The long-running animated sitcom, The Simpsons, is known for its hilarious parodies and never misses a chance to poke fun at some of the most well-loved aspects of pop culture!
The Simpsons Mary Poppins Parody
One of the most memorable parodies involved Mary Poppins, in season 8, episode 13, titled "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious." This gave us Shari Bobbins, a character who showed how much the writers understood these characters. Shari Bobbins had similar songs and antics! That also meant they needed to make some major choices!
A Potential Lawsuit
There was some real-world danger, and that could have ended very badly, Al Jean, a producer for the show spoke about this during a recent interview. What might be the craziest element about their song? It's really well-done! So well, that they really almost faced some legal battles! The song was "A Boozehound Named Barney" and while Jean was really proud of the song he wasn't blind.
It turns out it was a very close call, one where they possibly could have gotten sued. Had it not been for Richard Sherman, one of the original writers from the iconic film. He saved The Simpsons crew from some serious trouble!
Fair Use Doctrine
There was little chance they were ever truly going to have their show impacted by this type of legal issue. The writers were clever in the way that they created this parody of Mary Poppins. What made the situation more unique is that The Simpsons episode most likely would have fallen under "Fair Use,", because that's how copyright law functions. Parody really is part of the comedic process that is accepted under the law!
The Cost Of Lawsuits
Even if there was little danger for The Simpsons to be in real jeopardy. lawsuits are always costly!
- Disney may have decided to try to go forward if they could.
- But a lot can change with the creator of "Mary Poppins" stepping in.
What we learn from these moments, The Simpsons producers made this parody with creativity. If it wasn't obvious from what they have already made they aren't shy about taking shots at various projects, people, brands and other types of creative works and even though they got sued, in other projects (including a lawsuit from Frank Sivero, and Tracey Ullman ), the case never advanced and these situations were eventually closed.
Legal Protections For Parody:
It appears that The Simpsons has done such an amazing job at building its success using these unique comedic moments! That includes going for these big, popular names, but it appears it also brings out their creativity!
While these situations might end up giving these amazing moments on the small screen. It appears that there's lots of legal protection given that it falls under parody.
The Simpsons was pretty much in the clear but it appears the team had enough luck on their side! This kind of approach from this comedic show, takes advantage of its position! The fact that Sherman enjoyed this adaptation shows the humor really worked! It does look like this particular show never experienced trouble from these types of incidents but this was clearly a situation where everyone learned the importance about understanding the dangers around parody.
For anyone that has never gotten into The Simpsons, make sure you do. The franchise that began back in 1987 and transitioned to a show in 1989 and has continued for 36 seasons, offering unique insight into our times and plenty to keep the audiences laughing.
With The Simpsons now approaching season 37, and still producing top notch episodes, this iconic franchise shows how powerful their creative choices are! And even if these situations are rare for The Simpsons this parody of "Mary Poppins" is sure to show how memorable some parodies are, how they impact those around, and their significance!
