The Color Yellow (21 Feb. 2010)

While searching for an admirable ancestor for a class project, Lisa discovers the story of a relative named Eliza Simpson, who may or may not have helped a slave escape to freedom.

Director:

Raymond S. Persi

Writers:

Matt Groening (creator), James L. Brooks (developer),

Stars:

Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Dan Castellaneta	...	Homer Simpson / Groundskeeper Willie / Grampa Simpson / Hiram Simpson / Patrolman #1 / Krusty (voice)
Julie Kavner	...	Marge Simpson / Mabel Simpson (voice)
Nancy Cartwright	...	Bart Simpson / Ralph Wiggum / Nelson Muntz / Kearney (voice)
Yeardley Smith	...	Lisa Simpson / Eliza Simpson (voice)
Hank Azaria	...	Patrolman #2 / Abraham Lincoln (voice)
Harry Shearer	...	Principal Skinner / Montgomery Burns / Colonel Burns / Smithers (voice)
Wren T. Brown	...	Virgil (voice)
Pamela Hayden	...	Milhouse Van Houten / Milford Van Houten / Martha's Girlfriend (voice)
Tress MacNeille	...	Martha the Librarian (voice)
Maggie Roswell	...	Miss Hoover (voice)
Karl Wiedergott	...	Interviewer (voice)

Storyline

Whilst researching for her family tree Lisa uncovers the 1860 diary of little Eliza Simpson,who helped Colonel Burns' slave Virgil escape to Canada but the diary ends abruptly and at the school project Milhouse informs her that Eliza in fact helped put Burns on Virgil's trail. Fortunately Grampa knows the true ending to the story,which accounts for why the Simpsons have Negro blood in them.

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Plot Keywords:

diary | escape | slave | canada | family tree | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Footnote in Mabel Simpson's cookbook: "After the patrollers left, the circus clown made the following comment, which suggests an unusual aptitude for predicting twenty-first century currency values: 'Why do I always ask for a nickel? That's like twenty bucks in 2010 money.' It may have been intended as humorous, although my daughter didn't mention anyone laughing. This clown seemed to say many things that were humorous to him, but not to those around him, nor to me. But since my daughter repeated them all, I thought I would record them here. Enjoy them, people of the future!"

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Goofs

Actually a prochronism, Lisa's ancestor is shown living in a log cabin in mid-1800s Canada, but the Canadian flag shown outside is the red and white maple leaf design which wasn't invented until 1964 and didn't become official until 1965, a time difference of over 100 years.

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Quotes

Bart Simpson: [after blowing up a tree stump] Wait, here comes the mykia.
Groundskeeper Willie: What's a mykia?
[the stump falls on Skinner's car]
Principal Skinner: My Kia!

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Connections

References Sesame Street (1969)

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Soundtracks

"O Canada"
(uncredited)
Music by Calixa Lavallée
Lyrics by Adolphe-Basile Routhier

User Reviews

A historic episode with more of the Simpsons family history.

The color yellow is a great Simpsons episode,and it has more stuff shown of the Simpsons family history,it starts off with MRS Hoever having no idea for what the students of the fourth grade to learn about this week and she looks outside and sees Groundskeeper Willie stuck on the bottom of a tree,so MRS Hoever then decides to make the class do a family tree,and Lisa looks forward to learning more about her family until she sees pictures of the Simpsons in around the 1800s and finds that half her family were criminals,she then goes up to the attic and discovers a diary of a girl called Elisa Simpson and finds out that see tried to save a black man called Virgil (voiced by Wren T. Brown) from slavery,the color yellow is a great Simpsons episode and I liked how it showed more of the Simpsons family history.