Anthomation Assesses The Simpsons Movie

Howdy guys, Anthomation here. Today, I shall review the movie that featured walking bananas before the Minions even existed, The Simpsons Movie. 

The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 animated film based on the popular long-running Fox animated television series The Simpsons (1989–present). Fox Animation Domination is still promoted during the commercial breaks of NFL games. The Simpsons Movie received positive reviews and grossed $536.4 million worldwide and became the eighth highest-grossing film of 2007, the second highest-grossing traditionally animated film (behind Disney’s 1994 film The Lion King) and the highest-ever grossing film based on an animated television series. In August 2018, it was reported that a sequel was in development.

The film follows Homer Simpson, who irresponsibly pollutes the lake in Springfield after the town has cleaned it up, causing the Environmental Protection Agency to imprison the town under a giant dome. After he and his family narrowly manage to escape, they ultimately abandon Homer for his selfishness and return to Springfield to prevent the town’s destruction by Russ Cargill, head of the EPA. Soon after his family leaves, Homer works to redeem his folly by returning to Springfield himself to help save the town and its citizens.

The story of the film feels like a script written for one of the Simpsons episodes that had to be expanded into a full length feature. Because the story isn’t the most deep or complex, the movie is more reliant than ever on the comedy factor. For that reason, the comedy can feel a bit hit or miss. There are good moments, like when Bart Simpson is naked and there are various objects to block his thing before it gets exposed for a split second. That was creative and fits the satirical tone of the Simpsons. There are also bad moments, like when after Homer’s family leaves him, he has an encounter with a mysterious Inuit shaman and has an epiphany that he must save the town in order to save himself. This is one of the several moments where the movie falls into trop potholes (or tropholes for short) and can’t satire itself out of the situation. To be fair, I am not a regular viewer of the Simpsons. In fact, I came into this movie almost blindfolded. So my taste in humor most likely differs from the average Simpsons viewer. With that being said, most viewers of the movie that are not Simpsons buffs will probably feel the same way. 

The animation quality in the film does take a step up from the visual quality in the long-running tv show. Even from not actually watching the show, you could freeze frame one shot from the movie and the tv show and the difference will be noticeable. The backgrounds seemed to have a little detail than its predecessor, but not too much to where the basic scheme of Springfield is unrecognizable. The color display is practically the same as before, which is perfectly fine as it is. The character designs are as cartoonish as before and their facial reactions can ignite a couple of chuckles. If there was one nitpick I have, it is that the moment of the characters can still feel a bit choppy. For instance, when Homer is riding a motorcycle with Bart to travel up the side of the dome that was placed over Springfield, it definitely doesn’t feel as fluid as the action scenes in the How to Train Your Dragon or The Incredibles movies. Overall, the visuals are passable for a feature film and do its job well for a Simpsons movie.

The characters are practically the same as they were before, which works well to the film’s advantage. The skinny that is worth noting is that a TON of actors voice a TON of characters. Dan Castellaneta voices Homer Simpson (the immature and outspoken patriarch of the family), Abe Simpson (the rambling, often incoherent father of Homer),  Krusty the Clown (the cynical clown host of Bart and Lisa’s favorite TV show) among other characters. Julie Kavner voices the Marge Simpson (the moralistic and mediating matriarch of the family), among other characters. Nancy Cartwright voices Bart Simpson (the son of Homer and Marge who is now fed up with his father’s carelessness), Maggie Simpson (the baby of this middle class family) among other characters. Yeardley Smith voices Lisa Simpson (the daughter of Homer and Marge, who is a humongous environmentalist), surprisingly not voicing other characters. But there is Hank Azaria, who voices a whopping 10 characters in the film, Arnold Schwarzenegger is president but not cooked by the Terminator, and Albert Brooks voices Russ Cargill (the villain who wants to control Springfield and the entire world). It’s like how Tom Hanks voiced six characters in The Polar Express (2004), but now you have at least five actors voicing that many characters. And speaking of Tom Hanks, he makes a 10 second cameo as himself selling a new Grand Canyon near Springfield. All on all, there are a lot of characters for a simple premise.

With a thin, but snear-worthy story, one-step-above-TV-level animation, and characters that are perfectly Simpson-like, this movie can appeal to audiences of the show and to those looking for a quick laugh. Or you can watch the actual show Sunday on FOX.

Score:

6/10