The Simpsons panel at San Diego Comic-Con saved its biggest surprise for last, as the event ended with a video message from Vice President Kamala Harris.
After introducing the final clip as coming from a “super fan,” series creator Matt Groening set up footage of a laughing Harris delivering a well-known line from a previous “Treehouse of Horror” episode.
“We must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom,” Harris said.
The quote is from “Treehouse of Horror VII” that aired Oct. 27, 1996, just ahead of that year’s presidential election between then-President Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. The episode’s segment features aliens Kang and Kodos impersonating the two candidates, with the Clinton imposter delivering the line during a public event.
Social media users had recently been having fun with the fact that Lisa Simpson became the first female president during the 2000 episode “Bart to the Future,” and footage has gone viral showing Lisa complaining wearing a purple suit while complaining about budget issues thanks to President Donald Trump.
The episode aired well before Trump, who is likely to face Harris during this November’s presidential election, was elected as the nation’s actual commander in chief.
During the panel, Groening was joined by Matt Selman, Jessica Conrad, Rob LaZebnik and Tim Bailey, alongside moderator and longtime fan Kevin Smith.
Also joining the panel midway through the event was Seth Green, who discussed the work that his company has been doing on a stop-motion character called “Denim,” which is a parody of the Marvel Comics standout Venom. As seen in a clip shared from an upcoming episode, “Denim” takes over Homer’s body when he is wearing the sinister pair of pants.
More to come.
