Name: Nancy Cartwright ("Bart Simpson") on Tom Snyder, May 3, 1994
Uploaded: 2019-09-24T00:35:54.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Nancy Cartwright ("Bart Simpson") on Tom Snyder, May 3, 1994' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2019-09-24. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Nancy Cartwright ("Bart Simpson") on Tom Snyder, May 3, 1994' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2019-09-24. Transcript available.

Nancy Cartwright ("Bart Simpson") on Tom Snyder, May 3, 1994

Dr. Frank Field and to irritate the people over at Carson Productions because
we have no permission for this whatsoever.
Thank you very much.
We will continue here with Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart over on The Simpsons
on the Fox TV.
What is it Letterman says?
I watched a show on Fox TV last night.
Wilbur, fire up a color TV and watch the pictures as they fly through the air.
We are back and joined by Nancy Cartwright who plays the voice of 10-year-old
Bart Simpson on the Emmy Award winning series of The Simpsons over on the Fox
television network.
I've met Nancy before when I did radio for ABC and it's a joy to have you with
us here in the television studio tonight.
Thank you, I'm very proud to be here.
Now we gave you something to play with.
This is the new product from Nickelodeon.
It's called Floam, F-L-O-A-M.
And by the way, you can build it, you can shape it, you can bounce it.
Is that kind of a, it's a Bart thing.
It's very Bart-like.
He would definitely enjoy having this, especially in school.
You are an actor who has worked before the cameras.
You are not strictly a voiceover actor.
And what I'm wondering here is, and I know I asked you this before,
the difficulties of using only your voice and nothing else.
You cannot use your face, your smile, your eyes.
You can't use your hands or your body in any way.
Your voice is the only conveyance that brings Bart Simpson to life.
What restrictions does that place on you as an actress?
Actually, I don't think, I don't really see it as a restriction because I do
use everything.
You know, even though we only have the microphone and you have to communicate
through the microphone,
I become every character that I do.
Can you imagine playing an 80-year-old woman and not feeling that rheumatism in
your lower back?
I don't know.
If I was going to do it, I'd have to bend over and really feel it.
And then, like, when you're in the studio, the recording studio for Bart, you
become him physically, don't you?
Sure.
You don't just read it off of a page into a microphone.
You act it out.
No, no, it's all communication.
You know, it's like I have to be able to communicate to the other actors.
We're all lined up like old radio.
Yeah.
You know, we've got the stands there and being able to communicate if the scene
is with Bart and his mom.
You know, Julie's right there and I'm talking right to her.
Now, I've interviewed people who've done voices on Disney Pictures.
And there, the voices are done and then the animation comes afterwards.
Is that the same with The Simpsons?
You do all the voice work and then they draw to it?
Yes.
Yeah, it's done the same way.
So you're not watching The Simpsons go by and you're not looping to Bart up
there on the screen.
You don't see him anywhere.
Right.
Only in post-production, you know, but that's like six months later.
But the voices come first and then they do the animation next in the lineup and
they sweeten it with all the music and effects.
Right.
And then we go in and clean it up.
And how did you get this job?
Was there a big audition?
Was there like a call?
Millions.
Millions of people went, no.
Actually, I went in.
My agent had set me up for it and I went in.
And I went in originally to audition for the voice of Lisa, but I couldn't get
a grip on that character.
But I saw the boy sitting there and I looked at it and I thought, yeah, I can
do that.
I can play that boy.
So I went in and I said, I can't do her, but I can do this.
Blah, blah, blah.
And I did it and that was it.
Just like that, huh?
Yeah.
Can you turn that on and off whenever you want to?
Sure.
Yeah, that's great.
Now, I know you've got kids.
I forget their age.
Yeah, Lucy's four and Jack's two.
Lucy, is she aware yet that her mom is the voice of them?
Totally.
Both of them.
Oh, even the two-year-old?
Oh, yeah.
Jackson says to me, he's playing with this talking Bart doll and he's pulling
the string on this
thing, right?
And it's a little short.
Yeah.
The strings are a little short.
So it's like, don't have a cow, man.
Don't have a cow, man.
It's like Bart on helium.
I mean, it's hard enough to understand.
He's checking this thing out.
Look, he looks up at me and he says, I don't see you in there, Mom.
I'll see you in there.
Oh, is that sweet.
Two years old, he gets the concept.
It's amazing.
Oh, gee, that's so sweet.
Well, these little guys, you know, it's like parents to recognize that your
child, they're
not just children.
I mean, they're real people.
And to talk to them, they really do understand it.
It's quite amazing.
Oh, no.
Listen, I've talked many times here about my daughter when she was a kid and
now I've got
a three-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter going on four.
I mean, they know, they get it.
They do get it.
I mean, my little one was at the house one day and she looked at the television
screen
and she said, rewinding.
She knew what video looked like, you know, when tape rewinds.
They know.
Yeah, yeah.
My son, we're driving down the road, he sees a cement truck, right, with the trough
down.
Cement's coming out.
It's pooping.
The truck is pooping.
They think in concepts.
And I listened to him and I said, that's right, Jack.
That's what's happening.
The kids are amazing.
I have such an affinity for children and I love being, the fact that I'm the
voice of
Bart Simpson, that these little kids, I go and I do fundraisers and I'm very
connected
up with the community.
I was working down in Compton on a literacy program down there and the kids'
response to
me.
And I love the fact that as a celebrity, I can take responsibility and make
changes.
Sure.
Yeah.
It's something I take great pride in doing.
Well, now, aren't you involved with something called the Happiness Group?
The Way to Happiness Foundation.
Yeah, yeah.
Where you work a lot with kids?
Right.
Yeah.
And what is the Way to Happiness Foundation?
What does that do?
The Way to Happiness Foundation is a book, it's based on a book by L. Ron Hubbard.
It's a very common sense book on morals.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Do we teach kids Dianetics?
No.
No, it's not Dianetics.
It's written by L. Ron Hubbard.
But it's probably the very first book that's ever been written that addresses
morals in
our society.
It's like today.
You look and it's, you know, with illiteracy and crime and drugs and everything
that's going
on right now, there isn't anything that we can teach our children, it seems,
that's non-religious,
that they can get it, that it's very simple to learn and they can apply it to
their lives
to make it better.
And this is not a religious book.
This is not a religious tract that I hold in mind.
No, it's totally non-religious.
It's very simple precepts that anybody can pick up and follow and understand.
This is how I raise my kids.
Let me just look at some of the precepts here.
Well, yeah, take care of yourself, be temperate, don't be promiscuous, love and
help children.
Yeah, common sense, yeah.
Very common sense.
And it's like in school, you know, sometimes I go to schools and I do speaking
events and
I see these kids and what they're teaching in school is I'm actually kind of, I'm
appalled
by it.
Like what?
Well, like, it's giving kids, okay, it's like teaching sexuality in schools and
teaching
kids about condoms and using condoms and they, it's, to me, it's inappropriate.
It's not the right thing to do because what they do is they teach the kids how
to have safe
sex and yet they say it is, they leave it up to the children or the young
people to then
decide saying that it is freedom of choice.
You know, that you have to make the decision.
But rightness and wrongness is something that has to be taught.
And that's not part of the equation when they pass out a condom to a fifth
grade kid.
I'm not so far down the road that I don't recall my raging hormones in grade
five.
And if somebody had handed me a condom when I was a five, fifth grader, you
know, with
those hormones, the minute you start thinking is, wait, they gave me this, they
must expect
me to use it somewhere.
Right.
You know what I'm saying?
Freedom.
And that's part of the equation that's missing in the passing out.
Exactly.
I'm not saying ignore birth control, but there is such a thing as appropriate
and inappropriate
timing and that's a whole nother politically incorrect statement.
But if I'm politically incorrect, I don't care.
I gotcha.
Let me do a commercial here and then we'll continue with the voice of Bart
Simpson.
I'm Tom.
This is the Color Cast.
The phone number is up and running at 800-745-2622.
And we will continue with you on the phone and us here in the studio right
after these
messages in five, four, three, two, go.
This is CNBC.
Wow.
Being in show business is like a dream.
We're really lucky, aren't we?
I wish I was dead.
Don't listen to him, kid.
This is a dream factory.
The birthplace of magic and enchantment.
Now I need you to go clean out my toilet.
Family humor.
We're with Nancy Cartwright, who's the voice of Bart Simpson over on the Fox TV
network.
When you go out and make appearances, are people ever surprised that Bart's a
girl?
Totally.
Yeah.
It still surprises me, though.
It does, because we're in our sixth season.
Yep.
And it's been publicly, you know, announced.
Well, sure, it's no secret.
And we're blowing your cover here tonight, you know.
Absolutely.
Yeah, but they are.
And, you know, I can go anywhere, and nobody knows who I am unless I decide to,
like, toss
the voice.
And then usually the reaction...
Do you ever, like, at the drugstore, let it go?
Oh, yeah, I have to.
That's very cute.
I get the feeling, you know.
Here is Scott in Illinois on the toll-free.
Hi, Scott.
It's Tom.
How are you?
Pretty good, Tom.
How are you?
Fine, thanks.
Say hi to Bart.
He's right here.
How you doing, Bart?
Hi, Scott.
I was just wondering, what was your favorite episode, and who was your favorite
guest on
the show?
It's a really tough one to answer.
I don't really think in terms of superlatives.
Right.
You know, there are so many excellent episodes.
Oh, sure, sure.
When I look back, Bart gets an F. When Bart was just, he was flunking the
fourth grade,
and it looked like he wasn't going to pass, and he made all this effort to
learn and everything,
and it snows, and he doesn't have to go in, and he thinks he's saved and
everything.
That was one of my favorite episodes.
Okay, okay.
And another one that we did was the one where Michael Jackson sang.
Oh, right, yeah.
Michael Jackson was on it, and that was really fun, because Bart gets to make
up with his
sister.
They weren't getting along.
There was all kinds of conflicts going on, and he ends up singing this birthday
song to
her.
I love that one.
So, there's a couple right there, Scott.
By the way, Scott, did you have a favorite of any kind?
Mine was a long time ago.
It was when Bart knocked the head off the statue.
It was a long time ago.
You would like that one, wouldn't you, Scott?
Yeah.
And, Tom, I got one question for you.
I was wondering, do you do any impersonations?
I've been trying to call, and they haven't been letting me get through.
I was just wondering if you do any really good ones.
Who, me?
Yeah.
No, I don't, but I'll tell you, Nancy does a hell of a faucet drip.
Could we...
Oh, it's true.
It's actually better if you close your eyes, but on television.
Oh, my.
You buy that?
It used to drive my teacher crazy.
It's driving me a little crazy.
All right, Scott, I do, I'll tell you, I do one impersonation and one only.
Let's hear it.
It's Walter Cronkut.
Are you ready?
Sure.
Tighten up a little bit.
Hello.
That's it.
Tom, you're one of a kind.
Scott, I'm glad you called.
Thanks, my friend.
Thanks a lot.
All right, bye-bye.
Here is Barbara in...
So stupid.
Barbara in Virginia.
Hello.
Hi, Tom.
How are you?
I'm fine, Barbara, and I hope you are.
That's fine, thanks.
Nancy?
Yes?
It's nice to meet Bart Simpson.
I enjoy the show.
My question is, how did you come to get into doing voiceover acting?
Well, when I was in high school, I used to compete 