 " Grift of the Magi " is the ninth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television sitcom The Simpsons . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 19 , 1999 . In the episode , mafia boss Fat Tony successfully extorts a large sum of money from Springfield Elementary School , forcing Principal Skinner to close it down . However , a toy company called Kid First Industries , led by Jim Hope , later buys the school and privatizes it . Classes now start focusing on toys and marketing only , and soon a new toy called Funzo that resembles the children 's ideas is released by Kid First Industries in time for the Christmas shopping season . Bart and Lisa decide to destroy all Funzos in Springfield but Gary Coleman , Kid First Industries ' security guard , tries to intercept them . 
