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Almost each episode has this brief, lead-in
scene that establishes the members of the Simpsons family and some of the characters from Springfield (or at least the title of the show). Most
episodes use the standard opening or a whittled-down variation thereof, and the parts of this standard opening sequence are
described below. After Season One, the opening was changed significantly, with only a portion of the original animation kept for Season Two. These changes are noted. The jump to HD was even more drastic.
Information relating to Season One's opening sequence will be given in blue, and
information pertaining only to later seasons will appear in red.
Further notes on the fully reanimated, high-def, widescreen intro introduced in Season Twenty will appear in green; since this is closer to its predecessor, and to avoid confusion, an absence of green should imply no substantial change in content. Of the new parts, some change; see Don Del Grande's Billboard Openings list and this one as well. (I also suspect that the variables in that list are the reason the "condensed" shortening methods gave way to the simpler removal of midsections as the HD era went on.)
Variations not identified in this document include overall differences in music timing and orchestration between seasons and major versions, length of the delay after Lisa's sax solo (and how older solos are retimed), driveway lengths, and most versions of Homer's utterances in the driveway, along with most things covered in other documents.
Title
Fade in: "Ahh Chorus" synthesizer pad plays.
"The Simpsons" materializes out of a mist on a blue screen.
Clouds part, and "The Simpsons" appears.
Singers intone "The Simpsons..." The camera zooms, and we move through the letter "P" into the swoop.
Most of the time, except in the shortest openings, there is an additional sight gag of a character flying across the screen, making a sound or quote, and occasionally (as noted below) interacting with the lettering itself. The Billboard Openings list covers them and varying parts of the Swoop.
Season One's theme music was a bit cruder, and more... stacatto (for lack of a more descriptive term) than the version used later.
VARIATIONS: Things besides the simple addition of characters and sound to the usual clouds and chorus. (In the SD era, the title rarely had anything extra at all outside of special openings: inaccurate "300th episode" and "301st episode" subtitles on EABF05/EABF07 may be it.)
MABF02, MABF06: Music evokes Wicked Witch of the West (only second use has title chorus)
NABF10: Futurama theme replaces title audio (no chorus, etc.)
NABF16: No chorus, just background music
PABF06, TABF06: "O" in Simpsons becomes a heart when Cupid Ralph shoots it
PABF15: Clouds start out frozen for a few seconds to allow a long sight gag (then usual motion and music)
RABF22: Bond soundalike music and view through gun sight/crosshairs, with a bullet shattering title lettering (no chorus, etc.)
SABF16: Futurama-style title and music instead of clouds and chorus
VABF19: Clouds sucked into a black hole
WABF04 (and WABF05 when used): Music and scat singing (no chorus) in jazzy 1920s/Gatsby style
WABF12: Lettering upside-down, flipped by hand of God
WABF22: Background music in a spooky minor key and goes with Act I
WABF16, XABF20: Lettering and audio are backwards, hand of God turns title around
XABF09: Pan up to the clouds from cold open, chorus new rendition
XABF19: Lettering changes to the merchandise-branding style, but with "SO" becoming "30 years" (this was the 30th season premiere), leading to a countdown clip montage of other seasons
XABF17: Banjo music (no chorus) for Bob's Burgers flavor
XABF22: Audio has the feeling of a very old episode
YABF04: Audio goes with couch gag (no chorus)
YABF08: Gray and snowy visuals (for gag)
YABF09: Gray and rainy visuals (matching establishing shot it leads to)
ZABF01: Gray and snowy visuals, Christmas music and no chorus
ZABF06: Gray and snowy visuals (matching establishing shot it leads to)
QABF13: Spy music audio (no chorus) goes with Act I
UABF03: Gray and snowy visuals, no chorus, "magical" music goes with Act I
UABF04: Black and white, more of an old-timey lead-in on music, to go with Act I
UABF06: Bagpipe version of music (no chorus) goes with Act I
OABF02: Gray and snowy visuals for typical Christmas theme
OABF04: Clouds change from blue to gray/rainy and music gets ominous, as title is "Moe Szyslak" sung by him with a discordant chorus; practically a special opening but I like it here (note that unlike most similar parodies it does NOT transition through a letter's counter, using a dissolve instead, even though that O is right there)
OABF09: Audio played on accordion and sung by "Weird Al" Yankovic to match couch gag
OABF18: Audio in ominous tone with familiar three notes (no chorus)
Springfield Swoop
Flying through the loop, we focus on one purple cooling tower. We see the power plant welcome sign, and Springfield Prison behind the plant. We fly over the power plant and tire yard, toward downtown Springfield. We move up the street past "Painless Dentistry / Candy Dandy" / the town square (lingering as Kearney and Jimbo cut the head off the statue, which lands on Ralph's head, prompting him to say something), then past the Android's Dungeon and Lard Lad (where the crow alights on the donut) and a humorous billboard of some kind, toward the purple / orange colored elementary school. The infamous streetlamp glitch happens as we move toward the school -- it snaps violently to the right (this is only in a handful of episodes in seasons 2-20). We move through the school window...
