can do from our end. EA is the only people who can fix it. Up to you if you want to contact them or add your name to one of their forums.
Thank you. I had tried coming out and in again. I didn’t have enough doughnuts at first and now I do it has gone.
I just wondered if there was anything else I can try. I may just buy some other stuff as although it looks cool I can probably get a better bonus % for other bits
Can someone tell me how many donuts it costs to buy the Gil deal for teddy Roosevelt? My deal vanished, but EA said they need to know the donut cost, then I buy a premium item for that cost, and they can go in my game and swap out the items. The catch is that I need to know the cost of the deal. Help, please.
200 donuts.
Thank you.
I don’t have any of the US Presidents. Mainly because I’m mainly freemium, and there are still so many more regular premium characters I’d like to purchase first.
But even if I was a premium player, they are not very high on my list. Not just because I’m Canadian. I’d feel the same way about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his dad Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, and others like Sir John A McDonald, Sir Wilfred Laurier, Jean Chretien, etc.). My least favourite character is Matt Groening.
I’m just not a fan of the characters who are based on real life historical figures.
I agree as far as real life characters go. Groenig shouldn’t be in it. I like the presidents but if they ever start adding celebrities that have appeared in the show into the game, that will be the jump the shark moment for me. I will probably stop spending money on the game. A big reason my viewership declined around 2000 was the constant guest celebrities in the show. I know they did it early on but it got ridiculous.
How do you feel about those based on pop culture figures like Wolfcastle and Paris Texan?
I mostly agree on figure who are the same as historical figures….
The Simpsons is a parody of western culture anyways. So I don’t have any problems with parody figures like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Paris Hilton as Wolfcastle or Paris Texan respectively. But I would hate Arnold or Paris Hilton in my game.
Even though Arnold was in the movie?
But Arnold too was playing himself, a real “historical” figure. It’s the same as the celebrity guest stars playing themselves. Or the historical US Presidents playing themselves.
I guess I’d have been more inclined to get the Presidents if they had appeared as parodies of themselves in the show: George Oregon, Thomas Jefferdaughter, Abraham Mercedes Benz, Richard Nixoff, and now Grizzly Roosevelt.
For me it depends on if I liked the person in real life. My least favorite character is Nixon mostly because he supported the coup of Salvador Allende in Chile by the dictator and criminal Augusto Pinochet. Really nasty character. Nixon was a terrible president and the only one to ever resign.
I went ahead and got him anyway only because I like the building. But if I could I’d keep him in my Springfield prison.
It is SO lame that they self inserted Matt Groening especially as the “God” role. How out of touch can you get?
Matt Groening crEAted The Simpsons, so you might call him the god of Springfield.
I’m impressed how quickly you put this all together.
What gets me is that EA decided to go in a more R.W. look to the character verses the Simpson’s variations of Teddy.
The National Park did make me instantly think of “The Call of the Simpsons” (thanks for the shout out by the way) but in that episode they did have bears, cliffs and waterfalls.
I hoped Theodore would come into the game durring a Teddy Bear event but He’s welcome anytime I guess (just wish he wasn’t so Donut expensive).
Basically how I spent my day yesterday lol.
Did you just use “donut” in place of “damn”, like an expletive?
I don’t know which rendition of Teddy I’d use, but probably not the one they used for the game. Just because his face feels a little flat.
Especially with current events, was anyone else hoping for Trump? 😂😂
No
I will respond in all caps:
NO!
I think you need more caps.
NO!!!!!! but prior to this July 4th sale I was wondering whom EA was going to release. And because of the current situation with the GOP and the Super Hero (current) Event I thought maybe it might be Ronald Reagan. Tasks include Tearing Down Walls, and Just saying “Well” and “No!”. :p
Just SAY “No” and “Well” * (think I said it wrong the first time around) :p
I wouldn’t have bought him, though. So EA made a better choice.
Why not Bill Clinton? Okay, all I remember is The Critic’s version of Bill, but that would be great, too. “Did you say ‘shrimp’?”
Bill Clinton? I would pass and I’ve never passed on a playable character yet.
I would buy Trump only if he comes with the Tower.
In Holland we have our own Trump, named Gert Wilders 🙁
I do want the Trump Tower.
Thanks, Mr Wookiee!! Can never get enough TR.
So is it just me that no longer sees Gil’s offer of Roosevelt and Springfield National Park in their store???? I thought I had at least until 7/4 to decide if I wanted to spend the precious donuts…….
I’m having this same issue Denise!
Hello! Is there going to be a premium guide for this? I’ve been struggling to buy it and was cking at the premium guide section and can not find it.
Not yet. I’m seeing what I can do about that.
Thanks for all the info Wookie! In a strange twist on “he who hesitates is lost,” I went to buy Theodore Roosevelt and Springfield National Park yesterday after giving myself some time to think about it, and they were nowhere to be found in my store. I tried on two different devices but nothing. My husband’s game still has Gil’s offer (refuse to call it a deal!) in the store, but his store has a different look to it than mine does. I logged out of my game, restarted my device, and nothing. I will delete and re download the game just in case that fixes the problem, but has anyone else experienced this and figured out what to do? Thanks!
