Watching Simpsons

The Academy has chosen to not nominate The Simpsons Movie in its animated film category. Seinfeld’s Bee movie also got a snub, but comparatively speaking, that’s almost understandable Three others were recognized:

* Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics; Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud, directors)
* Ratatouille (Disney/Pixar Animation; Brad Bird, director)
* Surf’s Up (Sony Pictures Animation; Ash Brannon and Chris Buck, directors)

Of those three, Persepolis seems the more independent. The other two are pretty much family fair. Yet, while I do think the Simpson’s sharply critical satire of the EPA and environmental issues deserved at least an Oscar nod, I can fully understand if Ratatouille wins the category. Story wise, Ratatouille was a very well written movie that used a very strong screen play. Typically, the Academy tends to reward films that are both well made and financially lucrative at the box office.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons Movie, The Academy Awards, The Oscars

This past Christmas, my in-laws gave me The Simpsons Movie on DVD, and then, we all watched it together. Afterwards, I watched it about three more times, and here are my thoughts in a nutshell. By any stretch, this is not a complete review.

The movie, as it’s written, is interesting because it’s structurally different than what fans are used to. The standard Simpsons episode is usually, without commercials, about 15 minutes or so. There’s usually the set up, which in many cases, has nothing to do with the rest of the episode, and then the rest follows up on it. There isn’t really any time for character complexity on a grander scale.

The movie, on the other hand, allows for multiple story lines at the same time. So, we, as viewers, get to see Bart struggle with his relationship with his father, Marge struggle with her marriage, and Lisa fall in love with somebody other than Millhouse. While this is all well and fine, juggling the sub-plots leaves the movie a little humorless and dragging at points. Or, at least, it seems that way.

Some fans I know, like my wife, for example, complained that there wasn’t enough of the other characters, like Patty and Selma or Comic Book Guy. In that regard, it’s a given – if the writers tried to cram in every Springflielder, then the story arcs would have gotten a little bogged down. And also: every episode, every week, doesn’t cram in every minor character, so why should the movie? In a way, the challenge, for the writers, most have been the colossal expectations fans had. After all, there’s been more than a decade of shows in TV episode format. This certainly was an issue with Futurama: Bender’s Big Score, where the writers knew that eventually, the movie was going to be broken down into episode long segments, so it could air on TV. Still, I kind of liked how the movie tried to get a little deeper into the characters, because that gave Bart, Homer, Marge, and Lisa a little more emotional substance than what viewers are used to on TV. At any rate, it’s sad to know that there’s no ready plans for a sequel anytime soon.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons Movie, Writing

Lately, whenever The Simpsons set out to promote something, the sights have been set large. For example, Groening and company got the Springfields of the United States to squabble over the rights to host a “yellow carpet” premiere of the film, as well as the honor of being labeled the “Official” home town for America’s favorite animated dysfunctional family. There was also, reminiscent of Pink Floyd decades ago, a large inflatable Spider Pig floating over London. One of the most interesting, however, is when Kwik-E Mart took over a number of 7-11 stores across the nation.

So, with DVD set for impending release, the stakes are high, again. Of course, this means the promotional gimmicks now have a huge precedent to meet and surpass. That may seem like a tall order, but the Groening and company seem to be up for the challenge. And, as a result, there are a grand number of promo stunts in the offing. According to the Hollywood Reporter, even the Empire State Building may go yellow, as a result of 20th Century Fox’s marketing push:

In one of the biggest DVD promotions this year, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is kicking off Tuesday’s DVD release of “The Simpsons Movie” with big celebrations in cities around the country.

At the top of the list is New York, where the Empire State Building will turn “Simpsons” yellow for the first time ever in the building’s first promotion for a movie.

That really would be a strange sight to behold. After all, the Empire State Building is one of the iconic buildings of New York, one that resonates in American history. It always has been one of the most prominent features on the New York sky line, and, it would make for an interesting thing to see at night, if the yellowness is illuminated. The rest of the promotion, however, will likely be seen as less dramatic. It will be interesting, none the less:

In Los Angeles, holiday elves wearing yellow Santa hats will hand out pink-frosted D’oh!Nut sprinkles, Homer’s favorite treat, to commuters downtown, while in Hollywood a “Simpsons” holiday spectacular is going up at Hollywood & Highland, with inflatable Homer Santas, pink-flocked Christmas trees and donut balloons.

In 20 cities, including Salt Lake City, Honolulu and El Paso, Texas, pink donut mylar balloons will be tied to parking meters at high-traffic shopping areas, signifying free parking.

And in 51 cities — from Mobile, Ala., to Concord, N.H., yellow “Simpsons” Santa hats are being distributed at random locations.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons Movie, The Empire State Building, 20th Century Fox

To readers of this blog, that might already be evident, if one looks at Paco’s comments a few weeks ago. At first I didn’t want to embed the ads here, but I have to admit that they’re good and entertaining. Well, across the pond, in the UK, it seems as if its official, the ads do work. According to Brand Republic:

Consumers are more likely to go see a movie when it is advertised within a food commercial, rather than if it is advertised alone, according to new research.

People who saw a Burger King television ad featuring ‘The Simpsons Movie’ were 40% more likely to go and see the film …

Of course, this is England we’re talking about, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar occured over here, too.

Okay, so this blog is shilling for Burger King. But, you know, it does have Kane and Kodos in it! And no matter my own fast food preference, it’s still funny!

Of all the ways to promote a movie, 7-11 has cashed in by turning some of their stores in real life versions of Apu’s Kwik E Mart. These remodeled 7-11’s among other tings, Squishees, instead of their trade-marked “Slurpees.” According to ABCnews.com, business has been brisk:

While the Simpsons might be a fictional family, the very real cereal, soda and doughnuts from their cartoon world are flying off real-world shelves.

For the past three weeks, 7-Eleven has transformed 12 of its convenience stores into caricatures of the Kwik-E-Mart widely recognized as a staple of the cartoon family’s fictional town, as part of a promotion for the soon-to-be-released “The Simpsons Movie.”

One item didn’t make the transition from animation to real life:

Though one key Simpsons beverage, Duff Beer, did not make it to the shelves, fans of the hit TV show seem to be jumping at the chance to buy the other once-fictional products. The number of customers to walk through the doors at these special stores has roughly doubled, as have have sales, according to the company.

On the Burlington Free Press’ website, there’s an article stating that Ben and Jerry’s will be taking part in the movie festivities, given that Springfield, Vermont was chosen to host the Simpsons Movie premiere:

Ben & Jerry’s Homer homage is called “Duff & D’oh-Nuts,” and according to a news release from the ice-cream maker is an “extremely limited, one-time and one-day-only flavor” that’s “a combination of chocolate and cream stout ice creams with glazed chocolate donuts.” Duff is the brand of beer featured in “The Simpsons” television series, and doughnuts are Homer’s culinary raison d’etre.

In another nod to Homer, Ben & Jerry’s will for one day rename its Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor “Chocolate Chip Cookie D’oh!” in reference to Homer’s famous exclamation.

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.

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.

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: