Did Tarantino’s Kill Bill borrow its blood-soaked billboard from The Simpsons? The parallels are uncanny

Did you know The Simpsons might also have influenced film promotions, among other things?

An example of this would be the speculation that a billboard ad for Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film Kill Bill Vol. 1 was similar to a billboard ad featured within The Simpsons, for Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie. The ad in the animated show appeared in 1992, while the billboard for Tarantino's film appeared in New Zealand in 2003, when the movie came out.

More on this in our story.

The uncanny resemblance between the billboard ads of The Simpsons’ Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie and Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1

In Episode 6 of Season 4 of The Simpsons, a billboard ad is shown depicting the gruesome and violent theme of the film, Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie. In the motorized billboard, Itchy is seen bashing Scratchy’s head with an old camera, and whenever that camera reaches Scratchy’s head, blood spurts out. Whoever went close to the billboard would get soaked in the blood.

Later in 2003, a billboard ad for Kill Bill Vol. 1 in New Zealand appeared to use a similar theme. According to Collider, the advertising gig for Tarantino’s popular film starring Uma Thurman might have been inspired by The Simpsons.

In the billboard for the film, Saatchi & Saatchi created an ad in which Uma Thurman's iconic character, in her bright yellow tracksuit, wielded her katana. The billboard created the same effect as The Simpson's ad, giving the impression of blood spraying off the edge of Thurman's sword, right out of the hoarding onto the pathway and the cars parked there.

Although it was never officially confirmed if it was based on the animated show, this seemed like yet another real-life example where The Simpsons appeared to be influential in their own way.

More about The Simpsons

Since 1989, when the show first aired, The Simpsons has become a pop culture phenomenon as the bizarre events shown in the show often become true in real life. While the Kill Bill billboard might have been influenced by the one for Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie, Tarantino has another connection with the show, as his character appeared in one of the episodes of The Simpsons.

As per ScreenRant, he declined to guest star, and therefore, The Simpsons’ version of Tarantino was voiced by Dan Castellaneta. In the episode titled Reservoir Cats in Season 8 of the animated show, Tarantino appeared to direct the Itchy & Scratchy show, which also became one of the rare episodes where Itchy does not kill Scratchy, since Tarantino becomes the victim of Itchy in the episode.

Trending

Follow SoapCentral for more such stories.

Also Read: 10 Best couples in South Park who made chaos look cute

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback