The Simpsons: Unaired Pilot Comparison

The pilot would be reworked into the season 1 finale, Some Enchanted Evening.
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[@PhillipOnTakos]

You can see why this episode got held back. Which ironically lead to it having some of the most fluid animation in the whole show.

[@Attmay]

And why even switching to high definition only made it more stiff and lifeless.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

S01E13, the babysitter bandit was one of the worst episodes they ever did. There have been worse ones later on, for example, S09E02 The Principal and the Pauper, but the babysitter bandit is worse just on it's merits without having to raise any troubling implications.

[@VGamingJunkie]

The pilot definitely has more dynamic animation, though that also means it feels less solid as a result. I can see why they'd want to change it.

[@TheJPooka777]

I think it was to feel less "Disney" like as of not to attract kids to the show

[@_G.C]

​@@TheJPooka777A shame that an animated show would have to avoid good animation. I think the real reason is that it's on tv, and it's unmanageable to maintain that quality so they wanted to keep a standard set so people didn't complain about drops in quality

[@Valorant-is-Trash]

Check out the shot at 1:31 I love how they animated marge in the pilot

[@thomaslao9832]

nah. you just dont understand what it means to direct a good scene.

[@_G.C]

@quad849 Well there's also a video detailing all of the things groening would do to keep a short leash on the artists, for good measure

[@Glasgowphilosopher]

I love the silly little dance that Homer and Marge do. Completely offbeat from everyone else yet totally in sync with each other. ❤ Marge doesn't get to show off her goofball side nearly enough.

[@DumbBunny5328]

This explains the oddly fluid animation with the tape scene

[@NorthWestern1919]

It's interesting to see how Homer's voice changed since 1989.

[@CaptainJZH]

I believe he started as a Walter Matthau impression, slowly becoming more high pitched

[@redpillfreedom6692]

@@CaptainJZH Castellaneta couldn't maintain the Matthau voice during their 9-10 recording sessions. Inevitably, it would devolve into the voice we're all familiar with so they just went with it.

[@SuperMarioBrosIII]

@Oh, Heck. You mean 1987.

[@NorthWestern1919]

@@SuperMarioBrosIII I'm only talking about the main series, not the Tracey Ullman shorts.

[@LDFE2002]

@@redpillfreedom6692 It got finalized by Season 3.

[@OrimaJam]

It's interesting how a portion of the animation was reused in the final

[@NicoleHam]

When you’re a young and edgy animator, you might find yourself angry and nostalgic for the missed opportunity expressive animation from the first draft. As I’ve personally gotten older though and worked on some stuff- you come to appreciate the aired version. Yeah, some stuff got nerfed- but overall I think there’s a ton of improvement to stuff like continuity and staging, it also is a mire realistic use of tv broadcast limited animation, ie head nod, all that stuff, while keeping some of the originals frames and drawings in key moments. This is really cool, thanks for uploading. I’ve had a tough time with the ani industry specifically during the actors strike, but stuff like this reminds of why I love the history of ani as an industry

[@mechajay3358]

I'm the exact opposite, I've grown to appreciate the expressive animation more over time.

[@mafeuk]

Notice how the Marvin Monroe segment is virtually unchanged

[@MaxOakland]

Anything with gradients instead of solid colors in the background is unchanged

[@heitorsant1759]

Oh that explains why that one scene was so well animated

[@paburo-san6667]

you ought to give more respect to simpsons animation, punk

[@eightcoins4401]

You gotta love the depressing hallway in the unaired version

[@osminos5187]

2:40 the dancing in the pilot kinda looks better imo

[@spongebobmaster]

It looks 99% better lol.

[@akieboygaming]

The animation looks light years better but it looks so rough

[@PaintraSeaPea]

The issue with it as pointed out in the commentary was that it didn't fit with the characters. the original dancing was a bit TOO good. the impression is supposed to be that they hadn't been out dancing in years and were more stiff and rusty with it but still having fun.

[@Raincally]

Marge's hair when Homer spinned her around

[@osminos5187]

@@Raincally lol I would never notice

[@caustin850]

0:29 Homer Simpson: (Screaming) The reaction that he's gonna be late for work.

[@louayhamdouni5793]

Fun fact: this was later reused in Pizza Tower's prototypes.

[@NotCzech001]

1:57 I wish they kept pilot version of that scene. It looks so much better.

