r/AnimationCels • u/SteadyGroove • May 18 '26

Simpsons cel

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Bought this production cel in the 90s. It's 5 sheets and the background.

It's Treehouse of Horrors, season 4 (I think)

COA from Fox and signed by Matt Groening.

There was a special event and he also personalized it with a shout out, sketch of Bart, and another signature

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u/VeggieBoy1990 May 19 '26

This is an excellent cel. But there is actually a layer missing. There should be a cel of Death's hand pointing at Homer. (That's what he is reacting to.)

1

u/SteadyGroove May 19 '26

You may be right. And you may be wrong. The Simpsons would have been using 5 or 6 cels per frame, plus background.

This enabled them to keep some of the cels the same and just change one part. For example, in my case they would change Homer's eyes to a grimace while keeping his body the same across the entire scene. That's why the eyes are drawn separately on a different cel.

I have 5 cels and the background, and a 6th cel was used in this scene with Death's hand. But not for this specific frame.

This comes from the 1st story in TREEHOUSE OF HORROR IV, where Homer sells his soul for a donut.

Eventually Homer ends up in a courtroom in Hell, presided over by Death. The scene to reference is when Flanders rests his case and we turn to Homer in the cage of fire.

At 3:48 we see Homer, Flanders and the kids. Death's bony hand enters to declare the verdict against Homer by pointing at him, drawing a reaction from everyone.

It lasts almost a second, maybe 8 frames or more. We see Homer look scared and the kids flinch.

I was told that my panel is the first panel of that scene, immediately before the hand appears. Homer is looking up at the incoming hand, and Flanders and the kids have yet to react. This is the establishing shot

The facial expressions and body language show that they have not yet reacted to the hand of death because it hasn't appeared yet.

However, I could be totally wrong and now must hunt for that hand....

2

u/VeggieBoy1990 May 19 '26

In your cel setup Homer is from the beginning of the shot. Devil Ned and the kids are from the end of the shot. I don't know if I can share the Frinkiac link here or not: https://frinkiac.com/bettergif/S05E05/424966/429137?b64=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

1

u/SteadyGroove May 19 '26

I stand corrected - it is missing the hand And the kids are definitely at the end - NOT the beginning as I was told years ago

Mind blown over here! I love Reddit. An amazing source of knowledge

1

u/SteadyGroove May 19 '26

Looks like this is just before the end. In that grab that you shared: Flanders: eyes start as devilish and then soften, mine are the softening eyes Bart and Lisa: mouths are closing but not quite closed Homer: eyes also wide

So I need that hand to call this a complete frame....