The following contains spoilers for The Simpsons season 36 episode, “Yellow Planet,” now streaming on Disney+The Simpsons’parody of nature documentaries in season 36’s “Yellow Planet” has some pretty dark cartoon cameos.The Simpsonshas been increasingly releasing special episodes on the Disney+, with the latest being a clear riff on the National Geographic documentaries that audiences can watch on the streaming service.Many of Springfield’s residentsare reimagined as different creatures from across the animal kingdom, with the common theme being that these are bizarre animals regarded as the “dregs” of the natural order. It’s a cynical but silly approach to the concept that allows the episode to be many things at once.
“Yellow Planet” is a fairly dark but broadly silly episode ofThe Simpsons, with some clever contextualization of classic characters alongside some pretty brutal dark beats befitting the harsh realities of nature. The core storyline in the anthology focuses on Homer and Marge’s romance, set under the sea as a pair of whales who fall in love. This sets up the episode’s biggest cameos of cartoon characters across the Disney umbrella, as well as one of the biggest icons of Nickelodeon animation.
Homer And Marge Eat SpongeBob And Patrick In “Yellow Planet”
SpongeBob And Patrick Get Slaughtered By Homer And Marge
Homer and Marge’s segment inThe Simpsons' season 36 Disney+ episode “Yellow Planet"features some pretty fun (and very brutal) cameos from other underwater mainstays of animation likeSpongeBob SquarePants. Depicted as a beluga and a narwhal, Homer and Marge’s romance is reimagined as whales coming together across species line. As the two fall in love and explore the ocean floor, they quickly eat their way through a collection of undersea characters.Among them are clear parodies of SpongeBob SquarePants and his best friend, Patrick Star, who are quickly killed and devoured.
Although the pair has been given some distinct visual signifiers from their clear inspiration (the SpongeBob variants are orange with fins, while Patrick is recolored to be green) and increased in number, it’s a clear shout-out to the slapstick characters.This isn’t the first timeThe Simpsonshas parodiedSpongeBob SquarePants, although the gruesome nature of the narwhal Marge using a horn to stab multiple Patricks might explain why they look even more different than previous parodies. The Nickelodeon icons are spared the episode’s most gruesome fate, though.
Marge And Homer Rip Ursula Apart Under The Sea
Ursula Gets A Really Gruesome Death In The Simpsons
The sea witch fromThe Little Mermaid, Ursula has become one of the iconic fixtures of the Disney villain canon. This makes her an obvious candidate for a cameo, especially after the role she played in the 2022 Disney+ short “Welcome to the Club” alongside Lisa. Initially, Homer and Marge seem to just be playfully taking her necklace from her so Homer can gift it to Marge. Lowering her guard at the cute sight, Ursula is then caught by surprisewhen the pair literally rip her in half and feast on her innards as the main course of their meal.
It’s a very sudden and violent joke from the show, although not unheard of given some of thedark jokesThe Simpsonshas gotten away with over the years. This one at least does a good job of offsetting the dark but far less violent deaths for the SpongeBob and Patrick parodies.This continuesThe Simpsons' habit of poking fun at Disney every chance they get, especially now that they fall under the conglomerate’s umbrella.
Futurama’s Zoidberg Doesn’t Get Killed In “Yellow Planet”
The Simpsons & Futurama Crossover Moment Doesn’t End In Death
The only notable cameo in the sequence that doesn’t suffer a grisly fate also has an additional connection toThe Simpsons. One of the sea creatures that the pair come across is a version of Zoidberg, the crustacean doctor fromFuturama.The SimpsonsandFuturamashare a core visual style thanks to Matt Groening, who created the former and co-created the latter with David X. Cohen.Zoidberg cameoed previously inThe Simpsonsduring the crossover between the two shows in season 26’s “Simpsorama,” although he remains silent during this cameo.
Zoidberg is also notably the only undersea animation cameo who is not killed and eaten by Homer and Marge. It’s a fun little way forThe Simpsonsto referenceFuturama, especially since the sci-fi comedy has been revived on Hulu and also falls under the larger Disney umbrella.The Simpsonsalways finds clever ways to include references to pop culture amid their social satire and broad comedy, and the latest just happens to be one of the most brutal.
