Nah--they can do a movie-length plot. I mean, if Beavis and Butthead can pull it off--and let's not talk quality here, let's just talk the ability to pull off a feature-length plot--then I'm sure the Simpsons can. B&B had next-to-no "plot" experience before the movie came out--and the movie held up a plot for the duration of the film.
The "story" would have to have some Very Special Episode quality to it, of course. Kind of like the Transformers movie--the show itself was one thing, and then the movie came out and Whoa--BIG plot! Big themes! Major cast changes! etc etc etc.. not that the Simpsons would do such, necessarily--but I'm sure there's some sort of Comedic equivalent. (I believe the same sort of thing happened with the GI Joe movie, no?)
I guess the moral here, is that there's a pretty good history of animated shows going to feature length film, that, well, hey.. I have faith in the Simpsons Crew to pull it off.
What might be a problem is balancing the need to draw in the average fan and the need to make the Devoted fan excitedly happy...I mean, you know they're going to need to make ALLLL sorts of references to past shows.. they need to balance that against getting the Occasional viewer to have fun with the movie, too.
Slashdot Mirror
Center Stage: The Video Game
Now with special first-person POV from Peter Gallagher's eyebrows!
The Plutonic Ideal
There goes the neighborhood.
I suppose we wouldn't call them "cameras" anymore, then, huh?
PFfft. That's nothing. Once they port Doom to my 35mm camera--*then* I'll be impressed. (Hey, if they can do text-mode quake...)
The "story" would have to have some Very Special Episode quality to it, of course. Kind of like the Transformers movie--the show itself was one thing, and then the movie came out and Whoa--BIG plot! Big themes! Major cast changes! etc etc etc.. not that the Simpsons would do such, necessarily--but I'm sure there's some sort of Comedic equivalent. (I believe the same sort of thing happened with the GI Joe movie, no?)
I guess the moral here, is that there's a pretty good history of animated shows going to feature length film, that, well, hey.. I have faith in the Simpsons Crew to pull it off.
What might be a problem is balancing the need to draw in the average fan and the need to make the Devoted fan excitedly happy...I mean, you know they're going to need to make ALLLL sorts of references to past shows.. they need to balance that against getting the Occasional viewer to have fun with the movie, too.