@@610Hobbies they should have let it die and carried on with futurama. There is only so much you can do with a cartoon about a family, while futurama allowed them to choose any setting at any time pretty much.
@@mechcommander7876 It's much more faithful than most adaptations that actually TRY to be faithful. Well, claim to try to be faithful. Looking at YOU, M. Night Shaboobala.
As a kid i didn’t really grasp and thought was weird for the show to to do a whole segment on the Raven poem. Since it didn’t feel like something the Simpsons would do overall, but it has really grown on me in recent years just for how beautiful it captures the classic poem. Everything is spot on, James Earl Jones himself narrating in his wonderful baritone that i can listen to for hours. Dan Castellaneta managing to capture the poem and keeping in character as Homer is a major testament to his acting ability. Especially the part when he raves against the Raven, that had me in awe of how well he captured the anger and still made me laughed out loud all the way, especially “Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!” The animation, the setting of the Poem and the wonderful music that is some of Alf Causen’s best work for the show. Especially at the end with the footage of Homer sitting in defeat as Bart Raven adorns on his door. Its just so wonderful and really captures the magic of Edgar Poe’s work.
@@mk-ou5si The full poem is longer, but they kept the essence: the narrator is mourning a lost love. He's obsessing so much that he's not able to focus on anything else, and startling at every sound. He opens the window when something taps at it and a bird flies in. He's pleased at first; it's a distraction from his grief. He asks it a silly question (what is your name, bird?) But ravens, like parrots, can mimic human speech, and this one has just one word: Nevermore. That's where his obsession sends him spiraling. He *could* ask the bird anything, but he's halfway mad with grief already, so he keeps asking the bird about things that he hopes will happen (will I be able to forget Lenore? will I see Lenore again in heaven?) He's always going to get the same answer, the raven only says one thing. He could have asked, say, 'when I see Lenore in heaven, will we ever be parted again?' Nevermore would be a good answer for that! But no. He's driving *himself* mad by only asking questions where the answer will destroy him. So he gets mad, and demands the raven leave, but of course all it can say to that is... nevermore. He crushes his own hope and falls into a despair he will never recover from. It's a great little scene that doesn't require any supernatural agency, just a man projecting his own obsession onto the world around him and seeking his own destruction.
One of Dan's more underrated performances, especially at 3:17. He just perfectly transitions from a genuinely emotional read like you'd expect from a straightforward rendition of the poem to "annoyed Homer" at the "Take thy beak from out my heart" bit.
Weirdly enough, i really liked this segment as a kid, even though I didnt know a thing about the poem nor did I understand it at that age. just seeing homer chase a bart shaped bird around to a spooky backdrop entertained me.
Those last verses though, and in James Earl Jones narration. "And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted-nevermore!" Just the implications of all that, truly terrifying. I can see why Homer wanted to keep the light on afterwards.
I'll be the one to say it, this is one of the greatest adaptations of a work of Poe ever made and is probably the best adaptation of The Raven, everyone else tries so hard and tries to do their own thing with it, but The Raven is poem and not a very long one, this segment shows nearly all of it and it doesn't need anything more than that
It’s worth noting that this is an abridged version of the poem. This version is missing a number of verses from the poem, which I will list and quote here: 1. Verse 3, Line 5: “Some Late Visitor Entreating entrance at my chamber door;” 2. Verse 5: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore!” This I whispered, and an echo murdered back the word, “Lenore!” - Merely this and nothing more.” 3. Verse 6, lines 5-6: “Let my heart be still a moment, and this mystery explore; - ‘Tis the wind and nothing more!” 4. Verse 8, Lines 1-2: “Then this ebony bird bugling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,” 5. Verses 9-13: “Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, Though it’s answer little meaning - little relevancy bore; For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door- With such name as ‘Nevermore’” “But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only That one word, as if soul in that one word he did outpoured. Nothing father then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered - Till I scarcely more than muttered: ‘Other friends have flown before- On the morrow he will leave me as my hopes have flown before.’ Then the bird said, ‘Nevermore.’” “Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, ‘Doubtless,’ said I, ‘what he utters is it’s only stock and store, Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore- Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore Of ‘Never-Nevermore.’” “But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door; Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore- What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking ‘Nevermore.” “This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core; This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er, But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er She shall press, ah, Nevermore!” 6. Verses 15-16: “‘Prophet!’ said I, ‘thing of evil! - prophet still if bird or devil!- Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted- On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore- Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!’ Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’” “‘Prophet!’ said I, ‘thing of evil! - prophet still if bird or devil!- By that heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore - Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore- Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whim the angels named Lenore.’ Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’”
It's 2000, I'm 7 years old, I loved the Simpsons and Edgar Allen Poe, and I see this episode for the first time. When two radically different things you like come together it's the best 👏
You don't have to pay, it's on CZcams. Geoff Castilluchi (I probably didn't spell that right) also does a good job, but IMO the best is Christopher Lee.
The raven is such a good existential horror story. Not really scary, like "Boo!", but more like fear of losing a loved one and dying alone type of scare.
I always liked music in this scene. I wonder if it was composed by whomever working for the show, albeit resembling that of many classical music pieces
What? This is psychological horror. It's describing the descent into madness. There's no unknowable horror here. The raven is just a raven who can say "nevermore."
@@Mythraen yeah, I'll take literary analysis from a letsplayer. It is a widely acknowledged fact, after all, that letsplayers are the greatest art scholars.
@@PyroNexus22 Some of us are also good at logic. Your fallacy is "ad hominem." Maybe you'd also like to comment on the fact that I have an M for my profile picture. The letter M is associated with covering notebooks with ketchup, after all.
The Simpsons was lightning in a bottle; it was an instant hit. Few shows around that time had that kind of tremendous impact. The only other I can think of is the classic Ninja Turtles TV series.
It does show the difference between horror in the past (I mean when The Raven was originally written) to what we find horrorifying in the modern day. For them death was a constant it would be unusual to live back then without at least one of your siblings d ying in early age, therefore what scared them most was not de ath, but being left alone living without any loved ones. Whereas with modern medicine it is de ath we fear the most as it is less common and being left alone without your partner is a fate most of us know will be the possibility for one person in the relationship in old age.
As a kid, my reaction to this at the time was, "Hehe, funny". Me as an adult: "Jesus CHRIST, this is fucking GOOD." Dan Castellellaneta absolutely nailed this, as top comment mentioned. This was his finest work, I am just totally sold on Homer playing a character in Edgar Allen Poe. And of course, James Earl Jones himself, praise his name. The only person who could come to close matching this would be Morgan Freeman.
Man I remember this one, but as a kid totally missed the second painting for Lenore's hair. Damn this show's writing was so intellectual yet absolutely dumb comedy at the same time.
I swear every single subsequent airing of the episode I've seen removes the Bart-raven saying "Eat my shorts". Anyone else notice that or is it just something I've come across.
I appreciate the poem for its literary contribution to the world, but I agree with bart in that it's just not that scary. By the way, a fun fact for you all is that corvids can actually be taught to speak! It requires a small surgery to let them move their tongue more freely sometimes, but you can actually have a raven that says "nevermore" if you put in the time and effort.
Early Simpsons was often quite intellectual. It showed a real love for literature and history. I miss that spirit. It's long gone now, of course.
Today it's just the writers trying to outdo the Family Guy writers and vice versa.
@@610Hobbies they should have let it die and carried on with futurama. There is only so much you can do with a cartoon about a family, while futurama allowed them to choose any setting at any time pretty much.
Are you saying you wouldn't watch Lisa and another current celebrity episode???
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand The Simpsons.
"Cast away thine politic pandering, thy base laughter, remove the Flanderization of the characters I adore."
Quoth the writers, "Nevermore."
James Earl Jones was such a perfect cast for the narrator.
I love how, despite the Simpsonsesque comedy in the animation, it's literally just The Raven with no changes.
It’s slightly abridged from the original but still fairly faithful.
Slightly censored too.
@@mechcommander7876 It's much more faithful than most adaptations that actually TRY to be faithful. Well, claim to try to be faithful. Looking at YOU, M. Night Shaboobala.
They cut out several stanzas. You should go look it up.
They left out several stanzas.
As a kid i didn’t really grasp and thought was weird for the show to to do a whole segment on the Raven poem. Since it didn’t feel like something the Simpsons would do overall, but it has really grown on me in recent years just for how beautiful it captures the classic poem. Everything is spot on, James Earl Jones himself narrating in his wonderful baritone that i can listen to for hours. Dan Castellaneta managing to capture the poem and keeping in character as Homer is a major testament to his acting ability. Especially the part when he raves against the Raven, that had me in awe of how well he captured the anger and still made me laughed out loud all the way, especially “Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”
The animation, the setting of the Poem and the wonderful music that is some of Alf Causen’s best work for the show. Especially at the end with the footage of Homer sitting in defeat as Bart Raven adorns on his door. Its just so wonderful and really captures the magic of Edgar Poe’s work.
I agree 100% - Dan castenella absolutely nails it.. gives me chills
mind telling me what this is about? I don't understand that sort of English
@@mk-ou5si The full poem is longer, but they kept the essence: the narrator is mourning a lost love. He's obsessing so much that he's not able to focus on anything else, and startling at every sound. He opens the window when something taps at it and a bird flies in. He's pleased at first; it's a distraction from his grief. He asks it a silly question (what is your name, bird?) But ravens, like parrots, can mimic human speech, and this one has just one word: Nevermore.
That's where his obsession sends him spiraling. He *could* ask the bird anything, but he's halfway mad with grief already, so he keeps asking the bird about things that he hopes will happen (will I be able to forget Lenore? will I see Lenore again in heaven?) He's always going to get the same answer, the raven only says one thing. He could have asked, say, 'when I see Lenore in heaven, will we ever be parted again?' Nevermore would be a good answer for that! But no. He's driving *himself* mad by only asking questions where the answer will destroy him. So he gets mad, and demands the raven leave, but of course all it can say to that is... nevermore. He crushes his own hope and falls into a despair he will never recover from.
It's a great little scene that doesn't require any supernatural agency, just a man projecting his own obsession onto the world around him and seeking his own destruction.
Quoth the raven, "Eat my shorts!"
Love that bit, hated how it was cut from syndication.
Wait, it _was?_
Quoth the raven: What the hell for?
It's just incredible how good this is. And it's just 2nd season. Early Simpsons werw spot on.
One of Dan's more underrated performances, especially at 3:17. He just perfectly transitions from a genuinely emotional read like you'd expect from a straightforward rendition of the poem to "annoyed Homer" at the "Take thy beak from out my heart" bit.
His emphasis on "out my heart" sounds like that classic annoyed mocking tone when confronting things like crossing a line or insulting standards imo
Nevermore
Eat my shorts
Quoth the raven, "Eat my shorts!"
That was in the clip.
I like how this scene echoes how much Bart annoys Homer "in real life."
"Why you little-!"
lost on me as a kid but a favorite now
my favourite readings of more poems should be by homer simpson and darth vader
@@ThingsICantFindOtherwise honestly so true
Weirdly enough, i really liked this segment as a kid, even though I didnt know a thing about the poem nor did I understand it at that age. just seeing homer chase a bart shaped bird around to a spooky backdrop entertained me.
Those last verses though, and in James Earl Jones narration.
"And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted-nevermore!"
Just the implications of all that, truly terrifying. I can see why Homer wanted to keep the light on afterwards.
Homer: "Ohhh, I hate Halloween!!" (Disappears under the covers)
I'll be the one to say it, this is one of the greatest adaptations of a work of Poe ever made and is probably the best adaptation of The Raven, everyone else tries so hard and tries to do their own thing with it, but The Raven is poem and not a very long one, this segment shows nearly all of it and it doesn't need anything more than that
They should make a series of Simpsons shorts based on classic poems.
I can't agree with that.
Just listened to this poem read by Christopher Lee. Marvelous. Then, found this, great stuff.
Where else are you going to hear homer say quaff
It’s worth noting that this is an abridged version of the poem.
This version is missing a number of verses from the poem, which I will list and quote here:
1. Verse 3, Line 5: “Some Late Visitor Entreating entrance at my chamber door;”
2. Verse 5: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore!”
This I whispered, and an echo murdered back the word, “Lenore!” -
Merely this and nothing more.”
3. Verse 6, lines 5-6: “Let my heart be still a moment, and this mystery explore; -
‘Tis the wind and nothing more!”
