Here is a link to my thoughts on Treehouse of Horror 1-34 down below...
Here is a link to my thoughts on Treehouse of Horror 35 down below...
Treehouse of Horror 36 (2025)
I will mention the beginning section done by a guest animator. Which is becoming more common within Treehouse of Horror episodes. The previous entry had Jorge R. Gutierrez the beginning section as well as the ending credits. This guest animator is Stan Kelly from The Onion. I have to clarify after doing some digging into him.
Kelly makes these parody political cartoons for his satire news show. He does a great job with his unique take for the intro section. Even Matt Groening cameos during this. I also loved they directly referenced the current season number as well. To be honest, this felt the weakest part of the entire Halloween episode.
At the same time, as unexpected it was I guess it's worked a little bit. I do prefer last year's intro animation by far!!! I will confirm beyond that intro you're really in for a great Halloween Simpsons episode. I guess they chosen to start in slow. Likely knowing these segments are going to hit ya like a truck!!!
Before I start talking about the main three stories. I really like the poster they created for this Treehouse of Horror episode. I actually felt this one pops a lot more than I expected. Easily among my favorites for Treehouse of Horror episodes from 2020s. Honestly, it's beautiful creative that tells you what insanity you're in for.
The first segment is The Last Days of Crisco. This is parodying The Blob again just done a little differently. The actual story more like The Last Thanksgiving from Thanksgiving of Horror episode. This creature steals lard from people's bodies effectively killing em. It may not sound scary but seeing what it does to people wow!!!
They actually has it's own parody poster it was great!!! They also parodying Jaws to a degree. Obviously I'm going to compare that aspect to a few Treehouse of Horror stories. Mostly likely Night of the Dolphin from Treehouse of Horror 9. It's similar to the gravy monster absorbing bones from it's victims.
I didn't expect to actually like this more than Married to the Blob from Treehouse of Horror 17. They actually had some rather decent jokes. The actual fat based monster was terrifying. It sorta reminded me of the ooze in the sewers of Ghostbusters 2 funny enough. Which also involved actions of people in a populated location.
In both cases, something beneath the town/city grew up notably larger. To the point, it's civilians became terrorized. This also had some brutal deaths. They even recreated the famous sink death scene from The Blob (1988 version). Surprisingly this is the first death in the segment we see. Of course, the mayor being a greedy prick caused a tragedy knowing this would greatly backfire on him.
The famous Homer with a hat theme catapult does make an appearance. Probably my favorite joke was the creature rips Moe apart not fully. Then the creature uses him like nunchakus. Oh come on I was really didn't expect to see that. At the same time, I did wondered how he still was alive. Not to mention, how amused I was the creature who could easily kill people does this!!!
This actually recreated what made the Blob so scary to people. They found a way to make it more Simpsons like than their last Blob parody. Personally I really enjoyed both those parodies a lot. I was more surprised Mr. Burns wasn't in any of these segments. Neither was the two aliens except their names appears on the twin girls' clothes later on.
You can tell they took time to make sure this was just right. This was a great one to kick things off with. This had the perfect when it needed to be funny. But also when it needed to be scary. Somehow they found the perfect balance for this!!! The protagonist isn't who you expect it to be either. I also gotta mention a lady kept saying the same line every time she shows up on screen was weird!!!
The second segment is Clown Night with the Devil. Yes they previously done a few stories with the Devil. Everyone knows The Devil and Homer Simpson from Treehouse of Horror IV. This time Ned isn't the Devil here. This is the second time someone sells their soul in an Treehouse of Horror story. In a way it's a spiritual successor to the famous Homer story.
I will give them credit what a twist at the end. We get to see Bart go to hell again. Personally my favorite of those was School is Hell in Treehouse of Horror 25. In both cases, Bart sent himself there. Of course they had to do an streaming job. This was quite a freaky Devil story for the show. Watching the Devil forced his way out of Ralph's body wow!!!
This is a parody of a movie called Late Night with the Devil. This one just an handful of it's description. I already knew what hell I was in for. It's one of those ideas I'm actually glad they went for!!! I also loved the Devil's appearance as well. This is why I love it when they have multiple writers for these Simpsons episodes.
This is easily the second best Devil story they ever done by far. This actually had some scary moments. Some rather painful deaths mostly from the Devil himself. I actually love this portrayal of the Devil a lot. I also gotta mention Homer's head gets forced up his butt. Which was rather unexpected when I first fully saw that moment.
I felt this is easily among the better recent Krusty stories in Treehouse of Horror episodes. They also parodied The Exorcist that gets interesting. In a way this also could be seen as a spiritual successor to The Exor-Sis from Treehouse of Horror 28. In that story Maggie gets possessed in a full Exorcist parody.
Then again that final story of the same Treehouse of Horror episode, MMM... Homer freaked me out more. Seriously how did Fox allowed this to aired? Clearly they have a thing for hell it shows. Honestly, I was surprised I actually liked this segment a lot. I actually felt this was well written. Some may criticize the pacing a bit which is understandable.
