Simpsons fans are gobsmacked after spotting key detail in Smithers' appearance – The Mirror US
Since its debut in 1989, The Simpsons has become a cultural icon, but fans are just now discovering why the show's creators altered a significant aspect of one character.
In his initial appearance during the third episode of season one, titled "Homer's Odyssey," Waylon Smithers, who works as Mr. Burns' personal assistant at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, was depicted with black skin.
This detail led to confusion and speculation among viewers as his skin color later transitioned to yellow. Some fans speculated the change was intentional, while others were completely unaware of the difference.
One perplexed Reddit user remarked: "Apparently Smithers used to be black…" Another chimed in with newfound knowledge: "Today I learned that Mr Smithers of The Simpsons was originally black, but was changed to white because the staff thought it 'would be a bad idea to have a black sub-servient character'."
However, series creator Matt Groening clarified Smithers' original skin tone was an error, explaining he was always meant to be yellow. In a TMZ interview, Groening mentioned budget constraints as a reason for not correcting the mistake: "At the time we didn't have enough money to do retakes."
Reflecting on the early days of the show, a social media user commented: "This was a fairly common thing in the early going in Bart the Genius you can see Milhouse has black hair, and there are numerous other variations from characters. It was part of the charm of an animated series in the early 90s that was still being hand drawn and painted."
One fan nostalgically remarked: "I actually miss (and Matt Groening has stated this too) the hand drawn style and I wish they weren't forced into using computers. They fought that for as long as they could. Homer's over exaggerated motions and out of proportion body really enhanced the comedic effect."
Another chimed in with a query: "I know there is one episode in which a character walks out of the room black and walks back in two minutes later white but can't think if Smithers was that character?" And yet another added some trivia, saying: "Colouring mistakes like that were common in the early seasons."
They continued to share more instances: "Aside from the black Smithers incident, the ones I remember right offhand are one of Bart's friends changing race and hair colour from one shot to the next in the first episode, 'Simpsons Roasting On an Open Fire'. The switch happens when they're in the mall spying on Homer as Santa."
To cap it off, another example was given: "In the season three episode 'Stark Raving Dad,' the Michael Jackson episode, Groundskeeper Willie is mistakenly colored black in a crowd scene on the lawn in front of the Simpson home."
