The Simpsons Movie

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Post by Daniel » August 2nd, 2007, 3:17 pm

Moi? I do, its just never to the theatures. ;)

And maybe I should've used a different saying than "true fan", because any casual fan would get 'it'. A person who's knows squat, (in general) should go in thinking its a cartoon, and its a comedy. Was that not a funny joke?

Its also been mentioned in interviews, that this was one of there goals; to make The Simpsons Movies appeal to hard-core fans and newbies. IMO, it worked, ala, Power Rangers, Rugrats, Wild Thornberry's, PowerPuff Girls, Spongebob, etc.. What more could they have done, without tarnishing the movie?

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Post by James » August 2nd, 2007, 4:32 pm

Let's not get too personal with this. Some people liked it, others not as much. And those who aren't praising it unconditionally aren't just haters or untrue fans. I'm almost certainly the biggest Simpsons fan on these boards I'd bet, and have watched since the actual premiere episode back in 89. Yet, I don't think it was the "Best. Movie. Ever." either. Just because you're a fan of something doesn't mean you have to think it's perfect all the time.

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Post by Daniel » August 2nd, 2007, 5:04 pm

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Last edited by Daniel on October 23rd, 2007, 11:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Ben » August 2nd, 2007, 6:42 pm

I don't think I'm getting personal...at least that wasn't any intention. :)

As someone who watched the first three seasons religiously, even from the Ullman shows which I started watching because Steve Martin was a guest once and I thought those "odd yellow people" were kind of quirky and interesting, I knew what the show was, obviously.

But it simply didn't reach out to new people. It was like some private party that you're invited to and everyone else is in on some kind of joke and not only have you not been let in on it, but you wouldn't fully understand it even if you were.

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Post by Daniel » August 2nd, 2007, 8:23 pm

You seem to be the only person I've seen who thinks this. Having read countless reviews, everyone seems to think otherwise, including me. Here's kind of an example, but I've seen more detailed ones, concerning the subject at hand: http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=18346
The Simpsons Movie an entertaining, high-energy ride that flies by and can probably be enjoyed by both the show's hardcore and casual fans, as well as those who've not seen the show much at all.

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » August 3rd, 2007, 12:39 am

Daniel wrote: Have you honestly seen any recent episodes? I of course have, and do see a more than above average difference.

And seriously, well below? This was almost classic era material. Even some of the Simpsons harsher critics have admitted this.
GeorgeC wrote:You can also really see that the film betrays its TV origins.
How?

-


Yes, I have seen the recent episodes and on average the Simpsons episodes today are NOWHERE NEAR as they were 10 years ago.

Also, be honest and admit that this is low-rent animation. This is NOT Disney-feature quality animation from the mid-1990s let alone the Golden Eras of the 1940s and 1950s. There's a big difference between quality animation of the Classic Disney era and what you see of these movie spin-offs of TV shows.

Sure, the colors look a bit brighter in the Simpsons Movie but it's otherwise your standard limited animation. It doesn't have those touches of "The Illusion of Life" that make the best Warner Bros., MGM, and Disney animation of the past stand head-and-shoulders above any TV product.

Come on, don't kid yourself on this one!

The Simpsons are mainly a product of good comedy writing and excellent voice-acting but it's NEVER been a well-animated show on anything approaching a consistent basis.

I don't mean to sound like Amid Amidi, but it's kind of hard to explain why the older animation is animated better than what we see today unless everybody's on the same page after having seen the older stuff!

There's a huge difference in the quality level. Get back to us after more of you actually WATCH the older Disney features, the WB Looney Tunes, and the MGM Tom & Jerry and Tex Avery shorts.

If all you've seen is TV animation produced since the past 20 years and you've never actually watched the older theatrical classics (late 1930s to mid-1950s is the range I'm talking about), you're just not going to understand what all the fuss is about the lack of plausible anatomy, stretch and squash, and poor timing/plausible physics in today's animation.

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Post by James » August 3rd, 2007, 3:10 am

Daniel wrote:
The Simpsons Movie an entertaining, high-energy ride that flies by and can probably be enjoyed by both the show's hardcore and casual fans, as well as those who've not seen the show much at all.

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Post by Daniel » August 3rd, 2007, 12:45 pm

I think the 'probably' remark was aimed more at the "hard core/casual fans", than the "as well as those who've not seen it much of the show at all." At least that's what it sounded like to me.
GeorgeC wrote:Yes, I have seen the recent episodes and on average the Simpsons episodes today are NOWHERE NEAR as they were 10 years ago.
At least you've actually seen them, instead using season 10+ as your basis.
GeorgeC wrote:This is NOT Disney-feature quality animation from the mid-1990s let alone the Golden Eras of the 1940s and 1950s.
Where did this come from? And where did I claim otherwise? I don't remember ever saying this looks just like The Lion King! (Or what have of you) I remember saying the animation looked great, which it is for the Simpsons, but that's all.

