Julie Kavner Movies

James L. Brooks' showbiz comedy I'll Do Anything is "The Musical That Almost Was" (after test screenings Brooks removed all the musical numbers in the film, turning the film into a songless romantic comedy). Matt Hobbs (Nick Nolte) is a hardly working actor who finds himself raising his 6-year-old daughter Jeannie (Whittni Wright) after her mother Beth (Tracey Ullman) is sent away to prison. Since Matt now has to support a daughter, he has to develop more regular work habits. As a result, he takes a job as a chauffeur for a William Castle-inspired schlockmeister named Burke Adler (Albert Brooks). As Adler develops a relationship with divorced test-marketing researcher Nan Mulhanney (Julie Kavner), Matt becomes romantically attached to beautiful development executive Cathy Breslow (Joely Richardson). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Homer Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta) and his alcoholic friend Barney Gumble (also voiced by Castellaneta) sneak out of work and take a tour of the Duff Brewery, where they help themselves to the copious free samples of Duff Beer, Duff Lite, Duff Dry, Duff Dark, and Raspberry Duff. On his way home, Homer gets picked up for drunk driving, causing him to lose his license and to attend Alc-Anon meetings under a court order. He pledges to give up drinking for thirty days, in part to get his license back and in part to please Marge (voice of Julie Kavner), who is worried about Homer's fondness for alcohol, but Homer finds that going a month without beer is harder than he expected. Meanwhile, after Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright) destroys a giant tomato that Lisa (voice of Yeardley Smith) was growing for a science fair project, she gets an idea for a new project -- an experiment in which she'll prove an ordinary hamster is smarter than her brother. Duffless was first aired on February 18, 1993. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After C. Montgomery Burns (voice of Harry Shearer) is found guilty of dumping toxic waste from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in a city park, he's fined $3 million, which he pays at once, in cash. With a sudden and unexpected budget surplus, the good people of Springfield are trying to decide what to do with the money when smooth-talking salesman Lyle Lanley (voice of Phil Hartman) convinces the town that what they need is a monorail system. Marge Simpson (voice of Julie Kavner), however, is against the idea and has reason to believe that Lanley is pulling a fast one on the city, even though Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta) has already enrolled in monorail conductor's school. Marge discovers that the monorails Lanley constructed in other cities were not only faulty but dangerous, and she must race back to Springfield before someone gets hurt and before Lanley gets away with the money. Leonard Nimoy makes a guest appearance as a celebrity attending the monorail dedication (whom Mayor Quimby mistakes for one of the Little Rascals). "Marge Vs. The Monorail" first aired on January 14, 1993. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Former highbrow children's entertainer and failed criminal genius Sideshow Bob (voice of Kelsey Grammer) has once again won parole, and decides to get revenge against the person who twice put him behind bars: Bart Simpson (voice of Nancy Cartwright). While Bob convinces the authorities that he means no harm to his young nemesis (explaining that his "Die, Bart, Die" tattoo is actually a German expression, "The, Bart, The"), it doesn't take long for Bart to figure out that Bob is the man who's been sending him threatening letters written in blood. After Bob begins stalking Bart and his family, the FBI enrolls the Simpsons in the Witness Relocation Program; renamed the "Thompsons," Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta) and Marge (voice of Julie Kavner) move the kids to a houseboat in the riverfront community of Cape Feare. However, Bob manages to hitch a ride on the underside of the family car, and soon Bob is battling Bart "Thompson" mano a mano as the family's home floats down the river. "Cape Feare" first aired on October 7, 1993. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

It's Halloween again, and the Simpson family is having a party, with everyone trying to top each other with tales of terror. In Clown Without Pity, Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta) forgets to buy a birthday present for Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright), and finds a talking Krusty the Clown doll at a strange little shop. Homer soon realizes, however, that he didn't get an ordinary toy; the doll threatens to kill him and chases him around the house with a knife when it isn't busy trying to convince the Malibu Stacy doll owned by Lisa (voice of Yeardley Smith) that she looks awfully warm in that cheerleader's outfit. Grampa passes along his own version of the classic monster epic King Kong -- King Homer -- in which Mr. Burns and Smithers (both voiced by Harry Shearer) set out to capture the giant ape King Homer, using aspiring starlet Marge Bouvier (voice of Julie Kavner) to lure the beast into their trap. And in Dial "Z" For Zombie, Bart learns the local library is a lot more interesting than he imagined when he finds a book of magic spells that can be used to reanimate the dead. Bart and Lisa use one of the incantations to resurrect their departed cat, Snowball I, but they make a few miscalculations, and soon Springfield is crawling with "the living impaired" who've passed on over the past two centuries. "Treehouse Of Horror III" was first aired on October 29, 1992. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Marge Simpson (voice of Julie Kavner) may not have a perfect marriage, but her sister Selma (also voiced by Kavner) seems ready to settle for whatever kind of husband she can find, and begins corresponding with a prisoner at the Springfield Penitentiary after concluding she can't find an eligible man among the law-abiding. It turns out the prisoner in question is none other than Sideshow Bob (voice of Kelsey Grammer), who ended up behind bars after Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright) exposed his plan to frame Krusty the Clown (voice of Dan Castellaneta) for robbery. Selma and Sideshow Bob decide to tie the knot, but Bart is convinced Bob has something up his sleeve, and after viewing a video of the couple's vacation trip, Bart must run to the rescue to prevent Selma from being murdered.
