The Simpsons' pixel animation video is a local success story. Pixel art is a form of digital art where images are edited to replicate the old school graphics style of computer and console games. The Simpsons' new pixelated style was paired with an arcade-like remake of Danny Elfman's theme song by visual artist Jeremy Dower. The retro-style video was uploaded to YouTube and in less than two days had received more than 1 million views. Twelve hours after the video was uploaded, Dixon received an email from the show's creators, asking him to call them straightaway. "The email went to my spam folder, so I actually thought it was a hoax," he said. After calling the number Dixon found out the creators wanted to use Dixon and Robertson's video to open the next episode of The Simpsons in America. It felt like a dream come true for the duo.

Labour of love: Graphic artists Paul Robertson and Ivan Dixon. "We secretly hoped they would pick it up, but it all came so fast." The video has now surpassed 2 million views and is nearing 3 million after its American premiere in February. It airs on Channel 10's Eleven on Wednesday night at 8.30pm, and will be available on catch-up site, tenplay.com.au. Named Simpsons Pixels, the video follows the original introduction faithfully, incorporating Homer at the nuclear power plant, Bart's comic chalkboard writing and Marge at the Kwik-E-Mart, however most scenes receive new additions, including Lisa playing her saxophone to a class occupied by game boys. The entire sequence runs for close to two minutes and was broadcast in its entirety.

"We didn't want to just do it verbatim", Dixon says. "We wanted to make it feel video gamey and add references to early episodes of the show. It was a real labour of love, a tribute." There are also plenty of gaming references, sticking to pixel art's origins in gaming culture. Dixon, who is the same age as The Simpsons, started out making pixel art for video games in high school. "Simpsons Pixels" is part nostalgia for the show, part homage to video games of the '80s and '90s and part a reflection of his and Robertson's humour. Inviting guest directors to reinterpret the iconic opening sequence is a recent development for the producers of The Simpsons. "Recently, maybe in the past five years, [the producers] started getting guest directors, Banksy, Guillermo del Toro did a horror one, John K did one in his style. "I guess that is what motivated us to do it. We thought if we did it well enough they might use it. A lot of people in the animation community seem to think the guest-directed couch gags are the highlight these days".

This is the first project between the creative pair, although Dixon says they like to scheme about future ideas in the studio space they share in Melbourne with other creatives. For Dixon, pixel art is a learnt skill, but for Robertson it is his speciality. Robertson has worked on graphics for numerous games and did animation for episodes of the successful Disney show Gravity Falls. His film credits include Scott Pilgrim Versus The World. One of Dixon's favourite past design projects was when he and colleague Greg Sharp co-directed three of musician Gotye's music videos. They work together under the name Rubberhouse, which is their primary animation studio. Other clients the studio has worked with include Vice, Warner Brothers and Cartoon Network. Dixon studied digital design at the University of Newcastle, before moving to Melbourne to pursue his design career further.

For the animation duo, there is also a special surprise in the episode's end credits. Simpsons Pixels can be viewed on YouTube.