Paul McCartney's Hidden Message In The Simpsons, Explained

Among the many milestones "The Simpsons" has accomplished during its 35-year run, there is one unique factoid that series creator Matt Groening should rank among his proudest achievements: Three Beatles have made guest star appearances as themselves. Unfortunately, John Lennon was assassinated nine years before the series premiered on Fox, so Springfield missed out on a quarter of the Fab Four. Thankfully, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and of course, Paul McCartney all lent their voices to the Simpsonized versions of themselves, with Ringo appearing in "Brush with Greatness," George appearing in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet," and Paul appearing in "Lisa, the Vegetarian."

In "Lisa, the Vegetarian," Lisa joyfully bonds with a lamb at a petting zoo. Later that evening, Marge serves lamb chops for the family's dinner, shaking Lisa to her core and leading her to become a vegetarian. Despite the ridicule she receives from Homer, Bart, and her classmates, Lisa finds support from Apu, Paul McCartney, and Linda McCartney (who also lends her voice). Both Paul and Linda agreed to appear on "The Simpsons" under one condition, which the show happily obliged.

Both "The Simpsons" and "The Beatles" have some of the most devoted fan bases in all of popular culture, so it's no surprise that "Lisa, the Vegetarian" features some nuggets that those at the center of the Simpsons/Beatles fandom Venn diagram would find irresistible. In particular, the episode's end credits have a hidden message from Paul McCartney. (Side note: I suggest we call the combined Simpsons/Beatles fan base a Yellow Submarine!)

During the episode, Paul McCartney tells Lisa that playing his 1970 song "Maybe I'm Amazed" backwards reveals a recipe for lentil soup. Paul found "The Simpsons" writing staff's decision to poke fun at the cultish Beatles fans' conspiracy theories and the backmasking of the band's songs to be hilarious — so much so, this particular gag is paid off in the episode's end credits.

As the end credits on "Lisa, the Vegetarian" roll, an altered version of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" plays. When this version of the song is played backwards, you can hear Paul reciting a lentil soup recipe. As fun as hearing him recite the recipe is, perhaps the biggest highlight in uncovering this hidden message is that Paul ends with a cheeky message, "...and by the way, I'm alive," a reference to the "Paul is dead" urban legend, which claimed that he died in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike.

Along with 75% of the Fab Four appearing as themselves on "The Simpsons," The Beatles have also appeared in another staple in animation: "Yellow Submarine." The 1966 film was directed by George Dunning and featured different voice actors playing John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Besides the film's music, which consisted of already-released and previously unreleased songs, the band's only contribution to the film was appearing in the film's live-action closing sequence.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis spent years developing a CGI remake of "Yellow Submarine" for Disney. The film was to be produced at ImageMovers Digital, the digital studio behind motion capture films "A Christmas Carol" and "Mars Needs Moms." But after the critical and commercial failure of "Mars Needs Moms," Disney shut down ImageMovers Digital, and abandoned "Yellow Submarine." Despite pitching the project to other studios, Zemeckis ended his journey on the long and winding road, expressing that the 1966 film was better off without a remake.