--- title: The Simpsons Predicted Disney's Takeover of Fox 20 Years Ago description: Once again, The Simpsons prove they are the best prognosticators canonical: https://time.com/5064600/how-the-simpsons-predicted-disneys-takeover-of-fox/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-14T17:55:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:18.429Z og:title: The Simpsons Predicted Disney's Takeover of Fox Years Ago og:description: Once again, The Simpsons prove they are the best prognosticators og:url: https://time.com/5064600/how-the-simpsons-predicted-disneys-takeover-of-fox/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc6659a3a83b6e98/69868e3613c79f100a191fb4/simpsonsbg_2013_r1_sofa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: SimpsonsBG_2013_R1_Sofa og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Simpsons Predicted Disney's Takeover of Fox Years Ago twitter:description: Once again, The Simpsons prove they are the best prognosticators twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc6659a3a83b6e98/69868e3613c79f100a191fb4/simpsonsbg_2013_r1_sofa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How _The Simpsons_ Predicted Disney's Takeover of Fox Years Ago > Sponsored content. 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Fox by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 14, 2017 5:55 PM UTC Sorry, Nostrodamus, _The Simpsons_ may be the best prognosticators in the world. The animated series has [predicted](http://time.com/4667462/simpsons-predictions-donald-trump-lady-gaga/) everything from [Donald Trump’s presidency](http://time.com/4564238/the-all-seeing-simpsons-predicted-donald-trumps-presidency-in-2000/) to Siegfried and Roy’s tiger attack to Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl performance to MIT’s Bengt Holmström winning the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2016, [which he did](http://time.com/4530391/simpsons-accurate-prediction/?iid=sr-link2). Now, _The Simpsons_ have predicted their own future. On Thursday, the news broke that [Disney is purchasing 20th Century Fox](http://fortune.com/2017/12/14/its-official-disney-to-buy-fox-film-and-tv-businesses-in-a-66-billion-deal/?xid=homepage), which has been home to the show for the last 28 seasons. _The Simpsons_ predicted this way back in 1998 in an episode titled, “When You Dish Upon A Star.” In the episode, director Ron Howard comes to pitch producer Brian Glazer on an idea. The scene takes place at the Fox studio lot, where a sign can be seen that reveals the company is now “A Division of Walt Disney Co.” It was meant as a joke, of course, but now 20th Century Fox, has fallen under the umbrella of Disney. > [](https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/941280830655225856) How does the show do it? Guessing [it’s magic](http://time.com/5058465/simpsons-on-maggie-age/?iid=sr-link1). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5064600/how-the-simpsons-predicted-disneys-takeover-of-fox/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5064600/how-the-simpsons-predicted-disneys-takeover-of-fox/"},"headline":"How The Simpsons Predicted Disney's Takeover of Fox Years Ago","datePublished":"2017-12-14T17:55:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:18.429Z","description":"Once again, The Simpsons prove they are the best prognosticators","url":"https://time.com/5064600/how-the-simpsons-predicted-disneys-takeover-of-fox/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Fox","Disney","The Simpsons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc6659a3a83b6e98/69868e3613c79f100a191fb4/simpsonsbg_2013_r1_sofa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc6659a3a83b6e98/69868e3613c79f100a191fb4/simpsonsbg_2013_r1_sofa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SimpsonsBG_2013_R1_Sofa","caption":"THE SIMPSONS: The Simpson Family. 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