Season One's swoop is relatively crudely animated, and was redone. The difference in perspective is especially noticeable, for instance in the power plant's cooling towers -- which looked quite flat in Season One's opening. The newest opening spends a lot more time on the previous gags, so the pan to SES and Bart's classroom window is quicker, with slightly less time to read the gag before it's all in view. Also, this shot puts two windows between the front door and Bart's classroom; they are gone when he exits!
VARIATIONS: Everything is covered in the billboard openings list, but a few swoops have additional objects:
VABF14: Nelson on a ladder spray painting the billboard
YABF08: A helicopter crashes into the billboard
Also, in some episodes, the timing of Ralph and Barney (later) sounds a bit off, e.g. RABF05 (early), VABF10 (early-ish), ZABF02 (late), but that's just an observation, not an exhaustive list.
Chalkboard Gag
(A) Bart writes on the chalkboard. Three pieces of stick-figure art hang next to Bart. There is a clock showing 3:00 PM, and wastebasket to Bart's right. A portrait hangs on the right side of the blackboard. A bookcase full of books sits behind him. Now the portrait is of Homer as an astronaut. He hears the bell, and leaves the class, (B) bursting out the front doors of the school, and flying gleefully past the flagpole. The sidewalk is crudely drawn, and there is no building... just a green grassy field and trees. Bart passes a three-story glass and concrete building, a four-story orange colored building, and some trees and bushes. Roughly the same but fully animated; now the sidewalk has Willie raking a pile of leaves, which Bart skates through, uncovering a drunk Barney beneath, who belches or utters something.
The sequence of Bart writing on the blackboard was actually redone. The animation was also much smoother as Bart bursts out the door, and the perspective problem is corrected.
Some openings include this segment only up to the departure from the classroom. Chalkboard Gag (A) refers to the shortened version, since it omits part (B).
Details on Chalkboard Gags
VARIATIONS: Episodes where the difference is not limited to what's on the board. (Barney variations are in the billboard openings list.) (See also YABF11.)
EABF05: Bart stops writing and chops up the board with an axe, laughs as he runs out; music vamps during the swoop to make time (this was in celebration of the "300th" episode and an unprecedented modification, the opening occupying its own category until such things became far more commonplace)
HABF09: The classroom is flipped around to go with the chalkboard gag
JABF22: Bart laughs as he leaves school
MABF18: Chalkboard punishment is all over the classroom walls and Banksy (guest artist) graffiti is on school exterior (only at exit)
PABF07: Bart has Milhouse writing, text is in Comic Sans
PABF21: Bart is dressed in a tearaway white suit, rips it off as he leaves
RABF09: The blackboard is a whiteboard, text is in Comic Sans
RABF12: Chalkboard crumbles
RABF18: Not much writing animation (for somber Mrs. Krabappel goodbye)
TABF12: Bart has Lisa writing
VABF11: Bart has Skinner writing
XABF04: Bart has Homer writing
XABF08: Bart flips the board through the wall to reveal a second message (music vamps a few times to accommodate extension)
(XABF11: Bart has Homer writing)
YABF14: Bart flips the board through the wall to reveal Nelson taped to the other side (no extra time)
ZABF11: Lisa (alone) writes on the board
YABF13: Usual timing and motions, but Bart, Barney, and Willie are all absent (a single line of text reminds us why school is vacant)
ZABF12: Bart has Homer writing, and both exit the room (although only Bart goes out the front door); in what might be an editing mistake, a faint bell sound is heard early before the ordinary one
OABF13: Lots of extra characters are hanging around for 750th episode
Homer Leaves Work
Hearing the quitting whistle, Homer gleefully removes his mask, and the glowing rod he was holding pops down his shirt. A bald man stands behind Homer, eating a sandwich that he's holding with a pair of tongs.
