The Simpsons Movie

'The Ultimate Simpsons Movie!'

Most, if not all of America knows of the Simpsons existence. I'm betting that even the Amish are out in the fields discussing the raucous nature of the long running cartoon comedy show. Created by Matt Groening back in the 80's and then followed with Futurama, which was eventually canceled, the Simpsons have seen a lot of ups and downs. It reenergized interest in traditional animation back in the day before Pixar showed up and it provided a breeding ground for many other series to come. Family Guy, The Tick, and many other cartoon shows would never have happened without the initial breakthrough of The Simpsons. Years later and the show is still going strong, albeit not quite like it used to do. Also, their first movie was just released after years of protesting the idea of making a movie saying if they did they would want the movie to be a great movie and appropriate for the big screen. Well, they succeeded and this is how.

Now, I actually spent a good portion of my summer trying to get more in touch with my inner Simpson. As a child, I was definately a fan of Bart, but I quickly tired of the show. So for most of June and July I borrowed and watched all of seasons 2,3,4, and 6. Yes, I realize I skipped two seasons, but its not like it is a very sequential show to begin with. 18 years later and how old is Bart? Exactly. And honestly, there are a couple of episodes but it inspires as much interest in me as most of the terrible Family Guy episodes now do since it is back. So, I am still not a huge fan of the show and from what I hear age hasn't helped the recent seasons. The film has eleven writers which normally tips me off that this is going to be a terrible film, however, it only has 1 director and this might be the saving point of the film.

The film is obviously directed by 1 very zany, clever, and funny man. I admit that the film does do what I had feared which is riff off of tons of other movies before it, but instead of doing it in a silly manner, it is obvious that the reason why it has eleven writers is so that each of the jokes are perfect. I don't think there was one joke I didn't catch nor one that didn't at least make me chuckle. I especially loved the references to Disney and the fun Silverman had mocking them. The other incredibly nice thing about the film that Family Guy and the Simpsons forgot about in later seasons, is emotion. True, the show is about a highly dysfunctional family that are constantly screwing up everything, but in order for you to care and share in the small triumphs of life with the characters, emotion and relationships between them is important, not the jokes. This film fills up every second with a well-timed joke that leads to a plot point and then another joke and occassionally hitting upon poignant moments between the crumbling family and town of Springfield. The film focuses on The Simpsons, as it should, and discusses the idea of what it means to be a real father. The traditional 2-D animation is augmented by some 3-d CG sometimes and the new characters are quite amusing and fun to watch. As for Spider-Pig...I want the song as a ringtone. In the end the film is excellent and is just the right size proportionately for the big screen. The story pokes fun at everyone and everything in a lighthearted manner that always elicits laughs. And the film feels like a great family film except for one or two curse words. (One uttered by Marge! I know!) I highly recommend this film as a great chapter in the Simpsons world and just to get some great laughs in. Congratulations David Silverman, Matt Groening, James Brooks, and the thousand writers on creating one of the best cartoon movies of this decade so far and on making a great big screen version of your show come to life.

4.6 out of 5

Wannabe