[@MaxOakland]

I LOVE the unaired pilot but the final version definitely looks more like the Simpsons. The backgrounds are filled out more and there are more characters on screen at each time

[@sxsanyu]

well, they’re hardly gonna finish the animation when they’ve identified a fault with it

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@sxsanyu Yes, also realize that this was ultimate E13 from the first season and they had already animated a few episodes at that point. It's a terrible episode that I wish they would have just chucked in the bin, but it does look a lot better in the finished form.

[@andrefasching1332]

​@@SmallSpoonBrigadewhut. What makes this episode so terrible in your book?

[@mechajay3358]

​@@SmallSpoonBrigade What do you mean terrible?

[@thisisnt_brndn]

I do like how fluid the animation in the first version is, but I can understand why they want to change it. I wonder: who did the animation for the early episodes?

[@CaptainJZH]

Klasky Csupo, who would later go on to create Rugrats, Wild Thornberries, and others for Nickelodeon

[@thisisnt_brndn]

@@CaptainJZH Oh, no wonder why I would see Gabor Csupo's name appear in the end credits

[@martinefrensoquigomez7835]

It's always been handled by foreign studios, most likely the animation here was the work of AKOM, who are infamous for the animation of Transformers season 3 Klasky-Csupo were behind the animation production and were very much involved here

[@SanFran51]

Apparently producer James L. Brooks saw the original pilot and simply called it "Shit." and shunted that into the end of the season to fix the animation..... they would ditch Klasky Csupo in 1992.

[@ffnbbq]

The DVD commentary for the aired episode is entertaining, as everyone seems to line up to take a dig at Klasky-Csupo's work on the pilot. As I recall, exec producer James L. Brooks was particularly harsh, saying he described the rough cut of the pilot as "this is shit", to the shock of Gabor Csupo (who would later inspire the appearance of Dr Nick). Csupo apparently replied "maybe this show is shit". A year or so later, The Simpsons won an Emmy, and while Csupo was on stage with everyone else, Brooks approached him and said "maybe this show is shit".

[@Mienshaos]

both klasky and csupo were giant douches, lmao

[@LochNessHamster]

Klasky-Csupo's work on other 90s and 2000s cartoons is great. It just wasn't a great fit for The Simpsons. Brooks was an ass and Csupo was responding with the same energy.

[@ffnbbq]

@@LochNessHamster The various DVDs have made it clear they wanted the contracted animation studios to work within their guidelines, and not add in cartoony elements common in other shows of the time. Conversely, the South Korean studio AKOM that they farmed out the grunt work to needed very specific instructions, the commentary noted that overseas studios did not have the luxury of time to think through what a scene required. That said, one of the regular directors back then, a very grumpy-sounding man, was highly critical of the Korean work, at one point commenting that he wondered if they had "opposable thumbs". Uh, probably not what one should say of a group made up entirely of another ethnicity.

[@FelipeJaquez]

Csupo got the last laugh because the show is shit now. It's legacy stained by shit.

[@atari947]

@@FelipeJaquez It's not like Game of thrones where it crashed and burned after season 4. The Simpsons just kind of faded out of existence for most people after a while. If you ask the average person they'd have positive memories associated with the show.

[@ratmeat161]

While i certainly adore the wacky dynamic style, homer looks insanely dopey, glad they changed him

[@Nitrality]

my entire left ear enjoyed this

[@LadyOfTheEdits]

Glad it wasn't just me lol

[@Atari-Dude]

My 1/6 hearing in my left ear also enjoyed this. Not really. Very muffled and quite. Being nearly deaf is fun.

[@squiddogproductions]

my right ear is lonely

[@LadyOfTheEdits]

😂😂😂

[@escaperoutebritish]

I like the Klasky Csupo-esque vibe of the unaired pilot

[@ZyxthePest]

That's cause it was done by them! Though I'm assuming you knew that haha.

[@Sly88Frye]

It's cool to see the differences between the two. I noticed that some of it is that Marge has a longer mouth which is just kind of weird but I'm glad they corrected that later

[@innertuber4049]

I wish the footage included the infamous smooth animation scene

[@haziqhakim5995]

Why does homer job place thing looks like is floating in the sky in the pilot

[@amaruqlonewolf3350]

Hmm, I wonder how it would've turned out if they went with the same albeit improved animation style. Ren & Stimpy went ahead and became quite popular just a few years later on with such jerky animation style.

