The Best of The Simpsons, Vol. 12 - Treehouse of Horror 2/ Lisa's Pony 1999 Horror Movie Review

“This year’s episode is even worse,” Marge Simpson warns of “Treehouse of Horror II,” a sequel to the Simpsons’ first Halloween special. “It’s scarier and more violent and I think they snuck in some bad language, too.” Thus the stage is set for a night of candy-binge-induced nightmares that haunt Lisa, Bart, and Homer. In Lisa’s dream, a wish-granting Moroccan monkey paw brings “grave misfortune” to the Simpsons, whose wishes inadvertently lead to an alien takeover of the Earth. Bart’s dream, a takeoff on the Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life,” imagines Bart as the monster who wreaks havoc with his thoughts, from changing the name of America to “Bonerland” to turning Homer into a jack-in-the-box. Finally, Homer dreams that Mr. Burns’s Frankensteinian experiments backfire, resulting in Burns’s head being grafted onto Homer’s body. It’s all a dream. . . or is it? In another gem from the third season of The Simpsons, “Lisa’s Pony,” Homer goes for the “quick fix” to win back his daughter’s love by buying her a pony. Rewind alert: Two classmates admire Lisa as she gallops past. “She certainly tamed that horse,” one remarks. The other responds, “Yes, but what man can tame her?” This video also contains an original Simpsons short from The Tracey Ullman Show. The Best of the Simpsons, volumes 10, 11, and 12, are also available in a boxed set. —Donald Liebenson