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Meeting The Simpsons

Check out all of SoozyQ's photos from The Simpsons Movie Premiere!

Published July 27, 2007

The Simpsons Movie
After 18 years of entertaining viewers on the small screen, the Simpson family is finally making their big screen debut July 27 in the feature-length film The Simpsons Movie. In the first few minutes of the movie, Homer says what some moviegoers may be thinking, "I can't believe we're paying for something we see for free on TV."

But The Simpsons Movie is better than just a regular Sunday night episode; it's more like a really good 85-minute Simpsons special that you'll tell your friends and co-workers about the next day. If you just remember what makes the Simpsons memorable—Homer's stupidity, the show's jokes, and how it pokes fun at itself and society—then you'll leave the movie entertained.

Matt Groening and SoozyQ at the L.A. Premiere.

Premiere Highlights
After premiering first in Springfield, Vermont, (the city won the chance to host the premiere after beating out 13 other U.S. cities named Springfield by collecting the most votes in an online USA Today poll), the movie had its official Hollywood introduction July 24 in Los Angeles. To get a first look at the much anticipated movie, I took a quick trip to the City of Angels to attend the festivities.

Presented by Twentieth Century Fox and directed by David Silverman, The Simpsons Movie showed at two neighboring theaters, Mann's Village Theatre and Mann's Bruin Theatre. Both were adorned with Homer's bald yellow head and Marge's signature blue hairdo. While cast members and celebrities walked the yellow carpet, fans watching the affair were treated with free pink-frosted donuts with sprinkles. Since the Simpsons have been on television for almost two decades, it was no surprise to see that the audience was filled with fans ranging from age 5 to 50.

Same Storylines, New Jokes
What's the movie's storyline? Well, if you're familiar with the TV series, the storyline is nothing new. Homer doesn't think and causes a chain of events that will destroy the city of Springfield and it's up to the Simpson family to save everyone. At the same time, Homer and Bart's father-and-son relationship is tested, Homer's idiocy weighs on Marge's patience, Lisa tries to save the world, and Ned Flanders is the well-meaning neighbor. I never thought the storylines were the bread and butter of the series, and it's definitely not what makes the movie fun. Rather, it's the details and references to pop culture that'll put a smile on your face, and Homer and Bart's wild rides around town that'll make you laugh out loud.

The opening sequence has Bart writing, "I will not illegally download this movie" on a chalkboard and ends with punk-pop band Green Day playing their rendition of the show's theme music before the raft they are performing on sinks and one band member says a line straight out of the movie Titanic. Cut to the church scene and the sign out front reads "Thou shalt turn off thy cell phone," and the church organist's sheet music is titled "American Idiot: Funeral Version." And at one point during the movie, a promo crawls on the bottom of the screen to promote a Fox TV show, and it ends with something like, "That's right, we even advertise in our movies."

What better way to watch movies than on one of these?

In the Simpsons' world, Arnold Schwarzenegger is U.S. president and the chief of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the bad guy. Keep watching the credits and you'll even hear something you've never heard before. It might even compel you to give the Simpson family another chance at the movies.

Article by SoozyQ