The final major segment is Plastic World. Some believed it to be a parody of the movie Waterworld. But actually parodying a newer Mad Max spin off movie instead. They didn't do well parodying Mad Max back in Treehouse of Horror 27. Then again that segment started as a parody of The Hunger Games. To be fair after I watched it I do see what they meant by that comparison.
I also love the ambitious animation angles for some of these Simpsons episodes. Just last year worked with the Robot Chicken team for Denim segment. Another unique animation style story they done I absolutely loved was Toy Gory. Treehouse of Horror 31 looked similar enough to Toy Story series.
At a point they swap from the regular animation to this plastic style animation. I always had some interest for shows that experiments with animation styles. A major reason why I love Robot Chicken so much!!! I actually was hyped for all three stories this year.
Lisa leads what was left of humanity. They found funny enough a particular store. They haven't shown on the show in a long time. Kwik-E-Mart with skeletons of Apu and Snake respectively. When the raiders led by her brother Bart shows up. I'm reminded me of Fahreinheit 451 story from Treehouse of Horror presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes.
Both stories involve a group trying to save what they needed. But an opposing group attempts to take it away. Then a huge twist with some of the other Simpsons characters became plastic people. Indirectly this was like a couple Treehouse of Horror stories mostly their zombie stories. The ending really speaks for itself it's amazing as well as unsettling at it's finest.
I would say they nailed Mad Max way better this time around. Some truly impressive animation as well. This was so ambitious they almost failed to had this Halloween episode on time. They literately recently finished the episode right before it aired true story. The first two sections were done months ago. I felt this one hit me the deepest by far.
This final segment kept throwing twists. Somehow each one landed perfectly rather than ruined everything else. Which was often the problem in newer Treehouse of Horror episodes. I also found some of my favorite jokes were in this segment. There's no question, I absolutely loved this segment a lot.
They ended with the perfect segment for this Halloween episode. Again that ending alone completely sold me on everything honestly. Considering it's the most ambitious animation wise it was great!!! I felt this had the best surprises out of the three segments by far. I kept being reminded me of a particular Futurama episode about trash.
Just in case you may not seen the episode I'm referencing. The people of Earth decided to put all their trash into a gigantic trash bag. Then sent this bag out to space which later caused an situation to happen. This was similar since most of the planet was covered in plastic. I guess they never heard of recycling lol.
Somehow the plastic Simpsons characters freaks me out. Parts of their movements was a bit freaky. I absolutely loved an spicey snack caused one of them to melt that's funny!!! The special effects when they melt was mind blowing!!! Yes Maggie cameos when you at least expect it. I also loved nuclear waste caused their transformations.
What's even crazier is in some way Bart dies in every segment of this Halloween episode. The last one occurred off screen but a statute possibly confirmed how he died briefly shown. This could be seen as a spiritual successor to Groundskeeper Willie getting axed. In every segment within Treehouse of Horror 5.
The ending segment has this footage that's slowly going backwards at an angle. You kept seeing plastic versions of several Simpsons characters. Stuff like this was truly amazing. I actually loved this Treehouse of Horror episode a lot. Easily one of the finest among 2020s Halloween episodes. The entire episode was amazingly well done!!!
Now the last thing is which segment was my favorite? My least favorite to be honest I loved all three of these stories myself. The worst regardless which I picked are all recommended to watch. I have to say Clown Night with the Devil. The shortest reason why is I simply had more reasons to like the other two segments more.
To be fair, it's ending was alright compared to how those ended. Other than the little things it was a great story. This is going to be difficult like Treehouse of Horror 35 last year. I really liked two of these segments a lot. I will confirm I do like this more than that Treehouse of Horror episode. Mostly not being crazy for The Information Rage.
Although the other two segments I absolutely loved with a huge passion. Exactly how I felt about these two particular segments. Ultimately what helped made this a bit easier. I decided my favorite segment was the hardest to predict. The one that gotten the most raw emotions out of me. Even if it's by a little bit I prefer Plastic World over The Last Days of Crisco.
The Last Days of Crisco also had some of my favorite jokes. But it also was the most predictable out of the three segments. You can tell they had a lot of fun with this Halloween episode. Plastic World from start to finish ends up being interesting. There's no boring moments at all with that story. Once again that ending was truly amazing!!!
This had the most obstacles going against it from how the entire Halloween episode was created. I really couldn't believe this delivered amazingly well!!! I would even dare to say among my favorite ending segments within 2020s Treehouse of Horror episodes. I am not kidding it's that damn great!!! I even felt it out done Denim from last year that I really enjoyed as well.
I also liked The Last Days of Crisco over it. Which I really wasn't expecting to either. I am not kidding both those segments were well done!!! This actually felt like the classic Treehouse of Horror episodes to a degree. Sure it's somewhat modernize but it still works amazingly well. I really did enjoy the hell out of watching this Halloween episode the first time really speaking volumes!!!
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