[ID: Marge Simpson going on a run, with her family tangled in her hair. She is wearing a pink outfit consisting of sweatbands, a tank top, leggings, legwarmers, and white pearls and shoes. At the top of her head is Maggie, clinging on for dear life. She has her red pacifier and blue onesie, and her blue bow is above her. Below her is Bart, who is reaching for a video game. He is wearing an orange shirt, blue shorts, and blue shoes. Below him is Lisa’s head, who is looking at us disapprovingly. Above her is Santa’s Little Helper, a brown dog, who is happily panting. To Lisa’s right is Snowball II, a black cat who is coughing up a blue hairball. To the right of her is Homer, who is trying to cut himself out with a pair of hedge clippers that says “Flanders.” He is wearing a white polo and blue jeans. Next to him are some chips and a beer. Their home is behind them. //END ID.]
Baby Hudson is a friend and love interest of Maggie Simpson who first appeared in Playdate With Destiny, which showed before the theatrical release of Onward. He went on to appear in the episode The Incredible Lightness of Being A Baby, set directly after the short. During the episode, Hudson’s mother Courtney disapproved of Marge and so wouldn’t let Hudson be friends with Maggie. Eventually, Hudson and Maggie stay friends as Marge and Courtney put aside their differences.
Interesting to note is that the episode in which Hudson appeared, Bart’s chalkboard gag was ‘School Online’, a reference to the COVID-19 lockdown.
While browsing through the family photo album, Lisa notices that there are no baby pictures of Maggie. Homer explains by recounting the story of Maggie’s birth. In 1993, Homer hated working at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, and had a dream of working at a bowling alley. After he received a paycheck that cleared him of all his debts, he quit his job at the power plant, and went to get a job at the local bowling alley.
When Homer and Marge “snuggled” to celebrate this development, she became pregnant. Marge knew that the news would end Homer’s new lifestyle and affect his happiness, because it meant he could no longer support his family on his bowling alley salary. Marge kept her pregnancy a secret as long as she could, but Patty and Selma, eager to ruin Homer’s life, spread the news quickly around town.
Homer was not happy when he found out about Marge’s pregnancy, and was completely unenthusiastic about the impending birth. Because of the financial problems caused by the pregnancy, Homer was forced to make a sacrifice and go back to the power plant. However, Mr. Burns made Homer beg for his job back, and placed a large plaque in front of Homer’s desk reading: “Don’t forget: you’re here forever”. Homer was once again unhappy at his work, but as with all the Simpson children, when Maggie was born, Homer instantly fell in love with her. Back in the present, Bart and Lisa still do not understand what that has to do with Maggie’s photos. Homer merely mentions that they are in the place where he needs them the most. The scene then cuts to his workplace where all of the photos of Maggie are positioned on the plaque on the wall, which now reads: “Do it for her”.
