"Angry Dad: The Movie" is the fourteenth episode of the twenty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 20, 2011. In this episode, Bart wins many awards for his new short film based on his web cartoon series Angry Dad, which was first introduced in "I Am Furious (Yellow)", while Homer takes credit for the film during acceptance speeches.
"Angry Dad: The Movie" was written by John Frink and directed by Matthew Nastuk, with Ricky Gervais, Halle Berry, Russell Brand, Maurice LaMarche, Nick Park and J. B. Smoove guest starring. Cultural references in the episode include Pixar, Toy Story, Wallace and Gromit, Kung Fu Panda, Ms. Pac-Man and the 68th Golden Globe Award ceremony.
The episode was viewed in an estimated 6.35 million households, with a 2.8 Nielsen rating, marking a slight rise in audience from the previous episode, while the episode was the twenty-fifth most viewed show for the week of broadcast among adults aged 18–49.
Critical reception of the episode was generally positive, with critics praising the episode's use of visual gags and cultural references.
Plot
After Bart once again recklessly causes damage to the home while the rest of the family are out on Saturday, he is surprised by a visit from Mr. Millwood. It turns out Millwood's very successful chair-design company seized the rights to Bart's "Angry Dad" Internet series when the provider company went bankrupt. Millwood offers Bart a chance to make a film adaptation of "Angry Dad". Bart accepts, and Millwood takes him to film studio animators. Homer is soon offered the opportunity to voice Angry Dad, as the voice actor from the original Angry Dad series has dropped out of frustration of never being paid. The film is test screened to a horrible reception. Lisa convinces Bart to remove all of the parts the audience did not like, thus making the Angry Dad a short film. The film is shortly thereafter nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Short.
At the Golden Globe ceremony, Angry Dad wins, and Homer angers Bart by pushing him out of the way and taking all the credit despite not being professional or supportive of the film before it was a hit. Homer takes credit at many other awards ceremonies. Angry Dad soon receives an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film. Out of frustration against Homer for taking the credit, Bart attempts to distract Homer from going by making him and Marge go on an attraction tour in Los Angeles while he and Lisa attend the awards. However, Homer gets recognized by the friendly Rollin' 80 street gang who take him to the ceremony. Homer arrives in time to see Angry Dad win the Oscar. Bart goes up to accept the Oscar and thanks Lisa for having the idea to make the film into a short film, the animation studio, and Homer. Touched by this, Homer gets up on stage with Bart and apologizes to him for taking all the credit, and the two agree to cut up the Oscar and give a piece to everyone on the animation team. Bart asks if Homer had gotten a replacement from the Academy, but Homer confides to him that the Award is only five dollars on eBay, while Maggie is sucking on the replacement.
Production
Angry Dad first appeared in the season 13 episode "I Am Furious (Yellow)". In the show, it is a comic book and web series that Bart created based on Homer's constant fits of rage. In this episode, Bart and Homer make a short film about the character, which wins a number of awards. Executive producer Al Jean said it is "a bit of a satire of the different Oscar acceptances where two people clearly race to the stage to get there first, and Homer and Bart are fighting to be the one that accepts." Academy Award winner Halle Berry guest starred as herself. She was designed to be wearing a similar dress to the one she wore at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002. Ricky Gervais appeared as himself, his second guest appearance on the show after season 17's "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife". Comedian Russell Brand guest starred as himself.