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Simpsons on the Silver Screen

Posted by timothy on from the it-will-be-funny-you-will-laugh dept.

An anonymous reader writes "It looks like Matt Groening is going to actually go through with it. This article says that the cast of the Simpsons has signed on for at least 3 feature films. Hooray!" I hope they call them Episodes 4, 5 and 6.

11 of 433 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe by r_arr · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Maybe we can have a 10 minute futurama opening cartoon. Kinda like the short clip of Dexter's lab the played during the Powerpuff Movie.

  2. Bart Wars? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Interesting


    You know, you could make an absolutely hilarious parody of the Star Wars saga using the Simpson family.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  3. I am not overly hopeful by Torinaga-Sama · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't know how well the simpsons will translate to the big screen. Part of what is so groovy and wonderful about the show is the seeming randomness of it. There are little plot consistancies, but there is not a single focus or drive behind the series. It is a combination of many things and an excellent reflection of all the things that are right and wrong with America.

    I predict that when the movie start coming out, the simpson will jump the shark. Not a bad run, really.

    --
    (/local/home/curiosity)-#who -u|grep thecat|cut -c 44-49|xargs kill -9
  4. Framerate by NaveWeiss · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Well, I just hope the movie won't be in the same framerate of the Simpsons episodes (unlike the South Park Movie).. otherwise it wouldn't feel like a movie at all.

    Btw: It's been more than 11 years but Maggie hasn't learned to speak yet. I hope she'll make the move in the movie. ;)

    --
    Slashdot community, please notice: I am looking for a girlfriend.
    Nave H. Weiss
    1. Re:Framerate by spaceyhackerlady · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Btw: It's been more than 11 years but Maggie hasn't learned to speak yet. I hope she'll make the move in the movie. ;)

      She said "Daddy" once. But just one word doesn't count, I know. Even if Elizabeth Taylor said it.

      ...laura who feels The Simpsons are well past their Best Before date

  5. I hate to say it, but... by Man+In+Black · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Simpsons have been going downhill for the last few years. I've been a devout fan watching even the reruns every day for the last X years... but recently I've decided to stop. You can only see that damn "elf jockey" episode so long before you realize they've mostly run out of good ideas. Granted, the show still manages to make me laugh once in a while, but it's definitely lost it's magic in recent years. To be honest, if they're having trouble making 30 minutes (or 23 minutes or whatever) funny, I simply can't see them keeping the show funny for a complete 90 minutes. I'd love to be proved wrong of course...

    It's really too bad that Futurama and Family Guy were cancelled. They were great shows with a great style of comedy behind them. I really hope someone realizes that all these so-called "reality" shows are retarded, and gives Futurama another chance. It has/had almost limitless potential.

    --
    -"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
  6. Interesting to see how they do it. by Nathdot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I mean come on, one of the things that so endearing about the simpsons is that they have carte blanche to do whatever in any given episode.

    No episode affects the next, with minor exception (eg. Maude flanders death), and because of that the creators are not limited as to what can happen; A fact they seem to relish, even mock with in-jokes: "Oh look, we've won a trip to Delaware"

    But major motion pictures are built on structure (ie. most commonly three acts, set-up - crisis - resolution)

    So it would seem that some major event (ie. The movie's selling point)would have to occur involving the Simpsons in the motion picture (Obviously the set-up doesn't have to be that lrge because these are characters we already know and love). And due to the scale of a film, wouldn't that major event have to be permanent/immutable, somehow affecting or tying into the series?

    So finally how is the film to work as a concept without fucking with the time-tested formula?

  7. Re:Timeline.... by EvilBuu · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So if they produce ~20-22 episodes per season, you're saying each season takes ten to eleven years of animation work to complete? I think not. Most likely it takes a single crew ~6 months to finish an episode, but they can have 15+ crews working simultaneously.

    --

    Green-voting, republican-registered, socialist-libertarian.
  8. Icon by UniverseIsADoughnut · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why doesn't the Simpsons have it's own slashdot icon for stories on them?

  9. Could be done by fermion · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I think it will be possible. First, the movie needs only be 70-80 minutes long. Second, the current format, as others have noted, is a nearly independent first act that sets up the motivation for the second and third act. The situation in the first act may or may not be resolved. In a feature length film, they wil have time to more fully develop and conclude the motivation, and still have time to have a complete story.

    A good analogy would be Beavis and Butthead. Each epi-choad of B&B had around 5 minutes of action. The movie was apparently developed by stringing together nearly independent, slightly expanded, episodes with several 'glue' scenes that essential comprised the overall plot. It was amazingly effective.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
  10. The real trick will be... by theMightyE · · Score: 3, Interesting
    .. finding something new to base a story on. A bit ago, I noticed that after 14ish years the Simpsons had more or less covered every major (and most minor) memes in American culture. Think about it: Lack of diversity in policics? The John Jackson vs. Jack Johnson election. Drug legalization? Homer & Otto get stoned, "They call them fingers, but I've never seen them fing... Oh, wait. There they go." Crappy sitcoms? "See ya in a couple of seasons, Roy." Superflous third nipples? Krusty has one. You get the point.

    About the only things a movie format has to offer that can't be done in a TV show are (1) swearing, which really only means a half-dozen or so new words since the show really pushed the boundaries out in this area in the early 90's, (2) Nudity, which in cartoon form doesn't seem that popular outside of Japan, and (3) A longer format, which is dubious since they can always split an episode into two parts. None of this seems to really offer much in the way of new ground for them to cover.

    Sooo... I think the best we can hope for is a long version of a TV series episode, maybe with a bit more time spent in the writing phase than your typical TV studio allows. But given the string of crappy movies that have been out in the last few years, I guess the whole thing isn't really all that bad. I'll see it - especially if there's a Futurama short at the beginning.