Behind Homer is Mr. Burns on the left, and Mr. Smithers on the right. As the whistle blows, they look away from a blueprint at each other. Burns looks at Homer, then puts his watch to his ear and shakes his wrist.
Behind Homer, Lenny tries to swap a "3" for a "2" on the "days without an accident" sign, but falls off his ladder onto Carl, wailing.
The caution sign over Homer's head has two holes on the right side, both blank / a green light on top, and a red light on the bottom / been removed entirely.
VARIATIONS: Lenny sometimes calls out something else as he falls.
VABF14: "Uh oh!"
VABF15 (and XABF11): "Oh, not again!"
OABF13: Lots of extra characters are hanging around for 750th episode
Grocery Check-Out
Marge reads "Mom Monthly" in the check out line; Maggie is scanned. Marge is relieved to see Maggie in the cart.
"Feeble" (a "People" parody?) magazine is seen on the shelf. $847.63 is what Maggie costs (no change from the first season but slightly more legible). Colors are brighter, more orange than red, as in Season One.
Behind Marge are Patty and Selma with a cart full of Laramies. Preceding Maggie on the belt are a bottle of Tomacco Juice, a box of Mr. Sparkle, and a box of Krusty-Os. The price reads 243.26 before Maggie is scanned and 486.52 (double that) after.
Marge looks mildly concerned, but smiles well before Maggie pops out of the bag. Pan to show Gerald sitting in his own cart and bag; the babies shake their fists at each other.
VARIATIONS:
VABF15: When Maggie passes over the scanner, the display says "READ AGAIN" instead of 486.52
WABF19: Maggie comes out of the bag with a bottle of Szechuan Sauce (a Rick and Morty reference)
(XABF11: Gerald holds up a "Happy 635th" banner)
(UABF15: In end-credits gag of running opening quickly in reverse, the blank display changes to "REFUND", and it plays best as shown, with the word appearing as Maggie is "un-scanned" and placed on the belt)
OABF13: Lots of extra characters are hanging around for 750th episode, Maggie scans at 750.00
(35ABF12: In "Bart's Brain" opening sequence parody, the brain takes the price from 243.26 to "FRESH BRAIN")
Lisa's Sax Solo
We pan across school orchestra room. Lisa's sax solo is high-pitched compared to later seasons. After the second season, what she plays really varies, as documented in the list linked below. Largo dismisses Lisa, who walks out the door playing her sax.
People in the room (right to left): African-American kid, brown haired boy playing bass violin (back row), blonde girl with pigtails (front row), Largo, thin, curly haired girl (back row), blue haired girl, yellow haired boy.
Back row: Lewis (cymbals?) ready to crash, small pupiled African-American boy, a well groomed boy playing tuba, thin girl with purple hair playing french horn (on shoulder?), bulgy eyed boy holding blue trombone, nasty looking buck-toothed boy with green trumpet, large girl with bulgy eyes and a large nose holding a trumpet(?), hidden student, Lewis (again?), Beethoven's bust on cabinet.
Front row: red head girl in pigtails playing clarinet (front of Lewis), boy with green glasses playing clarinet, thin girl, with a large nose playing a green horn, nerdy boy wearing glasses and a green shirt playing horn, red head girl wearing a Lisa-like dress playing clarinet, Milhouse playing horn, Sherri & Terri playing flutes, Lisa playing sax.
As with many crowd scenes, this is cleaned up. Recognizable characters include (back row, right to left) Wendell, Database, Martin, Richard, and Lewis, and (front row, right to left) Janey, Milhouse, Sherri and Terri (playing video games!), and Lisa. Largo dismisses Lisa earlier, showing her longer; at the end of her solo, she ducks inside briefly for a flourish and smiles. This part may be of variable length, and a split second longer than the previous opening. Starting at the end of Season Twenty-One, her instrument occasionally becomes a trumpet, tuba, harp, theremin...
