Two Dozen and One Greyhounds
Encyclopedia
"Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" is the 20th episode of The Simpsons
sixth season
and originally aired on April 9, 1995. The episode was written by Mike Scully
and directed by Bob Anderson
. Frank Welker
guest stars as Santa's Little Helper
and various other dogs. In the episode, Santa's Little Helper has puppies with a dog that he met at the greyhound
racetrack. When the Simpsons cannot take care of the puppies any longer, they decide to sell them; however, the puppies do not want to be separated. Montgomery Burns
steals the puppies from the Simpsons, and decides to make a tuxedo out of them. Before he can do so, however, Bart
and Lisa Simpson
save the puppies from Mr. Burns, and ultimately convince him never to wear fur again.
The episode drew inspiration from the 1961 Disney
film One Hundred and One Dalmatians
. The producers decided to have Mr. Burns communicate his horrific plan of making a tuxedo from the puppies through a song after determining that it would be a "fun and light" way to convey his plan of killing the greyhounds. "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" received a generally positive reception from television critics. During the week of its original American broadcast, the episode finished 55th in ratings, with a Nielsen rating of 7.3. Several reviews considered the episode to be one of their favorites of the series, and especially praised Mr. Burns' performance.
, runs away from home to the dog racing track, where he falls in love with a female greyhound
named She's the Fastest. She is given to the Simpsons after her owner notes that she will no longer race after falling in love. One day, She's the Fastest gives birth to 25 puppies. Eventually, the puppies become difficult to manage, and Homer
and Marge Simpson
attempt to sell them to a family more capable of giving them adequate care. After seeing the puppies unwilling to separate, however, people begin to leave. Suddenly, Montgomery Burns
arrives and offers to let them live in his mansion. After the Simpsons choose not to sell the puppies to him, he steals them when they are not looking.
Bart
and Lisa Simpson
track the puppies to Mr. Burns' mansion, where they spy on him through a window. They see him treating the puppies well by giving them a bath. When one of the puppies stands on his hind legs, Mr. Burns picks him as his favorite of the bunch, claiming that the puppy reminds him of actor Rory Calhoun
, and names him "Little Monty". After the bath, Mr. Burns walks into the next room, loads a gun, and sings a musical number called "See My Vest" (a parody of "Be Our Guest
" from the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast
) while demonstrating his wardrobe of fur clothing to his personal assistant, Waylon Smithers
. After his performance, Burns prepares to kill all of the puppies, except for Little Monty, to make a new tuxedo
for his wardrobe.
After learning about Mr. Burns' plan, Bart and Lisa sneak through the window and attempt to escape with the puppies down a laundry chute. However, Mr. Burns is waiting for them at the bottom. As Mr. Burns is about to kill the dogs, Bart grabs Little Monty from Mr. Burns' hands and places him with the other puppies, hoping that Mr. Burns will not kill the dogs if he can not determine which is Little Monty. When Mr. Burns tells Little Monty to stand up, though, he does. As Mr. Burns bends down to pick up Little Monty, Bart reels a clothesline with some socks hanging from it, causing all of the puppies to stand up. Mr. Burns can not tell which is Little Monty, so he prepares to shoot them all. However, the standing dogs are too cute for him to kill and, emotionally touched, he promises to never wear fur or kill any animals that can do an amusing trick. Mr. Burns buys all of the puppies from the Simpsons, and raises them to be world-class racing dogs.
and directed by Bob Anderson
. The Simpsons writers Al Jean
and Mike Reiss
came up with the original idea for the episode. The idea came to them after watching the 1961 Disney
film One Hundred and One Dalmatians
. David Mirkin, the episode's show runner
, later jokingly said that Jean and Reiss liked to steal ideas from Disney, and pointed to an episode in season eight that they wrote as proof, titled "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious
", which was based on the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins
. Mirkin thought that it was great that they could take stuff from Disney and do darker versions on The Simpsons "in a completely legal way".
Groening was happy with the episode because it felt like a callback to the first episode of The Simpsons, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
", and because it features references to One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The Disney film thrilled Groening as a kid, and was one of the reasons for why he was first interested in animation and cartooning. In One Hundred and One Dalmatians, the puppies watch cartoons on television several times; the idea of a cartoon within a cartoon thrilled Groening, and said that this idea inspired him to create The Itchy & Scratchy Show
, a fictional television show within the Simpsons universe.
Mr. Burns says in the episode that the puppy that stands up only on its hind legs reminds him of Rory Calhoun
, an American actor who lived from 1922 to 1999. The Simpsons writer George Meyer
came up with the joke, but Groening argued against it because he did not think the audience would know who Calhoun was. The writers decided to keep it in anyway, because it was later expanded into a key part of the episode's ending. Several years later, Groening stated that he was proven correct after pointing to discussions on the Internet about the episode asking who Calhoun was.
As Bart and Lisa sneak away to Mr. Burns' mansion, they see him loading a gun and singing a musical number called "See My Vest", in which he proclaims his intention to kill the puppies to make a tuxedo
out of them. When the staff discussed how they could gloss over the horrifying things Mr. Burns would do to the dogs, one of the writers suggested that if they communicated his plan through a song, it would stay "fun and light". Reiss, who agreed that the idea was good, came in the following day with complete lyrics that he wrote for "See My Vest", which was a parody of the song "Be Our Guest
", sung by Jerry Orbach
in the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast
. Mirkin loved Reiss' work on the parody song, commenting, "The rhymes are really clever. It's one of our very best songs [on The Simpsons]." He also liked the fact that songs could be used in episodes of The Simpsons without the episodes turning into musicals, saying, "We'll just do one song and that's plenty. We have fun with that and then we're out."
, but most of the time they tried to keep the animals acting realistically. The animal noises for the episode were performed by Frank Welker
, who was praised by Mirkin on the DVD audio commentary
for the episode, saying, "He can do anything, and it fits perfectly. You forget you're listening to a guy, and he's a pleasure to work with." Welker was also praised by Groening, who said Welker was unbelievably good at doing animal noises.
The staff had a "big fight" with the Fox network censors over the scene in which Santa's Little Helper mates with a female greyhound named She's The Fastest. The writers were originally worried about the idea, but Mirkin knew that they could shoot it in a certain way to show the dogs having sex without being explicit. In the scene's final version, the dogs are only seen from the shoulders up, but an animatic that showed the scene in full was also available. Anderson noted that during the episode's censor screening, there was a giant laugh at the depiction.
.
The scene in which the greyhounds watch television is similar to the dalmatians of One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Instead of watching What's my Crime? like the dalmatians do in the film, the greyhounds watch the television series Models, Inc.
The clerk that performs a mind-meld on Santa's Little Helper is a reference to the Vulcan
mind-meld ability in Star Trek
; the same music from the mind-meld scenes in Star Trek are played during the scene. At one point, Santa's Little Helper looks wistfully out the window of the Simpson family's car, and then morphs out of the car window in reference to a similar scene in Terminator 2; music from that film plays in the background. Four of the puppies are named Jay, David, Paul and Branford, a reference to late-night talkshow hosts David Letterman
and Jay Leno
and their respective bandleaders Paul Shaffer
and (at the time) Branford Marsalis
.
in 1997. The Daily Bruin
complimented the song's lyrics as witty, and claimed that by listening to the song, memories of the episode came to mind. They noted how the musical piece revealed Mr. Burns' essence of character, and that it also commented on some disturbing elements of humankind. MSNBC compiled a list of "TV’s top 10 scariest characters", placing Mr. Burns at number one. In the list, they noted, "Burns is terrifying because he will do absolutely anything, and since it's a cartoon, he just might," pointing to "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" and his plans to make the puppies into a tuxedo as proof.
The episode was generally well-received by television critics. In a review by the Toronto Star
, Ben Rayner commented that "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" was one of his favorite episodes of the series, and concluded that Mr. Burns' "tour de force" performance was particularly captivating. The Toronto Star later produced a list of the best and worst The Simpsons episodes, in which they considered "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" one of the best episodes of the series and concluded that the musical number was one of the best scenes involving Mr. Burns. In a review for the sixth season DVD of The Simpsons, IGN
's Todd Gilchrist found Burns' performance to be memorable, commenting that he "flirts with copyright infringement with his rendition of 'See My Vest'". Michael Price of IGN also considered Burns' performance to have reached a level of excellence comparable to "The Monorail Song" song in "Marge vs. the Monorail
".
In a review for The Simpsons season six DVD, review website DVD Verdict gave the episode a grade of B−. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson appreciated the spoofs of Disney films, and also complimented "the most bizarre references to Rory Calhoun imaginable", concluding that the combination of these elements formed a "fine show". In a review for the Toronto Star
, Ben Rayner enjoyed "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds", calling it one of the classic episodes of the series.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
sixth season
The Simpsons (season 6)
The Simpsons sixth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 4, 1994 and May 21, 1995 and consists of 25 episodes. The Simpsons is an animated series about a working class family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
and originally aired on April 9, 1995. The episode was written by Mike Scully
Mike Scully
Mike Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school...
and directed by Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (director)
Bob Anderson is an animation director on The Simpsons. He also contributed additional sequence direction on The Simpsons Movie....
. Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
guest stars as Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
and various other dogs. In the episode, Santa's Little Helper has puppies with a dog that he met at the greyhound
Greyhound
The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...
racetrack. When the Simpsons cannot take care of the puppies any longer, they decide to sell them; however, the puppies do not want to be separated. Montgomery Burns
Montgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
steals the puppies from the Simpsons, and decides to make a tuxedo out of them. Before he can do so, however, Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
save the puppies from Mr. Burns, and ultimately convince him never to wear fur again.
The episode drew inspiration from the 1961 Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
film One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians, often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians, is a 1961 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith...
. The producers decided to have Mr. Burns communicate his horrific plan of making a tuxedo from the puppies through a song after determining that it would be a "fun and light" way to convey his plan of killing the greyhounds. "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" received a generally positive reception from television critics. During the week of its original American broadcast, the episode finished 55th in ratings, with a Nielsen rating of 7.3. Several reviews considered the episode to be one of their favorites of the series, and especially praised Mr. Burns' performance.
Plot
The Simpsons' dog, Santa's Little HelperSanta's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
, runs away from home to the dog racing track, where he falls in love with a female greyhound
Greyhound
The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...
named She's the Fastest. She is given to the Simpsons after her owner notes that she will no longer race after falling in love. One day, She's the Fastest gives birth to 25 puppies. Eventually, the puppies become difficult to manage, and Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Marge Simpson
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
attempt to sell them to a family more capable of giving them adequate care. After seeing the puppies unwilling to separate, however, people begin to leave. Suddenly, Montgomery Burns
Montgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
arrives and offers to let them live in his mansion. After the Simpsons choose not to sell the puppies to him, he steals them when they are not looking.
Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
track the puppies to Mr. Burns' mansion, where they spy on him through a window. They see him treating the puppies well by giving them a bath. When one of the puppies stands on his hind legs, Mr. Burns picks him as his favorite of the bunch, claiming that the puppy reminds him of actor Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...
, and names him "Little Monty". After the bath, Mr. Burns walks into the next room, loads a gun, and sings a musical number called "See My Vest" (a parody of "Be Our Guest
Be Our Guest
"Be Our Guest" is a 1991 Academy Award-nominated song from the animated film, Beauty and the Beast. The music was written by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman. The song was sung by Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury, and other singers in the background chorus. The song was nominated for an Academy...
" from the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
) while demonstrating his wardrobe of fur clothing to his personal assistant, Waylon Smithers
Waylon Smithers
Waylon Smithers, Jr., usually referred to as Smithers, is a recurring fictional character in the animated series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer. Smithers first appeared in the episode "Homer's Odyssey", although he could be heard in the series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open...
. After his performance, Burns prepares to kill all of the puppies, except for Little Monty, to make a new tuxedo
Tuxedo
A tuxedo is a type of semi-formal dress for men.Tuxedo may also refer to:-Places:Canada* Tuxedo, Winnipeg, Manitoba, a city neighborhood** Tuxedo , a provincial electoral district in Manitoba...
for his wardrobe.
After learning about Mr. Burns' plan, Bart and Lisa sneak through the window and attempt to escape with the puppies down a laundry chute. However, Mr. Burns is waiting for them at the bottom. As Mr. Burns is about to kill the dogs, Bart grabs Little Monty from Mr. Burns' hands and places him with the other puppies, hoping that Mr. Burns will not kill the dogs if he can not determine which is Little Monty. When Mr. Burns tells Little Monty to stand up, though, he does. As Mr. Burns bends down to pick up Little Monty, Bart reels a clothesline with some socks hanging from it, causing all of the puppies to stand up. Mr. Burns can not tell which is Little Monty, so he prepares to shoot them all. However, the standing dogs are too cute for him to kill and, emotionally touched, he promises to never wear fur or kill any animals that can do an amusing trick. Mr. Burns buys all of the puppies from the Simpsons, and raises them to be world-class racing dogs.
Inspiration, writing, and music
"Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" was written by Mike ScullyMike Scully
Mike Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school...
and directed by Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (director)
Bob Anderson is an animation director on The Simpsons. He also contributed additional sequence direction on The Simpsons Movie....
. The Simpsons writers Al Jean
Al Jean
Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...
and Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss
Michael "Mike" Reiss is an American television comedy writer. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series The Simpsons and co-created the animated series The Critic...
came up with the original idea for the episode. The idea came to them after watching the 1961 Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
film One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians, often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians, is a 1961 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith...
. David Mirkin, the episode's show runner
Show runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
, later jokingly said that Jean and Reiss liked to steal ideas from Disney, and pointed to an episode in season eight that they wrote as proof, titled "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious
Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious
"Simpsoncalifragilisticexpialacious", also known as "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpialacious", is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons eighth season and originally aired February 7, 1997. After Marge becomes stressed, the Simpsons hire a new nanny, a Mary Poppins parody, Shary Bobbins , who tries to...
", which was based on the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
. Mirkin thought that it was great that they could take stuff from Disney and do darker versions on The Simpsons "in a completely legal way".
Groening was happy with the episode because it felt like a callback to the first episode of The Simpsons, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", also known as "The Simpsons Christmas Special", is the first full-length episode of The Simpsons to air despite originally being the eighth episode produced for season one. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 17, 1989...
", and because it features references to One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The Disney film thrilled Groening as a kid, and was one of the reasons for why he was first interested in animation and cartooning. In One Hundred and One Dalmatians, the puppies watch cartoons on television several times; the idea of a cartoon within a cartoon thrilled Groening, and said that this idea inspired him to create The Itchy & Scratchy Show
The Itchy & Scratchy Show
The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
, a fictional television show within the Simpsons universe.
Mr. Burns says in the episode that the puppy that stands up only on its hind legs reminds him of Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...
, an American actor who lived from 1922 to 1999. The Simpsons writer George Meyer
George Meyer
George A. Meyer is an American producer and writer. Raised in Tucson, Arizona in a Roman Catholic family, Meyer attended Harvard University. There, after becoming president of the Harvard Lampoon, he graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry. Abandoning plans to attend medical school, Meyer...
came up with the joke, but Groening argued against it because he did not think the audience would know who Calhoun was. The writers decided to keep it in anyway, because it was later expanded into a key part of the episode's ending. Several years later, Groening stated that he was proven correct after pointing to discussions on the Internet about the episode asking who Calhoun was.
As Bart and Lisa sneak away to Mr. Burns' mansion, they see him loading a gun and singing a musical number called "See My Vest", in which he proclaims his intention to kill the puppies to make a tuxedo
Tuxedo
A tuxedo is a type of semi-formal dress for men.Tuxedo may also refer to:-Places:Canada* Tuxedo, Winnipeg, Manitoba, a city neighborhood** Tuxedo , a provincial electoral district in Manitoba...
out of them. When the staff discussed how they could gloss over the horrifying things Mr. Burns would do to the dogs, one of the writers suggested that if they communicated his plan through a song, it would stay "fun and light". Reiss, who agreed that the idea was good, came in the following day with complete lyrics that he wrote for "See My Vest", which was a parody of the song "Be Our Guest
Be Our Guest
"Be Our Guest" is a 1991 Academy Award-nominated song from the animated film, Beauty and the Beast. The music was written by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman. The song was sung by Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury, and other singers in the background chorus. The song was nominated for an Academy...
", sung by Jerry Orbach
Jerry Orbach
Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach was an American actor and singer. He was well known for his starring role as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and as the voice of Lumière in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As well, Orbach was a noted musical theatre star...
in the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
. Mirkin loved Reiss' work on the parody song, commenting, "The rhymes are really clever. It's one of our very best songs [on The Simpsons]." He also liked the fact that songs could be used in episodes of The Simpsons without the episodes turning into musicals, saying, "We'll just do one song and that's plenty. We have fun with that and then we're out."
Animation and voice acting
Even though animals in cartoons often behave with "semi-human awareness", Groening said he preferred animals in cartoons to behave exactly the way they do in real life, claiming that this was how animals were depicted in "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds". Mirkin said there were some exceptions for gagsVisual gag
In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humor visually, often without words being used at all.There are numerous examples in cinema history of directors who based most of the humour in their films on visual gags, even to the point of using no or minimal dialogue...
, but most of the time they tried to keep the animals acting realistically. The animal noises for the episode were performed by Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
, who was praised by Mirkin on the DVD audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
for the episode, saying, "He can do anything, and it fits perfectly. You forget you're listening to a guy, and he's a pleasure to work with." Welker was also praised by Groening, who said Welker was unbelievably good at doing animal noises.
The staff had a "big fight" with the Fox network censors over the scene in which Santa's Little Helper mates with a female greyhound named She's The Fastest. The writers were originally worried about the idea, but Mirkin knew that they could shoot it in a certain way to show the dogs having sex without being explicit. In the scene's final version, the dogs are only seen from the shoulders up, but an animatic that showed the scene in full was also available. Anderson noted that during the episode's censor screening, there was a giant laugh at the depiction.
Cultural references
The overarching plot of the episode, as well as its title, was inspired by the Disney film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which deals with a large number of puppies similar to "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds". Besides the film, less obvious references to Disney-animated films are made throughout the episode. The song "See My Vest" sung by Mr. Burns is a parody of "Be Our Guest", which is sung by Jerry Orbach in the film Beauty and the Beast. The scene in which Santa's Little Helper and She's the Fastest are presented with a plate of spaghetti at Luigi's Italian restaurant parodies Lady and the TrampLady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
.
The scene in which the greyhounds watch television is similar to the dalmatians of One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Instead of watching What's my Crime? like the dalmatians do in the film, the greyhounds watch the television series Models, Inc.
Models, Inc.
Models Inc. is an American prime time soap opera that aired on the Fox television network during the 1994-1995 television season. It is the third series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. The series was created by Charles Pratt, Jr. and Frank South, and executive produced by Aaron Spelling,...
The clerk that performs a mind-meld on Santa's Little Helper is a reference to the Vulcan
Vulcan (Star Trek)
Vulcans, or sometimes Vulcanians, are an extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek universe who evolved on the planet Vulcan, and are noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic with no interference from emotion. They were the first extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek...
mind-meld ability in Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
; the same music from the mind-meld scenes in Star Trek are played during the scene. At one point, Santa's Little Helper looks wistfully out the window of the Simpson family's car, and then morphs out of the car window in reference to a similar scene in Terminator 2; music from that film plays in the background. Four of the puppies are named Jay, David, Paul and Branford, a reference to late-night talkshow hosts David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
and Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
and their respective bandleaders Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...
and (at the time) Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born...
.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" finished 55th in ratings for the week of April 3–9, 1995, with a Nielsen rating of 7.3. The song "See My Vest" from the episode, sung by Mr. Burns, was later released on the album Songs in the Key of SpringfieldSongs in the Key of Springfield
Songs in the Key of Springfield is a soundtrack/novelty album from The Simpsons compiling many of the musical numbers from the series. The album was released in the United States on March 18, 1997, and in the United Kingdom in June 1997...
in 1997. The Daily Bruin
Daily Bruin
The Daily Bruin is the student newspaper at the University of California, Los Angeles.-Frequency and governance:When classes are in session, the Bruin is published Monday through Friday during the school year and once a week on Mondays in the summer quarter.It is overseen by the ASUCLA...
complimented the song's lyrics as witty, and claimed that by listening to the song, memories of the episode came to mind. They noted how the musical piece revealed Mr. Burns' essence of character, and that it also commented on some disturbing elements of humankind. MSNBC compiled a list of "TV’s top 10 scariest characters", placing Mr. Burns at number one. In the list, they noted, "Burns is terrifying because he will do absolutely anything, and since it's a cartoon, he just might," pointing to "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" and his plans to make the puppies into a tuxedo as proof.
The episode was generally well-received by television critics. In a review by the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, Ben Rayner commented that "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" was one of his favorite episodes of the series, and concluded that Mr. Burns' "tour de force" performance was particularly captivating. The Toronto Star later produced a list of the best and worst The Simpsons episodes, in which they considered "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" one of the best episodes of the series and concluded that the musical number was one of the best scenes involving Mr. Burns. In a review for the sixth season DVD of The Simpsons, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Todd Gilchrist found Burns' performance to be memorable, commenting that he "flirts with copyright infringement with his rendition of 'See My Vest'". Michael Price of IGN also considered Burns' performance to have reached a level of excellence comparable to "The Monorail Song" song in "Marge vs. the Monorail
Marge vs. the Monorail
"Marge vs. the Monorail" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsonss fourth season and originally aired on January 14, 1993. The plot focuses around Springfield's purchase of a monorail from a conman, and Marge's dislike of the purchase. It was written by Conan O'Brien and directed by Rich Moore...
".
In a review for The Simpsons season six DVD, review website DVD Verdict gave the episode a grade of B−. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson appreciated the spoofs of Disney films, and also complimented "the most bizarre references to Rory Calhoun imaginable", concluding that the combination of these elements formed a "fine show". In a review for the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, Ben Rayner enjoyed "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds", calling it one of the classic episodes of the series.
External links
- "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" at The Simpsons.com