The executive producer of comedy cartoon The Simpsons has joked about the show’s prediction that Disney would purchase a proportion of 21st Century Fox.

Writer Matt Selman, who has worked on the show since 1997, tweeted an image from an early episode of the series, depicting the Fox logo with the caption: “A division of Walt Disney Co.”

He wrote simply: “CALLED IT.”

His light-hearted post comes hours after the news that the film company has signed a 52.4 billion US dollar (£39 billion) deal with Fox, buying out entertainment assets including Sky.

The Simpsons’ foreshadowing of the move adds to a list of landmark events previously hinted at by the programme – including the election of the current US president.

In a 2000 futuristic episode, an older Lisa Simpson takes over the White House and alludes to the economic legacy left behind by her predecessor “Donald Trump”.

In 2014, family dad Homer was also embroiled in a football plot astonishingly similar to the Fifa corruption scandal. The story also saw Germany defeat Brazil in the World Cup.