It has disappeared for others and is a glitch that has happened three times now. People have contacted EA to varied responses. The hope is that they will release it again.
I’ll try contacting EA, but I also don’t want to lose everything I’ve gotten since the deal first showed up. Grrr.
I still haven’t heard anything back from EA. Why can’t they just resend Gil? I really want to take advantage of this deal! I hope you are listening EA, PLEASE get this fixed! :'(
Maybe Gil should not leave town for 7 days. Hah, that might make more of use wait until the last day even if we wanted the “deal”.
I heard back from EA today. It was suggested that my game could be reset, but at what cost? As a premium player, I have spent many donuts since Teddy’s disappearance (thinking the offer would magically reappear-pfft), and do not want to be reset to a date Gil’s offer first appeared. Like you, I’m hoping they can just resend it in an update.
A reset?! That is not an ideal solution. 🙁
Heard from EA again. Apparently, I can buy a premium item for the same donut cost as the Teddy deal, then they can go in my game and swap the items, so I end up with the Gil Deal. Not sure yet if it’ll work, but first I need to know the donut cost for the deal. A little help, please?
It cost 200 donuts.
If you try that please let us know how it turns out.
Today, the deal reappeared as a July 4th offering and I immediately bought it. Hoping it shows up for others, however, if it doesn’t, EA had just given me the go ahead to purchase an inventory item for the same cost of 200 donuts, and then they would precede into my game and attempt the swap. Since, I didn’t have to go that route, not sure if it would’ve worked, but thought I’d relay details of my conversation in case some of you did not have the deal reappear today. Good luck.
anyone notice the game freezing for a couple of sec??? and game seems to be running slow after l bought the TR deco
Most definitely Patrick. I thought it was because I bought Nixon & Teddy at the same time, & all the different quests were causing a conflict. Hopefully once I get through them it will quit freezing. (I did throw caution to the wind & eliminated a lot of animation as far as decorations go).
I feel the need to point out that the island that Sideshow Mel was painting isn’t in Yosemite, it’s in Glacier. I figure Springfield NP is an amalgamation.
Agree. I said inspired by, not exact replica lol.
Wow great post, thanks! I bought this right away and really like it so far. My favorite Theodore Roosevelt quote is this one.
” I am an Americen; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.”
Have a good weekend you guys!
Nice quote.
Except for those savages, amirite? Hah, I don’t care but I had to throw that out there since that quote sounds too bubbly. (I’m part Native and I bought TR.)
http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1093
According to that timeline of actions and quotes I’d say he wasn’t racist in the sense of hatred. But growing up in a certain society you don’t really drop the way you approach things and you’ll still make mistakes based on that.
Thanks for the link. I only have a shallow understanding of TR and now feel a little stupid. Some of his comments in that article make me sick. He seems to contradict himself a bit as well. My brain does this weird thing where it sees people as people. Simple as that. I let myself think this is how most people think. Then dig a little deeper and nope.
I found that quote last week when we were looking up something to write on our car window for the weekend. We went a different route but I still like the quote even if I want to separate it from the man who said it. I thought it was timely and wished everyone felt this way. I’m sick of worth being based on position, wealth, blah blah blah. And even more so, people looking up to it, admiring it and blindly accepting and obeying it.
We went with a quote from Edward Abbey.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.
Now I should look him up and see if I want to erase that quote lol.
Sorry you feel that way. When I said the quote sounded too bubbly I meant that I know people are imperfect and especially our historical leaders are often looked up to as sinless…. I like that our 42nd president was impeached. Officially imperfect. 😀 So, a few tidbits of what we would not like to revere actually makes me like Teddy more. That’s despite the fact that he made some choices that if he made them now I’d be very pissed about. But all our leaders have made some bad choices or had some bad thoughts. It’s part of being the leader of a very difficult country (with nations within our nation) and part of being a person of the times.
You must have seen this quote:
“Give the red man the same chance as the white. This country is founded on a doctrine of giving each man a fair show to see what there is in him.”
It’s a later quote that goes well with the one that you picked. TR is just fine. Don’t feel stupid over this.
(Thank your lucky stars that I don’t know anything about Edward Abbey…) 😉
Will Freedom be available? What’s a NPC?
He’s available attached to another building in the store. NPC = non-playable character i.e. no tasks, just wanders around to add life to your town.
So, since we have three of the four faces of Mt. Rushmore in our game now, might we hope for an appearance by Mr. Jefferson in the future?
I would be stoked to see him but alas we may have to wait a year.
Teddy Roosevelt looks a lot like Robin Williams.
I’m sure that is on purpose. Makes me happy since his passing was devastating for me.
How bout should i spend
Donuts on this first?! 🙄
As that’s not really my department, I wrote what I normally do. My advice is buy it, it’s awesome. Of course, everyone can’t afford it so ultimately up to you.
This is a good article. Thank you! I saw this president up close in night at the muesum.