Details on Lisa's Sax Solos
VARIATIONS: Alternate instruments are seen when they are played, as listed in the sax solo page. In addition...
NEW BAND ROOM WALLS (a bulletin board behind Largo becomes a sign reading "andante arpeggio baritone", nondescript posters near the exit become (left) a sign with "Polonaise" above a few measures of music and (right) a portrait of Chopin): VABF15, (WABF01,) WABF19, WABF20, XABF07, (XABF11 with one more sign,) YABF03, YABF14, ZABF05, ZABF13, (UABF15 end-credits gag,) OABF13 (along with lots of other characters but no Chopin poster) (and 35ABF12 Act I gag)
Homer Driving
Homer drives down the street, uncomfortably discovering the rod in his back. He pulls it out, and throws it from the window. It lands in front of Moe's Tavern.
Bart Skateboarding
The rod bounces away... and the dust clears. No dust now; the rod lands on Otto, sitting on a bench, who eats it (the rod) with a grunt. Bart comes by on his skateboard, with pursed lips in a half grin. His right foot sticks off the board, as he grabs the lamppost to help him make the corner.
He skates past a pet store, and a TV store with many screens of Krusty which he turns to and faces. In passing, he grabs the bus stop sign and takes it with him. On a passing bus, a sign says "Can't get enough of that wonderful Duff."
Passengers: Bored bus driver, (first seat) dark skinned man looking out at camera, and primmed up Bart-looking man, (second seat) red haired, white skinned lady, (third seat) man rolling his eyes, woman with light blue hair, (fourth seat) tall, spindly woman with light blue hair and a pointy nose, (last seat) stocky man with purple hair.
The people waiting take off and chase the bus as Marge and Maggie round the corner.
People waiting: A brunet scowling man, an overweight redheaded woman, an older "el Barto type", a shorter, fatter spiky haired man, and a woman with white hair in a Chinese robe.
This sequence is several measures longer than the one it was replaced by.
Bart skates in with a big grin, past a store with an "Open" sign as he turns the corner... he makes a much better turn, with both feet on the board.
He passes Helen Lovejoy, carrying bags from the Springfield Mall, passes a book store, dodges to the right, passes Apu with a small dog on a leash, dodges left, passes Moe holding a towel standing in his doorway, passes an approaching Barney (who belches) on his right, passes Jacques (who's walking right) carrying a bowling ball, and dodges left. TV screens with Krusty appear in the window. Bart looks for a minute, then grins again. He passes Bleeding Gums Murphy, who's facing the street with a sax around his shoulder. He passes Chief Wiggum standing on the corner, who yells and shakes his baton as Bart crosses the street. The town square, with the Jebediah Springfield statue, is seen in the background. Marge's car comes from the right, and turns on to the street Bart crossed.
Bart skates by and turns the corner. He passes Sideshow Bob swinging a sword with a whoosh, Helen Lovejoy, Apu and his kids, Moe (at Moe's), CBG, Disco Stu (who protests, sometimes audibly - "ho!" or nothing in season 20, "oomp!" in season 21), a window of TVs showing Krusty, Eleanor Abernathy (crazy cat lady), the Rich Texan (who shoots his guns), and Wiggum (who waves his nightstick). He zooms over a manhole cover, and Moleman pops out from underneath. Marge's car slams the cover down with a clang as it comes around the corner.
VARIATIONS:
JABF22, JABF17: voices are supplied for the characters Bart skates past (including Helen Lovejoy, whose voice actress Maggie Roswell was in both episodes already)
LABF01, LABF05: Season 20 openings where Disco Stu is mute
LABF02, LABF03, LABF07, LABF12: Season 20 openings where Stu says "ho!" (instead of "oomp!" of 21 up)
MABF11: Sideshow Bob taunts Bart instead of the sword whoosh (it was a Bob episode)
WABF19, WABF20: Stu says nothing again (it'd been 4.5 years since the last full openings, so maybe someone forgot!)