[@CaptainJZH]

The thing is tho that people associated that kind of animation with children's cartoons and they specifically wanted it to be an adult show. So they had to tone down the cartoonyness or else 1989 audiences would have written it off as childish. Nowadays people of all ages love that stuff but in 1989 animation had been out of primetime network TV since the Flintstones

[@amaruqlonewolf3350]

@@CaptainJZH Animation's history is a bit weird. How the initial animations were toned towards adults. I'm pretty sure Disney, with their adaptations of famous fairy tales into movies incorrectly paved the misconception of animation being solely for the kids.

[@Attmay]

Ralph Bakshi already tried to challenge the (largely western) idea that cartoons are just for kids only to end up doing Mighty Mouse cartoons for CBS. The success of the PG-rated *Who Framed Roger Rabbit* also helped challenge this idea.

[@Attmay]

That only became a self-fulfilling prophecy during the era of Saturday morning cartoons. Disney stayed out of that sector as long as they could, but they essentially had nothing to replace the old short cartoons with once they were reduced to occasional events. By the mid-1980s, the boomers left them for dead except for a handful who saw the potential for a Disney comeback if they applied themselves.

[@salg23]

Homer looked like Fred Flintstone 😂

[@zltoonslc2000rj]

While the unaired version is mostly more cartoon-y, I think 3:23 in the finished version is way funnier.

[@clasicosdelfutbol]

Ese piloto es una joya,,historia pura de la televisión

[@DanBen07]

I didn't know The Simpsons had an unaired pilot.

[@BitFireAnimation]

Interesting to see how they re-used some of the animation.

[@jerryartdude4859]

2:31 marge's lipstick is on the door on season 1 episode 13...

[@skd988]

I guess she just like kissing doors

[@wishbonefan]

at 0:33 they show Marge accidentally kissing the door in the pilot. I guess they just redrew the lipstick without realizing the scene was cut.

[@SunshineSuperstar]

Cool trivia! Good spot!

[@peppyrobo7049]

That scene with marge and homer on a date was so nice loking in the pilot

[@dennisjansson6239]

I like the unaired version better. It looks funnier & its wierd that Homer yells Do´h in the phone. That could have exposed him. I like that hes silent, angry & holds the mouth parts & then points to it when he begins to say "Actually". And Marges kiss on the door is BETTER. 🤣💙

[@heggy_69]

1:01 it's interesting how little they changed here

[@GWKTM]

Lucky that some full bits DID make it to the final episode after all

[@splaatandfriends]

[1:41] My favoitite scene from Season 1, Episode 13

[@milkphobic]

0:09 frred and gonzo always fighting with things

[@g.h.milanboseblut5616]

Good for Marge Meggie stayed the same age for decades. She'll forever stay baby momma

[@GamerGee]

1:20 plant island lll

[@navi2257]

0:33 Homer looks way more fat in that scene

[@adrianvirgilio2099]

I noticed it

[@chip48]

She is 34 ;( oh god i am getting old ;(

[@pencilsandpizza]

The part where homer is pretending to be the sampsons, I prefer where he is trying not to be mad in the pilot.

[@JustinPlayzOfficial]

The pilot looks better

[@matthewmangan6251]

The original cut looks a lot closer to the animation of the shorts

[@knuclear200x]

It's odd how the original first scene is all over the place and all kinds of wrong, yet the redo isn't really more interesting.

[@jackbergman4724]

I kind of prefer the rubber style of the animation. Makes the characters seen more alive

[@LDFE2002]

Same

[@yutedou]

0:51 Same, I think it makes Marge have more personality

[@Bruh-zx2mc]

How is that a good thing in a show that's meant to capture a more realistic style? Satisfying =/= good.

[@Marbles471]

I like the more dynamic animation, but the real issue is that in some of the scenes, the characters were just SUPER ugly. Some of the animation of Bart and Homer in particular is just grotesque. Some of the shots that were left in the final version look like this --- I think for instance of the shot where Bart and Lisa leap off the couch to get away from Ms. Botz. It really surprises me that even after all this time, nobody has ever really researched the whole affair very much, to try to understand why the situation unfolded the way it did. All we really have are what Silverman, Brooks and Groening claim on that old DVD commentary, and it's very cursory and vague about a lot of things. There's so much that's never been asked of them or written down. Why was Kent Butterworth's unit just utterly not on the same page as David Silverman and the other directors, in terms of how the characters should look and move? Wouldn't they all have been working from the same model sheets and reference materials? And why was the background design so radically different? Butterworth and his crew just seemed to be totally off doing their own thing. As far as I know nobody has ever tried to interview Butterworth and get his side of the story, or specifically ask James L. Brooks and Matt Groening what kind of production process was in place that allowed the different units to diverge so much at first. Countless zillions of words have been written about The Simpsons over the past 34 years, and it's kind of amazing to me that nobody has ever really tried to document the show's earliest production period.

