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For more than 35 years, The Simpsons has carved an indelible place in animation history. The titular family has earned a place in pop culture history, adapting with the times. However, the biggest change happened before the first episode of The Simpsons debuted in 1989. As the voice actor who has played Bart Simpson for decades explains, the bad boy of the family was much worse when he first appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show back in 1987.

During a Reddit AMA, Nancy Cartwright, who has voiced Bart Simpson on both The Tracey Ullman Show and the now-iconic The Simpsons spin-off, was asked what she thought had changed the most about Bart as a character. According to her, Bart’s worst characteristics were toned down when the show moved from shorts to full-length episodes.

In 1987, the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon debuted - and all our lives were changed. Watch this reunion of the original voice actors:

“Actually, when we were on the Tracey Ullman Show, I think Bart was mostly antagonistic and that definitely has a sort of humor to it, but mostly because people are rejecting him being so mean. When we switched to the half-hour episodes, you need a more dimensional character. There’s more opportunity to have humor that’s not solely based on violence and beating up Lisa. As the years have gone by it’s been more about Bart’s antics and more good-natured situations he gets in.”

Watching back those early shorts from The Tracey Ullman Show can be tough. Not simply because of how much the animation has changed, but because of how unrecognizable those characters are from what we’ve come to know. Thankfully, the writers on The Simpsons realized they needed to tone down some of his harsher and more aggressive personality. Once the show shifted formats, he became a mischievous trouble-maker rather than an outright bully.

Get your wide-shoulder blouses and your Members-Only jackets, and go back in time with Popverse's Made in 87. Highlights include:

• Marvel Comics killed the X-Men in 1987 to reset the franchise - but it didn’t stick
• The Full House cast addresses some of the series’ biggest continuity errors
• How Spider-Man’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon was saved by a fired Marvel boss — and Ronald McDonald
• How NBC panicked after Diane left Cheers — and why Kirstie Alley’s casting sparked a quiet battle inside the hit show
• How Bart Simpson was quietly toned down from being "so mean" before The Simpsons' first episode, as revealed by his long-time voice actor Nancy Cartwright
• The 1987 Justice League reboot that made superheroes weird, hilarious, and unexpectedly human
• How The Golden Girls became a staple at gay bars in the 80s