The Simpsons’ Nancy Cartwright would rather choose a human successor than have the Bart voice duplicated by AI when she retires
Humans over Bots
While The Simpsons prepares to air their 800th episode, it’s apparent to anyone who has watched the show recently that the voice actors are naturally waning in their voice integrity. This is through no fault of their own, of course, as voices grow coarse over time (Harrison Ford has a mighty growl on the new season of Shrinking). However, the voice actors are facing an incredibly unique journey of churning out episodes on a show with no end in sight. Bless Julie Kavner — she’s probably still having the time of her life, but the Marge voice is not something that anyone expects her to keep up.
Deadline reports that while prime 10-year-old Bart Simpson can be recaptured through AI, Nancy Cartwright, who plays America’s most lovable troublemaker since Dennis the Menace, has stated that should she leave the show, she’d rather choose a human successor. Cartwright told People,
I think I would choose a successor [instead of AI], and I’ll tell you why — because AI has no heart and I think that’s a missing ingredient. [AI] might sound pretty close to Nancy Cartwright, but I got passion. We’re spiritual beings, we can emote passion and uplift people and stuff. And I don’t know that a computer can do something like that.”
This comes as Disney made a historical investment with OpenAI, which has already had the studio grant the use of characters from Star Wars, Frozen, and other Disney properties for Sora. The Simpsons, being animated, could see a seamless duplication of fan content with users taking Cartwright’s voice from the 90s episodes for auto-generated clips.
The Future of The Simpsons
A new movie is in the books for The Simpsons, but the longest-running animated series is also preparing for their 800th episode. Co-showrunner Matt Selman said of The Simpsons’ longevity, “We’re closing in on 800 episodes. The trick is to tell stories that feel like they’re from a show that is not in its 37th season, right? And also to avoid feeling like we’re repeating ourselves, or just doing episodes that don’t have a personality, or have nothing to say. One way to do that is to dig deeper into the town: the silly, soulful, sad, stupid people of Springfield…The most important thing to like for any show, especially The Simpsons, is the state of your characters. The next most important thing is to deliver originality to the viewer. And originality usually comes from real life — the new things that have happened in real life.” As for how this ties into the season premiere, “Thrifty Ways to Thieve Your Mother,” Selman added, “So like, dad TV is a new thing. Thrifting is sort of a new thing. Nostalgia for the ‘90s is sort of a new thing. That’s our job. And that’s why the premiere does that.”
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