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Lisa's Rival
"Lisa's Rival" is the second episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 11, 1994. Winona Ryder guest stars as Allison Taylor, a new student at Springfield Elementary School. Lisa Simpson begins to feel threatened by Allison because she is smarter, younger, and a better saxophone player. The episode's subplot sees Homer steal a large pile of sugar from a crashed truck and sell it door-to-door. The episode was written by Mike Scully and directed by Mark Kirkland. "Lisa's Rival" was the first episode written by Scully. The episode was originally pitched by former writer Conan O'Brien, while the subplot was suggested by George Meyer. It features references to films such as '' The Fugitive'' and '' Scarface''. Production of the episode was affected by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Plot Lisa feels her status as the top student in her class is threatened when a new ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland is an American animation director. He has directed 84 episodes of ''The Simpsons'' since 1990, more than any other director. Career At the age of 13, Kirkland began making super 8 films and working for his father, noted photographer and filmmaker Douglas Kirkland, creating “making of” films for major production companies. This exposure to Hollywood sparked Kirkland's desire to seek a career in the entertainment industry. Kirkland developed an interest in drawing at an early age. At the age of 17, he began studying in the Experimental Animation Program at the California Institute of the Arts for four years, earning a BFA degree. There, he was mentored by people such as Jules Engel (serving as his teaching assistant), A. Kendall O'Connor, Ollie Johnston and Moe Gollub. In 1976, he won the Student Academy Award for animation along with fellow student, Richard Jefferies, for their graphically animated film made to the song " Fame" by David Bowie. After finishing up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave inside the instrument's body. The pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes in the body to change the effective length of the tube. The holes are closed by leather pads attached to keys operated by the player. Saxophones are made in various sizes and are almost always treated as transposing instruments. Saxophone players are called '' saxophonists''. The saxophone is used in a wide range of musical styles including classical music (such as concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, and occasionally orchestras), military bands, marching bands, jazz (such as big bands and jazz combos), and contemporary music. The saxophone is also used as a solo and melody instrument or as a member of a horn section in som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of Star Wars, phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into List of Star Wars films, various films and Star Wars expanded to other media, other media, including List of Star Wars television series, television series, Star Wars video games, video games, List of Star Wars books, novels, List of Star Wars comic books, comic books, List of Star Wars theme parks attractions, theme park attractions, and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, themed areas, comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe. ''Star Wars'' is one of the List of highest-grossing media franchises, highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The original film (''Star Wars''), retroactively subtitled ''Episode IV: A New Hope'' (1977), was followed by the sequels ''The Empire Strik ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum is a recurring character on the animated series, ''The Simpsons.'' He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Ralph, The son of Police Chief Wiggum, is a classmate of Lisa Simpson and is noted for his frequent non-sequiturs and humorous behavior. His lines range from nonsensical and bizarre interpretations of a current event to profound statements that go over people's heads. His behavior varies from blissfully unaware, to dim-witted, to awkwardly spontaneous, even occasionally straightforward. The very nature of the character has undergone differing interpretations over the years and within various media. The creator of the show, Matt Groening, has cited Ralph as his favorite character. He generally remains one of the more popular and often quoted secondary characters in the show. In 2006, ''IGN'' ranked Ralph No. 3 on their list of the "Top 25 Simpsons Peripheral Characters," behind Sideshow Bob and Troy McClure. Role in ''The Simpsons'' Ralph is a mentally challenged a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Principal Skinner
Principal Seymour Skinner (born Armin Tamzarian) is a recurring fictional character in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', who is voiced by Harry Shearer. He is the principal of Springfield Elementary School, which he struggles to control, and is constantly engaged in a battle against its inadequate resources, apathetic and bitter teachers, and often rowdy and unenthusiastic students, Bart Simpson being a standout example. Skinner attempts to institute discipline at the school, with an uptight, militaristic attitude that stems from his years in the United States Army as a Green Beret including service in the Vietnam War, where he was captured and held as a prisoner of war. He is quick to take orders from his superiors, chiefly his mother, Agnes, and Superintendent Chalmers. Role in ''The Simpsons'' Skinner's actions often involve ensuring the school has adequate funding. His constant, desperate, and usually ineffective attempts at maintaining discipline are an effort to rece ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' short " Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening created and designed Bart while waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic strip, ''Life in Hell'', but instead decided to create a new set of characters. While the rest of the characters were named after Groening's family members, Bart's name is an anagram of the word ''brat''. After appearing on ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' for two years, the Simpson family received its own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989. Bart has appeared in every ''Simpsons'' episode except "Four Great Women and a Manicure". At ten years old, Bart is the eldest child and only son of Homer and Marge, and the bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Oliver travels to London, where he meets the "Artful Dodger", a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin. ''Oliver Twist'' unromantically portrays the sordid lives of criminals, and exposes the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century. The alternative title, ''The Parish Boy's Progress'', alludes to Bunyan's ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', as well as the 18th-century caricature series by painter William Hogarth, ''A Rake's Progress'' and ''A Harlot's Progress''. In an early example of the social novel, Dickens satirises child labour, domestic violence, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Tell-Tale Heart
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the narrator committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy pale blue "vulture-eye", as the narrator calls it. The narrator emphasizes the careful calculation of the murder, attempting the perfect crime, complete with dismembering the body in the bathtub and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately, the narrator's actions result in hearing a thumping sound, which the narrator interprets as the dead man's beating heart. The story was first published in James Russell Lowell's ''The Pioneer'' in January 1843. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is often considered a classic of the Gothic fiction genre and is one of Poe's best known short stories. The specific motivation for murder (aside from the narrator's hatred of the old man's eye), the relationship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diorama
A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle modeling, miniature figure modeling, or aircraft modeling. In the United States around 1950 and onward, natural history dioramas in museums became less fashionable, leading to many being removed, dismantled or destroyed. Etymology The word "diorama" originated in 1823 as a type of picture-viewing device, from the French in 1822. The word literally means "through that which is seen", from the Greek di- "through" + orama "that which is seen, a sight". The diorama was invented by Louis Daguerre and Charles Marie Bouton, first exhibited in Paris in July 1822 and at The Diorama, Regent's Park on September 29, 1823. The meaning "small-scale replica of a scene, etc." is from 1902. Daguerre's and Bouton's diorama consisted of a piece of mater ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1994 Northridge Earthquake
The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximately 10–20 seconds, and its peak ground acceleration of 1.82 ''g'' was the highest ever instrumentally recorded in an urban area in North America. Shaking was felt as far away as San Diego, Turlock, Las Vegas, Richfield, Phoenix and Ensenada. The peak ground velocity at the Rinaldi Receiving Station was , the fastest ever recorded. Two 6.0 aftershocks followed, the first about one minute after the initial event and the second approximately 11 hours later, the strongest of several thousand aftershocks in all. The death toll was 57, with more than 9,000 injured. In addition, property damage was estimated to be $13–50 billion (equivalent to $24–93 billion in 2021), making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. Epi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarface (1983 Film)
''Scarface'' is a 1983 American crime film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone. Loosely based on the Scarface (novel), 1929 novel of the same name and serving as a loose remake of the Scarface (1932 film), 1932 film, it tells the story of Cuban exiles, Cuban refugee Tony Montana (Al Pacino), who arrives penniless in Miami during the Mariel boatlift and becomes a powerful and extremely homicidal drug lord. The film co-stars Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Robert Loggia. De Palma dedicated this version of ''Scarface'' to the writers of the original film, Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht. Pacino became interested in a remake of the 1932 version after seeing it, and he and producer Martin Bregman began to develop it. Sidney Lumet was initially hired to direct the film but was replaced by De Palma, who hired Stone to write the script. Filming took place from November 1982 to May 1983, in Los Angeles and Miami. The film's soundtrack was co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fugitive (1993 Film)
''The Fugitive'' is a 1993 American action thriller film based on the 1960s television series of the same name created by Roy Huggins. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Joe Pantoliano, Andreas Katsulas, and Jeroen Krabbé. The screenplay was written by David Twohy and Jeb Stuart from a story by Twohy. After being framed for the murder of his wife and sentenced to death, Dr. Richard Kimble escapes from custody following a bus crash and sets out to find the real killer and clear his name while being hunted by the police and a team of U.S. Marshals. ''The Fugitive'' premiered in Westwood on July 29, 1993 and was released in the United States and Sweden on August 6, 1993. It was a critical and commercial success, spending six weeks as the #1 film in the United States, and grossing nearly $370 million worldwide against a $44 million budget. It was the third-highest-grossing film of 1993 domestically with an estimated 44 mill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
