CBC News Featured the World's Only "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" Simpsons Pinball Machine!

Pinball Shenanigans·video·1m 22s·analyzed·Jun 18, 2026

Analysis

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TL;DR

Artist builds custom Simpsons pinball machine over 3 years, featured on CBC News.

Summary

A pinball enthusiast and artist built a custom pinball machine themed around The Simpsons' "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episode over three years, combining hand-drawn art, mechanical engineering, coding, and 3D printing. The machine was featured in a CBC News segment. The builder, who has an art rather than engineering background, hired a voice actor for Simpsons voices and is planning a future video game project featuring Looney Tunes characters.

Key Claims

Built a commercial pinball machine themed on The Simpsons' 'Who Shot Mr. Burns?' episode
high confidence · Builder speaking directly about their project; CBC News feature confirms visibility
Project took almost three years to complete from design to finished machine
high confidence · Builder's direct statement about project timeline
Builder has an art background rather than engineering background
high confidence · Builder explicitly contrasts their background with typical pinball builders
The pinball machine features hand-drawn art
high confidence · Builder's description of artistic approach
A voice actor was hired to perform all Simpsons character voices for the machine
high confidence · Builder mentions hiring voice actor specifically for Simpsons voices

Notable Quotes

“I built a commercial pinball machine. Finally achieved a lifelong dream of mine.”
[name withheld pending review] @ 0:00 — Establishes the personal significance and ambition of the project
“I feel like when people come to a project like this, usually they have an engineering background. I'm reverse. I have the art background.”
[name withheld pending review] @ ~0:30 — Highlights the unconventional path and unique perspective the builder brought to machine design
“The Simpsons, but specifically it's Who Shot Mr. Burns? That is my all-time favorite Simpsons episode.”
[name withheld pending review]@ 0:34 — Explains thematic choice and personal emotional connection to the game
“It's just the ultimate gaming art experience all bundled into one.”
[name withheld pending review]@ 0:48 — Articulates the builder's philosophy about what makes pinball special as a medium
“I do try and travel, get some public plays on it because I love watching other people play it even more than I enjoyed playing it myself.”
[name withheld pending review]@ 0:53 — Shows the builder is operating this as a playable public machine, focusing on community experience

Entities

Pinball ShenanigansorganizationCBC NewsorganizationThe SimpsonsproductWho Shot Mr. Burns?productWile E. Coyote and the Roadrunnerproduct

Signals

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design_innovation: Artist-led approach to custom pinball machine design, combining hand-drawn art, 3D printing, metal work, and coding—unconventional path compared to typical engineering-first builders
high · Builder explicitly states having art background rather than engineering background, describes learning metalwork, coding, and 3D printing
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content_signal: Custom pinball machine received mainstream media coverage on CBC News, indicating growing interest in pinball customization and homebrew machines in traditional news outlets
high · CBC News featured the machine; Pinball Shenanigans created video covering the feature
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community_signal: Builder prioritizes public play experience and community engagement with the machine over personal play, suggesting a venue/operator mindset rather than pure collector focus
high · Builder states travels to get public plays and loves watching others play more than personal play
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licensing_signal: Custom builder successfully created Simpsons-themed pinball machine; indicates either licensing clarity for custom/homebrew projects or potential grey area in IP enforcement for non-commercial custom builds
medium · Machine features The Simpsons and Who Shot Mr. Burns? theme with voice acting; no mention of licensing complications
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design_innovation: Custom pinball machine incorporated professional voice acting for character voices, suggesting homebrew builders are investing in higher production quality for audio experiences
high · Builder mentions hiring a voice actor to perform all Simpsons character voices

Transcript

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0:00

I built a commercial pinball machine. Finally achieved a lifelong dream of mine. This project took almost three years to finish. I started with a design just on paper and you just start building one piece after another. I feel like when people come to a project like this, usually they have an engineering background. I'm reverse. I have the art background. I had to learn how to work with metal and computer coding and 3D printing and all these kind of things to make a pinball machine. Different elements come together in a gameplay. The art is all hand-drawn. The theme of mine I went with, it's The Simpsons, but specifically it's Who Shot Mr. Burns? That is my all-time favorite Simpsons episode.

0:46

I've been into pinball my whole life. It's just the ultimate gaming art experience all bundled into one. I play it every day. I do try and travel, get some public plays on it because I love watching other people play it Even more than I enjoyed playing it myself.

1:01

So it takes art, it takes mechanics, it takes a voice. He had to hire a voice actor to do all the Simpsons voices, which he won't need for his next project, which is a video game featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. I guess he'll need the beep beep, but maybe he can do that himself.