4. Verse 8, Lines 1-2: “Then this ebony bird bugling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,”
5. Verses 9-13: “Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though it’s answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door-
With such name as ‘Nevermore’”
“But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if soul in that one word he did outpoured.
Nothing father then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered: ‘Other friends have flown before-
On the morrow he will leave me as my hopes have flown before.’
Then the bird said, ‘Nevermore.’”
“Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
‘Doubtless,’ said I, ‘what he utters is it’s only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of ‘Never-Nevermore.’”
“But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking ‘Nevermore.”
“This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er
She shall press, ah, Nevermore!”
6. Verses 15-16: “‘Prophet!’ said I, ‘thing of evil! - prophet still if bird or devil!-
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore-
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!’
Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’”
“‘Prophet!’ said I, ‘thing of evil! - prophet still if bird or devil!-
By that heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore-
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whim the angels named Lenore.’
Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’”
Wow, you did a thorough job on that. I could have done the same, but am unwilling to spend the necessary time on it.
Quoth the Raven; "Eat my shorts!"
Yeah we heard that.
It's 2000, I'm 7 years old, I loved the Simpsons and Edgar Allen Poe, and I see this episode for the first time. When two radically different things you like come together it's the best 👏
10 Nevermores, 1 from Lisa, 8 from the Raven, and 1 from James Earl Jones. The word shall be exceeding nevermore.
When the Simpsons were so good
that they hired Edgar Allan Poe
sadly this will happen nevermore...
It does capture such a creepy and mournful atmosphere.
Nevermore
This got me into poetry. Actually so many of my cultural touchstones were seeded by the Simpsons
I'd pay money to hear James Earl Jones reading Poe. Add in Dan Castellneta. Priceless.
You don't have to pay, it's on CZcams. Geoff Castilluchi (I probably didn't spell that right) also does a good job, but IMO the best is Christopher Lee.
Homer: "Ohhh, I hate Halloween!!" (Disappears under the covers)
QUAFF! OH QUAFF THIS KIND NEPENTHE AND FORGET THIS LOST LENORE😆
The voice acting is just fantastic
Leave my loneliness unbroken.
James Earl Jones narrating Edgar Allan Poe = Perfection
Have you heard Christopher Lee's rendition?
my favorite scene
Truly a tale of grief- so palpable and enduring.
Poe may have been a drunkard, but he understood our shared condition.
I was studying the Raven in my English class and the teacher showed it to us and me and my Simpsons loving friend were laughing the whole time
I remember my English school teacher playing this video in middle school when we were learning about Edgar Allan Poe
This is the best adaptation of the Raven. Prove me wrong
Mad Magazine. They printed the entire original text.
I was young when this aired, but old enough to have read the raven in school already. I sure miss those days.
Tell me, don't we all?
The raven is such a good existential horror story.
Not really scary, like "Boo!", but more like fear of losing a loved one and dying alone type of scare.
The older you are, the creepier it gets. I should know.
I always liked music in this scene. I wonder if it was composed by whomever working for the show, albeit resembling that of many classical music pieces
once upon a midnight dreary = it was a dark and stormy night
Poe was a genius. Even in this humorous take, the poem gives me goosebumps. Such beauty and a sense of the intangible unknowable horror.
What?
This is psychological horror. It's describing the descent into madness.
There's no unknowable horror here. The raven is just a raven who can say "nevermore."
@@Mythraen yeah, I'll take literary analysis from a letsplayer. It is a widely acknowledged fact, after all, that letsplayers are the greatest art scholars.
@@PyroNexus22 Some of us are also good at logic.
Your fallacy is "ad hominem."
Maybe you'd also like to comment on the fact that I have an M for my profile picture.
The letter M is associated with covering notebooks with ketchup, after all.
@@PyroNexus22 But anyway, back to the topic, the raven might not even exist.
@@Mythraen oh, I'm sorry, you must be a professor of logic from the university of science. Brilliant analysis, professor.
Imagine your show is good enough to afford James earl jones in just it’s second season
The Simpsons was lightning in a bottle; it was an instant hit. Few shows around that time had that kind of tremendous impact. The only other I can think of is the classic Ninja Turtles TV series.
They probably only had to pay a license fee for the recording he had already made.
Amazing narration by James earl jones darth Vader
Just so you all know, ravens do talk, like parrots.
