WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart recently spoke to Fightful about a variety of pro-wrestling related topics, including his legendary cameo appearance on the Simpsons program back in the late 90s. Hear what he had to say about that below.
Said he was originally going to be draw in as a viking instead of himself in the Simpsons:
I think the funny story about the Simpsons cartoon is they initially were not going to draw me in it as me. But, I had just lost the title to Shawn Michaels at the Iron Man match in Anaheim. This is maybe a week or two later. They flew me in, I was just gonna be the Mad Viking or something like that. I was gonna be some other wrestling persona that was made up, a fictional one. I tried really hard to get them to draw me in as myself. They finally said, ‘It’s just the part for Mad Viking, take it or leave it,’ and I said, ‘Okay, I’ll still take it. It’ll be fun to go to L.A. and do the voice for the Mad Viking.’ But, anyway, I did the whole thing in about five minutes. I drove there in a big limo, went into the studio, and I did my lines in less than five minutes. Did it every which way you could think of. ‘More mad,’ ‘Okay, not quite so mad.’
How the change ended up happening:
My limo driver had driven off, had gone to get gas, so I got stuck sitting there for about a half-hour ‘cause I got done so quick. All these workers that were working at FOX Studios came out of the woodwork. I’m talking over a hundred people came out and they had programs and pictures and figures. So, I just signed. I had nowhere to go anyway. So, I just signed all their stuff. I remember when I was sitting there after I’d signed for maybe 30-40 minutes, I remember the guy who was the director of my episode came up to me and he goes, ‘I had no idea you were this big of a star. If it’s okay with you, we’re gonna draw you in as yourself now. ‘Cause we had no idea.’ So, I always thought just by being a good sport and being nice, taking my time and being friendly with people and signing autographs, they drew me in ad myself. Never hurts to be a nice guy. I thought it was always an interesting story that it paid off. ‘Cause I think it was a much bigger deal being drawn in as Bret ‘the Hitman’ Hart and having caused Mr. Burns to go bankrupt and taking his house and all that.
Why his voice still sounded like a viking:
I did all the lines and everything as the Mad Viking. That’s why people sometimes hear it, ‘That’s not Bret Hart. It doesn’t’ sound like him.’ Yeah, I was supposed to be doing the Mad Viking. So, I wasn’t supposed to be Bret Hart. So, I was trying to have a different voice a little bit. But, it’s me. Again, they didn’t change anything except for the artwork. I think Hitman was better than the Mad Viking anyway.
