What do these Simpsons x Fortnite animated shorts mean for Zero Hour?

The Simpsons x Fortnite collab has been a huge hit for Epic Games, Disney, and players, for good reason. Starting on November 1 and wrapping up on November 29 with a ‘Zero Hour’ event, the entire map has been transformed into Springfield, with plenty of references seeped in skins, items, weapons, and more that fans of the animated series have been enjoying.

Since the season’s debut, several animated shorts have been released, signifying new gameplay changes that have factored into the map, such as falling donuts and Homer clones. With the finale commencing on November 29 at 2PM Eastern Time, we’re going through all four animated cartoons to see what they may be hinting at for the end-of-season event.

First released on November 1, with the final short on November 24, these animated cartoons lasted up to three minutes and featured the cast of The Simpsons in their respective voices. Apocalypse D’Oh starred the aliens Kang and Kodos, seemingly making a deal with an enemy that’s recently made another appearance in a ‘Zero Hour’ trailer.

Sugar High marked the appearance of giant donuts raining down across the map, in a callback to the Season Six ‘Treehouse of Horror V’ episode. Multiplidiocy revealed the presence of Homer clones, in another callback to a segment from the ‘Treehouse of Horror XIII’ episode. Finally, The Incredible Bulk marks the appearance of a giant Homer, who is seemingly set to appear at ‘Zero Hour’ on November 29.

Each of these videos has been a huge success, easily racking up over a million views each within days of being published. It’s a great way for players and fans of The Simpsons to keep track of what’s new each week in this mini-season, while enjoying watching the cast react and comment on the goings-on of Fortnite.

With all four animated shorts now available, they seemingly hint towards many realities closing in on each other. Each of them showcases how the map has changed each week, thanks to the crystals that Kang and Kodos released from the monster shown in Apocalypse D’Oh. But The Incredible Bulk revealed how a giant Homer is en route to the Springfield map, seemingly about to take part in ‘Zero Hour’ on November 29.

Indeed, the Chapter 6 finale trailer shows X-Wings from Star Wars, the Megazord from Power Rangers, and even The Bride from Kill Bill as a hint towards the movie theme for Chapter 7. Combined with these animated shorts, it’s not a stretch to assume that we may see an all-out multiversal war on November 29 that’s going to mark even more crossovers, from Stranger Things to Back to the Future.

Despite these four animated shorts showcasing what was arriving for that particular week throughout November, they still lightly hint towards the Zero Hour event on November 29. Indeed, the Giant Homer, seen in the final short, The Incredible Bulk, also features in the finale teaser trailer.

But this still shows how a crossover can benefit both parties involved, as well as players. If Fortnite x Simpsons only applied to Epic Games’ battle royale title, there would likely have been disappointment in not seeing some kind of animated short. To see four that are uniquely based on what’s happening throughout the mini-season has been a masterstroke.

Overall, with Zero Hour fast approaching, there’s still a chance we may see a bonus animated short to close out the season. But if not, this collab has proved that it can extend to other mediums, and we’d be surprised if future seasons didn’t do something similar to appeal to new and existing players alike.