🐦⬛ “Azarath, Metrione, ZINTHOS!”
I would love to have a full audiobook of JEJ reading The Raven.
Go ahead, it's on CZcams.
It does show the difference between horror in the past (I mean when The Raven was originally written) to what we find horrorifying in the modern day. For them death was a constant it would be unusual to live back then without at least one of your siblings d ying in early age, therefore what scared them most was not de ath, but being left alone living without any loved ones. Whereas with modern medicine it is de ath we fear the most as it is less common and being left alone without your partner is a fate most of us know will be the possibility for one person in the relationship in old age.
idk what you are talking about. Being alone is still peoples biggest fear not death
The Fallen House of Usher
3:53 Raven Bart: UhOh! 4:10 Dizzy Ravens: Never More. “5 or 6 times”
Narrated by Mufasa.
Maggie tripping in the air.
Sentence fragment
My first exposure to this poem was in Mad Magazine, around 1964 (though printed earlier). They wrote out the entire poem.
I love this interpretation of The Raven. Vincent Price does a telling also which brings it to life so well
The spirit of the man who wrote that poem is gonna haunt me tonight. I made fun of his dead wife..
As a kid, my reaction to this at the time was, "Hehe, funny". Me as an adult: "Jesus CHRIST, this is fucking GOOD." Dan Castellellaneta absolutely nailed this, as top comment mentioned. This was his finest work, I am just totally sold on Homer playing a character in Edgar Allen Poe. And of course, James Earl Jones himself, praise his name. The only person who could come to close matching this would be Morgan Freeman.
I would recommend late Christopher Lee's reading of The Raven, though.
This is how my high school English teacher introduced us to our unit on Edgar Allan Poe
3:18 Phineas: So, Mrs. Eevee Fluffycheeks and Pikachu, I hope we are going to the UFO Festival someday in July.
Bart’s little laugh is the reason I go back to this scene over and over again.
We watched this in school once.
This is sucha masterpiece
i love that homer is frightened
lenore, the tv mom whose hair is large
Who's name is Marge.
Darth Vader voice
Man I remember this one, but as a kid totally missed the second painting for Lenore's hair. Damn this show's writing was so intellectual yet absolutely dumb comedy at the same time.
“That wasn’t scary! Not even for a poem!”
I had this on tape in 7th grade and gave it too my teacher and he was still showing it to his class 10 years later
I've always wanted purple drapes!
...god I miss this...
"What a Shine -The Raven"
This genuinely terrified me as a child
never more
4:10 never more!(repeating).
This is art
Is that James Earl Jones narrating The Raven?
It is
quote the raven: nevermore!
Why You Little
LOL!!!!
Purple drapes!
Darth Vader reading Poe is such a slay
Fantastic reading!
Channel run by Matt Groening
Is this true?
Ever More
They just don't make episodes like this anymore
Stable video 👍
2:42 “Eat my shorts!”
Never more 😂
4:10
Just try to find a US English teacher that didn't play this come Halloween. I dare you...
None of mine, so I found at least four.
@@jngr1 What time frame was this? If it was before 1990-1991, I suppose that wouldn't count.
@@captaindreadeye6264 Given that I'm talking about my high school and college years, I'm talking 2002-2010
@@jngr1 Touché.
I think this bit was an excuse for the writers not to work and have James Early jones on the show.
honestly they earned their pay coming up with this.
I always thought this was cool but a little weird to have here. The raven isn't a scary poem it's about grief
happy halloween
3:53: UH OH!
I swear every single subsequent airing of the episode I've seen removes the Bart-raven saying "Eat my shorts". Anyone else notice that or is it just something I've come across.
It was probably cut from the version for syndication.
Ok I found that scary.
2:40
4:07
🦇
"while I nodded, gently napping" was definitely an opium reference
I disagree.
I appreciate the poem for its literary contribution to the world, but I agree with bart in that it's just not that scary. By the way, a fun fact for you all is that corvids can actually be taught to speak! It requires a small surgery to let them move their tongue more freely sometimes, but you can actually have a raven that says "nevermore" if you put in the time and effort.
Why is Darth Vader narrating this scene?
they skipped the best verses.
3:35-3:45
Dumbledore said calmly.