The Simpsons: The Computer Wore Menace Shoes EXPLAINED

The Simpsons: The Computer Wore Menace Shoes

"The Island" vs. "The Village"
The Prisoner References Explained
Getting all O.C.D. so that YOU don't have to!
by J.DeFelice

In episode #254 (S12/E6 2000), Homer Simpson buys his first computer (which Lisa has to set up for him after his own failed attempts), and builds a website.  No one looks at it, so in order to get "hits", he starts to post local gossip.  But when he runs out of gossip, he starts to make up his own "facts" (aka: "bull plop").  This results in his being kidnapped from the Kwik-E-Mart via truck and brought to a place called "The Island".  Some strange, anonymous group thinks he knows all about their nefarious use of flu shots on the public (which results in people shopping during Christmas time). 

While on The Island, Homer is given a number, Five, and meets a man named Number Six.  Everyone there has a number-badge on them.  And they are also there because they "know too much".  

Meanwhile, a fake Homer (with a German accent and growing hair) is sent to this home to try and make it seem like he hasn't been kidnapped.

After being gassed (drugged?) over and over, Homer finally talks to the head man on the island, then tries to figure out just how he can escape.  Eventually, Number Six appears and shows Homer his homemade raft.  While a proud Six rambles on about the raft, Homer pushes him into the water and steals it.  As he sails off, an evil white orb emerges from the water and pursues him.  Homer pops it with a plastic fork, then continues homeward, supposedly after four months.

In the end, the whole Simpson family ends up on The Island.

To many, the second half of this episode makes NO sense.  So I'd like to help folks out a little with this visual explanation.

To Begin With...

"The Island" is a reference to "The Village" of the 1967-68 British television show The Prisoner, starring, produced by, sometimes written & directed by Patrick McGoohan.  Number Six is, in fact, voiced by the man himself, and it is the only time he reprised the role that gained him cult status worldwide.  Much has been written about The Prisoner, but this post is for those Simpsons fans out there who are not interested in doing research into that show.

NOTE:  I have never watched the show "Fantasy Island" (1977-1984), so it is possible some references, like the koala and penguin, are from there.  The penguin is supposed to Willie the Kool Cigarette mascot, and the peacock the NBC mascot.

#1:  The Truck (aka: Fake Kwik-E-Mart)

This is the truck that Homer is kidnapped with.  Inside, it is made to look like the real Kwik-E-Mart, complete with a cardboard Apu.

In the final Prisoner episode, "Fall Out", Number Six and his "friends" finally escape The Village... in what looks like a jail cell (first used in the episode "Once Upon a Time") that is actually the trailer of a truck.

Another view from "Fall Out"... the truck carrying the "prisoners" makes it's way through London.

#2:  The Gas

Homer is constantly being gassed while on The Island.

In the opening credits of The Prisoner, we see an un-named spy, the man who becomes, simply, Number Six, resign in his bosses office.  He drives back to his London flat, and as he packs his bags for a trip, he is gassed and passes out.

... when he awakens, he is in "The Village", which may or may not be on an unknown island, as at times it seems to be connected to land, though no one seems to try to escape it via land... until the last episode!  Here we see Number Six passed out from "the gas".

#3:  The Island

This is "The Island" that Homer is sent to...

... and this is the location where The Prisoner was based, called Portmeirion. It is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales, designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village. (from "Many Happy Returns")

#4:  The Woman in the Cape

Number Six tells Homer (as Number 5) that people on The Island are there because they "know too much".  Here we see Number 27, who knows how to turn water into gasoline.

Number 27 seems to be based on Number 9 from "Arrival".

Two more examples of "the cape".

#5:  The Bald Guy in the Round Chair

Homer talks to a bald guy in a strange round chair, who appears to be in charge...

... referring to the character of Number 2, played by different actors each week (with one repeat by Leo McKern).  Number 2 runs The Village, and reports only to the mysterious and rarely mentioned Number One.

