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Simpsons Did It... (continued)
The nearby Kwik-E-Mart has
been open for months.
The new spots have their moments too. Krusty proudly announces they have
stolen the designers and park ride engineers from other companies, especially
those workers who have been fired from those competitors. It's funny because in
some cases, it's quite true that Universal Creative folks include many who used
to be at Walt Disney Imagineering (not all of them were fired, though! Many were
lured away). Krusty shows us the example of "No Pants Johnson," who sits naked
on the bottom, but is hidden mercifully behind an easel, then as he rises to
greet Krusty, the clown frantically urges him not to get up.
For me and probably for other big Back to the Future fans, the primary
feature of the queue video was the tribute to the former ride. Professor Fink
(the scientist on the Simpsons) goes to visit the Institute of Future Technology
and sees instead the same Krustyland facade we passed through a minute ago.
Depressed, he realizes he can't see Doc Brown, his hero… unless he travels back
in time with a DeLorean! He hops in one conveniently nearby, and zooms back two
years ago.
"I've got to go back! … to
the past, that is." / Watch out, Doc Brown!
As he
materializes, he runs over a man next to Doc Brown. Turns out Doc Brown was
about to sign a contract for a small business loan, which would enable him to
keep the Institute of Future Technology open. So Professor Fink has actually
caused Doc Brown to go out of business! This tomfoolery is made legit by the fact that
Christopher Lloyd does the
voiceover.
Prof. Fink is chagrined. / "Anything you say, boss!"
Krusty shows up, and promptly hires Doc Brown as a ticket-taker for his new
park, since Krusty is going to own the land. Priceless.
As we wind around the queue, we might see posters for rides in Krustyland,
like Captain Dinosaur's Pirate Rip Off, the Sea Captain's Queasy Time Lagoon, or
the Screamatorium of Dr. Frightmarestein.
Itchy and Scratchy tells us
how tall we have to be.
Soon enough, we make it to one of the preshow rooms, where we are sorted into
lines. On both sides of us are painted cutouts of carnival-like scenes, such as
Willy hawking the milk can toss, or Patty and Selma working the Lost and Found,
and Apu hawking his wares.
It's hard to look away from
the characters, but glance around.
Apu will pull out a centerfold when he thinks
no one is looking.
The characters are animated on a screen in the middle, but the "sets" are
painted wooden flats.
There are a lot of details to look at here.
On the main screen in front of us is a slideshow.
Cameras aren't going to be
allowed past this point
(and they wouldn't work well in the ride, anyway).
Watch for "Krustyland" in a Googie-era, 1950s style Disneyland font. And
especially watch for the ad for "Punk Rock Grapefruit" to sing in a veggie band,
clearly a play on Disney's defunct Kitchen Kabaret at Epcot.
"Veggie, veggie, fruit,
fruit – ole, cha cha cha!"
Eventually Krusty appears on screen to tell us that his park is going to be
great, except maybe for the psychopath who is on the loose. He's referring to
Sideshow Bob, who escaped from jail and wants revenge on the Simpsons. But he could
also be making a veiled tribute to Biff Tannen, who was also said to be "on the
loose" during this part of the queue for the Back to the Future ride.
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