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>> THE SIMPSONS MOVIE
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE
Taking one of America’s best loved TV shows and turning it into a movie is quite a challenge. There are Simpson fans out in the movie viewing public who will not be satisfied unless this is a frosted doughnut of a film, served at Mo’s with a Duff and a side of floor pie.
To add to the Simpsons fervour, 20th Century Fox have kept the plot details a closely guarded secret. All the world is allowed to know is that Homer gets entangled in an environmental crisis, turning it into a disaster. So far, so comfortingly familiar. One nugget of safe information is that Bart skateboards naked through Springfield in all his yellow glory.
As each new episode begins, keen viewers of the series may ponder what could possibly come next? Surely we have had every conceivable event occur to this spookily un-aging, unchanging family. But every new episode showcases a new story, a new way of landing on the sofa at the beginning of the credits and a new way of making the viewer laugh.
The writers keep ‘em coming, and whatever they may have sold to whichever fork-tongued under lord to keep the ideas flowing, they have clearly sold a bit more of it – the resulting film has reportedly had the preview audiences roaring with laughter. They’ve maintained the winning formula behind the series: the sly digs at popular culture, slap-stick comedy, ‘real’ famous people making cameos, and at its core a story about a dysfunctional but loving four-fingered family.
It’s been 18 years coming and I, for one, am glad they took their time. It would have been a crime against all that is good and holy if the writers and production team had rushed things. But they didily did it just right. So good things do come to those who wait.
Jen Wight