Burger King Announces Somewhat Obscure ‘Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror’ Toys

For the past few years, Burger King has been loading up their Kids' Meals with tiny plastic toys representing the annual Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" episodes -- the only Halloween specials good enough to air after Halloween. Thanks a lot, baseball. Anyway, this year's assortments are finally being stuffed into bags with Whopper Juniors, featuring a super-heroic theme! And as you might expect from the fact that they've been at this for a few years, the references of the the toys are getting a little obscure, even by Simpsons fan standards.

First up, of course, is Bart, and this version comes from Treehouse of Horror VIII's "Fly vs. Fly," in which his DNA is combined with a fly in Professor Frink's teleporter in one of fiction's finest tributes to the work of Jeff Goldblum.

Before I remembered that this was actually on an episode, though, I have to admit that I found this thing downright creepy. The crazy Liefeldian physique, the tiny, tiny shorts, and the glowing red eyes... there's no amount of chicken tenders and apple fries that's going to keep this thing from haunting nightmares, folks.

The figure of Lisa as her super-heroic alter ego Clobber Girl comes from a particular favorite of mine, "Desperately Xeeking Xena" from Treehouse of Horror X, the episode that taught us the differences between Lucy Lawless and the character she plays on TV (Lawless has the power of flight). I will say that I don't remember Clobber Girl having a giant glowing hole in her chest, though, but the wide-eyed expression of shock on Lisa's face makes it pretty easy to set her up as the latest victim of Bart's "Fly Vision."

Marge often serves as a foil for the other characters, so for an alternate version of her, they went all the way back to the framing sequence of Treehouse of Horror III, in which she was dressed as Cleopatra. Kind of a cop-out, yes, but trying to convey "worried about violent video games" (Treehouse of Horror XXI) through the medium of a kids meal toy is admittedly pretty tough.

To be honest with you, I've been racking my brain trying to figure out where this version of Homer comes from, and I just can't, so I put this question to you, gentle reader.

The youngest of the Simpsons, Maggie, is seen here as she was in Treehouse of Horror IX's "Starship Poopers," when she was revealed to be a genetically modified alien overlord who ended up murdering talk show host and former Mayor of Cincinnati Jerry Springer. This is, of course, a stark, disturbing contrast from regular Simpsons continuity, in which Maggie has only ever attempted murder.

Speaking of Alien Overlords, here's Kang, who appeared in Treehouse of Horror I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XI, XII... you get the idea. It's nice to see that they gave him a tentacular growth to talk to, but really, he just doesn't look right without Kodos. This'll be the loneliest Halloween ever.

In case you're looking for a character that's already scary, there's also Mr. Burns. I was actually having a pretty hard time remembering what episode it was that Mr. Burns gained the ability to manifest his chi in the form of a hadouken, but the robes are a dead giveaway to the character. He's Montymort, the villain of the Harry Potter parody "Wiz Kids" from Treehouse of Horror XII.

Here we have Scratchy, of the cartoon-series-within-a-cartoon-series, specifically from Treehouse of Horror IX's "Terror of Tiny Toon." You know, the cat who is always inevitably seen being dismembered, disemboweled, or otherwise gruesomely murdered. For the children.

This version of Comic Book Guy is another one from "Desperately Xeeking Xena," and to be honest, I never got this. I mean, aren't they supposed to be in costume? I wear this outfit every day to work.

And finally, we have Milhouse:

The Astronaut costume comes from Treehouse of Horror XVIII's "Heck House," but the real action here is on the truly amazing look of utter, crushed despair they've managed to put on his face. This is, without question, the saddest Kids Meal toy I have ever seen in my life, though to be fair, I never did get a set of those Funky Winkerbean: Lisa's Story figures they had at McDonald's back in 2007.