OABF13: Lots of extra characters are hanging around for 750th episode AND Stu stays mute (another 5.5 years!)
(35ABF12: In case you were wondering, Stu is silent but still appears to cry out in "Bart's Brain")
Marge Driving
A smiling Marge and Maggie round the corner in a red sedan.
Close up of a walleyed Maggie steering. Far shot of another tight curve (by a farm), which they make. Low shot of car approaching... Close up of Maggie steering again. Low shot of car approaching... They make another turn. Inside, the view pulls back to show Maggie's only steering a toy wheel. Maggie looks at Marge, then looks back at the road. They look at each other, then honk the horn.
In later seasons, the car was orange in color. Now, Grampa is seen in the passenger seat during the Marge reveal (but not until then), with Maggie in the middle. When they honk he wakes up confused and loses his dentures.
Lisa On Her Bike
Close-up on Lisa wobbling back and forth on her bike, with a large stack of books in the bike basket and a guitar-shaped instrument case behind her. She hits a bump, and all the books fly into the air... restrained by bungees. She makes a right turn (to our left) down the street. She jumps off her bike in the driveway, grabbing her books and instrument case. The bike moves into the garage, the door already opening for Homer's car, as Lisa runs to the door.
Lisa's bike and the start of the driveway sequence are several measures longer than the pan and start of driveway in later seasons.
Pan Across Springfield
A zip-pan left to right... highway, streetlamp, trees, Milhouse throwing a baseball, kids playing in a yard, Nelson and thugs with kid in trashcan, Richard and Lewis, Jimbo threatening Martin, old folks in rocking chairs (The Glicks?), Patty and Selma suntanning with cone bikini tops, Kent Brockman reporting, Sherri and Terri holding hands, Herman, Grampa and Jasper holding a book singing(?), retirement castle, man reading the retirement castle sign, old folks walking out (like those that Marge sees holding hands in 7G11), man holding thumbs up, Lou & Eddie behind a barricade, Dr. Marvin Monroe holding a clipboard, Wendell with his head out of the bus ready to vomit, Dr. Hibbert comparing notes with Monroe, blonde girl, cat-eye glass girl in street, Otto next to broken down bus, another blonde girl, bucktoothed boy from orchestra in street, strange looking mountain, a bluebird that Maude sees, Flanders house, Ned and Todd holding another bluebird, Simpson house...
The new pan is close, with many of the same gags and objects. People include Agnes and Seymour Skinner, Chalmers, Milhouse playing ball with Richard and Lewis, Willie on his tractor, Ralph playing on Frank Grimes' grave, Martin about to be beaten by the three bullies, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Quimby and Miss Springfield wearing each other's sashes, some sort of magician (???), the sea captain holding a 3-eyed fish, Patty and Selma still sunbathing in those suits, Cletus and Brandine with a pig, Kang and Kodos in a UFO, Burns and Smithers, Kent and a cameraman, Sherri and Terri still playing video games, Krusty smoking on a wall with "El Barto" graffiti, Bumblebee Man and Luigi watching the UFO, Eddie and Lou at the bus roadblock, Snake stealing Lou's gun, Fat Tony with Legs and Louie burying someone, Miss Hoover changing the flat tire on the broken-down bus, Wendell still leaning out of the bus (sick), kids in front including Janey, Dr. Hibbert with a clipboard (but no Monroe), Duffman, Jessica Lovejoy, Mr. Teeny and Sideshow Mel, God (whose head is off-screen) fighting the devil (who's standing on a tower), and finally Rod and Todd playing in their yard, then the Simpson house.
Driveway
Homer's car comes from left to right, makes the turn into the driveway and stops. From the right, Bart one-hops his skateboard across Homer's car. Homer gets out just in time to see Marge's car. He screams a short scream, and runs into the garage as her car pulls in behind. Looking over his shoulder frightened, he opens the door.
The garage door is still closed, and there's no oil stain. The door begins to open, and Homer gets out glaring at Bart, slamming the door. He dodges Lisa on her bike with a "d'oh". Lisa takes her bike up to the front door. He steps back out and screams as Marge's car approaches... He looks over his left shoulder, then his right as he runs into the garage.
Oil stain is back. The main change is that instead of running away from Marge's car and screaming, Homer is hit with the car and flattened on the hood; instead of running through the door, he is hurled grunting through it by inertia, leaving a Homer-shaped hole. Every time.
VARIATIONS:
SHORT OPENINGS WITH FULL OPENING MUSIC (instead of the usual accompaniment from the start of the theme until Marge's car chases Homer, the driveway music jumps straight to the end of the theme, about where the pan would take place): SABF15, SABF18, ZABF07, ZABF19, QABF02, QABF05, QABF11, QABF14, UABF21
RABF22: Homer says "not again!" (compare to usual variety of grunts and screams)
VABF15: Homer has the couch manual (for couch gag) in his hand when hit by Marge's car
XABF17: Music stays in banjo rendition for Bob's Burgers theme of opening
YABF13: View zooms in on Homer on transition to couch gag
OABF13: Lots of extra characters are hanging around for 750th episode
ALTERNATE INSTRUMENTS ON LISA'S BIKE: See sax solo page; sometimes it's still a sax even when she plays something else for the solo, and in YABF01, which has no solo, it's a harp
Couch Gag
The family (usually) runs in and sits on the couch... see the Couch Gags page for more information. What we call a couch gag has broadened considerably over the years, and the line is most blurred by the occasional mini-stories (often by guest animators) that have little to do with couches, the living room, the returning-home narrative, etc., and by the more and more common elimination of opening components before and after the couch gag. Sometimes it's just a judgment call between couch gag and special opening (or Act I), but this is pretty generous and reasonable.
The couch is brown, and TV set is orange. A mouse hole is seen. The painting is a crooked nature painting of a pond.
The TV set is blueish purple, and the rabbit ears are more sophisticated. The painting is a crooked sailboat pic. A mouse hole is seen. Mostly the same, but the TV is now a thin WS HD model, with the bent rabbit-ears still on top.
Details on the Couch Gags
Credits
The TV set (close-up) is orange-brown, with an antenna to the top left. Bottom of TV: Dials (3) are green and there are two buttons (DD bb D).
Dials on right of set: Two on top, blue speaker below. On top of TV: VCR with two buttons. Rabbit ears on top.
Again, a widescreen set, with four unmarked buttons on the right, speakers below. A VCR or some unit is on top still.
Created by Matt Groening. Developed by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Sam Simon. Fade out. Occasionally (when this was new), the TV mount rips out of the wall, showing some ripped sparking wires and RCA connectors poking out of a hole in the wall. Glass-crashing sound and sparks are heard.
VARIATIONS: (TV falls off wall at the end: 8 early LABFs and NABF02, see Billboard Openings.)
A lot of episodes, especially in the HD era, have different music or visuals (or enhancements to the usual) for this part. Because the vast majority of them are either continuations of the couch gag or themed to go with it, they will not be broken down in detail. Special openings (Treehouse of Horror and Christmas in particular) are not listed, nor are differences between short and long versions of the end of the theme (or slight reorchestrations such as in LABF02), or occasions the music bleeds over into Act I.
DIFFERENT MUSIC (or additional sound) BASED ON COUCH GAG: GABF20/HABF16, HABF04/JABF08, LABF18, MABF19, NABF13/NABF21, NABF17, PABF11, PABF13, PABF16, PABF21, RABF05, RABF09, RABF18, RABF19, RABF22, SABF04, SABF09, SABF14, SABF16, SABF19, TABF05, TABF06, VABF15, WABF20, XABF17, ZABF07, UABF10, OABF09, OABF19
DIFFERENT VISUAL STYLE (or extra visuals) BASED ON COUCH GAG: VABF12 (with awkward music repeat), VABF21
BOTH: 7G02/7G07, KABF03/KABF10, NABF18, RABF12, SABF06, SABF08, SABF17, VABF10, VABF20, XABF14, YABF12, ZABF01, QABF19
OTHER:
2F31: Matt Groening's name removed at his request
RABF07: Credits are in the audiovisual style of a Woody Allen movie to match Act I
(WABF01: TV is precariously balanced on boxes and leads directly to storyline of Act I)
OABF13: Credits are preceded by a boast about the 750th episode (why not in clouds?), causing an awkward music repeat
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