#6:  The Lava Lamp (w/frog)

There is a frog swimming in Bald Guy's lava lamp... Notice Number 6 also has a lava lamp!

#6.5: The Lava Wall

The lava-lamp wall behind Homer...

... just like in the first episode of The Prisoner, on the wall of Number 2's "office".

Homer getting mad with the lava-wall behind him... and bowl of drugged ice cream...

... Number 6 getting mad at Number 2 with lava-wall in the background (same episode).

#7: The Croquet Game

Homer tries to fit in by playing a game of croquet with other "islanders".

Number 6 playing human-chess with other Villagers. Notice the accuracy of the background.

Side view of the chess "board".

#8:  The Raft

Number 6 tells Homer that he has been working on something for 33 years... a raft made out of "toilet paper rolls, toothpicks, and plastic forks... and the sail is made of scabs (??) and dynamite... it's small and it's smelly, but it should carry both of us to..." ... before he can finish, Homer knocks Six into the water and steals the raft!

Here is Number 6's first "raft" from the episode "Chimes of Big Ben"... more of a mini sail boat, really. As you can see, it didn't completely work out, though they did get a distance away from the Village... for a while...

Raft #2 from "Checkmate", at first used to transmit radio signals, then used by Number 6 to get out onto a boat he thinks will help him escape.

Raft #3 from "Many Happy Returns". Number 6 actually escaped with this one! (Or DID he?) He is on this raft for 25 days, before ending up on a boat with some gun-running bad guys. Of course, Six overpowers them and takes their boat close to land before having to abandon ship and swim. Here we see him testing his sail...

... checking his his supplies before casting off...

... and having a shave early in the cruise. Alas, though Six thinks he finally gets back to London, it's all a ploy, and he finds himself once again a Prisoner in the Village.

#9:  The Anti-Escape Orb

Almost immediately after leaving the island, Homer is pursued by an "anti-escape orb". This is a reference to the "Rover" used as a sort of spy/security-guard in The Prisoner. As silly as it looks, it was deadly to anyone trying to escape the Village. Or simply be their own person...

The orb emerges from the sea...

... Rover emerges from the sea... ("Checkmate")

Anti-escape orb pursues Homer and "his" raft.

Rover directing Number 6 back to the Village after almost escaping via boat ("Checkmate")

The bad guys watch Homer sail away after he effortlessly "kills" the orb with a plastic fork.

Number Two watches Rover directing Number 6 back to the Village.

Poor Number Six had almost as bad a time with Rover as Patrick McGoohan and his crew did!

#10:  MISCELLANEOUS

Angry Number Six...

After being pushed into the water by Homer, Number 6 emerges, sees his raft sailing away, and angrily comments that this is the third time that had happened to him.  

Number Six's Accent

While in the water, notice the way he pronounces the word "third"... more like "t'urd".  This is supposedly what Patrick McGoohan's "natural" voice sounded like.

On screen, McGoohan had a rather unique speech pattern and tone to his voice.  He usually sounded rather classy and eloquent.  Though when the first season of "Danger Man/Secret Agent" aired on television, he played an American NATO security agent, and never did seem to settle on one accent.  You could pick up bits of Irish and British along with the put-on Yank accent, depending on the episode.  

Though he was born in New York, his Irish parents moved the family back to their native Ireland when he was less than a year old, so there was no New York influence in play.  He spent the beginning of his childhood on the family farm before they made the move to England.  He did not go to any formal acting school, so probably did not have had any one speech style drilled into him for use on the stage.  After The Prisoner ended, McGoohan and his family moved to Switzerland, then finally to America where he stayed until his death in 2009.  So trying to pin-point his accent in any particular role can be exasperating!

33 years...

This episode aired in the year 2000.  So 33 years prior would be 1967, which is indeed the year The Prisoner premiered.  

The third time...

That doesn't really make sense, as he said that particular raft took him 33 years to make.  Did he make others along with it? 

