The Voice of Bart Simpson Is Responsible for One of the Most Traumatic Moments in Movie History
Nancy Cartwright has made enough money playing Bart Simpson to buy as many elephants and all-syrup Squishees as she pleases. But over the course of her career, the actress has lent her voice to a ton of other projects, including classic shows such Animaniacs, Rugrats and Kim Possible, as well as less-than-classic shows like the Saturday morning cartoon adaptation of Problem Child that nobody remembers.
But perhaps most surprisingly, it was Cartwright’s voice that traumatized a generation of kids in the iconic ‘80s family film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
For those who don’t remember, or who have actively suppressed the memory, when the evil Judge Doom is explaining his plan to control the toon population using a lethal toxic substance known as “Dip,” he demonstrates its effects with a helpless animated shoe. And we were all forced to watch as the poor little guy is slowly, painfully dissolved into nothing but a puddle of blood red goop.
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Just let us know where to forward the therapy bills, Disney.
Even worse, Disney tried to turn this waking nightmare into a fun board game for the whole family to enjoy!
Well, it turns out that the shoe’s voice was actually provided by Cartwright. The Simpsons didn’t debut until 1989, a year after Who Framed Roger Rabbit hit theaters, but she was already voicing Bart in The Simpsons shorts that aired as part of The Tracey Ullman Show. Cartwright’s shoe didn’t have any lines, but its terrified whimpering is arguably what makes the scene so upsetting.
To prove that she did indeed voice the doomed shoe, last year Cartwright posted a video to her TikTok account in which she recreated the haunting performance.
Incidentally, Cartwright isn’t the only person associated with The Simpsons who worked on a Roger Rabbit project. Artist Bill Morrison, who was a key figure in the creation of the Simpsons comic series, also drew some artwork for later Roger Rabbit shorts, apparently with the help of Roger himself.
So why wasn’t Cartwright credited for her work in this massive blockbuster? Likely because she didn’t actually have any dialogue. While this may seem like an oversight in retrospect, Cartwright was far from the biggest star to go uncredited in the film; Kathleen Turner, who provided the voice of Jessica Rabbit, similarly received no credit. Although, reportedly, this was because Turner herself “requested anonymity and refused screen credit as the voice of Jessica Rabbit.”
The shoe scene will no doubt be the saddest of Cartwright’s career — unless, of course, The Simpsons ends with Sideshow Bob getting his way.
