In early 1989, famous animation director, David
Silverman, drew this very picture. It contains a relic of the past. No, not the thirty-year-old coffee. Rather, some of the earliest depictions of
Simpsons characters from the show's first season. These five can be spotted waiting for the
bus in the original opening credits. Removed from the show after just 10 episodes,
The nameless characters are notable because they're among few things ever cut from the
Simpsons' opening. With over 700 episodes to date, there are
more intros with that circus line couch gag, than there are these faces.
Now, it's no mystery why these characters
disappeared. DVD commentary reveals the segment was cut
to save time. It was replaced with this shorter shot of
more recognizable Springfieldians come season 2. Well, that… and these characters break the
rules. Rules that were created after the season one
intro was already animated. Whoops. These internal guidelines tell Simpsons animators
to no longer draw hair like this. Arms like these. And eyes doing that. This is what the Bus Stop Bunch might look
if they were still on the show today. These commissioned illustrations follow many
of the rules of modern Simpsons character drawing. Today, this rulebook spans hundreds of pages.
And down the rabbit hole we go. Behind the bus stop is a world of art, science,
and math. It's a place where complex ideas are broken
down into simple parts. Then arranged in ways so delicate,
That just a few little lines changes can sway our emotions. Or in other words, "I just think they're neat"
So, let's investigate these characters! To figure out which rules they follow. And, more fun, which rules they retroactively
break. It's time to explore… the "No-No" sheets. April 1991 saw the debut of Simpsons Illustrated. A companion magazine to the show, it only
ran for 10 issues. But it certainly left behind a legacy.
Its premier issue contains an interview with
David Silverman and former Simpsons animation director, Wes Archer. The interview features Archer's now-famous
image entitled, "Simpson No-No's". Giving the "do's and don'ts" of drawing character
facial expressions. Don't draw characters cross-eyed. Don't complete the circles for eyelids. And don't make smiles pointy. Okay, pretty mild stuff. But just the tip of the iceberg. These rules come from large style guides created
throughout the 1990s, as the show was finding its footing. Style guides are references for animators,
so they draw characters the same way every time. The entirety of the Simpsons' style guides
are not available to the general public.
But bits and pieces have surfaced over the
years. The Simpsons Production Art Twitter account
has done a great job cataloging many of these sheets. As have books, like Cartooning With the Simpsons,
and The Simpsons Handbook: Secret Tips from the Pros. Funny enough, many of these rules were penned
by David Silverman himself. Meaning he brought the Bus Stop characters
into this world, and he helped take them out.
When the 30th anniversary of Simpsons Illustrated
arrived in April 2021, Wes Archer combined many of the No-Nos into
one drawing. The eyes in particular are unsettling. So let's start there. Lisa's eyes break one of the most fundamental
rules: don't draw cross-eyed characters. Characters can be drawn a bit wall-eyed, but
never — underlined — cross-eyed. Sorry, Quigley. This rule was established to prevent the show
from looking like a cute Saturday morning cartoon. Drawing a character wall-eyed, however, is
a staple of series' creator, Matt Groening's, art style. Used less frequently nowadays, wall eyes are
a simple but effective way to enhance a range of emotions, from confusion to excitement.
Quoting a No-No sheet, "The Simpsons do a
lot of blank, vacant staring as stuff is being explained to them or done to them…" "The humor is often that you can't tell what's
going on in their tiny little minds as events are happening — and then they react." Knowing the difference between wall-eyed and
cross-eyed. We arrive at eye crime number one. The Bus Stop has some rule-breaking pupils. Though, only partially. The shapes are nice and round. And the sizes check out. I learned that the pupil-to-eye ratio should
be approximately 7:1. Too small, Bart believes in conspiracy theories. Too large, Homer's a buzzkill. You can spot large pupils all over the early
seasons before the ratio was codified.
Sticking with the eyes. Eyelids adhere to the original rule sheet
— no circles. This was corrected sometime between layout
and animation. The blinking, however, does not follow the
standard four-frame cycle. In the Simpsons' universe, both the top and
bottom eyelids should meet in the middle. Unless you're Milhouse! Nobody's like Milhouse. Though, Silverman's original drawing gave
a couple characters those special eyes. It's an unusual sight in Springfield.
Almost as unusual as seeing more than 4 eyelashes
per eye. Only two people at the Bus Stop have eyelashes,
and they pass most relevant tests. Though, Left's placement is a bit off. It's easy to overlook this attribute, even
though eyelashes help define a character. For instance, Lisa and Maggie have their mother's
lashes. But Maggie has fewer because she's a baby. When it comes to eye placement, I thought
we had some more rule-breaking going on. But, it was a false alarm. See, there's, quote, "A needling problem with
eyes that annoys directors to no end." "No one-point tangents!" "Either eyes overlap clearly, or they are
separated clearly." Unless the character is wearing glasses. Well, these eyes are barely touching. And so are these. Then, I kept reading. "Do not pose them in this in-between-drawing
stage." "Inbetween-drawing" being the keywords. These one-point tangents exist only for a
few frames of animation. When the characters are in between their standing
and running stages. You'd need to pause the show at just the right
time to even notice.
But, we'll be coming back to these topics
later. For now, now we've covered the eyes. Unlike this character's hair. Transitioning to the hair, and we have some
major rule violations! Quote: "Do NOT design incidental characters
that have these elements:" "One, hair and head the same." "And two, Homer beard line." "In other words… don't out-Simpson the Simpsons." A couple people at the Bus Stop have Homer
beards. And these two have their hair color matching
their heads There are even more broken rules if we include
the bus driver and passengers. Which we should, because the bus was meant
to be studied.
See, The Simpsons was often referred to as
the first "VCR" television show. Meaning that it debuted around the time US
adoption of the technology was booming. Crew members would occasionally hide blink-and-you-miss-it
jokes in the show to reward those with the ability to pause. One of the very first of these freeze-frame
Easter Eggs is the Duff sign on the bus. You were encouraged to pause the show when
the bus appeared. We can thank VCRs for replacing this simple
shot of Lisa in the season one opening credits, with this sprawling shot of Springfield in
season two. But, back to the hair. This character's hair may not have always
been head-colored. Silverman's original drawing gave him a different
hairdo. Something closer to, maybe, Kent Brockman? Regardless, the new and improved designs fix
any hair issues. Head-colored hair was dyed. And when it comes to facial hair:
One character grew a fluffier beard.
And the other went with a clean shave. Resembling a distant cousin of Barney, perhaps. Speaking of relatives, quite a few of Homer's
family members share his signature beard line. And Krusty the Clown's makeup bears a resemblance
because, fun fact, Krusty was originally planned to be Homer in disguise. This plan fell through early on though, and
the makeup is a holdover. Fast-forward to season 7, and Lester and Eliza
also look like they break hair rules. But they deliberately out-Simpson the Simpsons,
so they get a pass as well. Most of the other hair rules I found are character-specific. Like how many loops are in Marge's hair. Or how many palm leaves Sideshow Bob has. My takeaway is that hairdos are explicitly
defined. Even seemingly-messy hair, like Barney's,
is constructed using 13 specific points.
This squiggly hair doesn't look like it's
following any particular criteria. The number of loops changes several times. Then we have the character on the right. Her hair gains great detail after a head-whip. Who is this fine-haired pedestrian, you ask? Well, I dunno. But she reminds me of Misses Gross. Kinda. Misses Gross was a planned season one character
who would have served as Springfield Elementry's grumpy crossing guard. She was supposed to make her speaking debut
in episode 6, Moaning Lisa. But the scene was scrapped, and all that survives
is the script. When Bart and Lisa go to cross the road and
see oncoming traffic, they complain. Misses Gross hits them with a "Don't tell
me how to do my job". Underneath all that anger is a talented singer. Misses Gross was originally a performer in
season four's A Streetcar Named Marge. This time, her character made it all the way
to the animatic. But didn't make callbacks. She was replaced in the final animation. Missing the bus once again. Moving on to the next section.
Can you figure out what's wrong with this
drawing of Bart? Pause if you need to, it's subtle. The answer is… the teeth The drawing looks ever-so-slightly off because
Bart's teeth are too vertical. They don't match the shape of his head. As far as we're concerned, there are zero
teeth at the Bus Stop. If mouth profiles were drawn with depth, we
might be able to see something. And if we could see teeth, there are quite
a few rules they'd need to follow. Teeth are emphasized all over the character
sheets. "When doing the teeth, you must have at least
three lines in the smile." "4 lines is better than 3, 3 is the minimum
amount" "Don't draw teeth too small." And "only use sharp teeth when directed". Like in Last Exit to Springfield, for comedic
effect. This sharp-toothed Homer from the Tracy Ullman
show was years before the rule was established. It also retroactively breaks two additional
rules: One. Never draw a line through the teeth.
And two, No Demonic expressions! In the words of David Silverman:
"The Simpsons are not deliberately cruel or cunning." "They often do cruel and, sometimes, cunning
things." "But they don't plan to." "They just react." "They don't think 'I'll do this and get back
at them, nyah ha ha'." "Their minds don't work like that." "They're impulsive, reacting to the situation
immediately, without premeditation." If you're wondering why this rule was established,
Look no further than season one, episode four.
Euuuh. Let's look at a friendlier face. Okay, good. Happy Bart. Quote, Stop doing this–
Awe… "Stop doing this cutesy, curved-up, happy
eyeball line." "This ain't Don Bluth! If they're laughing, maaaybe it's okay, but
nowhere else." "It's a little toooo precious." "Don't over-emote! Don't overact!" This ties in with Groening's whole 'less is
more' approach to animation: Quote, "Keep things simple".
"Lots of cartoonists who should know better
add complicated details to their drawings that merely clutter things up." "You can convey space, motion, and feeling
with surprisingly few lines." The Simpsons is a masterclass in this. Just a few small line changes can drastically
alter the tone of a drawing. And I can think of no better time than now
to bring up: "the face". A face so polarizing it's no longer used.
A face so noteworthy it comes with the disclaimer:
"Note! Do not use unless instructed to by director." A face known only… as Twister Head. Twister Head was used a lot in the early years
of the Simpsons. While it was occasionally used as an in-between-frame
for fast head turning. It was primarily used by Bart emphasizing
certain words. Twister Head falls into the category of drawings
known as "Accent Drawings". Accent Drawings aren't meant to be held very
long, 1/12th of a second, usually. They're brief, serving only to enhance an
animation. Stretcher Mouth is another accent drawing. And it too comes with a caution! We don't see many, if any, accent drawings
at the bus stop. There are some exaggerated reactions, but
nothing that looks like this. And that's okay! The fact so many Accent Drawings look unsettling
is proof that the animators are following the rules. They're not overusing these.
I'm reminded of this drawing by Jay Lender,
SpongeBob SquarePants storyboard artist. For every one over-the-top expression, draw
one hundred normal expressions, at least. Twister Head would be phased out sometime
around season eight. Coming back in Treehouse of Horror 25 when
the Simpsons family meet their former selves. Continuing on with the Bus Stop faces. Lips are well-defined and not too pointy. With no signs of what is known as "duck-billing". Ears are drawn correctly, just the right amount
of inner padding. And noses are positioned in usual ways. Cartooning With the Simpsons states "pupils
should not be hidden by the nose". But I'm hesitant to dock a point here. Guy just has a big nose. Large noses or, even pig-like noses for that
matter, don't break the rules. Otherwise, Moe would need a rhinoplasty. Oh — they… did that plot already? There are plenty more face-related rules,
but they're not really applicable to the Bus Stop. Mostly because the characters never interact
with one another.
Like, there's this thirty-page document just
on how characters should look when talking to each other! Lip-syncing is also an interesting topic. But alas, no dialogue. By the way, there's potentially a bunch of
dialogue in the show that's gone undocumented. Lip readers, now's your time to shine. Quote, "Let's say you're dealing with a scene
featuring characters standing in the distance, talking." "There is no recorded dialogue for what they
are saying — they are too far away to hear." "But we now need to provide a bogus lip assignment
for each character speaking." "Here's your chance to write dialogue on the
Simpsons!" Now, for all we know, these background 'conversations'
could just be random mouth movements.
But, in theory, one might be able to approximate
dialogue using the more detailed mouth charts. I'm curious what jokes animators hid in the
show, if any. Just not enough to reverse-engineer it myself. Anybody? When it comes to clothing, I was hard-pressed
to find rules. There's character-specific stuff, but no general
guidelines. So, I cross-referenced the Bus Stop Bunch
against the characters listed on the Simpsons wiki. To see if there are any matching outfits. Plenty of characters wear open jackets with
ties and dress pants. Silverman always envisioned this character
with a large tie. I had trouble finding one so big, but radio
host Birch Barlow's comes close. Red dresses and shoes are common in Springfield.
As are outfits with ruffles around the neck. This look is a combination of what Smithers,
Carl, and Kirk wear. Finding a shirt with buttons laid out precisely
like this was surprisingly tricky, but then I remembered Shelbyville Abe. And lastly, maybe-Misses Gross. She's hard to clothes shop for. I can find bathrobes and… wizard robes that
somewhat resemble what she's wearing. But not many characters wear dresses with
a throw-over. The best match might just be this woman from
Principal and the Pauper. So while Misses Gross has rare clothing, it's
not anything off-model or out of place. But the outfit is something you can find only
in her closet. Right beside the skeletons. Quote, "underneath Homer is a thin guy trying
to stay put". "This bizarre exercise is to merely illustrate
that ALL the Simpson characters should be approached with human anatomy in mind." "That is to say, they have: elbows, wrists,
knees, ankles, chests, rib cages, stomachs, and shoulders that rotate. "You can build a Homer suit around this regular
— well, somewhat regular — guy which will correspond to the key features of his anatomy." The anatomy of the Bus Stop Bunch checks most
of these boxes.
Though, the woman in red lacks elbows, resembling
these gag drawings by Wes Archer. Nitpicks aside, Simpsons characters have always
been drawn with rather realistic human anatomy and proportions. Even some of the ridiculous season one background
characters follow these body principles. However, if this character existed nowadays,
his stomach would likely be solid, not as soft and squishy. More circular. Simple circles are used to construct so many
characters in the Simpsons universe. Not just in terms of shape, but also scale. Ned is 5 1/2 head balls high. Marge's hair is twice the height of her head. And Maggie's head is 4 1/2 eyeballs tall. Speaking of little eyes, I spy a few hands
posed with only three fingers.
But this changes to the standard four once
running starts. And when the running does start, we have some
nice, rounded joints. Something emphasized all over the Simpsons
Handbook. I get it. Animating a moving body is difficult. Quote, "These drawings of Bart are, in fact,
from a little place we know called hell". "How bad is this? Let me count the ways." "One, oddly shaped Frankenstein head." "Two, stupid, little grin." "Three, big butt." "And four, dopey poses." "Arrg! Sorry, I can't take much more of this. If you find yourself drawing like this, start
again." "Do not turn in to your director." "He will brain you." Sounds harsh, but I've been cherry-picking
these sheets. For every one strongly-worded note, you get
another saying how good of a job the team is doing overall. Here's a note with both frustration and praise:
Quote, "This layout is from the depths of hell." "The nurse is fairly okay, though her perspective
is a bit flabby.
With Bart, however." "The question is: what's right with this drawing?" "The answer: nothing. It's just plain ol' bad." "And now, through the hands of a good artist." "Heaven is achieved." "Eric Stefani redid the layout for me. And I went from heavin' to heaven." "Notice the clarity in form and perspective." "Also note how the hand is rendered. The nurse's expression is improved as well." "And now the punchline… this scene was cut!" At least practice makes perfect. … Is what I would say, until my research
lead me to another cut scene: the Squirrel House. The Squirrel House is an unused shot of the
Simpsons house from Treehouse of Horror V. Allegedly, it took artist Lance Wilder a day
and a half to draw all these squirrels. It was animated, but cut from the final episode
because the squirrels were difficult to see on standard-definition televisions. The line art was too dense. Wilder didn't want his effort to go to waste,
however. So he used this drawing on personal greeting
cards.
The takeaway here is, again, don't add complicated
details to your drawings. Be it human bodies or squirrel bodies. The animators will thank you. Last but not least, let's look at the animation
as a whole. Starting with color! We'll refer to this black-and-white 1989 promotional
book. It contains a lot of neat stuff. Like a copy of the original Simpsons typeface. The rarely-used Simpsons logo. And it gives us the specific Pantone colors
of some characters. The iconic yellow matches. And the other colors can be found in the show's
usual palette of, approximately, 200 base colors. The character's clothing will change tones
occasionally, but that's just cel-animation for you. Minor blemishes are bound to pop up because
each and every one of these frames was hand-painted. How many frames are we looking at? Well, we only get to spend roughly 5 seconds
with the Bus Stop Bunch. At 24 frames per second, they're visible on-screen
for approximately 130 frames of animation. Let's break down what they do during this
time.
The first 60 or so frames see them posed idly,
waiting for the bus. This is an image we should be quite familiar
with at this point. Bart skates by, stealing the retro bus stop
sign and this guy's buttons. The characters are appalled. Remember in between frames from earlier? Yeah, there aren't any of those here. The characters jump from one pose to another
like they've been electrocuted. It's rather jarring for the Simpsons. But, credit where credit is due. These poses follow the advice of Simpsons
animator, Erick Tran. Who says that a good pose can be read as only
a silhouette. And even without color, some of these characters
are clearly surprised. The next 8 frames of animation are great. Kudos to animators Craig Clark and Kevin Petrilak. You can really get a feel of the characters'
weight as they collectively lean back in anticipation of darting forward. Some of the 12 principles of animation are
on full display here. We have squash and stretch. Exaggeration. Anticipation. And follow-through. After the lean-back, the bunch runs left and
our eyes follow them, much to the delight of Simpsons storyboard artist, Chris Roman.
In "Storyboarding: The Simpsons Way", Roman
shares his tips and tricks of how to successfully compose a Simpsons scene. He gives advice, such as:
Don't cut off heads in the frame. Show at least three planes in a room. And, if "two scenes happen in the same locale,
why break them up?" The latter is used a lot during the opening. We transition from Homer to Bart to the Bus
Stop to Marge and Maggie all without cutting away. There's even a fourth, well-hidden cut when
the characters run past this tree. They're running down a road different from
the one we saw just moments prior. Moe's is moved into the background to pave
way for the road. One side effect of not breaking up this long
shot is that our eyes moves from left to right, then right to left, then left to right again. It all happens pretty seamlessly. But season two fixes this back-and-forth by
keeping the camera moving the same direction the whole scene. Just an observation. Finally, we have the 8-frame run cycle.
It's well-animated and is comparable to references. But does it break a rule? The document, "Miscellaneous Timing Notes",
provides animators detailed information on how to properly time their animations. When animating a crowd of people laughing,
note: Everyone laughs, but NOT in unison. Each person should be in a different laugh
cycle than the person next to them. When animating a crowd of people clapping,
note: Everyone claps, but NOT in unison
Each person should be in a different clap cycle than the person next to them. So does that mean each person should be in
a different run cycle than the person next to them? I couldn't find anything on that. Though, in the context of the Bus Stop, I
believe having the bunch run in unison is a deliberate, stylistic choice. These characters exist not as individuals,
but rather as a group. They stand still together. They act shocked together. And they lean back together. So it only makes sense they run away together. Out of frame…
Never to be seen again… "I must go now. My planet needs me." Our investigation into the Simpsons' Missing
Bus Stop has concluded. I hope you enjoyed this look into the show's
style guides! A big thank you to the crew members and fans
that made this exploration possible. Their archival efforts cannot be overstated. You might be happy to learn other animated
series, like King of the Hill, have their own No-No sheet equivalents floating around
online. When it comes to the Bus Stop Bunch, it's
those small, seemingly insignificant details that break the rules. But as we've learned in animation: nothing
is insignificant. Every step, every blink, every line is deliberate. It takes the talents of many people to produce
just one second of Simpsons animation.
Rules exist for consistency, and higher-quality
results. And every once in a while, it's okay to break
those rules. To quote Matt Groening one last time:
"The rules were invented so a lot of professional artists, designers, and animators could make
the characters look the same way every time." "But I've rarely followed those rules myself." "I draw by instinct, and that's how I originally
designed the characters." "Without any rules in mind." Appearing in just 10 Simpsons episodes, the
Bus Stop is something that's tucked away in the corner, yet unforgettable once you notice.
A coffee stain on a drawing..
