If Mickey Mouse was the cat’s meow back in the prewar era, Homer and his dysfunctional family are the cartoon of choice for today’s media viewers. Someday Roger Carp’s grandson may well write a story entitled “The yellow-haired brat who saved Lionel.”
Well, it could happen.
The no. 26802 Simpsons animated gondola is based on the tried-and-true concept of the car’s motion operating a gear system that moves figures around a pile of crates that hide the mechanism. Twiddling the wheels doesn’t get you much action, but get the car on the track behind a train, and there is plenty of pop-culture action.
Homer madly charges after Bart, while mother Marge (carrying baby Maggie) attempts to stop the potential carnage. Lisa trails along behind.
Everyone at CTT thought this was a pretty clever rendition of the Lionel car, which originally dates to the no. 3444 Erie animated cop-and-hobo gondola of 1957. It has a great tie-in with pop culture, and it grabs attention on any freight train.
