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The Simpsons

'Simpsons' goes live: Homer Simpson will answer all your fan questions

Hoai-Tran Bui
USATODAY
Just imagine these people with giant white eyes and tiny pupils existing in real life.

When you're an animated TV show that's been going on for 27 seasons, what can you do to spice things up? Bring the characters to life.

Not as far as a live-action version of The Simpsons and more along the lines of an uncanny valley motion-captured Homer Simpson, the show will be animating Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer for the past 27 years, in real time. That's right, the live TV craze has hit The Simpsons, and the long-running Fox animated show will use it to allow our favorite beer-guzzling, pot-bellied doughnut aficionado to answer fan questions.

According to Variety, The Simpsons will accomplish this through motion capture, and will air the live segment during the May 15 episode.

Simpsons executive producer Al Jean told The Wrap that the live segment will take place in the last three minutes of the show, with Castellaneta providing "on the fly" voiceover.

“I think this is a first for animation,” Jean said.

First and last? Time will tell. But if the popularity of productions like Grease Live! and Peter Pan continue to inspire even animated shows, this probably won't be the last we'll see of live animation.

The live episode of The Simpsons will air Sunday, May 15 at 8 p.m./7 p.m. central on Fox.

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