[@311superfly]

Bill pie? Pie in the sky. Artie

[@CruisnEma]

for me is the 1st episode and not the 13th, considering was the 1st created... The xmas one is the 8th in production order, the airing doesn't matter for me.

[@PowerRangerfan]

This pilot almost got the whole series cancelled.

[@slinkyakaslink8653]

1:58 D.oh

[@anonymousnobody326]

Homer looks derpy in the aired version. lol

[@goopyhead]

i like the more offmodel animation idk why

[@angelfabianmesina6099]

Wow

[@Flamefrosty]

I like the cartoony look and feel of the pilot. very looney tunesesqe

[@Aaron-fh6hd]

The pilot feels a lot more like a critique on the American family dynamic, while the episode just feels simpson-y

[@Kilud]

Great. By the way, there´s one thing I don´t understand. There are typical film reel cuts in the unaired version. How did they do it they aren´t here in completed episodes? Not only since DVD, they weren´t there even in the early 90s.

[@CaptainJZH]

What you're seeing in the unaired version is the "workprint" version, where they made a copy of the original film that the animation cels were photographed on, and used that throughout the editing process, so they wouldn't have to worry about messing up the image since it's only for editing purposes. Once they've finalized that cut, then they copy their edits with the original film, which is done a lot more carefully so you don't see the cuts

[@jonjones6764]

Man what a huge improvement!

[@Nickaholic]

My left ear liked the video

[@barneyjuniorYT]

This changed due to the various animation rules broken in the og pilot

[@ninjasniperproductions4476]

Rules that slowly killed The Simpsons.

[@polanco5489]

While I can see why it has to be held back and changed (with it ironically containing one of the smoothest animations the show has to offer, more on that in a bit), I prefer the fluid, wacky animation (and the animation on the first few seasons) over the stiff and lifeless animation any day. It just gives the characters life, while the animation we see today has them moving robotically, but can still have moments of good animation. Hell, some of the original animation are actually kept in the final cut, most memetically, Mrs. Bottz's smooth animation when he threatens Bart to put in the Happy Little Elves tape! How ironic is that?

[@maxfranklinmeans]

Man! The animation in the unaired pilot is even more unsettling than _Bart the Genius._

[@elly12334]

That's why Bart the Genius saved the show from being cancelled

[@miguelc2763]

The animation is the same on 1:03 and 1:16

[@Gameboy-Unboxings]

I can't get over the fact that ill be the same age as marge in a few years.... 😔

[@toll2087]

The pilot has more life to it than the last decade or so of Simpsons episodes

[@spinballpac-man]

The only thing I’d say was better in the final version was all the backgrounds and the part when Bart & Lisa find out who Miss Botz really is. Other than that,not a fan of the new animation,tbh.

[@victorm777ify]

This is so creepy

[@Imagemerald]

sneedsons

[@aortaplatinum]

Holy shit actual animation. The Simpsons would probably be way less boring if the animators were allowed to do anything other than key poses.

[@jerseygirl2811]

I hear Penny Marshall's voice.

[@mechajay3358]

Yes, I get that the pilot was not what the staff wanted or was going for and had to be fixed. And yes, it does fit into what The Simpsons is supposed to look. But personally I really enjoyed the expressiveness of the animation and I felt it gets way to much hate.

[@SuperbbConnor64]

The animation _itself_ is a lot better in the pilot, it’s just the actual drawings and the much less solid movement that makes it kinda feel like a big mess

[@fuzzymanboob-if5hz]

right ear dlc when?

[@AlesterMyersWick]

1:59 D'OH!

[@KairuHakubi]

I always thought that episode kinda felt like a 'first'

[@matheusbr4808]

Very good ✌️✌️✌️✌️✌️ !!!

[@thebarryshow15]

Co-Producer LARINA JEAN ADAMSON Produced By RICK SAKAI Written By WILLIAM BEMILLER Directed By WESLEY ARCHER RICHARD DONNER DAVID SILVERMAN

[@matheusbr4808]

@@thebarryshow15 😀😁🙏✌️✌️✌️👌😆😆😆 !!!