Black Widower first aired on April 8, 1992. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One morning Homer Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta) notices that his neighbor Ned Flanders (voice of Harry Shearing) is angrily shooing a man off of his property. Wondering what's going on, Homer learns that the man is an installer from a local cable TV service (voice of Phil Hartman) who offered to give Ned an illegal cable hook-up in exchange for a one-time, under-the-table payment. Lacking Ned's scruples, Homer asks the installer to give him a hook-up, and soon the Simpsons are basking in the glow of free cable programming. But after Reverend Lovejoy (also voiced by Shearer) gives a sermon on the evils of theft, Lisa begins having qualms about the ethics of stealing cable, and announces she'll no longer watch TV with the family unless they start paying for their cable service. Marge (voice of Julie Kavner) also wonders if having free cable is such a good idea, especially after she discovers Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright) is charging his classmates to watch softcore adult movies shown on the "Top Hat" cable network. Lisa decides to stage a vigil outside the Simpson home to protest Homer's actions, just as he's invited over all of his friends to watch a championship boxing match on a pay channel he's receiving illegally. Phil Hartman also provides the voice of Moses in a biblical flashback sequence. "Homer Vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" was first aired on February 7, 1991. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Homer Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta) has never much cared for his next-door neighbor, the aggressively cheerful, born-again Christian Ned Flanders (voice of Harry Shearer). But it's not in Homer's nature to turn down barbecue, so he grudgingly tags along when Ned invites the Simpsons to a cookout. As it turns out, Ned uses the occasion to announce he's given up his job as a pharmaceutical salesman to open his own business, a shop called the Leftorium that specializes in gadgets for southpaws. Homer wins a wishbone-pulling contest with Ned, and in a fit of pique wishes to himself that Ned's business becomes a dismal failure. However, when the Leftorium falls on hard times and the Flanders family is reduced to living out of their car, Homer wonders if Lisa (voice of Yeardley Smith) might have a point about the dangers of "shameful joy." Meanwhile, Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright) begins taking karate classes, but loses interest when he learns he'll have to read a book rather than break stuff -- which becomes a problem when he tries to fool the family into thinking he's still attending class. "When Flanders Failed" was first aired on October 3, 1991. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Bart Simpson (voice of Nancy Cartwright) is riding his skateboard home after a hard day at school when he falls down a flight of stairs and finds himself in "The Legitimate Businessman's Social Club," a meeting place for Fat Tony (voice of Joe Mantegna) and other kingpins of the Springfield Mafia. Forced to mix a Manhattan, Bart proves to be a pretty good bartender, and Fat Tony offers him a job after school. But Bart's duties at the Social Club take up more and more of his time, and when Principal Skinner (voice of Harry Shearer) makes Bart stay after school, Fat Tony is not amused. The next day, Skinner disappears and is soon presumed dead, and when Police Chief Wiggum (voice of Hank Azaria) confronts Fat Tony, he pins the blame on Bart. Soon Bart is on trial for murder, and the various members of the "Social Club" testify that the boy is actually the godfather of a vast criminal empire. "Bart The Murderer," which first aired on October 10, 1991, also features a voice performance from Neil Patrick Harris, who plays "Bart Simpson" in a made-for-TV movie, Blood On The Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Shortly before she is to perform in the school's talent show, Lisa (voice of Yeardley Smith) breaks the reed to her saxophone, and she calls Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta) and asks him to bring her a new one. Homer discovers the music store is next door to Moe's Tavern; he decides to grab a quick beer before getting the reed, but by the time he's finished the store has closed, and while he's able to persuade the owner to help him, he doesn't make it in time for Lisa's performance. Dispirited by the realization she can't