‘The Simpsons did it again,’ one astounded fan remarked (Picture: Fox)
The knack of The Simpsons making predictions that come true years later just keep on coming… and this time, Barbie is the limelight.
Earlier this year, fans of Cypress Hill were ecstatic to receive confirmation from the hip hop group that they were planning on playing with the London Symphony Orchestra, almost three decades after their collaboration formed the basis for a joke on the sitcom.
Now, The Simpsons viewers have dug into the show’s archives to reveal yet another eerie coincidence as Barbie movie mania makes waves across the globe, with film lovers clamouring to watch Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in action as Barbie and Ken.
The Greta Gerwig-directed feature has been earning acclaim from critics, described as a ‘dazzlingly risky feminist fantasy’ in Metro.co.uk’s review ahead of its cinematic release.
Funnily enough, in 1994, an episode of The Simpsons was released called Lisa vs Malibu Stacy, in which Lisa implores the creators of the doll to make a toy that sends a more feminist message to young girls.
In the episode, newsreader Kent Brockman is urged by his daughter to do a newscast about a new doll called Lisa Lionheart, a new doll made by Lisa and Malibu Stacy creator Stacy Lovell.
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Later, the Simpsons family watch Brockman speak on the news about the doll, as he says: ‘Though it was unusual to spend 28 minutes reporting on a doll, this reporter found it impossible to stop talking. It’s just really fascinating news folks. Good night.’
As usual, fans of the animated sitcom were left stunned by the parallels, with one tweeting: ‘The Simpsons did it again.’
‘The Simpsons writers could make billions if they all teamed up to open a psychics hotline and did medium readings. This is wild,’ someone else remarked.
Ahead of the release of the Barbie movie, a few of the people behind the Lisa vs Malibu Stacy Simpsons episode spoke out about it.
Writer Bill Oakley telling Vanity Fair: ‘It particularly seems to resonate with women, I would say. When I meet a female Simpsons fan, that is often the one they cite as their favourite.’
Several Barbie fans spoke to Metro.co.uk about how much the movie means to them, having grown up spending countless hours getting lost in their own imaginations creating exciting worlds for their dolls to live in.
Margot Robbie plays the world-famous doll brought to life in the movie (Picture: Warner Bros)
The power of Ken radiates through this still from the film (Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
‘I worked in theatre for 16 years and now run a cinema. I honestly think Barbie played a huge part in determining the career path I ended up taking. It rooted imagination, creativity, and escapism at the heart of what makes me a happy human,’ said Lucy Askew, the CEO of Broadway Cinema in Nottingham.
She continued: ‘She also provided a way to create endless worlds and stories, I would play with Barbies from the moment I got up until it was bedtime.
‘Games ranged from playing schools, or hospitals to acting out Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or pretending there was a nuclear war in Barbie world!’
The Simpsons is available to watch on Disney Plus.
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‘The Simpsons did it again,’ one astounded fan remarked.