Number badges...

Though Number Six wears his number badge all through the Simpsons episode, during The Prisoner he only wore it three times:  very briefly after it is issued to him in "The Arrival" (he promptly removes it and throws it away), in "Free For All" (a campaign ribbon while running for the position of Number 2), and in "Schizoid Man", where things get complicated due to Six having a double.

Which Six is which?

Not a number...

Homer gets angry a lot and says things like he is "not a number".  This is, of course, the line heard in the opening credits of The Prisoner, and basically sums up the whole show: "I am not a number, I am a free man!".  The anger and throwing of things at Bald Guy are no doubt references to when McGoohan allowed Number Six's temper to flare... maybe even to his own temper during production.  

Obviously, Number Six never had a line like "I want answers now or I want them eventually!"

Fighting your duplicate...

Back at his house, Homer strangles fake-Homer... or is that the other way around?

Fake Number Six fights the real Number Six... wait, no, that's the REAL Number Six trying to get information out of the FAKE Number Six... I think... (from Schizoid Man)

(J.DeFelice 2020)

REVIEW: Nor the Moon By Night / Elephant Gun (1958)

NOR THE MOON BY NIGHT (1958)

Aka: ELEPHANT GUN (USA)

This film is set in Africa, with Patrick McGoohan playing park ranger Andrew Miller, who has been writing to a woman named Alice (Belinda Lee) for years.  After her mother dies, Alice finally heads to Africa to meet and marry Andrew.  His brother Rusty (Michael Craig) isn’t fond of the idea, and thinks the arraignment will fail miserably.

Andrew becomes involved with problems involving local tribes, poachers, and stampeding elephants while Rusty is assigned to meet and watch over Alice until he can meet up with them.  Putting his job ahead of his woman results in his brother Rusty and Alice falling in love (lust?).  Andrew doesn’t know it yet, but Alice isn’t exactly the nice girl he thought she was.

A native park staffer is killed, and scenes of tribal members, other staffers, and poachers clashing follow.  Accusations as to who is responsible for the death fly.  Was it an evil ghost?  Was it the local white poacher and his men?  Was it a spurned lover?  The dead man’s widow seeks revenge.  Meanwhile Alice and Rusty cavort with each other.

Alice finally gets to meet Andrew when he is rescued after spending time up a tree, bleeding from an arm wound, trying to stay out of the mouths of local lions while a brush fire rages.  Laying on the ground in a daze, he looks at Alice as she hovers over him, giving her a gentlemanly “pleased to meet you”. 

The whole group finally end up together, relaxing in a camp house, where things seem rather frosty between Alice, Rusty, and a local white poacher’s young daughter named Thea, who has run away from home.  Andrew seems out of the loop.  Eventually, Thea, who has a crush on Andrew, confronts Alice about the fact she isn’t in love with him, but his brother, and should let Andrew know. 

Torrential rains begin to fall.  One thing leads to another, Alice and Rusty get passionate, Thea decides to go home, gather her things, and run away from her abusive father for good.  Andrew follows, thwarts Thea’s father who tries to bull-whip him, and takes her to safety.  He stops his Land Rover and, soaking wet, basically tells her she can live with him (and no doubt become his wife), giving her a kiss before the scene fades out.  

Alice thinks she has to leave Africa to face charges of killing her mother, who she was caring for before leaving to meet Andrew.  The charges are dropped, and she drives away with Rusty.

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Before watching this film, you must put yourself in the mind of an English audience-member in 1958.  Britain still has a large colonial presence all around the globe, including Africa.  Racism is still rampant as well, and censors still have much influence over film content. 

Having said that, the handling of scenes with local Africans is surprisingly realistic, dare I say even slightly respectful for the era, though modern audiences may take issue with the whole “voodoo curse” plotline and “rain dance” at the end.  But in all there is a rather authentic feel to most of their scenes (no blackface and seemingly no fake languages). 

The overall look of the film is not as impressive as an MGM Cinerama masterpiece, but for it’s time and budget it does make an impression, with it's wide-screen aspect and landscape shots

As for the animal scenes, they range from adorable to disturbing.  Were any animals “harmed during the making of this motion picture”?  I don’t know, but it sure looks like an elephant was shot somewhere at some time, and either the male lion who ends up draped over McGoohan was asleep from drugs, or downright dead.   

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I'll be completely honest... the only reason I watched this movie was because of Patrick McGoohan.  I think the only reason men watched it when it first came out was because of Belinda Lee!  For a 1950s British film, she sure showed off her figure and near the end had some rather steamy scenes with Michael Craig.  If any kids were in the audience, it was because of the wild African animals, most of which seemed to be real.

Supposedly the on-location production was plagued by “issues” with the cast and accidents like the one that put McGoohan in the hospital after crashing a vehicle.  In a magazine article he later stated that during filming pretty much every actor’s marriage ended but his.  Belinda Lee actually left the production to be with her lover and had to be persuaded to return.   

As for the main plot and cast, Lee’s character (Alice) starts out seemingly innocent and moral, dressing conservatively as she cares for her dying mother.  Craig’s (Rusty) seems dubious of brother Andrew’s (McGoohan) by-mail courtship of Lee.  He almost seems to be telling him he’s not man enough to have a relationship of any kind with a woman.  He no doubt doesn’t understand a man like Andrew, who is a thoughtful, quiet sort of guy, who seems genuinely happy Alice will finally be with him, but doesn’t quite know how to show it.

Everything starts to change once Alice arrives in Africa, and by the time the movie hits the half-way mark, you wonder if you are looking at the same characters as in the beginning!  Lee’s wardrobe style changes, and she basically turns into a tramp.  Rusty becomes a wolf, while Andrew is more interested in the animals in his care than the woman he is supposed to marry. 

It struck me that perhaps there was a casting change before shooting began.  Craig’s character is named Rusty, but he is a dark-haired man, while McGoohan has the reddish-brown “rusty” color hair (though sometimes it seems almost gray).  Craig is also handsome and muscular, and lets the audience know it.  But it is McGoohan’s character that gets all of the dangerous action scenes, though he is tall and lean (and keeps his clothes on).  

In order, Andrew almost gets bitten by what looks like a cobra (according to McGoohan, it was a real snake that had been milked of its venom), crashes his truck (like he did in real life off-camera), gets attacked by a lion, treed by more lions while bleeding profusely, almost burned by a brush fire while in said tree (the cast & crew helped fight a real fire according to a newspaper article), and almost bull-whipped at the end of the film while soaking wet.  All the while buff Rusty gets closer and closer (literally) with a ready and willing Alice. 

One subtle stunt that looked particularly impressive for a non-stuntman was when McGoohan, as an injured Andrew, climbs a tree with only one hand.  I couldn't climb a tree with THREE hands, yet alone one.  

Craig would have looked more “Hollywood” playing Andrew, but McGoohan could never have pulled off the sexiness of the scenes with Lee.  Instead, he gets all the danger and ends up with the young good-girl Thea played by Anna Gaylor, which may seem fitting to his fans.  One of his most natural scenes is the one where we first meet Thea, the poacher’s young blonde daughter.  She gives him a small monkey to hold while she questions him about his by-mail girlfriend.  She obviously has a crush on him, but he treats her like a little sister since she's not yet 18, calling her “Pigtails”.  Thea (Anna Gaylor) receives one of the very few McGoohan on-screen kisses, and if you really watch it, you can almost hear his brain say “I’ll just say what I mean with this little shoulder-bump and a smile” before planting that kiss. 

If you'd prefer not to watch this film as a lowish quality online copy, it is available as a Region 2 (non-US) DVD from Network in the UK (worth it, ladies, just to more clearly see Patrick's blue eyes)