Julian Assange heads to Springfield

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will appear on the 500th episode of The Simpsons.

HE'S under house arrest in real life, but that has not stopped WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from taking an animated stroll through Springfield for The Simpsons' 500th episode.

In the milestone episode, which airs next month, The Simpsons decide to hit the road after discovering the rest of the town is planning to boot them out of Springfield.

"The Simpsons go off the grid to this very rugged place where they meet [Assange], who's sort of their new Flanders," Simpsons executive producer Al Jean said.

And how exactly is he like pious neighbour Ned?

"Well, he lives next door," quips Jean, "the similarities end there… he invites them over for a home movie and it's an Afghan wedding being bombed."

When series creator Matt Groening heard Assange was interested in appearing on the show, the controversial activist was located and his lines recorded at an unknown location. Jean directed Assange remotely from Los Angeles.

"He's a controversial figure, and there's a good reason he's controversial," Jean said.

"There was discussion internally whether or not to have him on the show, but ultimately we went ahead and did it.

"There's nothing we did that has anything to do with the legal situation that he's in.

"We wanted to make sure it was satirical, and he was willing to do that."

New episodes of The Simpsons air on Wednesday nights at 7:30PM on ELEVEN.