Viva la France!
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?
So EA decided it’s time for all of us to go around the world or at least to France, Japan, and Brazil in a there’s lots of new stuff for Springfield tourism sort of way that also included a legitimate airport. This walking carpet is super stoked so far. Of course, with new events and a preponderance of items comes my perpetual task of diving into the Best. Show. Ever. and pointing out just where everything comes from in the show. For this round of origins, we’ll be looking at Cesar and Ugolin, Chateau Maison, and Maurice plus the Motorcycle with Sidecar, the Wine Stomping Vat, and Wine Barrels. Let’s check out the TV series, shall we?
“Crepes of Wrath” (S1:E11)
We’re right smack dab in the very first season which makes me all sorts of happy. Anyone who listened to my blabbering about it should know I dug this episode. It all starts off with Bart feeding his frog and his clutter-ful life injuring Homer’s trick back. Bart is forced to clean his room and finds a cherry bomb leading to a pranking moment so momentous in Season 1, it was even tested by Adam and Jamie on Mythbusters. Long story short, Bart is deported, I mean enrolled into a foreign exchange program. Bart is off to “study” for three months in France in a lovely chateau in the heart of wine country.
Best part for Homer is it’s free provided the family takes in an exchange student also. So Bart is off to live a frog’s life (his words, not mine). He’s initially excited too. I’d be too at ten. Plane rides were also super cool for a young fuzzball. The person waiting for Bart upon his arrival to the City of Lights is none other than Ugolin. He’s right there to take Bart to his new home in a motorcycle with a sidecar.
Bart digs the ride but Chateau Maison turns out to be much different looking than the picture Skinner showed Marge and Homer and the advertisement on one of its wine bottles. In our first glimpse of the dilapidated vineyard, Cesar and Maurice are right there to greet their new slave, errr, student. I guess it’s a win for Maurice since it promises the end to his “days of back-breaking labor.”
Cesar and his nephew Ugolin waste no time in letting Bart know he’s in for a tough time in a place where escape is impossible and start rifling through his belongings. They are not nice guys. But Maurice does get a lucky red hat so it’s a win for the donkey.
Bart basically does all the work. While Cesar, Ugolin and Maurice stroll, he carries the heavy water and supplies for the grapes. While the men eat sausage, he eats turnips. Even the hay pile meant to be his bed is used by Maurice.
Nothing like plucking a million grapes and then ritually stomping them into wine to build character in a young Bart Simpson. This is where we get the grape stomping vat which provides such a hilarious new animation for TSTO Bart.
No surprise, we find wine barrels at Chateau Maison as well. Things look grim for poor Bart but just when things seem the worst for El Barto (or should it be Le Barte?), Cesar and Ugolin send him into town for the secret ingredient which gives their wine such a kick.
Thankfully for Bart he discovers a kind police Frenchman in town next to a Patisserie (not the new one from the game, that’ll be in another post) and actually learned enough French to let him know about Cesar and Ugolin putting antifreeze into their wine. The bad guys are busted and all is well.
Cesar and Ugolin also appear as the main villains of “To Courier with Love” (S27:E20). There’s a bunch more that comes from this episode so I’ll save most of it for another post but your can read a whole episode recap here.
So that’s really it friends. I love getting so many things from such a classic episode. When EA teased this idea, I knew France would be one of the picks for a country to visit. Now we got lots of stuff. What do you think of it all? DO you love this episode as much as me? Sound off in the comments and happy classy tapping. Je Suis Charlie!
TTFN… Wookiee out!