First Skyline Chili, now the Bengals are getting “Simpsonfied.”
The Bengals-Cowboys ESPN Monday Night Football game 8 p.m. Dec. 9 will be presented as an alternative animated version featuring The Simpsons cast — and voices of some Cincinnati and Dallas players — only on Disney+, ESPN+ and NFL+ steaming services, Disney said.
”The legendary Simpsons creators have collaborated on the look, sound, and feel with ESPN and the NFL to ensure the authenticity of the longest running primetime scripted series,” said the announcement from the Walt Disney Company, which owns ESPN, ABC and The Simpsons.
Bart Simpson will appear on the field as a Bengals player in “select key opportunities” on offense and defense, replacing an actual Bengals player, Disney said. Homer Simpson will do the same for the Cowboys. The animated game will be played in Springfield’s Atom Stadium, instead of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“Each Bengals and Cowboys player will appear as a motion-enabled, animated player for the special primetime matchup. Through state-of-the-art tracking technology enabled by NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Sony’s Beyond Sports, combined with Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking, fans enjoying The Simpsons Funday Football will see every snap, run, pass, score, and more from the real-life Bengals and Cowboys matchup at AT&T Stadium as it happens,” according to Disney.
Bengals and Cowboys players will have pre-recorded segments which include interactions with Simpsons characters.
The entire Simpsons gang — “dozens of the show’s iconic characters” — will be seen during the program. Marge and Lisa Simpson will interview players on the sidelines, while Maggie Simpson “will fly the SkyCam,” Disney said.
Krusty the Clown, Milhouse, Nelson and Ralph will be cheering for Bart and the Bengals. Moe, Carl, Barney and Lenny from Moe’s Tavern will be on the Cowboys’ side, Disney said.
Simpsons voice actors Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith will voice several of their characters in prerecorded bits and skits. ESPN’s Peyton and Eli Manning, who do an alternative MNF telecast on ESPN2, and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith also will appear in segments written by The Simpsons producers, Disney said.
This is the first primetime animated alternative telecast for Disney and ESPN. Last year Disney and ESPN debuted the technology with a Toy Story version of an NFL game on Sunday morning, and won four Sports Emmy Awards.
It’s also the second time Cincinnati has been featured on the long-running cartoon. The “A Road Trip To Cincinnati” episode on Nov. 29, 2019, about Principal Seymour Skinner and school Superintendent Gary Chalmers attending an education convention, featured the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge and the Skyline Chili in Clifton.
"We love to honor American originals, and that's one of the funnest things about what The Simpsons do, to put our 'Simpsonfy' on an original, classic, unique American beloved institution, and certainly Skyline Chili is one," executive producer Matt Selman told me after the 2019 broadcast.
During the Dec. 9 telecast, ESPN Monday Night Football announcers Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters, as well as the Manning brothers, “will primarily focus on the traditional presentation while also periodically checking in on The Simpsons Funday Football,” Disney says.
