Kamp Krusty

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Kamp Krusty
Season 4 Episode 1
Production Code	8F24
Original Airdate	September 24 1992
Written By	David M. Stern
Directed By	Mark Kirkland
Show Runners	Al Jean & Mike Reiss
Special Guests
Blackboard Text	"This punishment is not boring and pointless"

"Kamp Krusty" is the first episode of 'the fourth season. It was first broadcast in the USA on September 24th 1992.

Plot

After waking up from a dream about destroying Springfield Elementary, Bart joins Lisa at the breakfast table, where they excitedly discuss spending the summer at Kamp Krusty, a summer camp run by Krusty the Clown. But Homer has made Bart's visit conditional on him getting at least a C average on his report card. At school, Bart receives a D- in each subject from his teacher, Ms. Krabappel. On the bus ride home, he uses a marker to change each grade to an A+. Bart presents the card to his dad, but Homer sees through the ruse and chides Bart for not faking plausible grades ("a D turns into a B so easily.") But Homer decides to let Bart go to Kamp Krusty anyway because he doesn’t want Bart “hanging around” all summer.

A week later, the children of Springfield all leave for Kamp Krusty. Once there, the camp's director, Mr. Black, announces that Krusty won't be coming to the camp for some time. The camp’s counsellors are revealed to be Springfield Elementary bullies, Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney. Kamp Krusty quickly turns out to be a nightmare. The cabins are falling apart, the lake is too dangerous to swim in, and the kids are fed nothing but Krusty Brand Imitation Gruel (“Nine out of ten orphans can’t tell the difference”). Meanwhile, Homer and Marge are having a wonderful summer together. Lisa sends a letter home, describing how the kids are forced to make wallets for export, and hikes have become brutal forced marches, but Marge and Homer think she's exaggerating. Bart survives each day with the unwavering hope that Krusty will come. Krusty himself, unaware of any of this, is enjoying himself at Wimbledon.

Mr. Black announces to the campers that Krusty has finally come, but it's merely Barney Gumble dressed as Krusty. Bart finally snaps; he leads the campers in rebellion, driving out Mr. Black and the bullies, and establishing Camp Bart. After news reporter Kent Brockman reports on the revolt, Krusty arrives at the camp to apologize to the kids. To make it up to the children, Krusty takes all the kids to Tijuana, Mexico. The episode ends with a montage of the kids having an excellent time.

Production

The idea that the kids should go to a camp run by Krusty was first suggested by David M. Stern. The animators were enthusiastic about making this episode because they had all gone to summer camps as children and they thought it would be a fun episode to write for. This was also the last episode to be animated at Klasky Csupo After the premiere of the episode, James L. Brooks called the writers and said that the Kamp Krusty script should be made into The Simpsons Movie. However, the episode ran very short, and to make the episode barely fit the maximum time the Kamp Krusty Song had to be lengthened by a number of verses. As Al Jean told Jim, “If we can’t make 18 minutes out of this episode how are we supposed to make 80?”

Cultural references

• Some elements of the plot are borrowed from the Allan Sherman song Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, a song about a kid who went to camp and hated it. The idea for the song sung by the children was from a 60’s TV show called Camp Runamuck, which has a theme song that is similar to the Kamp Krusty song.

• The slogans "The Krustiest place on Earth!" (Kamp Krusty) and "The happiest place on Earth!" (Tijuana, Mexico) are plays on the slogan for Disney Land, "The Happiest Place on Earth!" Additionally, Black mentions that he was previously head of Euro Krustyland before it “blew up”, a parody of the unpopularity of Euro Disneyland.

• Lisa's description of how the camp's art & crafts is a "Dickensian workhouse" is similar to the theme of Charles Dickens classic novel Oliver Twist where children in Victorian England worked long hours and were essentially slaves. Also, (imitation) gruel is seen multiple times.

• Kent Brockman states "Ladies and Gentleman, I've been to Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq..." The latter two was a reference to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the First Gulf War, although it may have also been possible Kent Brockman may have been reporting on the Iran-Iraq War

• The scene where Kearney beats a drum to make the campers work in the sweatshop is taken from the slave galley scene in the 1959 film Ben Hur. It is also a reversal of the issue of products being produced by child labour in Asia and sold in the United States; ("Come on, wimps! These Gucci wallets have to be on the streets of Hong Kong by Friday!")

• The scene where Lisa gives a bottle of whiskey to a man on horseback (payment for delivering a letter) is a reference to Meryl Streep's scene from the film The French Lieutenant's Woman

• The scene where the children endure a torturous walk through a jungle is reminiscent of the Bataan Death March. Also, Bart, Lisa and Milhouse run for cover from falling rocks just like Buster Keaton in the 1925 film Seven Chances

• The campers use a block & tackle to tear down a Krusty totem pole, which is similar to people tearing down statues and monuments in fall of Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy, the destruction of Nazi Germany, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

• Some aspects of the episode are references to the film/novel Lord of the Flies (a pig's head on a spear, kids using primitive weapons and wearing war paint and a burning effigy.)

• Krusty has a "superfluous third nipple" just like the Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun

• The episode ends with the song "South of the Border", which is sung by Gene Merlino impersonating Frank Sinatra.

• In the video game The Simpsons Hit and Run, Kamp Krusty can be found in levels three and six. It contains numerous references to the episode, such as the pig’s head on a stake and the “Camp Bart” flag.

Continuity

• When Lisa is handing out confiscated mail to the campers, it is revealed that Ralph's last name is Wiggum. This was not supposed to be revealed until the episode I Love Lisa, where Chief Wiggum is shown as Ralph’s father.

• Both of Dolph's eyes are seen in this episode, as he is wearing a hair net when working in the kitchen. Normally only one eye of his is seen as he has long hair that covers one.

• Despite the fact that Martin Prince is locked up in the weight management retreat, he is seen singing the Kamp Krusty song with all the other children.

External links

• "Kamp Krusty" at The Simpsons.com
• "Kamp Krusty" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Kamp Krusty" at TV.com