[@elly12334]

Just shows the Kent Butterworth effect right here - The pilot too me isn't as bad as they thought it was... minus most crude off model shots , its actually pretty much better than the untasteful animation the show had later on and its gradient backgrounds really make it stand out , but its understandable why they sticked on to this til the end of the season because some parts of it kinda look more like a fan-animation than an actual legit TV show and that's not good for a TV cartoon , plus its overall artstyle is not really suitable for a show like The Simpsons , not to mention its their own opinion so they do what they want with the show

[@Shotmybiscuit]

1987 vs 1990

[@jamircox8458]

The unneutered pilot was in 1989

[@monkeytimesmagazine3725]

Ok i could understand the consistency of the new animation, but it feels like they drained all of the life and humanity out of the original starillizing it, moreso show dont tell, id rather see the characters emotions being expressed than to have them tell me or be forced to infer

[@Mizzouriboi02]

The unaired pilot is definitely more fun to look at. It would have been nice if they didn’t set so many rules to their animation.

[@SuperPal-tr3go]

The pilot that nearly killed the Simpsons.

[@iknoweverything4959]

I prefer the unaired animation much more, it's just more interesting and fun to look at. Wouldn't have killed the show like the producers thought it would have.

[@randomguyontheinternet7940]

I think it wo5jld have, it doesn't fit with the show tonally and the characters are constantly offmodel, even when they're just standing still. And shots like the kitchen scene are more polished and lively. Also I feel like the show wouldn't have been nearly as popular if this aired as the pilot and not the Christmas Special.

[@iknoweverything4959]

​@@randomguyontheinternet7940 Yes, because Looney Tunes and Ren and Stimpy with it's wild animation was never popular, either...

[@CaptainJZH]

@@iknoweverything4959 the thing was, The Simpsons was trying to prove animation could be for adults too, and slapsticky fluid animation like that would have made it seem juvenile

[@iknoweverything4959]

@@CaptainJZH But during that time, even childrens cartoons from the 80's didn't really have cartoony animation. The Ullman shorts had very cartoony animation, it's not at all a childish thing, more surreal and using the medium to its fullest potential, rather than imitating live action.

[@akieboygaming]

Lol it's so cool that the UN aired pilot had a super fluid dance scene and the aired season finale had a super botz moment

[@JulioDunck]

lol

[@jdogmcfly1712]

Honestly I'm surprised to say I think the pilot looks better

[@TSwany]

Marge being 34 and a mother of 3 is crazy

[@CaptainJZH]

Bart is 10 so she would have been pregnant at 24, which isn't that crazy

[@iaincowell9747]

No it isn't

[@Scottishboy339]

Yeah, Homer being 47

[@olutukko2681]

​@@Scottishboy339he was origibally 33 years old, 37 in season 4. So no they don't have age gap like almost at all

[@Rocket1377]

It really isn't.

[@matheusbr4808]

Algum brasileiro aqui ???

[@joaomacedodeandrade4643]

Eu

[@sodlaflare]

Good thing they changed it otherwise the Simpsons would of been canceled after the first season E: I say that because this was obviously suppose to be Ep1 and if they went with it the rest of the season would have to match the animation style.

[@codezero7981]

I'm glad they changed it.

[@splaatandfriends]

I like episode 13.

[@Waff1ely_YT]

Man the graphics/quality of the unaired pilot is so much different and worse then in season 1 episode 13, also why is there a timer in the unaired episode on the top left side of the screen?

[@CaptainJZH]

You'll find that on a lot of work-in-progress animations it's how people behind the scenes keep track of the length and timing of shots

[@RayManiac90]

Man James l Brooks was right when he called the pilot shit, the animation of the characters is ok but the backgrounds are just terrible

[@louayhamdouni5793]

The pilot is better

[@The.One.True.B]

The original animation looks like it cost 7 dollars

[@Gonig]

What do you mean?? The original had a lot more in-between frames and a much more fluid animation. How would that cost less?

[@The.One.True.B]

@@Gonig it's dull, has odd shapes and set design sometimes, it's jerky and skips frames or something even if there's more. It just looks a lot less production went into it, because that's true.

[@ninjasniperproductions4476]

​@@The.One.True.B Gonig was talking about the original animation in the Pilot, you're describing the show's animation. Please stay on track here.

[@The.One.True.B]

@@ninjasniperproductions4476 I was describing the unaired pilot footage in this video. Idk how that isn’t clear or why you’re being snarky lol

[@ninjasniperproductions4476]

@@The.One.True.B just trollin.

[@FredJensen4745]

They need to cancel The Simpsons before they predict the end of the world. It’s basically only been watched by twelve year olds since the movie came out.