Banksy's 'Simpsons' titles 'cut down'

Graffiti artist Banksy's controversial opening sequence to The Simpsons was originally even "sadder", according to the show's executive producer.

The two-minute title sequence, broadcast in the US last weekend, depicted Simpsons merchandise being created in an Asian sweatshop. The scenes included kittens being used as stuffing for Bart dolls, while a unicorn's horn was exploited to pierce DVDs.

Exec producer Al Jean told EW: "There were some small things we went through with Broadcast Standards for taste, but I was impressed—for an American TV show we did this really satiric thing, and it was 95 percent of what he wanted."

Asked what had been cut, he replied: "I wouldn’t go into them, but it was just a little sadder. I don’t know if the unicorn made it in the original draft."

Jean added that the scenes were "fanciful" and denied any connection with the reality of producing Simpsons merchandise.