Watching Simpsons

The essay is long, but the quality is good and informative. Vanity Fair has published a detailed history of The Simpsons. In a sense, it would be too long to pick out and block quote all the good bits, but here’s a choice few morsels from the article:

“It’s like what sci-fi fans say about Star Trek: it created an audience for that genre,” says Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy. “I think The Simpsons created an audience for prime-time animation that had not been there for many, many years. As far as I’m concerned, they basically re-invented the wheel. They created what is in many ways—you could classify it as—a wholly new medium. It’s just wholly original.”

“The Simpsons is the bane of our existence,” says Matt Stone, co-creator of South Park with Trey Parker. “They have done so many parodies, tackled so many subjects. ‘Simpsons did it!’ is a very familiar refrain in our writers’ room. Trey and I are constantly having our little cartoon compared to the best show in the history of television, The Simpsons. Why can’t we be compared to According to Jim? Or Sister, Sister?”

Not that there aren’t some debits on The Simpsons’ ledger—for every King of the Hill, there was a Fish Police and a Critic. But over 18 years, The Simpsons has been so influential, it is difficult to find any strain of television comedy that does not contain its DNA. And yet the show’s footprint is so much larger. Homer’s signature “D’oh!” has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

What’s interesting, really, is the expansive nature. They start at the beginning, really, back when the current presidents father, while running for reelection, tried to slam the decline in “values” that The Simpsons “represented.” Vanity Fair also delves into Matt Groening’s career, and some of the other cultural implications the show has had on its 18 season, and counting.

Fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber — and especially the musical “Cats” — may not want to watch the following YouTube embedded video:

Now that Springfield, Vermont has been chosen to host the premiere of the Simpsons Movie, there has been an agitated response by some of the other, spurned towns. For example, an Oregonian politician is “demanding” an investigation into the internet poll that crowned the winner. According to the Boston Herald:

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield is still piqued that his hometown wasn’t chosen to host the premiere of the upcoming animated film “The Simpsons,” particularly since “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening is an Oregon native.
In fact, he smells a rat, and has asked U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to investigate _ sort of.
In a spoof letter from DeFazio’s office to Gonzalez, he points out that Springfield, Ore., with around 52,000 residents, lost out on the right to hold the premiere to Springfield, Vt., which won a contest sponsored by 20th Century Fox, despite having only 9,000 residents.

“Unless they passed a law giving cows the right to vote, this smacks of election fraud,” DeFazio writes, tongue planted firmly in cheek. “It also once again highlights the need for electronic voting with a valid paper trail. Was Diebold in any way involved in tabulating the results?”

The letter, of course, while a “joke” still contains a subtle political message about electronic voting. That said, DeFazio has used several smaller things to keep his letter in the joke category, and that involves invoking Ned Flanders:

The letter concludes in true Simpsons fashion: Instead of signing off “Sincerely,” or “Yours Truly,” DeFazio concludes with an “Okiliydokily.”

Coinciding with the start of 19th season of Simpsons, a new compact disc will hit the shelves. According to NME.com, the CD will feature music culled from the show over the years, including artists like:

Jackson Brown, Shawn Colvin and ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic also appear on ‘The Simpsons: Testify’ , which is due out in the US on September 18.

In addition, comedian Ricky Gervais features on two of the more than three-dozen songs on the album, reports Billboard .

The album release is set to coincide with the premiere of the 19th season of ‘The Simpsons’ in the US.

It’s important to note that this new release IS NOT the soundtrack to the movie.

The votes have been tallied, and Springfield, Vermont has won the right to host the premiere of the Simpson’s movie. The contest, hosted by USAToday.com, featured competing videos from Springfields across the nation. Vermont’s winning entry featured a chubby man — like Homer — chasing a large rolling donut across town, causing mayhem. According to Reuters, one of Vermont’s prominent politicians expressed congratulations to the winners:

“After 18 years, it’s good to finally welcome the Simpsons home. Vermonters love The Simpsons,” Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in a statement.

“Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie will look great on that yellow carpet with the green mountains as a backdrop.”

The Vermont town beat Springfields in Oregon, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida and Louisiana in the video contest to best portray the “Simpsons’ spirit.”

Vermont won by less than a 1000 votes:

It landed 15,367 votes of 109,582 votes cast. Springfield, Illinois, coming in second with 14,634 votes and Springfield, Oregon, ranked third at 13,894.

Sometimes, a trip to YouTube can prove how much a show has really entrenched it’s, for better or worse into the minds of people, and as a result, culture. Here is a guy who, in his spare time “mashed” the themes of Star Trek and The Simpsons together by playing a keyboard, a funnel, and a theremin.

Many television shows, actors and directors will attest, are destroyed by the meddling of studio execs. Often, this comes by way of meddlesome “notes” that carry the weight — in terms of network authority — akin to an executive order or a regal fiat. It goes without saying that this cramps the creative process, to a large extent. In this regard, consider the following comment by Harry Shearer, as reported by Hollywood.com, the voice of Ned Flanders, Doctor Hibberd, Mr. Burns, Smithers, and many other Simpsons chacters:

The Simpsons star Harry Shearer insists the animated show is such a big hit because the company behind it is not allowed to interfere with the scripts.

That even goes for mogul Rupert Murdock, who is more then used to getting his way, politically and business-wise, across many continents:

He says, “Rupert can’t get involved. We had it written into our script that Fox weren’t allowed to meddle with our scripts.

“In fact, I’m pretty sure the reason we’ve been so successful is because no one’s been able to interfere.”

It’s always interesting to see the Simpson’s voice actors go in and out of character on live TV. Add to this Conan’s presence, and you have something interesting. Conan started off his career writing for The Simpsons, before he took off after replacing David Letterman on NBC Late Night.

What is happening to traditional, hand drawn animation? If one looks at box office receipts lately, the multiplex really has been dominated by Pixar Studios and their imitators. It seems that computers has taken over, becoming the dominant method of animation. Lets think about it this way. How many CGI films came out recently? Ratatouille, Surfs Up, Shrek the Third, and so on and so on. How many hand crafted cartoons? None that I can think of this year, and looking back through recent history, the only thing that comes to mind, besides the forthcoming Simpsons Movie, was the cinematic version of Spongebob Squarepants.

Apparently, according to the BBC, this is a view that Simpsons creator Matt Groening shares:

Speaking at a press launch in central London, he said The Simpsons Movie was “a tribute to the art of hand-drawn animation, which is basically disappearing”.

“All the animated movies these days are computer generated,” he said, adding that his film had been created in “the old-fashioned, clumsy, ‘erase it if you don’t do it right’ way”.

“It’s not a CGI movie with a thousand perfect penguins dancing in unison,” he continued - a reference to Happy Feet, the winner of this year’s Oscar for best animated feature.

This has more to do with promoting the Simpsons 400th episode’s, but none-the-less, it still is the beginning of the political presidential primary cycle. We’re bound to see more stuff like this, especially in the episodes themselves, in terms of Satire. Still, given the amount of discontent floating around the country at the moment, it’s always interesting to hear Homer weigh in on things. So here it is, Homer’s reasons why he should be the next president….

To fans of the Simpsons, Harry Shearer is best know as the voices of Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, and others. Outside of Springfield, however, he has appeared in a few movies, and he has consistently hosted for a podcast for KCRW Santa Monica, a National Public Radio station. The same sense and style of satire and irreverent humor — one that has found a sympathetic home on the Simpsons — fuels Shearer’s podcasts. Basically, Le Show switches between Shearer’s monologues to voice acted-radio skits. Basically, Le Show is Shearer’s platform, one that lets him take on the headlines of the day. Is it as funny as “The Simpsons”? No. But then again, Shearer’s podcast is a completely different type of medium. Obliviously, it’s not a television, animated sit-com, but the fundamental differences go deeper than that. Shearer’s podcast strikes one as more like talk radio, only Shearer is much more of a liberal that what producers would let on terrestrial radio. That’s a shame.

This is you’re basic 101-type of clip. Clearly, due to the dress and the quality of the film, this is a bit dated, but Albert Brooks and Matt Groening, here, answer some of the more basic questions about the series — like who inspired the characters, how Groening learned to draw the way he did, and much more. For those with limited exposure to The Simpsons and the the creative minds behind them, this clip is one of the best places to start.

Of the many Simpsons promotional campaigns to come, one of the more interesting comes from 7-11, who decided to remodel 11 or so of it’s stores and rename them “Kwick-E Mart.” Sure, each store cannot feature an Apu, but the products sold are all unique to Springfield, whether it’s Buzz Cola, Duff Beer, or Blue Berry Squishees, according to E! News.

The convenience chain has joined forces with 20th Century Fox to convert a dozen of its top-selling stores into Kwik-E-Marts as part of a massive marketing blitz for The Simpsons Movie, which unspools in theaters worldwide July 27.

The Kwik-E makeover, which officially began Monday, not only includes the temporary replacement of 7-Eleven marquees but extends to store shelves, which will now be stocked with everything from Krusty O’s cereal and Buzz Cola to WooHoo! Blue Vanilla Squishee Slurpees and pink frosted Sprinklicious doughnuts.

“The Krusty O’s are flying off the shelves,” laughs 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris. “It’s sort of reverse product placement. We’re bringing the products to the people.”

Before anybody runs out the door, they should know that their local store is likely to NOT be one of the 11 coverted locations, one of which stands in Canada. A list of locations, from 7-11, is located here. Still that doesn’t mean that most of us have been excluded from the fun. Many of the products Bart and Homer would enjoy, will sit on 7-11’s shelves. This includes a special edition comic book from Bongo, the official, Groening-run publisher of Simpson’s books.

With The Simpsons Movie due the July 27th, one is glad that it’s not faced with huge amounts of box office competition. The next Harry Potter, for example, is nearly a week off, and thankfully, one doesn’t have to choose between the two in a conflicting opening week. With that in mind, here’s a clip where the Simpson’s animators take on the Harry Potterverse

For the record, I’m not a big fan of mash-ups on YouTube. For example, there seems to be a couple of Wu-Tang versions of the Simpsons, and you know, the humor in seeing Homer, Lisa, Maggie, and Bart lip sync Ghostface Killah, Method Man, U-God, and the rest of the crew. Still, once in awhile, you find something that’s so well done, it’s just hysterical. Take the following 300-Simpsons combination. Thematically, it’s all 300, warriors, and Sparta; it is, after all, the audio from 300’s coming attraction, and so the voices are not what one would expect while looking at, say, Homer. As with other fan films on YouTube, it’s all about the editing. Judge for yourself: