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Bart Simpson Promotes Scientology
January 28, 2009 1:55 pm
Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, has taken Bart out of Springfield and plopped him into the real-world by using the iconic character to promote her personal religious causes. Below is a robo-call in which she uses Bart’s voice imploring people to attend a Scientology event. All I can say is it’s extremely uncomfortable hearing Bart in this context. 47 comments posted in Cartoon Culture 
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extremely uncomfortable is a vast understatement.
Aye Carumba!! @_@
creepy
Is this for real? If it is, I think there might be a few folks in the Fox legal department who want to have a word with her…
oi…
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that FOX would not approve.
I’ve always wondered if Cartwright realizes that the episode of The Simpsons with “The Leader” was about Scientology, based on actual things the CoS does to its non-celebrity members…
Have a cow, man.
If she were not the voice of Bart Simpson, she would be fired. She doesn’t think they could, but they can. Surely that is MAJOR against the rules.
As I recall, there’s already a provision in Nancy’s “Simpsons” contract that prevents her from brandishing her “Bart” voice in public. Now if I know this, she knows it as well… And if we know about her using Bart to promote Scientology, Fox knows it as well…
Which begs the question: Does Nancy also know how much longer the “Simpsons” is going to run, and is unauthorized voice work is coming out now because it would be pointless to present legal action against her for a show whose days are numbered?
Last Sunday night’s new Simpsons was the worst I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t one laugh. The show jumped the shark some time ago. And now this. It’s as bad as Laura Kitelinger blowing off her promoted gig at Cartoon Dump!
Katella has a very interesting point. Maybe the Simpsons days are numbered. Either way, I try my best to ignore the wackiness of Scientology in the name of religious tolerance but sometimes…
Somebody should send Matt Groening this link… its soooooooo gross
I’ve never seen Dan Castellaneta use his Simpson’s Celebrity to cash in on his membership to Scientology. Yet another animation used to promote a particular god. I prefer my cartoons just be funny.
“South Park” had to deal with this same problem with Issac Hayes, only in that case they had a little more leeway, since Chef was becoming less and less of a key character in the show as the years went on. Still, Fox does have to step in and claim their rights to the character of Bart Simpson, if not the voice (I doubt the court would say Cartwright’s voice inflection belongs to Matt Groening or Rupert Murdoch unless it truly is specifically written into her contract, but Matt and Fox do have copyright on all of the show’s characters).
This is probably the reason I hate that religion personally. There’s a good YTMND out there someone did that brings to light some of the terrible things that was done by them in the past.
Fox has taken down the video based on copyright claims.
I’d hate to make this a religious debate but I find it particularly disturbing that the promotion was of a controversial, pseudo-religious cult with an extensive history of money laundering and dubious practices using a character that is beloved and recognized by children and adults alike the world over. I am glad Fox put an end to this in its tracks. Now if they can work on making The Simpsons worth watching again…
If they need a new Bart Simpson voice all they have to do is stand in line at an animation festival for ten minutes and they’ll hear a dozen people doing Bart Simpson and three of them will be good.
I remember a Tracy Ullman interview way way back and she was asked if she did any of the voices for the Simpsons segments on her show.
No, she said, but she could… and she did pitch perfect Bart Simpson on the spot.
Aaand it’s off YouTube.
“Life in Hell” started in opposition to this sort of routine. Is up down now, Matt? When are you gonna speak out? Opposition to Bart being co-opted for the FIRST Gulf War you were bold. Since … well. It was a brave ’80s strip. When not much was on the line.
The problem is, if Cartwright merely used her own voice, it would still sound like Bart.
robocat, I don’t think you’d find a Bart Simpson who is as good a voice actor. It’s not about mimicry, it’s about performance. Anyone remember Mel Blanc’s son doing the Looney Tunes voices back in the 80s? Terrible.
Yes, I am right now having a cow. A big one. With longhorns.
… all I can see in my head is “The Leader” episode Simpsons did years and years ago
Do those people really not see the cult-crazy relation?
Whether or not the show is set for cancellation, I doubt Fox would mind some extra lawsuit cash. Watchmen, anyone?
The Fox bigwigs are Scientologists, too. They didn’t take it down.
It was removed by the executives at Youtube who are all Raelians.
Its like and East Coast/West Coast thing. Next, Fox will retaliate against NASCAR.
Thanks for reposting the YouTube link.
This really doesn’t surprise me, except that I’m hearing this in 2009. Nancy has been actively climbing up the Scientologist ladder for a number of years now; recently she made a single donation of $10 milion (two years’ salary) to the CoS, more than any other celebrity.
The problem with replacing Nancy Cartwright is that she also does the voices of (among others) Nelson Muntz and Ralph Wiggum. But if and/or when the day comes and Nancy is replaced, will anybody even give a damn about the show?
Big Religion meets Big Media. Clash of the Titans!
Yikes. That’s pretty disgusting. Nancy Cartwright already rubbed me up the wrong way for seemingly trying to get her face everywhere but this is way out of bounds.
Thinking more on this… when is it okay for the voice actors to use the voices of the characters outside of actually voicing the characters for any given show?
the one that immediately came to mind was the video with Harry Shearer doing a number of Simpsons voices discussing politics, as mentioned right here on CB (http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cartoon-culture/simpsons-characters-discuss-the-elections.html), which was also taken down on Youtube.
In all honesty, I think that ‘The Leader’ episode had more to do with Heaven’s gate than Scientology, but…
Rod Blagojevich will soon be available for voicework. Possibly later today.
Dirk: Maybe Nancy can sell him her seat.
Uh oh, does this mean she’s not cool now?
This is what happens when you work 25 days a year and get millions for it. “Idle hands…”
Video removed? I suspect Xenu’s hand in this…
Ohhhh….this is just so wrong on so many levels…I hope Matt Groening sez something about it. WAAAAY too creepy, man…way too creepy.
Is this any worse than Spire Comics using the Archie characters to convert people to Christianity, or Palestinians having a Mickey Mouse look-a-like spreading anti-Zionism to children?
Tom Kenny won’t be able to resist a gag about this at the annies, or WILL HE?
Now I know why the world is going to end.
Everything that I think about Scientology and religion in general can best be summed up in this post:
http://www.demonbaby.com/blog/2008/01/please-stop-making-fun-of.html
Squozen:the problem with that post is that Scientology is pretty dangerous, they track ex-members and have driven members to suicide due to their anti-medication stance. It can’t be taken that lightly.
Why don’t I care?
Just as Jenny said, I would not trust one if he just happens to bump into me on the street.
vzk: In fairness to Spire Christian Comics, they actually got a license from Archie Comics to do the Christian Archie comics. Whatever one might think of their artistry or religious views, at least they didn’t violate intellectual property.
Brief news about the impending lawsuit:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2009/02/03/wynter.simpson.scientology.cnn
It is extremely disturbing to hear Bart Simpson legitimately promote what is little more than an absurdly pathetic hollywood religious cult.
After seeing this, I’m all for Fox not only launching a full lawsuit, but would be very willing to see The Simpsons officially kill off the Bart character for good as a direct result of this.
I have lost absolutely all respect for Nancy Cartwright as a performer and human being, and even for the character of Bart himself after hearing this disturbing, creepy, and thoroughly irritating promotion of a pathetic religious cult perpetuated by disturbed Hollywood wackjobs.