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Artwork courtesy of 20th Century Fox |
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WOO HOO! It only took four years, 100 script revisions, a dozen 7-11 stores morphing into Kwik-E-Marts, and Simpsons creator Matt Groening to be inspired by a town that had to get rid of pig feces in their water supply, but it’s here at last. Groening is finally giving his fans the very thing they have been waiting for since America’s favorite cartoon family made their debut on “The Tracey Ullman Show” back in 1987 – The Simpsons Movie.
Why the long wait? The film itself took over a year to create because Groening went old-school with the show’s original hand-drawn animation and avoided using any type of live action or CGI. He also brought back David Silverman (former animation director from the TV series) to direct the movie and many writers from the show’s first few seasons to draft the script. Only writers Sam Simon and Conan O’Brien declined, with O’Brien joking that, “’The Simpsons’ writing portion of his brain had been rotted by 14 years of interviewing Lindsey Lohan and that guy from ‘One Tree Hill.’”
Does the movie live up to the hype? Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect as I sat in the local Movie Tavern drinking my blue margarita (that strangely resembled Marge’s hair) waiting for the film to start. When South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut came out back in 1999, it had me laughing out loud so much I went back and saw it again two days later just to hear all the gags I missed the first time. As it turned out, The Simpsons Movie did illicit numerous audible laughs from me, but not to the same extent that South Park did.
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From Ralph Wiggum emblazoned in the opening 20th Century Fox logo all the way to the Squeaky-Voiced Teen’s hilarious one-liner at the very end of the credits, the obvious goal of The Simpsons Movie is to take jabs at everyone and everything in today’s pop culture market of excess. No one is safe from the attack…not even the audience. |
Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox |
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After getting most of the blatant cultural slams out of the way, the real plot starts to unfold when punk trio Green Day (as themselves) perish due to the pollution in Lake Springfield eating away the barge on which they are performing, causing it to sink. Naturally, the tragedy prompts Lisa (Yeardley Smith) and her new boyfriend Colin (Tress MacNeille) to create their own PSA urging the citizens of Springfield to change their unsafe dumping habits.
Meanwhile, Homer (Dan Castellaneta) adopts a pig (he later names Plopper) to keep it from becoming the latest sandwich at Krusty Burger; and, being the irresponsible oaf that he is, builds a silo in the Simpson back yard to store all of the pig crap. When Marge (Julie Kavner) finds the poop-laden silo, she remembers the senior moment Grandpa (Dan Castellaneta) had at Green Day’s funeral where he predicted an upcoming catastrophe by speaking in tongues, and lectures Homer to dispose of the waste properly.
Of course, Homer doesn’t listen to Marge and inadvertently turns Lake Springfield into a toxic cesspool of crap. That’s when EPA bigwig Russ Cargill (Albert Brooks) decides to take control of the situation, as well as President Schwarzenegger (Harry Shearer), by placing all of Springfield under a giant quarantine dome. To make a long story short, the Simpsons escape from the dome (via a sinkhole) and head to Alaska, Homer has an epiphany, and the entire family returns to save their beloved Springfield from utter annihilation.
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Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox |
As the credits rolled to a close, I found myself ducking to avoid the mouthful of Duff beer (i.e. Coors) my friend spit out of his mouth laughing at the Squeaky-Voiced Teen. Overall, the film has plenty of gags and one-liners to keep everyone in stitches; but, to a couple of film school geeks like us, that character had the best line, hands down. |
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The Simpsons’ jump to the silver screen doesn’t push the limitations of censorship nearly as much as the foul-mouthed boys from South Park did 8 years ago, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. By keeping the content scaled down to a PG-13 rating, Groening doesn’t run the risk of alienating younger viewers of the show, and parents aren’t as worried about their little darlings singing the latest spin-off of “Uncle Fucka” at the dinner table.
Simpsons fans will enjoy the film because it comes across as an extended 90 minute version of the TV show. Several of the series’ 320 characters make an appearance, and Groening made sure plenty of running gags from the show made it to the big screen like an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon and a version of the TV intro with Bart writing on the blackboard. There’s even a rumor that Plopper, Colin, and other elements from the movie will be permanently transferred to the TV series.
In spite of bashing all the environmentalists, Disney, the fast food industry, celebrities, the EPA, religion, the government, and FOX, The Simpsons Movie does a pretty good job of depicting the different aspects of human nature – “the good, the bad, the cynical, and the reverent.” At one point, even Bart (Nancy Cartwright) starts to question Homer’s parenting abilities, wishing that Ned Flanders (Harry Shearer) was really his father. Gee, who would’ve seen that one coming?
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When asked about the theme of the movie, writer Al Jean claims it’s about how “a man should listen to his wife;” and, in a way, he is correct. Maybe it’s that darn crayon Homer still has shoved up his nose, but that’s just who he is. Homer’s stupidity is the key ingredient to every Simpson plot because he never listens to Marge. Oh well, leave it to Homer to teach us to laugh at something that’s funny. D’OH!
© Kelly Bartley 2007 |
Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox |
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Release Date: |
July 27, 2007 |
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Running Time: |
1 hour 25 minutes |
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MPAA Rating: |
PG-13 (irreverent humor throughout) |
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Distributor: |
20th Century Fox |
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