"Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 3, 1992. The plot follows Bart continually getting in trouble, and how Homer is unable to give him any suitable punishment. Marge gets Homer to agree to make a punishment stick, and he forbids Bart to see the new Itchy & Scratchy movie for not watching Maggie.

The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Rich Moore. During the table read of the script, the first act received many laughs, but the second act got little positive reaction, leading Al Jean to believe that the script would require a huge rewrite, although the third act also received a positive reaction. The shot of the Korean animation studio angered the Korean animators at Rough Draft Korea; Gregg Vanzo, the overseas director, felt insulted and nearly sent the scene back.

The episode features the first appearance of Bumblebee Man, who is a caricature of "El Chapulín Colorado" ("The Red Grasshopper"), a character created and portrayed by Mexican television comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños. The marquee says Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie has been re-released on a bill with Beauty and the Beast (1991). Homer and Bart are seen silhouetted against the screen, a reference to Mystery Science Theater 3000. Bart can be seen reading Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie: The Novel by Norman Mailer.

Reception

During the fourth season, The Simpsons usually aired on a Thursday, but "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" aired on a Tuesday because the executives at Fox had wanted to air an episode during the 1992 presidential election results because they felt it would mean increased ratings. Instead, the episode dropped from its normal audience.

In the spring of 2002, the episode was released in the United Kingdom on a DVD collection titled The Simpsons Film Festival, along with the season eleven episode "Beyond Blunderdome", the season seven episode "22 Short Films About Springfield", and the season six episode "A Star Is Burns".

Gary Russell and Gareth Roberts, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide called it a "superb episode", especially "[Homer]'s suggestion for punishing Bart's misbehaviour is to give him a present, and his trick for avoiding jury duty is 'to say you're prejudiced against all races.'" Nathan Ditum of Total Film ranked "Steamboat Itchy" as the show's 46th best film parody. In 2014, The Simpsons writers picked "Steamboat Itchy" from this episode as one of their nine favorite "Itchy & Scratchy" episodes of all time.

Nathan Rabin writes that "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" "isn’t just funny and sweet: It’s also the definitive parody of event-movie mania, though it’s as much a loving tribute to the hubbub and frenzy surrounding a truly epic event movie as it is a spoof", likening the release of the movie within the episode to the release of The Simpsons Movie fifteen years later.

References

it:Episodi de I Simpson (quarta stagione)#Grattachecca e Fichetto: il film

fi:Simpsonit (4. tuotantokausi)#Rangaistus (Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie)