This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following: p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer Brooks. He created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "simpleton".[4] The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).
On January 26, 2023, the series was renewed for its 35th and 36th seasons, taking the show through the 2024–25 television season.[6] Both seasons contain a combined total of 51 episodes. Seven of these episodes are season 34 holdovers, while the other 44 will be produced in the production cycle of the upcoming seasons, bringing the show's overall episode total up to 801.[7] Season 35 premiered on October 1, 2023.[8]
The Simpsons received widespread acclaim throughout its early seasons in the 1990s, which are generally considered its "golden age". Since then, it has been criticized for a perceived decline in quality. Time named it the 20th century's best television series,[9] and Erik Adams of The A.V. Club named it "television's crowning achievement regardless of format".[10] On January 14, 2000, the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 37 Primetime Emmy Awards, 34 Annie Awards, and 2 Peabody Awards. Homer's exclamatory catchphrase of "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English language, while The Simpsons has influenced many other later adult-oriented animated sitcom television series.
The main characters are the Simpson family, who live in the fictional "Middle America" town of Springfield.[11]Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge (née Bouvier), a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker and prankster; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, the baby of the family who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.[12]
The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV.[14]
Despite the depiction of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays passing, the characters never age. The series uses a floating timeline in which episodes generally take place in the year the episode is produced. Flashbacks and flashforwards do occasionally depict the characters at other points in their lives, with the timeline of these depictions also generally floating relative to the year the episode is produced. For example, the 1991 episodes "The Way We Was" and "I Married Marge" depict Homer and Marge as high schoolers in the 1970s who had Bart (who is always 10 years old) in the early '80s, while the 2008 episode "That '90s Show" depicts Homer and Marge as a childless couple in the '90s, and the 2021 episode "Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars" portrays Homer as an adolescent in the same period. The 1995 episode "Lisa's Wedding" takes place during Lisa's college years in the then-future year of 2010, the same year the show began airing its 22nd season, in which Lisa was still 8. Regarding the contradictory flashbacks, Selman stated that "they all kind of happened in their imaginary world."[15]
The show follows a loose and inconsistent continuity. For example, Krusty the Clown may be able to read in one episode, but not in another. However, it is consistently portrayed that he is Jewish, that his father was a rabbi, and that his career began in the 1960s. The latter point introduces another snag in the floating timeline: historical periods that are a core part of a character's backstory remain so even when their age makes it unlikely or impossible, such as Grampa Simpson and Principal Skinner's respective service in World War II and Vietnam.
The only episodes not part of the series' main canon are the Treehouse of Horror episodes, which often feature the deaths of main characters. Characters who die in "regular" episodes, such as Maude Flanders, Mona Simpson and Edna Krabappel, however, stay dead. Most episodes end with the status quo being restored, though occasionally major changes will stick, such as Lisa's conversions to vegetarianism and Buddhism, the divorce of Milhouse van Houten's parents, and the marriage and subsequent parenthood of Apu and Manjula.
The Simpsons takes place in a fictional American town called Springfield. Although there are many real settlements in America named Springfield,[16] the town the show is set in is fictional. The state it is in is not established. In fact, the show is intentionally evasive with regard to Springfield's location.[17] Springfield's geography and that of its surroundings is inconsistent: from one episode to another, it may have coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires.[18] Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.[19] Groening has said that he named it after Springfield, Oregon, and the fictitious Springfield which was the setting of the series Father Knows Best. He "figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do."[20] Many landmarks, including street names, have connections to Portland.[21]
When producer James L. Brooks was working on the television variety show The Tracey Ullman Show, he decided to include small animated sketches before and after the commercial breaks. Having seen one of cartoonist Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strips, Brooks asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts. Groening initially intended to present an animated version of his Life in Hell series.[22] However, Groening later realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work. He therefore chose another approach while waiting in the lobby of Brooks's office for the pitch meeting, hurriedly formulating his version of a dysfunctional family that became the Simpsons.[22][23] He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name, adopting an anagram of the word brat.[22]
The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[24] Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production. However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial shorts.[22] The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo,[25][26] with Wes Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.[27] The colorist, "Georgie" Gyorgyi Kovacs Peluce (Kovács Györgyike)[28][29][30][31][32][33] made the characters yellow; as Bart, Lisa and Maggie have no hairlines, she felt they would look strange if they were flesh-colored. Groening supported the decision, saying: "Marge is yellow with blue hair? That's hilarious — let's do it!"[27]
In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included the Klasky Csupo animation house. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content.[34] Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.[35] The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989, with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".[36] "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.[37] In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons[38]—a claim rejected by the courts.[39]
Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show's entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon, described by former Simpsons director Brad Bird as "the unsung hero" of the show,[40] served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons. He was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and the show's production company Gracie Films and left in 1993.[41] Before leaving, he negotiated a deal that sees him receive a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993,[41][42] at least until his passing in 2015.[43] A more involved position on the show is the showrunner, who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.[27]
The first team of writers, assembled by Sam Simon, consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky.[44] Newer Simpsons' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December.[45] The main writer of each episode writes the first draft. Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show's vocal performers.[46] Until 2004,[47] George Meyer, who had developed the show since the first season, was active in these sessions. According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits.[46] Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events.[48]
Samurai Champloo (Japanese: サムライチャンプルー, Hepburn: Samurai Chanpurū) is a 2004 Japanese historicaladventureanime television series. The debut television production of studio Manglobe, the 26-episode series aired from May 2004 to March 2005. It was first partially broadcast on Fuji TV, then had a complete airing on Fuji Network System. It was licensed for North American broadcast on Adult Swim, and for commercial release first by Geneon Entertainment and later by Crunchyroll. It was also licensed for English releases in the United Kingdom by MVM Films, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. A manga adaptation was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Ace during 2004, later released in North America by Tokyopop the following year.
The series is set in a fictionalized version of Edo period Japan, blending traditional elements with anachronistic cultural references, including hip hop. The series follows the exploits of tea waitress Fuu, vagrant outlaw Mugen, and ronin Jin. Fuu saves Mugen and Jin from execution, then forces the pair to aid in her quest to find a samurai who smells of sunflowers. Structured similar to a road movie, the series focuses on tolerance and acceptance of minorities contrasted against its setting, with a central theme being the portrayal and acceptance of death.
Director Shinichirō Watanabe began planning for the series in 1999, creating the characters and premise during his work on Cowboy Bebop: The Movie and The Animatrix, and began pre-production in 2002. The staff included character designer and animation director Kazuto Nakazawa and writers Shinji Obara and Yukihiko Tsutsumi of Office Crescendo. The music was composed by hip hop artists Shinji "Tsutchie" Tsuchida of Shakkazombie, Fat Jon, Nujabes and Force of Nature. The production was unstructured, with the scenario going through multiple revisions, and Watanabe bringing in multiple guest creators to ensure a high animation quality. Reception of the series has been positive, with praise focusing on its animation and music, and proved a commercial success in the West.
Samurai Champloo opens in a small town where Fuu, working as a tea waitress, is harassed by the son of the town's corrupt prefect. The outlaw Mugen arrives in town, and Fuu begs him for protection, which he gives in exchange for food. Meanwhile, the ronin Jin, also a new arrival, kills the prefect's bodyguards when they abuse a peasant, ending up in conflict with Mugen when the latter mistakes him for one of the prefect's men. The two's fight ends up destroying the teahouse. The pair are captured and sentenced to death, but Fuu saves them. The pair attempt to restart their battle, but Fuu tosses a coin, saying if it lands on heads then the pair can continue their battle, but if it lands on tails they postpone their battle to help her find a samurai who smells of sunflowers, whom she has sought for years. She wins the toss, and they embark on a series of adventures alongside Fuu's quest.
During the closing stories, the three finally arrive at the town of Ikitsuki, with each ending up in conflict with a group of assassins sent by the government to kill the "sunflower samurai", Fuu's father Seizo Kasumi. Fuu finds Kasumi, having wanted revenge for him abandoning her and her mother, but she relents as he is already dying from an illness. One of the assassins kills Kasumi before he is defeated by Jin. Mugen and Jin then have their duel, their swords shattering, but choose not to kill each other as they now consider each other friends. Fuu learns her father played a part in the Shimabara Rebellion and went away to protect her. Fuu also reveals she lied about the coin toss result, which briefly annoys Mugen and Jin. Recovered from their final fight, the three part ways grateful for their shared adventure.
Series director Shinichirō Watanabe defined the central theme of Samurai Champloo as the portrayal and acceptance around death, themes he had previously explored in his science fiction series Macross Plus (1994) and Cowboy Bebop (1998).[5] Another theme outlined in the series pitch was individuality and finding one's unique identity.[6] The series is set in Edo period Japan, roughly sixty years after the end of the Sengoku period.[7] While a historical time period, the anime does not focus on historical detail beyond minor inclusions and references, mainly using contemporary-style dialogue and behavior.[5][8] A conscious inclusion was emphasising cultural acceptance and tolerance of minorities including the indigenous Ainu people, foreigners, LGBT people, and Christians; the historical Edo period was a time when Japan was highly structured, conformist and isolationist.[5][9] Due to its Edo setting and incorporation of samurai culture and honor codes, Watanabe was worried the anime would be seen as nationalistic in tone, prompting its focus on minorities and tolerance.[10] Watanabe put in as much as he could manage of these themes and subjects, challenging earlier limitations imposed by a lack of historical information from the time and Japanese television codes restricting the portrayal of Japanese minorities in the period.[5]
The main cultural influence on the anime is the music and associated subculture of hip hop.[11] Watanabe had been a fan of hip hop music from his high school years, citing his first exposure as "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. He compared the samurai culture to hip hop through a similar philosophy of self-identity.[12] The use of hip hop also reinforced the series' focus on its minority and counter-cultural cast, creating a cultural reference by using one with the other.[13] Alongside his liking of hip hop, Watanabe attributed a large amount of the series' inspiration in the works of actor Shintaro Katsu, particularly his historical dramas. The narrative approach of the finished series was inspired by Katsu's notorious habit of directing projects without a set story structure.[5] The word "Champloo" in the title was derived from the Okinawan term chanpurū, with Watanabe comparing the blending of elements in the anime with the meaning of chanpurū.[14] The food depicted in the show was originally accurated to the Edo period, but eventually expanded to include anachronistic dishes such as okonomiyaki.[5]
The plot is structured like a road movie, with little connection between stories until the final three-part arc, contrasting against the serial structure of its contemporaries.[8] Watanabe particularly cited the movies about the blind samurai Zatoichi as an inspiration for this style. Other influences on the series included Enter the Dragon and Dirty Harry. One episode was based around the Chinese concept of Qi.[15] During early planning, the series' tone was far more serious, but after the first four episodes had been written, the staff were worried about the tone becoming bleak, prompting a greater focus on comedy.[5] Several episodes incorporate references, homages, and parodies of popular media.[16] The Japanese episode titles use four-character idioms referencing the theme of that episode's story. They drew from multiple sources, including Japanese and Western sayings (the first episode's title, "Shippu Doto", is a Japanese rendering of the German saying "Sturm und Drang"), philosophical concepts ("Inga Oho" references a proverb about the workings of karma), and pieces of classic media (the episode title "Anya Koro" references Naoya Shiga's novel of the same name). The English episode titles were created by translator Ryan Morris. Morris did not directly translate the Japanese titles, instead using alliteration to preserve the rhythm and meaning.[17]
The series follows the exploits of the three leads−Fuu, Mugen, and Jin−when they are drawn together by circumstance and end up traveling together to find the sunflower samurai.[18][10] The main cast was created by Watanabe,[18] who wanted a cast of heroes who were silly, immature, and dangerous, with "a touch of insanity".[5] He described Mugen and Jin as unconventional people not bound by the rules of the period.[19] The characters were designed by Kazuto Nakazawa, who had worked as both an artist and director on multiple projects including Ashita no Nadja and the anime segments of Kill Bill: Volume 1.[20] The early character drafts were more to Nakazawa's tastes than the wishes of the production team, resulting in numerous redrafts based on requests.[21] The voice recording included sessions with all three leads together, which caused occasional tensions due to their different work backgrounds.[22][23]
Mugen (ムゲン) is a vagrant outlaw from the Ryukyu Islands who uses self-taught sword techniques. Having lived a harsh and solitary life since childhood, he has a deep mistrust and disdain of authority and lives to fight strong opponents.[24] Watanabe thought of Mugen as young and "a little stupid", putting him in stark contrast with Cowboy Bebop protagonist Spike Spiegel.[18] He also described Mugen as symbolizing "a rapper's ideal" of self-expression.[12] Mugen's Ryukyuen origins formed part of Watanabe's focus on inclusivity and tolerance within the narrative.[10] He is voiced in Japanese by Kazuya Nakai. His performance changed little from the audition, someone on the edge who did not follow rules. His performance reportedly improved during the soundchecks, which had a more relaxed atmosphere and emphasis on timing.[22] In English, Mugen is voiced by Steve Blum.[25]
Jin (ジン) is Mugen's antithesis, a calm and stoic ronin wandering Japan after being forced to kill his master and consequently wearing glasses to disguise himself. He is the best at sensing danger, and prone to risking his life to prove his worth.[24] He is a master of mujushinken, a style of kenjutsu created in the early Edo period by Harigaya Sekiun.[24][26] Jin was created as a foil for Mugen to stop the story from becoming one-dimensional.[18] A scrapped idea of Watanabe's was for Jin to be an anarchist, but otherwise his personality and design changed little during production.[8] He is voiced in Japanese by Ginpei Sato, at the time a stage actor who had not done voice roles previously after failing auditions for two other projects; his failed audition for Wolf's Rain prompted a staff member to recommend him to Watanabe.[5][23] He had to learn about voice acting on the job, including timing and getting into character, and during recording for later episodes got into trouble due to wanting to shift his portrayal of the character.[23] In English, Jin is voiced by Kirk Thornton.[25]
Fuu (フウ) is the one who brings Mugen and Jin together to help her. She is a cheerful and spirited young woman and a jack-of-all-trades due to her constant changing between part-time jobs, starting the series working as a tea waitress; she has a pet flying squirrel called Momo.[24] A recurring gag is Fuu temporarily becoming fat after eating a lot.[27] Out of the three characters, Fuu's personality changed the least from Watanabe's original series concept, though her character design underwent major revisions to become more conventionally beautiful.[8][21] She is voiced in Japanese by Ayako Kawasumi. Compared to her other roles, Kawasumi was asked not to overact her effort sounds outside scenes where her character was very expressive, making her more realistic. It was the first time she did not create a separate internal character to voice Fuu, being asked to be herself as far as possible. Her favorite episode was "Stranger Searching" when the fat Fuu first appeared, as she found voicing this version a challenge.[27] In English, Fuu is voiced by Kari Wahlgren.[25]
In the original plan, there were three semi-regular characters that would appear through the series. They were Rekku, a Dutchman claiming to be Japanese; Koku, a traveling priest acquainted with Jin's past; and Sara, a female ninja who falls in love with Mugen.[8] While their roles were reduced to one-off appearances, versions of the characters survived. Rekku became the character Joji in "Stranger Searching", the priest appeared in "Lethal Lunacy", while Sara was a central character in "Elegy of Entrapment".[8] An early antagonist is Ryujiro, the son of a corrupt government official who loses his arm to Mugen in the opening episode and later plots revenge against them.[28] Historical figures or character homages also appear, for example painter Hishikawa Moronobu; Joji, who is a fictionalized version of Isaac Titsingh; a version of American baseball player Alexander Cartwright; and Ando Uohori, who is a direct reference to Andy Warhol.[16][29][30]
Samurai Champloo was the debut television production of animation studio Manglobe, which was started in 2002 by Sunrise veteran Shinichirō Kobayashi.[8][31] The opening animation was contributed to by the studio Madhouse.[32] A production committee to support the project was formed by Victor Entertainment's Shirō Sasaki, partnering with Tokuma Shoten and North American company Geneon Entertainment.[8] Watanabe acted as the series director, in addition to creating the project. Kobayashi, Sasaki, Sanae Mitsugi and Hideki Goto were credited as planners and executive producers,[33] and the producers were Takatoshi Hamano, Takashi Kochiyama and Tetsuro Satomi.[34]
The story was composed by Shinji Obara and Yukihiko Tsutsumi of Office Crescendo, with scripts written by Obara, Dai Satō, Touko Machida, Keiko Nobumoto, Seiko Takagi, Ryota Sugi, and Watanabe.[8][33][34][35] Nakazawa wrote and storyboarded episode 15, being credited as Uwadan Shimofuwato in the former role.[21][34] Nakazawa also acted as both character designer and chief animation director. The art director was Takeshi Waki, the storyboard director was Kazuki Akane, and coloring was led by Eri Suzuki.[8][33] Additional characters were created by Hideto Komori.[5] Weapon designs were co-created by Mahiro Maeda and Manglobe managing director Hidero Okamoto.[5][33] The cinematographer was Kazuhiro Yamada, with Syuichi Kakesu as lead editor.[33] Numerous guest creators were also brought in for different episodes as artists or animation directors, including Shūkō Murase Takeshi Yoshimoto, Naoko Nakamoto, Hiroyuki Imaishi and Tensai Okamura.[36]
The concept for Samurai Champloo was created by Watanabe in 1999, then known for his work on Cowboy Bebop. He wanted to create a series antithetical to the largely calm and mature atmosphere of Cowboy Bebop, wanting a complete change due to fatigue after working on one project for such a long period.[18][5] The success of Cowboy Bebop meant he was permitted to develop whatever he wanted for his next project.[37] As with his other projects, he drew inspiration from music, then matched a narrative to it.[38] His approach was combining two of his favorite things, classic samurai adventure films and series and hip hop music, into a single work.[12] He created the concept for Samurai Champloo during this period, but work on it was delayed due to his work on Cowboy Bebop: The Movie and his segments of The Animatrix at Studio 4°C.[5][8] Kobayashi had invited Wanatabe to work on an original project at Manglobe when it was founded in February 2002, and Watanabe sent the Samurai Champloo pitch in May of that year.[8] The pitch included the central concepts for the series, and draft designs for the lead characters.[8][6] Watanabe invited Nakazawa on board as he was a fan of his work and wanted the opportunity to work with him. Obara, known more for his work on live-action movies and television dramas, was brought in through a mutual friend at Office Crescendo.[5]
The eventual unstructured production style was unheard of in anime, and at the outset Obara created a series structure. The three-episode finale was not planned ahead, emerging naturally as part of the design approach.[5] As the project evolved, Watanabe pushed for this structured approach to be discarded aside from the lead characters and premise, and Obara agreed to the new approach. The lack of a structure meant that the series narrative was constructed piece by piece, with few plot details being decided in advance.[8] The fates of the three characters were also undecided during this stage. Watanabe originally planned for all three to survive, but at one point the team considered Jin and Mugen dying respectively in the final two episodes.[5] Even the identity of the sunflower samurai was unknown to Watanabe during the early stages.[15] Due to this approach, pre-production on the series lasted a year.[8] Watanabe had a great deal of creative control and input, including on music selection and editing.[19]
The first episode took a long time to polish, being completed around the beginning of 2004, but it and subsequent episodes had an animation quality higher than other series of the time. This was attributed to the working environment of Manglobe allowing for easy communication between staff members, and Watanabe's passion for the project prompting famous staff from other notable anime projects to come on board. The non-standard style of production left some members of staff including Sasaki skeptical that the series would be finished. For the sound mixing, Watanabe wanted the same approach and quality as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, bringing in sound engineer Masashi Yabuhara who had worked with Yoko Kanno on the sound design of Cowboy Bebop.[8] The fight scenes were choreographed to appear more realistic than other period dramas, which featured a clashing of swords which in reality would chip them.[5] Unique eyecatch artwork was created for each episode based on its themes and content. Woodblock prints portraying the characters, designed by former shojo manga creator Tsubaki Anna, were shown at various points through the series. Nakazawa created the illustration use for sponsor announcements.[39]
Samurai Champloo was Obara's first time working on an anime series, and Watanabe attributed him with bringing a new style of narrative and pacing to the series.[5][8] Sato had worked with Watanabe before on Macross Plus.[8] He described the process of discussing plot concepts with Watanabe and building upon voiced ideas, treating his own contributions like sample discs that might be accepted or rejected.[40] The script meetings were unusually long, beginning with the synopsis and ending up with the final form, alongside off-topic conversation that was sometimes incorporated into that episode's plot.[8] Due to Watanabe's reputation and the success of his projects in the West, the anime was created with a Western audience in mind with the expectation that it would be more successful outside Japan. This resulted in more overt references to Western culture being included.[41] An assassin character who appeared in the second episode was intended to appear during the finale, but he was cut due to time constraints and a general lack of people remembering his earlier appearance.[5]
Nakazawa had trouble getting a feel for the characters, with Mugen's design still going through adjustments when production on the first episode began. For the animation of Mugen's fighting style, the team used gymnastic footage as a reference alongside incorporating breakdancing moves. For Jin, Nakazawa "ignored all of the conventions" for sword fighting and kept his fighting style inconsistent throughout the series, basing his reactions and tactics on combat sports. He broke animation conventions to make these techniques work, confusing the animation team. For his work as art director after joining during production of the first episode, Waki was instructed to create extremes of light and darkness in scenes, creating a realistic impression of the period when artificial light sources were scarce and expensive. The variety and more contemporary elements prevented Waki from growing bored with the Edo setting.[21] The approach to the animation, lacking an overarching plan, was described as a reflection of the lead characters' non-conformist personalities.[19]
Nakazawa designed the men's kimono to resemble contemporary jackets, incorporating homages to sports designs such as Adidas and Puma. Many secondary characters were designed based on both the series' voice actors and staff members.[29] During the production of the second half of the series, it became increasingly difficult for Nakazawa to design all guest characters, resulting in Komori being brought in. Due to most of these characters being older men, when the early plan was for a young cast with several female characters, Komori felt disappointed by his workload. Maeda was brought on for weapon designs when the plan was to have strong antagonists with unique weapons for each episode, but the plan never came about, and when Maeda moved to working on Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, the design work shifted to Okamoto.[5] The incorporation of graffiti was suggested by Sato to further enhance the hip hop aesthetic and tone. He also suggested the inclusion of references to Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.[40]
The music for Samurai Champloo was collaboratively composed by Shinji "Tsutchie" Tsuchida of Shakkazombie, Fat Jon, Nujabes and Force of Nature. All were artists from the hip hop music genre, with Tsutchie being a friend of Watanabe.[42] A number of guest artists contributed to different episodes.
The Dark Knight Returns (alternatively titled Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, with color by Lynn Varley, and published by DC Comics. It tells an alternative story of Bruce Wayne, who at 55 years old returns from a decade of retirement to fight crime while facing opposition from the Gotham City police force and the United States government. The story also features the return of classic foes Two-Face and the Joker, and culminates in a confrontation with Superman, who is now a pawn of the government.
When originally published, the series was simply titled Batman: The Dark Knight, with a different title for each issue (The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Triumphant, Hunt the Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Falls), but when the series was collected into a single volume, the title of the first issue was applied to the entire series. Some of the earliest collected editions also bore the shorter series title. The story introduces Carrie Kelley as the new Robin and the hyper-violent street gang known as the Mutants. In the Pre-FlashpointDC Multiverse, the events of The Dark Knight Returns and its associated titles were designated to occur on Earth-31.[1]
The Dark Knight Returns is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential Batman stories ever made, as well as one of the greatest works of comic art in general, and has been noted for helping reintroduce a darker and more mature-oriented version of the character (and superheroes in general) to pop culture during the 1980s. Various elements of the series have since been incorporated into depictions of Batman in other media, while a direct animated adaptation of the story, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, was released as a two-part film across 2012 and 2013.
The Dark Knight Returns is set in a dystopian version of Gotham City in 1986. Bruce Wayne, aged 55,[2] has given up the mantle of Batman after the death of Jason Todd ten years prior. Crime is running rampant throughout the city and a teenage gang calling themselves "The Mutants" has begun terrorizing the people of Gotham. After watching news reports about the Mutants' crimes, Wayne decides to return to his role as a vigilante. On his first night as Batman, he stops multiple assaults – including one on two young girls, Carrie Kelley and her friend Michelle – and targets the Mutants.
While foiling an armed robbery, Batman learns that the criminals are working for Harvey Dent. Previously known as Two-Face, Dent underwent extensive therapy and plastic surgery to reenter society before disappearing. Batman informs close to retirement Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon that Dent may be planning a larger scheme. Soon after, Dent announces his intention to hold Gotham ransom with a bomb. After Batman defeats Dent and his goons, he discovers that Dent's mind has completely warped into his Two-Face persona.
Inspired by Batman, Kelley buys an imitation Robin costume and searches for him. Batman attacks the Mutants at the city dump with the Batmobile, but the Mutant Leader goads him into a hand-to-hand fight. Batman, due to his age and a decade of physical inactivity, is beaten and almost killed. Kelley creates a diversion that allows her and Batman to return to the Batcave, where Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth tends to his wounds. Impressed with her bravery, Wayne decides to make Kelley his new protegee. Batman strategically defeats the Mutant Leader in a fight surrounded by the Mutants. Seeing Batman defeat their leader, most of the Mutants disband into smaller gangs. One of these gangs renames itself the "Sons of the Batman", using excessive violence against criminals.
Gordon's successor as commissioner, Captain Ellen Yindel, declares Batman a wanted criminal for his vigilante activities. Batman's return stimulates his archenemy, Joker, to awaken from catatonia at Arkham Asylum. Joker manipulates his caretakers to allow him onto a television talk show, where he murders everyone with Joker venom and escapes. Batman and Robin (Kelley) track him to a county fair while evading a Gotham police pursuit. Batman fights Joker, vowing to stop him permanently, feeling responsible for every murder the villain has committed. Batman paralyzes the Joker but is unable to take his life. Disappointed with Batman's refusal to kill him, Joker breaks his own neck and dies.
A citywide manhunt for Batman begins. Elsewhere, Superman diverts a Soviet nuclear warhead which detonates in a desert, nearly killing him in the process, and survives only by absorbing the sun's energy from the plants in a nearby jungle. The United States is hit by an electromagnetic pulse as a result and descends into chaos during the following blackout. In Gotham, Batman and Robin turn the remaining Mutants and Sons of the Batman into a non-lethal vigilante gang, making Gotham the safest city in the country. The U.S. government orders Superman to take Batman into custody. Superman demands to meet Batman, and Wayne chooses Crime Alley.
Superman tries to reason with Batman, but Batman uses his technological inventions to fight him on equal ground. During the battle, Superman compromises Batman's exoframe. However, an aging Oliver Queen manages to shoot Superman with a kryptonite-tipped arrow to weaken him. Standing over the defeated Superman, Batman has a sudden heart attack, apparently dying. Alfred destroys the Batcave and Wayne Manor before suffering a fatal stroke, exposing Batman as Bruce Wayne, whose fortune has disappeared. After Wayne's funeral, it is revealed that his death was staged using a chemical that suspended his vital life signs. Clark attends the funeral and winks at the disguised Carrie after hearing Wayne's heartbeat. Some time afterward, Bruce Wayne leads Robin, Queen, and the rest of his followers into the caverns beyond the Batcave and prepares to continue his war on crime.
Bruce Wayne / Batman: Bruce Wayne is 55 years old and has been retired from his Batman persona for a decade. When he sees violence becoming more common not just in Gotham City but also the world, he feels a strong desire to return as Batman and emerges from his depression.
Alfred Pennyworth: Wayne's trusted butler, medic, and confidant; now in his 80s.
Carrie Kelley / Robin: A 13-year-old girl with absentee parents, who later becomes Batman's sidekick, Robin. Throughout the story, she is frequently mistaken for the former "Boy Wonder". After she saves the Dark Knight's life, the aging Batman places his trust in her against Alfred's wishes.
James "Jim" Gordon: The elderly Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, who retires on his 70th birthday. He is aware of Batman's true identity.
Harvey Dent / Two-Face: Having spent 12 years in Arkham Asylum, Harvey Dent has been treated by Doctor Wolper for three years and his face has been repaired with plastic surgery. Dent's doctor gives him a clean bill of mental health, but he is still Two-Face in his mind. Dent terrorizes the city with his face swathed in bandages as he now perceives both sides of his face as scarred.
Joker: The Clown Prince of Crime and Batman's archenemy, who has been in a catatonic state at Arkham Asylum since the latter's retirement and awakens from it upon learning of his re-emergence. He plans a violent crime spree to draw out Batman, setting in motion the events leading to their final confrontation.
The Mutant Leader: The ambitious, brutal, and albino head of the Mutants, who seeks to control Gotham and kill anyone who opposes him.
Dr. Bartholomew Wolper: Two-Face and Joker's psychiatrist and opponent of Batman's "fascist" vigilantism. Wolper is convinced that the Joker and Two-Face are both victims of Batman's crusade. He is killed by the Joker's robot doll, which snaps Wolper's neck then floods the television studio they're in with poisonous gas.
Ellen Yindel: James Gordon's successor as Commissioner. A captain in the Gotham City Police Department, she is a critic of Batman, but begins to doubt herself after the Joker's crime spree.
The Mayor of Gotham City: The weak-willed and inept unnamed mayor of Gotham City. He tries to negotiate peace with the Mutant Leader at the time he was in police custody, only to be killed by him.
Deputy Mayor Stevenson: The deputy mayor of Gotham City, who later becomes the new mayor after the former mayor is killed by the Mutant Leader. He states that Commissioner Ellen Yindel will decide how to act with Batman.
Ronald Reagan: The President of the United States. He instructs Superman to deal with Batman in Gotham City.
Oliver Queen: After superheroes are outlawed, Queen undertakes a clandestine rebellion against government oppression, including the sinking of a nuclear submarine. He lost his left arm after an encounter with Superman. Despite this disability, Queen is still a highly skilled marksman.
Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman: Superman is now an agent of the U.S. government and his secret identity as the former Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent is publicly known. In his inner thoughts, he despises being a government tool, but he believes it is the only way he can save lives in this day and age. Because of his Kryptonian physique, his aging process is slower than his former allies', which is one of the reasons why he is no longer able to hide his secret identity. In the final climax, Superman battles Batman in a final attempt to rid the government of his opposition but is weakened by a Kryptonite arrow fired by Queen, allowing an armored Batman to stand up to him.
Selina Kyle: No longer the Catwoman, Selina Kyle now runs an escort business.
Lana Lang: The managing editor of the Daily Planet who is an outspoken supporter of Batman, appearing on a series of TV debates in which she argues with others over his methods and influence.
Dave Endochrine: A late-night talk show host who invites the Joker and Dr. Wolper on his show; he and his audience are later killed by the Joker's poisonous gas. He is a characterization of David Letterman.
Lola Chong: A Gotham City news anchor who serves as the story's main talking head, providing exposition and narration in the form of her reporting.
Bruno: The leader of a group of neo-Nazi criminals. Working for the Joker, she battles Batman and Robin but is caught by Superman.
Fat Abner: The Joker's hulking henchman. He builds bombs for Two-Face that he sabotages on the Joker's orders, then robotic dolls armed with explosives and poison gas in order to kill the Joker's TV audience and terrorize the county fair; he attacks Robin on the fair's roller coaster tracks, and is accidentally killed in the fight.
Rob and Don: Two Mutants who are among the members of the gang tricked by Robin into witnessing Batman's defeat of their leader at a sewage runoff pit. Because of this they switch allegiances to Bruno and join her in robbing a liquor store, but are easily taken out by Batman.
The Sons of Batman (S.O.B.): A group of teenagers who were formerly Mutants. They become vigilante followers of Batman after witnessing him defeat their leader, although they are unruly and violent, taking overly severe measures to punish criminals and even some civilians.
Since the 1950s, when the Comics Code Authority was established, the character of Batman had drifted from his darker, more serious roots. It was not until the 1970s when the character began to feature in darker stories once again; however, Batman was still commonly associated with the campy theme of the 1960s Batman TV series, and was regarded more as a father figure to Robin rather than as his original identity as a vigilante.[3]
In the early 1980s, DC Comics promoted Batman group editor Dick Giordano to editorial director for the company.[4] Writer-artist Frank Miller was recruited to create The Dark Knight Returns. Giordano said he worked with Miller on the story's plot, and said, "[t]he version that was finally done was about his fourth or fifth draft. The basic storyline was the same but there were a lot of detours along the way."[5]
"With Batman, you've got a character that you can describe in just a few seconds: His parents were murdered by criminals; he's warring on crime for the rest of his life," Miller explained in the documentary Comic Book Confidential. "He was created in 1938, and the character was just ruthless in his methods, terrifying to criminals. Over the years, that got softened and softened, because people started thinking that comics had to be just for kids... and Batman had to be made much nicer. And eventually, no kid could relate to him anymore."[6]
During the creation of the series, fellow comics writer/artist John Byrne told Miller, "Robin must be a girl", and Miller agreed.[7] Miller said that the comic series' plot was inspired by Dirty Harry, specifically the 1983 film Sudden Impact, in which Dirty Harry returns to crime-fighting after a lengthy convalescence.[citation needed] The series employed a 16-panel grid for its pages. Each page was composed of either a combination of 16 panels, or anywhere between sixteen and one panel per page.[8] Giordano left the project halfway through because of disagreements over production deadlines. Comics historian Les Daniels wrote that Miller's idea of ignoring deadlines was "the culmination of the quest towards artistic independence".[9]
While the comic's ending features Batman faking his death and leading up the Sons of Batman to continue with his crusade against crime, symbolizing that Bruce Wayne dies but Batman lives on, this wasn't the original intention. During the MCM London Comic Con 2018, Miller revealed that in his original plans for the ending of The Dark Knight Returns, Batman was going to be gunned down by the police while fighting them, but the story got away from him and changed his mind.[10]
The issues of The Dark Knight Returns were presented in packaging that included extra pages, square binding, and glossy paper to highlight the watercolor paintings by colorist Lynn Varley.[11]
2002 Edition, trade paperback (ISBN1563893428) and hardcover (ISBN156389341X), DC Comics, 2002. (Note that the ISBN numbers share the same numbers as the 10th anniversary edition.)
Absolute Edition, hardcover (ISBN1401210791), DC Comics, 2006.
Noir Edition, hardcover (ISBN1401255140), DC Comics, 2015.
Dark Knight Saga Deluxe Edition, hardcover (ISBN1401256910), DC Comics, 2015.
30th Anniversary Edition, trade paperback (ISBN1401263119), DC Comics, 2016.
Book with Blu-ray & DVD set, hardcover (ISBN1401264271), DC Comics, 2016.
Gallery Edition, hardcover (ISBN1401264433), DC Comics, 2016.
Collector's Edition, hardcover (ISBN1401270131), DC Comics, 2016.
Despite the cost of the single-issue packaging, The Dark Knight Returns sold well.[11] Pricing it at $2.95 an issue, DC Comics promoted The Dark Knight Returns as a "thought-provoking action story". Time said the series' depiction of a "semi-retired Batman [who] is unsure about his crime-fighting abilities" was an example of trying to appeal to "today's skeptical readers".[12] More than one million comics were printed.[13]
Retrospectively, the series is today widely considered one of the greatest works in the comic medium. IGN Comics ranked The Dark Knight Returns first on a list of the 25 greatest Batman graphic novels and called The Dark Knight Returns "a true masterpiece of storytelling" with "[s]cene after unforgettable scene."[14] In 2005, Time chose the collected edition as one of the 10 best English language graphic novels ever written.[15]Forbidden Planet placed the collected issue at number one on its "50 Best of the Best Graphic Novels" list.[16] Writer Matthew K. Manning in the "1980s" chapter of DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle (2010) called the series "arguably the best Batman story of all time."[3] It was placed second in a poll among comic book academics conducted by the Sequart Organization.[17]
The series also garnered some negative reviews. In April 2010, Nicolas Slayton from Comics Bulletin ranked The Dark Knight Returns second in his Tuesday Top Ten feature's Top 10 Overrated Comic Books behind Watchmen. Slayton wrote, "[t]here is no central plot to the comic, leaving only a forced fight scene between Superman and Batman as an out of place climax to the story." "Gone are the traits that define Batman," he said, also citing "misuse of the central character."[18]
Miller signing a copy of the book during a 2016 appearance at Midtown Comics
The immense popularity of The Dark Knight Returns served both to return the character of Batman to a central role in pop culture, but also (along with Watchmen) started the era known as the Dark Age of Comic Books (also known as the Modern Age and the Iron Age).[19] The grim, seedy versions of Gotham and Batman updated the character's identity from the campy Adam West version from the 1960s Batman TV series, and proved critically and commercially successful enough that a new wave of "dark" superheroes were either created or re-popularized, and preexisting heroes were redesigned or retooled to fit this new trend.[citation needed]
The Dark Knight Returns was one of the two comic books, alongside Watchmen, that inspired designer Vincent Connare when he created the Comic Sans font.[20]
The story recounts Batman's first year as a crime-fighter as well as exploring the life of recently transferred Gotham police detective James Gordon – eventually building towards their first encounter and their eventual alliance against Gotham's criminal underworld. The story is considered canon to the mainstream DC Universe as well as Frank Miller's own Dark Knight Universe.
The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer Brooks. He created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "simpleton".[4] The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).
On January 26, 2023, the series was renewed for its 35th and 36th seasons, taking the show through the 2024–25 television season.[6] Both seasons contain a combined total of 51 episodes. Seven of these episodes are season 34 holdovers, while the other 44 will be produced in the production cycle of the upcoming seasons, bringing the show's overall episode total up to 801.[7] Season 35 premiered on October 1, 2023.[8]
The Simpsons received widespread acclaim throughout its early seasons in the 1990s, which are generally considered its "golden age". Since then, it has been criticized for a perceived decline in quality. Time named it the 20th century's best television series,[9] and Erik Adams of The A.V. Club named it "television's crowning achievement regardless of format".[10] On January 14, 2000, the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 37 Primetime Emmy Awards, 34 Annie Awards, and 2 Peabody Awards. Homer's exclamatory catchphrase of "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English language, while The Simpsons has influenced many other later adult-oriented animated sitcom television series.
The main characters are the Simpson family, who live in the fictional "Middle America" town of Springfield.[11]Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge (née Bouvier), a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker and prankster; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, the baby of the family who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.[12]
The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV.[14]
Despite the depiction of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays passing, the characters never age. The series uses a floating timeline in which episodes generally take place in the year the episode is produced. Flashbacks and flashforwards do occasionally depict the characters at other points in their lives, with the timeline of these depictions also generally floating relative to the year the episode is produced. For example, the 1991 episodes "The Way We Was" and "I Married Marge" depict Homer and Marge as high schoolers in the 1970s who had Bart (who is always 10 years old) in the early '80s, while the 2008 episode "That '90s Show" depicts Homer and Marge as a childless couple in the '90s, and the 2021 episode "Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars" portrays Homer as an adolescent in the same period. The 1995 episode "Lisa's Wedding" takes place during Lisa's college years in the then-future year of 2010, the same year the show began airing its 22nd season, in which Lisa was still 8. Regarding the contradictory flashbacks, Selman stated that "they all kind of happened in their imaginary world."[15]
The show follows a loose and inconsistent continuity. For example, Krusty the Clown may be able to read in one episode, but not in another. However, it is consistently portrayed that he is Jewish, that his father was a rabbi, and that his career began in the 1960s. The latter point introduces another snag in the floating timeline: historical periods that are a core part of a character's backstory remain so even when their age makes it unlikely or impossible, such as Grampa Simpson and Principal Skinner's respective service in World War II and Vietnam.
The only episodes not part of the series' main canon are the Treehouse of Horror episodes, which often feature the deaths of main characters. Characters who die in "regular" episodes, such as Maude Flanders, Mona Simpson and Edna Krabappel, however, stay dead. Most episodes end with the status quo being restored, though occasionally major changes will stick, such as Lisa's conversions to vegetarianism and Buddhism, the divorce of Milhouse van Houten's parents, and the marriage and subsequent parenthood of Apu and Manjula.
The Simpsons takes place in a fictional American town called Springfield. Although there are many real settlements in America named Springfield,[16] the town the show is set in is fictional. The state it is in is not established. In fact, the show is intentionally evasive with regard to Springfield's location.[17] Springfield's geography and that of its surroundings is inconsistent: from one episode to another, it may have coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires.[18] Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.[19] Groening has said that he named it after Springfield, Oregon, and the fictitious Springfield which was the setting of the series Father Knows Best. He "figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do."[20] Many landmarks, including street names, have connections to Portland.[21]
When producer James L. Brooks was working on the television variety show The Tracey Ullman Show, he decided to include small animated sketches before and after the commercial breaks. Having seen one of cartoonist Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strips, Brooks asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts. Groening initially intended to present an animated version of his Life in Hell series.[22] However, Groening later realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work. He therefore chose another approach while waiting in the lobby of Brooks's office for the pitch meeting, hurriedly formulating his version of a dysfunctional family that became the Simpsons.[22][23] He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name, adopting an anagram of the word brat.[22]
The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[24] Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production. However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial shorts.[22] The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo,[25][26] with Wes Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.[27] The colorist, "Georgie" Gyorgyi Kovacs Peluce (Kovács Györgyike)[28][29][30][31][32][33] made the characters yellow; as Bart, Lisa and Maggie have no hairlines, she felt they would look strange if they were flesh-colored. Groening supported the decision, saying: "Marge is yellow with blue hair? That's hilarious — let's do it!"[27]
In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included the Klasky Csupo animation house. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content.[34] Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.[35] The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989, with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".[36] "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.[37] In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons[38]—a claim rejected by the courts.[39]
Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show's entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon, described by former Simpsons director Brad Bird as "the unsung hero" of the show,[40] served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons. He was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and the show's production company Gracie Films and left in 1993.[41] Before leaving, he negotiated a deal that sees him receive a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993,[41][42] at least until his passing in 2015.[43] A more involved position on the show is the showrunner, who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.[27]
The first team of writers, assembled by Sam Simon, consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky.[44] Newer Simpsons' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December.[45] The main writer of each episode writes the first draft. Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show's vocal performers.[46] Until 2004,[47] George Meyer, who had developed the show since the first season, was active in these sessions. According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits.[46] Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events.[48]
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This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following: p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
Scooby-Doo was originally broadcast on CBS from 1969 to 1976, when it moved to ABC. ABC aired various versions of Scooby-Doo until canceling it in 1986, and presented a spin-off featuring the characters as children called A Pup Named Scooby-Doo from 1988 until 1991. Two Scooby-Doo reboots aired as part of Kids' WB on The WB and its successor The CW from 2002 until 2008. Further reboots were produced for Cartoon Network beginning in 2010 and continuing through 2018. Repeats of the various Scooby-Doo series are frequently broadcast on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang in the United States and other countries. The most recent Scooby-Doo series, Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, premiered on June 27, 2019, as an original series on Boomerang's streaming service and later HBO Max.
In 2013, TV Guide ranked Scooby-Doo the fifth-greatest TV cartoon of all time.[2]
In 1968, parent-run organizations, particularly Action for Children's Television (ACT), began protesting what they perceived as excessive violence in Saturday-morning cartoons.[3] Most of these shows were Hanna-Barbera action cartoons such as Space Ghost, The Herculoids, and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, and virtually all of them were canceled by 1969 because of pressure from the parent groups.[4] Members of these watch groups served as advisers to Hanna-Barbera and other animation studios to ensure that new programs would be safe for children.
Fred Silverman, an executive for daytime programming at CBS, was then looking for a show that would both revitalize his Saturday-morning line and please the watch groups. The result was The Archie Show from Filmation, based on Bob Montana's teenage humor comic book Archie. Also successful were the musical numbers The Archies performed during each program (one of which, "Sugar, Sugar", was the most successful Billboardnumber-one hit of 1969). Eager to build upon this success, Silverman contacted producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera about creating another show based on a teenage rock group, this time featuring teens who solved mysteries between gigs. Silverman envisioned the show as a cross between the popular I Love a Mysteryradioserials of the 1940s and the Archie characters or the popular early 1960s television series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.[5]
After attempting to develop his version of the show, called House of Mystery,[6] Barbera, who developed and sold Hanna-Barbera shows while Hanna produced them,[6] passed the task along to story writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, as well as artist/character designer Iwao Takamoto. Their treatment, based in part on The Archie Show, was titled Mysteries Five and featured five teenagers: Geoff, Mike, Kelly, Linda, and Linda's brother W.W., along with their bongo-playing dog, Too Much, who collectively formed the band Mysteries Five. When The Mysteries Five were not performing at gigs, they were out-solving spooky mysteries involving ghosts, zombies, and other supernatural creatures. Ruby and Spears were unable to decide whether Too Much would be a large cowardly dog or a small feisty one.[6] When the former was chosen, Ruby and Spears wrote Too Much as a Great Dane but revised the dog character to a large sheepdog (similar to the Archies' sheepdog, Hot Dog) just before their presentation to Silverman, as Ruby feared the character would be too similar to the comic strip character Marmaduke.[6] Silverman rejected their initial pitch, and after consulting with Barbera on next steps, got Barbera's permission to go ahead with Too Much being a Great Dane instead of a sheepdog.[6][7]
During the design phase, lead character designer Takamoto consulted a studio colleague who was a breeder of Great Danes. After learning the characteristics of a prize-winning Great Dane from her, Takamoto proceeded to break most of the rules and designed Too Much with overly bowed legs, a double chin, and a sloped back, among other abnormalities.[8][9]
Ruby and Spears' second pass at the show used Dobie Gillis as the template for the teenagers rather than Archie. The treatment retained the dog Too Much, while reducing the number of teenagers to four, removing the Mike character and retaining Geoff, Kelly, Linda, and W.W.[7] As their personalities were modified, so were the characters' names: Geoff became "Ronnie"[10]—later renamed "Fred" (at Silverman's behest),[11] Kelly became "Daphne", Linda "Velma", and W.W. "Shaggy". The teens were now based on four teenage characters from The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: Dobie Gillis, Thalia Menninger, Zelda Gilroy and Maynard G. Krebs, respectively.[6][12][13]
The revised show was re-pitched to Silverman, who liked the material but, disliking the title Mysteries Five, decided to call the show Who's S-S-Scared?[14] Silverman presented Who's S-S-Scared? to the CBS executives as the centerpiece for the upcoming 1969–70 season's Saturday-morning cartoon block. CBS president Frank Stanton felt that the presentation artwork was too scary for young viewers and, thinking the show would be the same, decided to pass on it.[7][14]
Now without a centerpiece for the upcoming season's programming, Silverman had Ruby, Spears, and the Hanna-Barbera staff revise the treatments and presentation materials to tone down the show and better reflect its comedy elements. The rock band element was dropped, and more attention was focused on Shaggy and Too Much. According to Ruby and Spears, Silverman was inspired by Frank Sinatra's scat "doo-be-doo-be-doo" at the end of his recording of "Strangers in the Night" on a red-eye flight to one of the development meetings, and decided to rename the dog "Scooby-Doo" and retitled the show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You![7][15] The revised show was re-presented to CBS executives, who approved it for production.
Every episode of the original Scooby-Doo format contains a penultimate scene in which the heroes unmask the seemingly supernatural antagonist to reveal a real person in a costume, as in this scene from "Nowhere to Hyde", an episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! originally aired on CBS on September 12, 1970.
The first episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! "What a Night for a Knight" debuted on the CBS network Saturday, September 13, 1969, at 10:30 AM Eastern Time. The original voice cast featured Don Messick as Scooby-Doo, Casey Kasem as Shaggy, Frank Welker as Fred, actress Nicole Jaffe as Velma, and Indira Stefanianna as Daphne.[16] Scooby's speech patterns closely resembled an earlier cartoon dog, Astro from The Jetsons (1962–63), also voiced by Messick.[1] Seventeen episodes of Scooby-Doo Where Are You! were produced in 1969–70. The series theme song was written by David Mook and Ben Raleigh, and performed by Larry Marks.
Each of these episodes features Scooby and the four teenage members of Mystery, Inc.—Fred, Shaggy, Daphne, and Velma—arriving at a location in the Mystery Machine, a van painted with psychedelic colors and flower power imagery. Encountering a purportedly supernatural monster terrorizing the local populace, such as a ghost, they decide to investigate. The kids split up to look for clues and suspects, while being chased at turns by the monster. Eventually, the kids come to realize the paranormal activity is actually an elaborate hoax, and—often with the help of a Rube Goldberg-like trap designed by Fred—they capture the creature suit-wearing villain and unmask him or her. Revealed usually as a flesh and blood crook who used the costume to cover up their crimes, the villain is arrested and taken to jail, often with the catchphrase "if it weren't for those pesky/meddling kids". A few times though, the "villain" turns out to be innocent, such as a haywire robot or the owner disguised to scare away thieves. [17]
Scheduled opposite another teenage mystery-solving show, ABC's The Hardy Boys, Scooby-Doo became a ratings success, with Nielsen ratings reporting that as many as 65% of Saturday-morning audiences were tuned in to CBS when Scooby-Doo was being broadcast.[6][7] The show was renewed for a second season in 1970, for which eight episodes were produced. Seven of the second-season episodes featured chase sequences set to bubblegum pop songs recorded by Austin Roberts,[18] who also re-recorded the theme song for this season. With Stefanianna Christopherson having married and retired from voice acting, Heather North assumed the role of Daphne, and she continued to voice the character until 1997.[19]
The TV influences of I Love a Mystery and Dobie Gillis were apparent in the first episode. Of the similarities between the Scooby-Doo teens and the Dobie Gillis teens, the similarities between Shaggy and Maynard are the most noticeable; both characters share the same beatnik-style goatee, similar hairstyles, and demeanors.[6] The core premise of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was also similar to Enid Blyton's Famous Five books. Both series featured four youths with a dog, and the Famous Five stories often revolved around a mystery which invariably turned out not to be supernaturally based, but simply a ruse to disguise the villain's true intent.
The role of each character was strongly defined in the series: Fred is the leader and the determined detective, Velma is the intelligent analyst, Daphne is danger-prone, Shaggy is a coward more motivated by hunger than any desire to solve mysteries, and Scooby is similar to Shaggy, save for a Bob Hope-inspired tendency towards temporary bravery.[7] Later versions of the show made slight changes to the characters' established roles, such as showing the Daphne in 1990s and 2000s Scooby-Doo productions as knowing many forms of karate and having the ability to defend herself, and reducing her tendency towards being kidnapped.
In the fall of 1972, new one-hour episodes under the title The New Scooby-Doo Movies were created; each episode featuring a real or fictitious guest star helping the gang solve mysteries, including characters from other Hanna-Barbera series such as Harlem Globetrotters, Josie and the Pussycats and Speed Buggy, the comic book characters Batman and Robin (adapted into their own Hanna-Barbera series, Super Friends, a year later), and celebrities such as Sandy Duncan, The Addams Family, Cass Elliot, Phyllis Diller, Don Knotts and The Three Stooges. Hanna-Barbera musical director Hoyt Curtin composed a new theme song for this series, and Curtin's theme remained in use for much of Scooby-Doo's original broadcast run. After two seasons and 24 episodes of the New Movies format from 1972 to 1973, CBS began airing reruns of the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! series until its option on the series expired in 1976.[6]
The Scooby-Doo Show and Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics[edit]
Now president of ABC, Fred Silverman made a deal with Hanna-Barbera to bring new episodes of Scooby-Doo to the ABC Saturday-morning lineup, where the show went through almost yearly lineup changes. For their 1976–77 season, 16 new episodes of Scooby-Doo were joined with a new Hanna-Barbera show, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, to create The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (the show became The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show when a bonus Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! rerun was added to the package in November 1976). Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, now working for Silverman as supervisors of the ABC Saturday-morning programs, returned the program to its original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! format, with the addition of Scooby's dim-witted country cousin Scooby-Dum, voiced by Daws Butler, as a recurring character.[6] The voice cast was held over from The New Scooby-Doo Movies save for Nicole Jaffe, who retired from acting in 1973. Pat Stevens took over her role as the voice of Velma.
Then Joe Ruby and Ken Spears left again to start their own studio in 1977 as competition for Hanna-Barbera.[21] They would remain away for the rest of the 1980s.
For the 1977–78 season, The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show became the two-hour programming block Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977–78) with the addition of Laff-a-Lympics and Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. In addition to eight new episodes of Scooby-Doo and reruns of the 1969 show, Scooby-Doo also appeared during the All-Star block's Laff-a-Lympics series, which featured 45 Hanna-Barbera characters competing in Battle of the Network Stars-esque parodies of Olympic sporting events. Scooby was seen as the team captain of the Laff-a-Lympics "Scooby-Doobies" team, which also featured Shaggy and Scooby-Dum among its members.
Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics was retitled Scooby's All Stars for the 1978–79 season, reduced to 90 minutes when Dynomutt was spun off into its own half-hour and the 1969 reruns were dropped. Scooby's All-Stars continued broadcasting reruns of Scooby-Doo from 1976 and 1977, while new episodes of Scooby-Doo aired during a separate half-hour under the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! banner. After nine weeks, the separate Where Are You! broadcast was cancelled, and the remainder of the 16 new 1978 episodes debuted during the Scooby's All-Stars block.[22] The 40 total Scooby-Doo episodes produced from 1976 to 1978 were later packaged together for syndication as The Scooby-Doo Show, under which title they continue to air.
The Scooby-Doo characters first appeared outside of their regular Saturday-morning format in Scooby Goes Hollywood, an hour-long ABC television special aired in prime time on December 13, 1979. The special revolved around Shaggy and Scooby attempting to convince the network to move Scooby out of Saturday morning and into a prime-time series, and featured spoofs of then-current television series and films such as Happy Days, Superman: The Movie, Laverne & Shirley and Charlie's Angels.
In 1979, Scooby's tiny nephew Scrappy-Doo was added to both the series and the billing, in an attempt to boost Scooby-Doo's slipping ratings.[23] The 1979–80 episodes, aired under the new title Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo as an independent half-hour show, succeeded in regenerating interest in the show. Lennie Weinrib voiced Scrappy in the 1979–80 episodes, with Don Messick assuming the role thereafter.[23] Marla Frumkin replaced Pat Stevens as the voice of Velma mid-season.
As a result of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo's success, the entire show was overhauled in 1980 to focus more upon Scrappy-Doo. At this time, Scooby-Doo started to walk and run anthropomorphically on two feet more often, rather than on four like a normal dog as he did previously. Fred, Daphne, and Velma were dropped from the series, and the new Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo format now consisted of three seven-minute comedic adventures starring Scooby, Scrappy, and Shaggy instead of one half-hour mystery. Most of the supernatural villains in the seven-minute Scooby and Scrappy cartoons, who in previous Scooby series had been revealed to be human criminals in costume, were now real within the context of the series.
This version of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo first aired from 1980 to 1982 as part of The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show, an hour-long program also featuring episodes of Hanna-Barbera's new Richie Rich cartoon, adapted from the Harvey Comics character. From 1982 to 1983, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo were part of The Scooby-Doo/Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour, a co-production with Ruby-Spears Productions which featured two Scooby and Scrappy shorts, a Scrappy and Yabba-Doo short featuring Scrappy-Doo and his Western deputy uncle Yabba-Doo, and The Puppy's New Adventures, based on characters from a 1977 Ruby-Spears TV special. Despite the popularity, this was negatively hated by fans for how it dropped the mystery format and other main characters like Fred, Daphne, and Velma.
Beginning in 1980, a half-hour of reruns from previous incarnations of Scooby-Doo were broadcast on ABC Saturday mornings in addition to first-run episodes. Airing under the titles Scooby-Doo Classics, Scary Scooby Funnies, The Best of Scooby-Doo, and Scooby's Mystery Funhouse, the rerun package remained on the air until the end of the 1986 season.[24]
Scooby-Doo was restored to a standalone half-hour in 1983 with The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show in 1983, which comprised two 11-minute mysteries per episode in a format reminiscent of the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! mysteries. Heather North returned to the voice cast as Daphne, who in this incarnation solved mysteries with Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy while working undercover as a reporter for a teen magazine.
This version of the show lasted for two seasons, with the second season airing under the title The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries. The 1984–85 season episodes featured semi-regular appearances from Fred and Velma, with Frank Welker and Marla Frumkin resuming their respective roles for these episodes.
1985 saw the debut of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, which featured Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy, and new characters Flim-Flam (voiced by Susan Blu)[25] and Vincent Van Ghoul (based upon and voiced by Vincent Price) traveling the globe to capture "thirteen of the most terrifying ghosts upon the face of the earth." The final first-run episode of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo aired in December 1985, and after its reruns were removed from the ABC lineup the following March, no new Scooby series aired on the network for the next two years.
Hanna-Barbera reincarnated the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! cast as elementary school students (a common trope in 1980s children's TV) for a new series titled A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, which debuted on ABC in 1988. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was an irreverent re-imagining of the series, heavily inspired by the classic cartoons of Tex Avery and Bob Clampett, and eschewed the realistic aesthetic of the original Scooby series for a more Looney Tunes-like style, including an episode where Scooby-Doo's parents show up and reveal his real name to be "Scoobert". At the same time, the series returned to its original formula in that the group unmasked human villains in costume, as opposed to the supernatural monsters of the early to mid-1980s. The series also established "Coolsville" as the name of the gang's hometown; this setting was retained for several of the later Scooby productions. The retooled show was a success, remaining in production for four seasons and on ABC's lineup until 1991.
In 2002, following the successes of the Cartoon Network reruns, the direct to video franchise, and the first feature film, Scooby-Doo returned to Saturday morning for the first time in a decade with What's New, Scooby-Doo?, which aired on Kids' WB from 2002 until 2006. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the show follows the format of the original series but places it in the 21st century, featuring a heavy promotion of modern technology (computers, DVD, the Internet, cell phones) and culture.
Beginning with this series, Frank Welker took over as Scooby's voice actor, while continuing to provide the voice of Fred as well. Casey Kasem returned as Shaggy, on the condition that the character be depicted as a vegetarian like Kasem himself.[26] Grey DeLisle continued to voice Daphne, and former Facts of Life star Mindy Cohn voiced Velma. The series was produced by Chuck Sheetz, who had worked on The Simpsons.
In September 2006 a new show entitled, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, debuted on The CW's Kids' WB Saturday-morning programming block. In the new premise, Shaggy inherits money and a mansion from an uncle, an inventor who has gone into hiding from villains trying to steal his secret invention. The villains, led by "Dr. Phibes" (based primarily upon Dr. Evil from the Austin Powersseries, and named after Vincent Price's character from The Abominable Dr. Phibes), then use different schemes to try to get the invention from Shaggy and Scooby, who handle the plots alone. Fred, Daphne, and Velma are normally absent, but do make appearances at times to help. The characters were redesigned and the art style revised for the new series. Scott Menville voiced Shaggy in the series, with Casey Kasem appearing as the voice of Shaggy's Uncle Albert. Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! ran for two seasons on The CW.
Cartoon Network and Boomerang years (2010–2021)[edit]
The next Scooby series, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, premiered on Cartoon Network on April 5, 2010.[27] The first Scooby series produced for cable television, Mystery Incorporated is a reboot of the franchise, re-establishing the characters' relationships, personalities, and locations, and expanding their world to feature their parents, high school, and neighbors. The series also borrowed pieces from many parts of Scooby-Doo's long history, as well as characters and elements of other Hanna-Barbera shows to form its back story and the bases of some of its episodes. Matthew Lillard was brought over from the live-action theatrical series as the new voice of Shaggy, while Welker, Cohn, and DeLisle continued in their respective roles. Patrick Warburton, Linda Cardellini, Lewis Black, Vivica A. Fox, Gary Cole, Udo Kie
This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following: p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
The comics follow the story's title character and protagonist, V, an anarchistrevolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, as he begins an elaborate and theatrical revolutionist campaign to kill his former captors, bring down the fascist state, and convince the people to abandon fascism in favour of anarchy, while inspiring a young woman, Evey Hammond, to be his protégée.
The first episodes of V for Vendetta appeared in black-and-white between 1982 and 1985, in Warrior, a British anthology comic published by Quality Communications. The strip was one of the least popular in that title; editor/publisher Dez Skinn remarked, "If I'd have given each character their own title, the failures would have certainly outweighed the successes, with the uncompromising 'V for Vendetta' probably being an early casualty. But with five or six strips an issue, regular [readers] only needed two or three favorites to justify their buying the title."[12]
When the publishers cancelled Warrior in 1985 (with two completed issues unpublished due to the cancellation), several companies attempted to convince Moore and Lloyd to let them publish and complete the story. In 1988, DC Comics published a ten-issue series that reprinted the Warrior stories in colour, then continued the series to completion. The first new material appeared in issue No. 7, which included the unpublished episodes that would have appeared in Warrior No. 27 and No. 28. Tony Weare drew one chapter ("Vincent") and contributed additional art to two others ("Valerie" and "The Vacation"); Steve Whitaker and Siobhan Dodds worked as colourists on the entire series.
The entire series has appeared collected in paperback (ISBN0-446-39190-5) and hardback (ISBN1-4012-0792-8) form, including Moore's "Behind the Painted Smile" essay and two "interludes" outside the central continuity. Later collections include reissued paperbacks, published in the US by DC's Vertigo imprint (ISBN0-930289-52-8) and in the UK by Titan Books (ISBN1-85286-291-2). A new hardback edition was published in 2005 featuring improved printing and coloring.[13] In August 2009 DC published a slipcasedAbsolute Edition (ISBN1-4012-2361-3); this includes newly coloured "silent art" pages (full-page panels containing no dialogue) from the series' original run, which have not previously appeared in any previous collected edition.[13]
David Lloyd's paintings for V for Vendetta in Warrior first appeared in black and white.[14]
Cover of Warrior #19, highlighting the comic's conflict between anarchist and fascist philosophies.
In writing V for Vendetta, Moore drew upon a comic strip idea submission that the DC Thomson scriptwriting competition rejected in 1975: "The Doll", which involved a transgender terrorist in white face makeup, who fought a totalitarian state during the 1980s.[15]
Years later, Skinn reportedly invited Moore to create a dark mystery strip with artist David Lloyd.[16]V for Vendetta was intended to recreate something similar to their popular Marvel UKNight Raven strip in a 1930s noir.[17] They chose against doing historical research and instead set the story in the near future rather than the recent past.[18]
Then V for Vendetta emerged, putting the emphasis on "V" rather than "Vendetta". David Lloyd developed the idea of dressing V as Guy Fawkes[19] after previous designs followed the conventional superhero look. During the preparation of the story, Moore made a list of what he wanted to bring into the plot, which he reproduced in "Behind the Painted Smile":
The influence of such a wide number of references has been thoroughly demonstrated in academic studies,[21] above which dystopian elements stand out, especially the similarity with George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four in several stages of the plot.[22]
The political climate of Britain in the early 1980s also influenced the work,[23] with Moore positing that Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government would "obviously lose the 1983 elections", and that an incoming Michael Foot-led Labour government, committed to complete nuclear disarmament, would allow the United Kingdom to escape relatively unscathed after a limited nuclear war. However, Moore felt that fascists would quickly subvert a post-nuclear holocaust Britain.[20] V, an anarchist, initially tortures and murders members of the fascist government, but as the story develops, Moore deliberately made V's actions "very, very morally ambiguous" with the aim that "I didn't want to tell people what to think, I just wanted to tell people to think."[17] The Guy Fawkes analogy was deliberate, with Moore pointing out in a 2012 interview that Britain has a history of "making heroes out of criminals or people who in other centuries might have been regarded as terrorists", desiring a similar ambiguity for a protagonist reviled as a villain by the Britain of his fictional 1990s.[24]
Moore's scenario remains untested. Addressing historical developments when DC reissued the work, he noted:
Naïveté can also be detected in my supposition that it would take something as melodramatic as a near-miss nuclear conflict to nudge Britain towards fascism... The simple fact that much of the historical background of the story proceeds from a predicted Conservative defeat in the 1983 General Election should tell you how reliable we were in our roles as Cassandras.[25]
On Guy Fawkes Night in London in 1997, a financially desperate 16-year-old, Evey Hammond, sexually solicits men who are actually members of the state secret police, called "The Finger". Preparing to rape and kill her, the Fingermen are dispatched by V, a cloaked anarchist wearing a mask, who later remotely detonates explosives at the Palace of Westminster before bringing Evey to his contraband-filled underground lair, the "Shadow Gallery." Evey tells V her life story, which reveals her own past and England's recent history. During a dispute over Poland in the late 1980s, the Soviet Union and the United States, under the presidency of Ted Kennedy, entered a global nuclear war which left continental Europe and Africa uninhabitable. Although Britain itself was not bombed due to the Labour government's decision to remove American nuclear missiles, it faced environmental devastation and famine due to the nuclear winter. After a period of lawlessness in which Evey's mother died, the remaining corporations and fascist groups took over England and formed a new totalitarian government, Norsefire. Evey's father, a former socialist, was arrested by the regime.
Meanwhile, Eric Finch, a veteran detective in charge of the regular police force ("The Nose"), begins investigating V's terrorist activities. Finch often communicates with the other top government officials, collectively known as "The Head." These individuals include Derek Almond, who supervises the Finger, and Adam Susan, the reclusive Leader of Norsefire, who obsessively oversees the government's Fate computer system. Finch's case thickens when V kidnaps Lewis Prothero, a propaganda-broadcasting radio personality, and drives him into a mental breakdown by forcing him to relive his actions as the commander of a "resettlement" camp near Larkhill with his treasured doll collection as inmates. Evey agrees to help V with his next assassination by disguising herself as a child prostitute to infiltrate the home of Bishop Anthony Lilliman, a paedophile priest, whom V forces to commit suicide by eating a poisoned communion wafer. He prepares to murder Dr. Delia Surridge, a medical researcher who once had a romance with Finch. Finch suddenly discovers the connection among V's three targets: they all used to work at Larkhill. That night, V kills both Almond and Surridge. Surridge leaves a diary revealing that V—a former inmate and victim of Surridge's cruel medical experiments—destroyed and fled the camp and is now eliminating the camp's former officers for what they did. Finch reports these findings to Susan, and suspects that this vendetta may actually be a cover for V, who, he worries, may be plotting an even bigger terrorist attack.
Four months later, V breaks into Jordan Tower, the home of Norsefire's propaganda department, "the Mouth"—led by Roger Dascombe—to broadcast a speech that calls on the people to resist the government. V escapes using an elaborate diversion that results in Dascombe's death. Finch is soon introduced to Peter Creedy, the Finger's new head, who provokes Finch to strike him and thus get sent on a forced vacation. Evey takes shelter at the house of a man named Gordon, who found her on the street. While originally platonic, they eventually build a romantic relationship. Evey and Gordon unknowingly cross paths with Rose Almond, the widow of the recently killed Derek. After Derek's death, Rose had reluctantly begun a relationship with Dascombe. With both of her lovers murdered, she is forced to perform demoralizing burlesque work, increasing her hatred of the unsupportive government.
When a Scottish gangster named Ally Harper murders Gordon, a vengeful Evey interrupts a meeting between Harper and Creedy, the latter of whom is buying the support of Harper's thugs in preparation for a coup d'état. Evey attempts to shoot Harper but is suddenly abducted and then imprisoned. Amidst interrogation and torture, Evey finds an old letter hidden in her cell by an inmate named Valerie Page, a film actress who was imprisoned and executed for being a lesbian and documented her experiences in the letter.
Evey's interrogator finally gives her a choice of collaboration or death; inspired by Valerie's letter, Evey refuses to collaborate and, expecting to be executed, is instead told that she is free. Stunned, Evey learns that her supposed imprisonment is a hoax constructed by V so that she could experience an ordeal similar to the one that shaped him at Larkhill. He reveals that Valerie was a real Larkhill prisoner who died in the cell next to his and that the letter is not a fake. Evey forgives V, who has hacked into the government's Fate computer system and started emotionally manipulating Adam Susan with mind games. Consequently, Susan, who has formed a bizarre romantic attachment to the computer, begins to descend into madness.
The following 5 November (1998), V blows up the Post Office Tower and Jordan Tower, killing "the Ear" leader Brian Etheridge, in addition to effectively shutting down three government agencies: the Eye, the Ear, and the Mouth. Creedy's men and Harper's associated street gangs violently suppress the subsequent wave of revolutionary fervor from the public. V notes to Evey that he has not yet achieved what he calls the "Land of Do-as-You-Please," meaning a functional anarchistic society, and considers the current chaotic situation an interim period of "Land of Take-What-You-Want." Finch has been mysteriously absent, and his young assistant, Dominic Stone, one day realises that V has been influencing the Fate computer all along, which explained V's consistent foresight. All the while, Finch has been traveling to the abandoned site of Larkhill, where he takes LSD to conjure up memories of his own devastating past and to put his mind in the role of a prisoner of Larkhill, like V, to help give him an intuitive understanding of V's experiences. Returning to London, Finch suddenly deduces that V's lair is inside the abandoned Victoria Station, which he enters.
V takes Finch by surprise, resulting in a scuffle that sees Finch shoot V, and V wounds Finch with a knife. V claims that he cannot be killed since he is only an idea and that "ideas are bulletproof"; regardless, V is indeed mortally wounded and returns to the Shadow Gallery deeper within, dying in Evey's arms. Evey considers unmasking V but decides not to, realizing that V is not an identity but a symbol. She then assumes V's identity, donning one of his spare costumes. Finch sees the large amount of blood that V has left in his wake and deduces that he has mortally wounded V. Occurring concurrently to this, Creedy has been pressuring Susan to appear in public, hoping to leave him exposed. Sure enough, as Susan stops to shake hands with Rose during a parade, she shoots him in the head in vengeance for the death of her husband and the life she has had to lead since then. Following Rose's arrest, Creedy assumes emergency leadership of the country, and Finch emerges from the subway proclaiming V's death.
Due to his LSD-induced epiphany, Finch leaves his position within "the Nose." The power struggle between the remaining leaders results in all of their deaths: Harper betrays and kills Creedy at the behest of Helen Heyer (wife of "the Eye" leader Conrad Heyer, who had outbid Creedy for Harper's loyalty), and Harper and Conrad Heyer kill each other during a fight precipitated by Heyer's discovery that his wife Helen had had an affair with Harper.
With the fate of the top government officials unknown to the public, Stone acts as leader of the police forces deployed to ensure that the riots are contained should V remain alive and make his promised public announcement. Evey appears to a crowd, dressed as V, announcing the destruction of 10 Downing Street the following day and telling the crowd they must "...choose what comes next. Lives of your own, or a return to chains", whereupon a general insurrection begins. Evey destroys 10 Downing Street[26] by blowing up an Underground train containing V's body, in the style of an explosive Viking funeral. She abducts Stone, apparently to train him as her successor to make sure people like Susan will never hold power ever again. The book ends with Finch quietly observing the chaos raging in the city and walking down an abandoned motorway whose lights have all gone out.
The highest-level officials in the Norsefire government form a council known as "The Head." The five individual departments are named after sensory organs or appendages that reference their functions.
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