Despite Disney now owning The Simpsons, a clip from the opening segment of this year’s annual "Treehouse of Horror" special -- which is also the series’ 666th episode -- shows that the House of Mouse is still far from immune to good-natured jokes from the town of Springfield.
As the clip begins, Ned Flanders attempts to kill Maggie Simpson, who possesses demonic powers, inside a church before being stopped by Homer and Marge. Ned insists Maggie has to die, as she bears the mark of the beast. To prove this, Ned moves aside Maggie’s hair, only to reveal an image of Mickey Mouse on her head.
Ned apologizes for the mistake and reveals the actual mark on another part of Maggie's head to Homer and Marge. Maggie then levitates upwards and uses her powers to destroy the roof of the church, the falling spires of which impale Ned, Marge and Homer. This gives way to the episode's title card, with the characters' skewered corpses standing in for the number of the "Treehouse" installment.
The Simpsons was created by Matt Groening and developed by James L. Brooks, Groening and Sam Simon. Brooks, Groening and Al Jean are executive producers of the series from Gracie Films Production in association with 20th Century Fox Television. The series airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. on Fox.