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{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox Simpsons episode {{Infobox Simpsons episode
| image =
| episode_name = Kamp Krusty
| episode_no = 60 | caption =
| prod_code = 8F24 | season = 4
| episode = 1
| airdate = ] ]
| writer = ] | director = ]
| director = ] | writer = ]
| production = 8F24
| blackboard = "This punishment is not boring and pointless"
| airdate = {{Start date|1992|09|24}}
| couch_gag = ], ] and ] are sitting on the couch.
| guest_star = | guests =
| blackboard = "This punishment is not boring and pointless"
| image = ]
| couch_gag = The family finds ], ], and ] already sitting on the couch.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season4/page2.shtml|title=Kamp Krusty|access-date=September 21, 2007|author1=Martyn, Warren|author2=Wood, Adrian|year=2000|publisher=BBC|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 31, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831191914/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season4/page2.shtml}}</ref>
| season = 4
| commentary = ]<br />]<br />]<br />]
| prev = ]
| next = ]"<hr>"]
}} }}
"'''Kamp Krusty'''" is the ] premiere of the American animated television series '']'', and the 60th episode overall. It originally aired on ] in the United States on September 24, 1992.<ref>{{cite video | people=Groening, Matt|date=2004|title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> In the episode, the children of Springfield attend Kamp Krusty, a summer camp named after ]. The camp is extremely unpleasant, leading to the campers rebelling against the camp director. Meanwhile, with the kids away, ] and ] enjoy more time together, and Homer becomes physically and emotionally healthier.<ref>{{cite video | people=Groening, Matt; Stern, David; Kirkland, Mark|date=2004|title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>
"'''Kamp Krusty'''" is the first episode of '']''<nowiki>'</nowiki> ]. ] and ] go to a summer camp with high expectations, but are subjected to a harrowing experience instead. As described in the episodes commentary of ], The ''Kamp Krusty'' script was suggested by ] to be lengthened for a ]. Due to problems with making the episode long enough for 80 minutes, this idea was dropped.


The episode was written by ] and directed by ]. A direct sequel episode, "]", aired as part of the series' ], on March 5, 2017.
This is also the last episode of the show to be animated at ], which animated the show since season 1. The show would move to ] in the next episode, where it remains to this day.


==Synopsis== ==Plot==
] and ] attend the summer camp Kamp Krusty, leaving ] and ] to have some time alone for the summer. The camp's director, Mr. Black, has licensed the camp's name from ]. However, the camp turns out to be a ]; as Lisa explains in a letter to her parents, "Our nature hikes have become grim death marches. Our arts and crafts center is, in actuality, a ] workhouse.” The camp counselors are bullies ], ] and ], who feed the campers Krusty-Brand Imitation ] while enjoying deluxe accommodations themselves; the bullies sip brandy with Mr. Black, who intones: "Gentlemen, to evil!" Worst of all, Krusty himself is unaware of the camp's conditions and is currently on a vacation in ].
{{spoiler}}
It's the last day of school. After getting ] to change the Fs on his report card to Cs, Bart, his fellow students, and the faculty tear down the school with chainsaws, flamethrowers and even a wrecking ball, to the tune of ]'s "]." This turns out to only be a dream, but it really is the last day of school.


To appease the restless campers, Mr. Black tells the children that Krusty himself is coming to visit. However, "Krusty" turns out to be a poorly disguised ], and the ruse does not fool Bart. Bart then leads the campers in revolt, driving out Mr. Black and the bullies and changing the camp's name to Camp Bart. Meanwhile, Homer and Marge see a ] report of the campers' revolt. After learning that Bart is the leader of the rebellion, Homer instantly loses the hair he grew and regains the weight he lost since the children went to camp.
Bart and Lisa are excited about being able to spend the summer at Kamp Krusty ("The Krustiest Place On Earth"), a summer camp run by ], but ] has made Bart's visit conditional on his getting at least a C average on his report card. At school, Bart finds ] has given him a D- in each subject. On the bus ride home, he uses a marker to fix each grade to an A+. Bart presents the card to his dad, but Homer sees through the ruse ("A+?! You don't think very much of me, do you, boy?"). Homer chides Bart for not faking plausible grades ("You know, a D turns into a B so easily. You just got greedy.") but admits that he didn't really want to have Bart around the house all summer, so he can go to Kamp Krusty after all.


The real Krusty is informed of Kamp Krusty's conditions, and returns from London to visit the camp. He apologizes to the campers for their ordeal and his ignorance of their plight; to gain full control of the camp, Mr. Black had bribed Krusty with a "dump truck full of money". To make it up to the campers, Krusty takes them for "two weeks at the happiest place on Earth: ]!". As ] (sung by ]) plays, a ] is shown of Krusty and the campers vacationing in Tijuana, but Krusty misses the bus home at the end of the trip.
The kids of Springfield all leave for Kamp Krusty. Once there, the camp's director, Mr. Black - who licenses the Krusty brand for his camp - announces that Krusty won't be around for a few weeks, and instead Springfield Elementary's bullies, ], ], and ], will enforce order. At Kamp Krusty, the cabins are decrepit and vermin-infested, the lake is too dangerous to swim in, and the kids are fed nothing but Krusty Brand Imitation ] ("Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference"). Meanwhile, with the older kids gone, Homer and ] are having a wonderful summer together. Homer has even grown two extra strands of hair and lost a few pounds. Lisa sends a letter to Marge, describing how the kids are forced to make wallets for export in arts and crafts, and hikes have become brutal forced marches, but Marge and Homer think she's exaggerating. Bart retains the hope that Krusty will come and save the kids. Krusty himself, unaware of any of this, approves more shoddy merchandise bearing his name before heading off to ].


==Production==
Mr. Black announces to the campers that Krusty has finally come, but it's just local drunk ] dressed as ]. This indignity leads Bart to finally snap; he leads the campers in rebellion, driving out Mr. Black and the bullies, and establishing Camp Bart. The newscaster ] arrives at the camp to report on the revolt; when Homer watches the live broadcast and finds Bart is the leader, he instantly loses his newly-grown hair and gains back his weight. Krusty is called back from Wimbledon in England and comes to the camp to apologize to the kids, saying he was offered "a dumptruck full of money" in exchange for putting his name on the camp. To make it all up to the campers, he offers to take them to the happiest place on Earth: ]. The kids and Krusty have fun together in Mexico.
] originally wanted the episode to become a film.]]
The idea that the children should go to a camp run by Krusty was first suggested by ]. The animators were enthusiastic about making this episode because they had all gone to summer camps as children and thought it would be a fun episode to write for.<ref name="Mark Kirkland.">{{cite video|people=Kirkland, Mark|date=2004|title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The writers also thought that "it would be fun if while the kids are gone Homer and Marge find that as the kids are miserable their marriage is better than ever."<ref name="Al Jean and Mark Kirkland.">{{cite video | people=Jean, Al; Kirkland, Mark|date=2004|title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The layout for Bart and Lisa's cabin was influenced by the director, ], who as a child went to a ] camp that had exposed wires and other similar faults.<ref name="Mark Kirkland."/> Kirkland was also sure that the character Mr. Black would reappear later in the series, but he never did. ] commented, "I guess that the ] really got Mr. Black out of the show forever."<ref name="Al Jean and Mark Kirkland."/>


After he saw the completed episode, ] called the writers and suggested that the "Kamp Krusty" script be used as a plotline for a film. However, the episode ran very short, and to make it barely fit the minimum time the ''Kamp Krusty'' song had to be lengthened by a number of verses. The episode was also chosen to be the first episode of the season, further complicating matters. As Jean told Brooks, "First of all, if we make it into the movie then we don't have a premiere, and second, if we can't make 18 minutes out of this episode how are we supposed to make 80?"<ref name="Al Jean.">{{cite video | people=Jean, Al|date=2004|title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>
==Trivia==

* ] locker combanation is 36,24,36
Along with the following episode, "]", "Kamp Krusty" was a holdover from the previous season's production run. It was the final episode to be produced in this run and so the last animated at ], before the show's producers ] moved its domestic production to ].<ref name="Mark Kirkland."/><ref>{{cite news|author= Bernstein, Sharon|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-21-fi-739-story.html|title='The Simpsons' Producer Changes Animation Firms|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 21, 1992|page=18|access-date=January 15, 2022}}</ref>
* When Lisa is giving mail back to the campers, we hear the first indication that ] last name was Wiggum.


==Cultural references== ==Cultural references==
Bart’s dream sequence at the beginning of the episode ends with the students destroying Springfield Elementary School to ]’s “],” mirroring the ending of the 1979 film ].
* '']'' - The scene where Kearney beats a drum to make the youthful campers work in the sweatshop is taken from the slave galley scene in the 1959 film.

* ] - The Krusty totem pole suffers the same fate as various statues of Communist leaders (e.g., Felix Dzerzhinsky, Vladimir Lenin) in the camp revolt scenes.
Some elements of the plot are borrowed from the ] song "]", a song about a kid who went to camp and hated it. The song was later used in "]", and ]. The idea for the song sung by the children was from a 1960s TV show called '']'', which has a theme song that is similar to the ''Kamp Krusty'' song.<ref name="bbc" /><ref name="Al Jean and Mark Kirkland." />
* '']'' - Various references during the camp revolt scenes (kids using primitive weapons and wearing war paint, the burning effigy, a fly-covered pig's head skewered on a stake behind Brockman). ''Lord of the Flies'' would be more explicitly parodied in the episode ].

* ] - The slogans "The Krustiest place on Earth!" (Kamp Krusty) and "The happiest place on Earth!" (]) are plays on the slogan for Disney theme park resorts, "The Happiest Place on Earth!" Additionally, Black mentions that he was previously head of Euro Krustyland before it exploded, a parody of the unpopularity of ].
The scene where Lisa gives a bottle of ] to a man on horseback (payment for delivering a letter) is a reference to ]'s scene from the film '']''.<ref>{{cite video | people=Kirkland, Mark; Groening, Matt|date=2004|title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Some aspects of the episode are references to the novel '']'' (a pig's head on a spear, kids using primitive weapons and wearing war paint, and a burning effigy).<ref name="Mark Kirkland."/>
* The episode ends with the song "]".

* '']'' - Bart, Milhouse and Lisa run for cover from falling rocks just like ] in this 1925 film.
The scene where Kearney beats a drum to make the campers work in the sweatshop is taken from the slave galley scene in the 1959 film '']''.<ref name="Al Jean."/> The episode ends with the song "]". According to the DVD commentary, the song is not sung by ] but by another artist impersonating him.<ref name="Al Jean and Mark Kirkland."/>
* ] - "Camp Bart" resembles Col. Kurtz's camp to an extent

When Krusty is confronted by the reporters, he is asked "if him and ] are just friends." A more cryptic reference was made when he is confronted by another reporter and retorts "Where were you when I sang at ]?" The reference was inspired by ] making the remark "Where were you when I marched in the civil rights movement?" Mason had a recurring role in series as Krusty's father.

While the plot of the episode is similar to that of the 1991 ] spin-off from the television series called '']'', the two are unrelated as the video game was released well before the first airing of the "Kamp Krusty" episode.

==Reception==
In its original broadcast, "Kamp Krusty" finished 24th in ratings for the week of September 21–27, 1992, with a ] of 13.5, equivalent to approximately 12.6 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nielsen ratings|work=Daily Breeze|author=The Associated Press|page=D4|date=September 30, 1992 }}</ref>

Nathan Rabin of '']'' gave the episode an A, ultimately saying the episode began ''the Simpsons''' fourth season in an amazing way.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.avclub.com/the-simpsons-classic-kamp-krusty-1798172210|title=The Simpsons (Classic): "Kamp Krusty"|first=Nathan|last=Rabin|website=www.avclub.com|date=April 1, 2012|access-date=January 15, 2022}}</ref>

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', had mixed views about the episode. They said that it is "A bit baffling to non-Americans unfamiliar with the summer camp system. But top grade stuff nonetheless. Anyone who's worked as a counsellor in such a place can testify to this episode's authenticity."<ref name="bbc"/>

The episode's reference to ''Ben-Hur'' was named the 31st greatest film reference in the history of the show by '']''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Nathan Ditum.<ref name="totalfilm">{{cite news|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/the-50-greatest-simpsons-movie-references|title=The 50 Greatest Simpsons Movie References|last=Ditum|first=Nathan|date=June 6, 2009 |work=]|publisher=GamesRadar|access-date=July 22, 2009}}</ref>

==See also==
* "]"

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_4#Kamp_Krusty|Kamp Krusty}}
{{Portal|The Simpsons}}
* {{Snpp capsule|8F24}}
*{{IMDb episode|id=0701142}}

{{The Simpsons episodes|4}}


]
==The Kamp Krusty Song==
]
''Hail to thee, Kamp Krusty <br/>''
]
''By the shores of Big Snake Lake <br/>''
]
''Though your swings are rusty <br/>''
]
''We know they'll never break! <br/>''
]
''From your gleaming mess hall <br/>''
''To your hallowed baseball field <br/>''
''To your spic-and-span infirmary <br/>''
''Where all our wounds are healed! <br/>''
''Hail to thee Kamp Krusty <br/>''
''Below Mt Avalanche <br/>''
''We will always love Kamp Krusty <br/>''
''A registered trademark of the Krusty Corporation<br/>''
''All rights reserved!<br/>''

Latest revision as of 21:54, 26 December 2024

1st episode of the 4th season of The Simpsons
"Kamp Krusty"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 1
Directed byMark Kirkland
Written byDavid M. Stern
Production code8F24
Original air dateSeptember 24, 1992 (1992-09-24)
Episode features
Chalkboard gag"This punishment is not boring and pointless"
Couch gagThe family finds Fred Flintstone, Wilma, and Pebbles already sitting on the couch.
CommentaryMatt Groening
Al Jean
Mark Kirkland
David Silverman
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?"
Next →
"A Streetcar Named Marge"
"Kamp Krustier"
The Simpsons season 4
List of episodes

"Kamp Krusty" is the fourth season premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 60th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 24, 1992. In the episode, the children of Springfield attend Kamp Krusty, a summer camp named after Krusty the Clown. The camp is extremely unpleasant, leading to the campers rebelling against the camp director. Meanwhile, with the kids away, Homer and Marge enjoy more time together, and Homer becomes physically and emotionally healthier.

The episode was written by David M. Stern and directed by Mark Kirkland. A direct sequel episode, "Kamp Krustier", aired as part of the series' twenty-eighth season, on March 5, 2017.

Plot

Bart and Lisa attend the summer camp Kamp Krusty, leaving Homer and Marge to have some time alone for the summer. The camp's director, Mr. Black, has licensed the camp's name from Krusty the Clown. However, the camp turns out to be a dystopia; as Lisa explains in a letter to her parents, "Our nature hikes have become grim death marches. Our arts and crafts center is, in actuality, a Dickensian workhouse.” The camp counselors are bullies Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney, who feed the campers Krusty-Brand Imitation Gruel while enjoying deluxe accommodations themselves; the bullies sip brandy with Mr. Black, who intones: "Gentlemen, to evil!" Worst of all, Krusty himself is unaware of the camp's conditions and is currently on a vacation in London.

To appease the restless campers, Mr. Black tells the children that Krusty himself is coming to visit. However, "Krusty" turns out to be a poorly disguised Barney Gumble, and the ruse does not fool Bart. Bart then leads the campers in revolt, driving out Mr. Black and the bullies and changing the camp's name to Camp Bart. Meanwhile, Homer and Marge see a breaking news report of the campers' revolt. After learning that Bart is the leader of the rebellion, Homer instantly loses the hair he grew and regains the weight he lost since the children went to camp.

The real Krusty is informed of Kamp Krusty's conditions, and returns from London to visit the camp. He apologizes to the campers for their ordeal and his ignorance of their plight; to gain full control of the camp, Mr. Black had bribed Krusty with a "dump truck full of money". To make it up to the campers, Krusty takes them for "two weeks at the happiest place on Earth: Tijuana!". As "South of the Border" (sung by Gene Merlino) plays, a montage is shown of Krusty and the campers vacationing in Tijuana, but Krusty misses the bus home at the end of the trip.

Production

James L. Brooks originally wanted the episode to become a film.

The idea that the children should go to a camp run by Krusty was first suggested by David M. Stern. The animators were enthusiastic about making this episode because they had all gone to summer camps as children and thought it would be a fun episode to write for. The writers also thought that "it would be fun if while the kids are gone Homer and Marge find that as the kids are miserable their marriage is better than ever." The layout for Bart and Lisa's cabin was influenced by the director, Mark Kirkland, who as a child went to a Boy Scout camp that had exposed wires and other similar faults. Kirkland was also sure that the character Mr. Black would reappear later in the series, but he never did. Al Jean commented, "I guess that the hydrofoil really got Mr. Black out of the show forever."

After he saw the completed episode, James L. Brooks called the writers and suggested that the "Kamp Krusty" script be used as a plotline for a film. However, the episode ran very short, and to make it barely fit the minimum time the Kamp Krusty song had to be lengthened by a number of verses. The episode was also chosen to be the first episode of the season, further complicating matters. As Jean told Brooks, "First of all, if we make it into the movie then we don't have a premiere, and second, if we can't make 18 minutes out of this episode how are we supposed to make 80?"

Along with the following episode, "A Streetcar Named Marge", "Kamp Krusty" was a holdover from the previous season's production run. It was the final episode to be produced in this run and so the last animated at Klasky Csupo, before the show's producers Gracie Films moved its domestic production to Film Roman.

Cultural references

Bart’s dream sequence at the beginning of the episode ends with the students destroying Springfield Elementary School to Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” mirroring the ending of the 1979 film Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.

Some elements of the plot are borrowed from the Allan Sherman song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh", a song about a kid who went to camp and hated it. The song was later used in "Marge Be Not Proud", and inspired the title of a later episode. The idea for the song sung by the children was from a 1960s TV show called Camp Runamuck, which has a theme song that is similar to the Kamp Krusty song.

The scene where Lisa gives a bottle of whiskey to a man on horseback (payment for delivering a letter) is a reference to Meryl Streep's scene from the film The French Lieutenant's Woman. Some aspects of the episode are references to the novel Lord of the Flies (a pig's head on a spear, kids using primitive weapons and wearing war paint, and a burning effigy).

The scene where Kearney beats a drum to make the campers work in the sweatshop is taken from the slave galley scene in the 1959 film Ben-Hur. The episode ends with the song "South of the Border". According to the DVD commentary, the song is not sung by Frank Sinatra but by another artist impersonating him.

When Krusty is confronted by the reporters, he is asked "if him and Princess Di are just friends." A more cryptic reference was made when he is confronted by another reporter and retorts "Where were you when I sang at Farm Aid?" The reference was inspired by Jackie Mason making the remark "Where were you when I marched in the civil rights movement?" Mason had a recurring role in series as Krusty's father.

While the plot of the episode is similar to that of the 1991 video game spin-off from the television series called Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly, the two are unrelated as the video game was released well before the first airing of the "Kamp Krusty" episode.

Reception

In its original broadcast, "Kamp Krusty" finished 24th in ratings for the week of September 21–27, 1992, with a Nielsen rating of 13.5, equivalent to approximately 12.6 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.

Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, ultimately saying the episode began the Simpsons' fourth season in an amazing way.

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, had mixed views about the episode. They said that it is "A bit baffling to non-Americans unfamiliar with the summer camp system. But top grade stuff nonetheless. Anyone who's worked as a counsellor in such a place can testify to this episode's authenticity."

The episode's reference to Ben-Hur was named the 31st greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film's Nathan Ditum.

See also

References

  1. ^ Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Kamp Krusty". BBC. Archived from the original on August 31, 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2007.
  2. Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  3. Groening, Matt; Stern, David; Kirkland, Mark (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. ^ Kirkland, Mark (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ Jean, Al; Kirkland, Mark (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. ^ Jean, Al (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  7. Bernstein, Sharon (January 21, 1992). "'The Simpsons' Producer Changes Animation Firms". Los Angeles Times. p. 18. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  8. Kirkland, Mark; Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  9. The Associated Press (September 30, 1992). "Nielsen ratings". Daily Breeze. p. D4.
  10. Rabin, Nathan (April 1, 2012). "The Simpsons (Classic): "Kamp Krusty"". www.avclub.com. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  11. Ditum, Nathan (June 6, 2009). "The 50 Greatest Simpsons Movie References". Total Film. GamesRadar. Retrieved July 22, 2009.

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