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Post by ShyViolet » August 4th, 2007, 1:14 pm

Liked this review:

http://www.laweekly.com/film+tv/film/th ... per/16898/


This is interesting too: (I don't agree with it, however)


http://filmfreakcentral.net/screenrevie ... mpsons.htm



The Spider-Pig bit (the epipheny) will go down in pop-culture as possibly the silliest, weirdest, in some ways most brilliant scene in recent film history. :) (particularly animated film)


Also, I thought this was interesting:
That leads to a third-act monologue, for which longtime Simpsons writer-producer (and Terms of Endearment Oscar winner) James L. Brooks reportedly demanded more than 100 takes of actress Kavner, that is, I think, one of the deepest and most searching examinations of the meaning of “I do” that I’ve ever heard in a movie. It does the last thing you might expect The Simpsons Movie to do — it leaves you with a lump in your throat.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Post by ShyViolet » August 4th, 2007, 1:49 pm

This is interesting too (from the Brew) Specifically it deals with the whole animation issue.

08/1/07 4:14pm

Rick Farmiloe says:



I worked on the movie,so maybe I’m biased. I thought it did EXACTLY what everyone wanted it to…..just bring the Simpson family to the big screen, nothing more, nothing less. If the writers went too ‘big screen’ with the writing, fans would have been upset, big time! When I was hired as an animator, I thought I’d be bringing some ‘Disney quality’ animation to the table. A lot of us ex-Disney guys thought that. Wrong! We soon discovered that what was wanted was just CONSISTENT Simpsons style
animation. The scenes were still shipped overseas to Korea to be ‘re-animated’ there. Although I was initially a little disappointed, I soon realized the producers and David were completely RIGHT in their thinking. The Simpsons is it’s own unique language and any deviation from that would be a mistake. I personally thought the movie hit a home run….very funny and fast moving. You may not have loved it, but the box office proves that people got exactly what they wanted. There are certainly things you can criticize, but you have to admit it definitely feels like The Simspsons! I am proud to have worked on it.

Althought the plot was somewhat reminiscent to "Trash of the Titans" (the season 9 garbage/U2 ep) in a number of ways, I still think it was a great movie. :)


Re: Grand Theft Walrus. Ha ha, yeah, kill that dancing penguin! :lol:
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Post by Daniel » August 6th, 2007, 10:07 pm

Good reviews! I espicially liked the above tidbit you highlighted:
ShyViolet wrote:James L. Brooks reportedly demanded more than 100 takes of actress Kavner
Wow! Know wonder that line sounded so good! :)


And I almost hate to bring up this up again, but I feel I need to. One of my moms friends took her kids to see the movie, without every seeing an episode, and she loved it! She said after 30 minutes or so, she really started to feel for the characters, and understood why its gathered such a following. She espicially started to tear up when Homer was watching the tape. Ok, I'll stop. ;)

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Post by Daniel » August 8th, 2007, 5:16 pm

The Simpsons Movie DVD Details.

If only this was true! :lol:

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Post by Daniel » August 27th, 2007, 7:01 pm

Here's some real info on the DVD, including the release date and extras!
TV Shows on DVD wrote:Here at TVShowsOnDVD, we rarely turn our attention to anything in the box office, even when it's related to a TV show, no matter how popular. Still, every once in a while we DO bend the rules about that, and this is one of those times! Our friends in the industry have passed along info to us about The Simpsons Movie on DVD; a jewel we just cannot resist. We think we're the first ones with these details, so we want reward all the Simpsons fans among our readers with the scoop on this:

Homer accidentally causes an environmental catastrophe which could doom Springfield forever. Homer now must save the city and rescue his family. Springfield's usual characters and new favorites all turn up in the first ever movie length version of the hit TV show, 18 years in the making.

The 87-minute big-screen feature will arrive home in both Widescreen and Fullscreen versions (get the Widescreen) on December 18th. Besides the film itself, it's loaded with these extras, all for $29.98 SRP:

Animators commentary: David Silverman, Mike B. Anderson, Steven Dean Moore, Rich Moore.

Producers Commentary: James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Richard Sakai, Al Jean, Mike Scully, David Silverman, Dan Castellaneta, Yeardley Smith

Deleted Scenes:
Levels
Springfield News
DMV
Sausage Truck
Animals Painting

Promos:
Jay Leno Promo
American Idol Promo
American Idol Cold Open
Lobby Promo
TH Spoof

Audio is going to be English Dolby Surround 5.1 and also English DTS 5.1 ES, plus there will be Spanish and French soundtracks in Dolby Surround. Subtitles are English and Spanish, and the film is rated PG-13.

Our thanks to our friends in the industry who provided this to us; they did so on condition of anonymity. They do not have box art for this DVD release, nor have they yet received any information about a potential Blu-ray Disc hi-definition release of the film. We expect these to come later on. Please bear in mind that this info does NOT come from a public announcement, and is therefore subject to change.
Good thing this isn't the official annoucement, because while those are good bonus features, its simply not enough. And I really hope Blu-Ray doesn't get more...

This will definetly be on Christmas list! :)

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Post by James » August 28th, 2007, 1:09 am

Yes, those extra 42 gigabytes on blu-ray should definitely NOT be used. 8 gigs should be good enough for everyone!

;)

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Post by Daniel » August 28th, 2007, 2:08 am

Yah, James! ;)

No seriously, I just meant I hope Blu-ray doesn't get exclusives, ala Ratatouille, Cars etc. Whatever BRD gets, the regular edition should have, too.

But maybe that's wishful thinking...

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