count on her father, Lisa sinks into a deep depression. Homer is desperate to cheer Lisa up, and knowing her enthusiasm for horses, he decides to buy her a pony. But Homer isn't aware of just how expensive it can be to take care of a horse, and is soon forced to take a second job at the Kwik-E-Mart, where Apu (voice of Hank Azaria) gives him a crash course in the high-risk world of manning the counter at a convenience store ("I won't lie to you -- on this job, you will be shot at!"). However, the strain wears Homer down to a frazzle, and Marge (voice of Julie Kavner) tries to persuade Lisa that her father's health and well-being may be more important than the pony. "Lisa's Pony" first aired on November 7, 1991. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After their TV goes on the blink, the Simpson family is faced with the grim prospect of having to actually talk to each other, and Marge (voice of Julie Kavner) decides to make the best of it by telling Lisa (voice of Yeardley Smith) and Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright) the story of how she and Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta) fell in love. It's 1974, and Homer Simpson is a skinny guy with a full head of hair who has no idea of what he wants to do with his future. Marge Bouvier has ended up in detention for the first time after burning a bra on school property in the midst of a brief infatuation with the women's movement. There she meets Homer, who has been kept after school yet again for smoking on school grounds. For Homer, it's love at first sight, and he's determined to find some way to get Marge's attention; pretending to be studying French, Homer gets Marge to tutor him, then asks her to the big dance. Marge says yes, but she's furious when she learns Homer isn't really taking French and that he kept her up late the night before a major forensics tournament. Marge decides instead to accept an invitation from debate club president Arnie Ziff (voice of Jon Lovitz) to go to the prom. Homer, however, never hears about this, figuring that if she never formally broke off their date, she'll still go with him, no matter how angry she is, and he finds himself going to the prom stag and watching Marge enjoy her big night with Artie. The Way We Was first aired on January 31, 1991.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Comic books may come and go, but every red-blooded boy in Springfield loves "Radioactive Man," and Bart Simpson (voice of Nancy Cartwright) is no exception. When Bart discovers the local comics shop, The Android's Dungeon, has a copy of the very rare first issue of "Radioactive Man," he's desperate to have it. Unfortunately, the comic is going for $100, and Bart only has $35 in his savings. Bart tries asking his parents for the money, looking under couch cushions, and (gasp!) even doing odd jobs for elderly Mrs. Glick (voice of Cloris Leachman), but he's still far short of the asking price, so Bart pools his finances with Milhouse (voice of Cartwright) and Martin (voice of Russi Taylor) and they buy the comic together. However, the three boys soon argue over who will get to keep the book, leading to an ugly scene in Bart's tree house. Daniel Stern also joins the voice cast in a brief parody of his narration of the TV series The Wonder Years. "Three Men and a Comic Book" first aired on May 9, 1991. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Woody Allen's character study of a well-kept, upscale Manhattan woman (Mia Farrow) takes the title character on a journey through a Wonderland of her own making, in which she learns some truths about herself, her relationships, and the universe in general. Alice leads a comfortable life, except for some nagging aches and pains, but when she visits the mysterious Dr. Yang (Keye Luke), he discovers that what really ails Alice is her own lack of true human experience. Alice has been married for sixteen years to Doug (William Hurt), an emotionally detached stockbroker, and she lives a perfectly maintained life in a perfectly maintained apartment, with a pair of children and the requisite support staff. All that changes when a chance meeting with a neighbor (Joe Mantegna) leads Alice to consider an affair. Dr. Yang, seizing the opportunity, gives Alice herbal potions that make her both invisible and seductive, allowing her to free herself from her inhibitions. Plunging into her new fantasy world, Alice ultimately comes to terms with her family, her husband, and her life. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide