Ah, Bart Simpson you old scamp. Skateboarders have a love hate relationship with him. At first it was just great to have you on our side, but like with so many skaters that keep with it over the years, he eventually ended up being branded as a kook, even though to my recollection he only wore a helmet in one episode. Nowadays we, as a skating population are more apt to give him grief for his poor style. However, a new era may have dawned on Bart’s skateboarding hijinks, thanks to the Skatebook. And thanks to Hulu, I don’t have to take the time to digitize it and eventually get kicked off YouTube again. You can watch the whole episode, but they also let you chose your own start and and end points, so you can embed just the segment you want to highlight. Genius.
As you can see, Bart has really stepped it up. Even a past episode with Tony Hawk wasn’t enough of an impetus, but somehow being featured in the Skatebook must have made the producers or writers want to make it more realistic.
This was the old way Bart skated, as seen in the opening sequence. Sometimes he’s got a somewhat normal stance, but sometimes it’s a slalom ski stance like he is riding one of those old Techni-ski boards.
OK, not sure what he’s riding here.
Enter the Skatebook. The last issue of this hardcover skateboarding publication has a segment called Dropping Hammers with Bart Simpson. It’s got Bart hitting a bunch of famous skate spots drawn about as accurately as possible, with a notable exception. He also hangs out with some notable figures in skateboarding.
It’s kind of odd to look at, actually. Here’s a few examples from the spread.
You’ve got to figure that the publishers had Matt Groening or his staff of Korean animators draw these for the skatebook. There isn’t any information on how it went down, which is disappointing. The features in the Skatebook appear to have a web address printed on each spread, but entering skatebook.tv/index/bart as a URL brings up a “page not found” error, and for that matter, so does every other address I found in that issue. Maybe they weren’t meant to be URLS.
Not too long after this issue of the Skatebook came out, an epidsode of the Simpsons aired that had some super realistic skateboarding compared to the usual physics-defying weird posture stuff that has passed for skateboarding in past seasons of the Simpsons. Here’s a sequence from the episode titled Lost Verizon.
Right off the bat the level of realism has improved. I’d say those look like accurate lurkers.
No mongo on the approach.
And the ollie…
Starting the kickflip.
The money shot!
Sliding.
The photog is rocking a 16mm fisheye.
It’s the landing that will get you.
Here’s the setup for the animated sequence. Bart found Dennis Leary’s cellphone. Yes, the actor, which reminds me of one of the greatest moments in animated TV: Dennis Leary’s appearance on Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
Zorac: Wow, Denis Leary! I've seen all your movies. Leary: Thank you, thank you. Zorac: I didn't think they were very good.
Anyway, Marge turns on the tracking signal for the cellphone so she can spy on Bart and keep him out of trouble. Enjoy a little Elvis Costello with your skate video. UPDATE: Video has disappeared.
Catch Dennis Leary failing on Space Ghost Coast to Coast before it gets pulled. Brilliant. UPDATE: Video has disappeared.
35 comments
Kilwag
Nope, never posted it. I think I might have a rom file for MAME of it somewhere. I vaguely rember that, but never played it cause I wasn’t into the fighting-type games.
curtis
not sure if you have discussed the Simpsons arcade (91, Konami)game? I saw it last night. Bart skates and does these bert/streetplant thingys, and various ollies as attacks. if he gets on Homers sholders (like the guys at the beginning of beez 3) he uses his board as a club like weapon.
skatebook
some video clips up
http://www.skatebook.tv/bart/
skaterdave
Sorry to be off-topic (again) and for the wrong reason (responding to the irritating thing), BUT, has anyone else thought it odd that buttpad doesn’t think his strap-on is a skateboard? Let’s see, one board,two trucks, four wheels, turns are accomplished by leaning…
LP
marge, change the channel!
jakeferranti
oh yeah that was classic-and “homeboy shopping network”
‘mo money, mo’ money, mo’ money!
LP
handi man bitches!
buffalo-wings soldier
my favorites were “The Brothers Tom” and that early sketch of that Kelly Coffield chick as a washed up acting coach who gets pushed out of the way in all her scenes..”outta my way bitch”..it was funny when i was 11 and its still funny.
Carl
I thought In Living Color was great too. ‘LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!’
frank grimes
and i do remember when it was on thursdays, it wasnt on sundays till it shared the slot w/ “in living color”
and Groening must have really skated at some point cuz you never saw bart in a pair of fruitboots, even at the height of that trend. they should have Kurt Vanhouten ride a flowboard.
“any way the track could bend?”
“not a chance,my hindu friend”.
travis bickle
Or when sheri & terri had a dad that worked at the plant. or before lou was a cop.
Zed-Word
I used to watch back when Barney was the town drunk! Anyone remember that?
Zed-Word
LP, season one did suck, but the show has gone nowhere but downhill since the 12th season. It is horrible now, the movie sucked too.
As for the whole Thursday night thing, I’m sure I watched back then, it was so long a go and I would have been a wee child.
travis bickle
haha no blaspheme…”no, you cant handle the truth,no-truth-handler,you”-sideshow bob
i aint that into the animation aspect anyway, it was just an interesting change to see. “lemon of troy” is one of the best episodes- i have it on dvd. i,too share your sentiments on growing up w/the simpsons.
hell, i was suspended for a day in 5th grade for simply selling my drawings of bart w/a slingshot and captioning “underacheiver and proud of it”. (apparently elementry schools really took that crap pretty seriously)
i still find it funny although i dont think Groening has contributed to any of the writing for years.
“Step over this line and say that, I’ll kick your butt.” “At nintendo” -Milhouse
Kilwag
I have to say they have been better lately. I used to call for the show to be cancelled too. It was a a stain on the memory of the all the great episodes. For a while they were really mediocre. Then they started to have some episodes that started pretty good and then fizzled. Lately I have been surprised by how good some have turned out. I still don’t go out of my way to watch them, whereas it used to be a “must see.”
I like the old crappy epsiodes with the sketchy drawings and random race changing of the support characters.
Carl
Wait a goddamn minute.. he’s kickflipping from flat over the rail, from the grass, on a square-tail-round-nose.
Did you guys say something about realistic skate scenes?
Carl
Last week was funny. I thought the bubble idea in the movie would have been a pretty epic way to end it. Pig shit in the lake poisoning the whole town? How you gonna top that?
LP
that was when many of the characters were black and turned white.
LP
and I am not afraid to say, SEASON ONE SUCKED!
LP
Zed word, I consider myself somewhat of a semi-knowledgeable fan of The Simpsons. So you didn’t watch them on Thursdays when they were originally on? Tracey Ullman I believe was on Sundays at one point. It was great when it was Simpsons, Herman’s Head, Married, 21 Jump St, etc.
I agree that after Conan left they lost a little, then around Season 8 they peaked (I think around the Mr. Burns getting shot), then they went way downhill, but now I truly feel they’re getting funnier again. I would give them another chance. They ARE getting better. They really started to again when they sat on the couch after jumping over a shark. At least they know they were going down and can make fun of it. But really, I hope they don’t kill it yet. They could go another ten, I hope they do, my kids want to love it too.
Zed-Word
“I saw this like a week ago,that boardslide-and then marge rolls ups and traps him in the car-hilarious. i remember thinking they stepped up the skating animation quite a bit since the lemon tree episode. best-skating-ever”
The animation looked so much better back then. This is not reality TV, it is a goddamn cartoon! How dare you blaspheme one of the best episodes ever!
Zed-Word
I grew up with the Simpsons. The Simpsons influenced my young life more than church, school, or the government, probably only a narrow second to my parents. I have many warm memories of watching new episodes on Sunday night with excitement.
That being said, The Simpsons must go away. The show isn’t even a shell of its former glory. It saddens me to say this, but Matt Groening is steadlily cheapening one of my most precious childhood memories.
And now this? Bullshit if they think they are going to buddy up to me wit some realistic skate scenes. Matt Groening, please, kill the show. Kill it, bury it, and forget it. You made your mark on the world, now go away. Kill Springfield in a creative manner. Please.
travis bickle
when i was 20 i worked p/t at my buddy Ed’s shop in AZ,they rented mountain boards. he let me and a roommate take them home cuz noone had rented them in months. we went to kiwanis park (huge rolling hills)and while i prefer skateboarding, that shit was fun!
they had bindings and i dislocated my shoulder trying to power-slide(dont work that way) 1/2 way down a huge hill. i took a gnarly tumble but i can see the appeal, good times.
Kilwag
That’s rad. One time at Tabor I saw a hippie dude fly over the edge of one of those steep hills barefoot on a regualr board with oversized dirt wheels, no straps. He was freaking hauling. It was gnarly.
Carl
http://auggiedawg.com/images/tabortrippin.mov
DaddyYo
Kilwag – okay. Thanks for the tip.
DaddyYo
I like to see skateboarders try to ride mountainbords. They usually just end up trying to tic tac, twisting an ankle and falling on their faces.
It is entertaining to see the little thought ballons appear above their heads saying, “Hey, this is supposed to be gay. Why can’t I do it? I’m a badass skateboarder. Everything is supposed to work exactly like my skateboard.”
Kilwag
Heckler, don’t take the bait.
Daddy Yo – No need to quote something that’s in the previous comment. Just makes the page longer and slower to load. Just reply directly.
Ryan Heckler
that was extreme, extremely dumb, but we have come to expect nothing less of DiddlyYo and his whiny post’s
DaddyYo
“Kilwag Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 10:55 am
In the grass.. I didn
Kilwag
In the grass.. I didn’t even catch that. He’s extreme mountain boarding!
Larry
bart’s good, but homer jumped springfield gorge after all! well, almost.
Carl
So is it way sicker because he’s rolling up to it in the grass?
jakefafafa
I saw this like a week ago,that boardslide-and then marge rolls ups and traps him in the car-hilarious.
i remember thinking they stepped up the skating animation quite a bit since the lemon tree episode.
best-skating-ever
the kablammo! kid
looks like Bart can skate switch … better than half the kook lurkers ’round here.