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The Simpsons Month: The Simpsons Movie (2007)
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In this episode, Satsunami and Andrew discuss the film that many didn't see coming: The Simpsons Movie! But does it still hold up 16 years on? Or has it become dated thanks to its references? Grab your nearest Spider-Pig and let's find out!
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Transcript
Introduction & Simpsons Movie Anticipation
00:00:00
Speaker
Well Andrew, that's the end of Simpsons Month. What a recording. Uh, Satsu? Did you hit the record button? No! Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of Simpsons Month.
00:00:19
Speaker
My name's Satanami and joining me for our worst episode. Worst episode so far. Is none other than the one and only Andrew. Andrew, welcome back. Thanks for having
Pre-Release Hype and Challenges
00:00:31
Speaker
me back. Looking forward to discussing one of the big events in the Simpsons universe.
00:00:35
Speaker
Yeah, one of the sparing events of the Simpsons universe, and I know we're getting ahead of ourselves there, but yeah, today we're going to be talking about something that was hyped to heck and back, because let's face it, how long had it been before this film came out that people were clamouring for a Simpsons film?
00:00:54
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I was so young at the time that I can't really attest to that too much, but I do know retroactively that there was a lot of interest in a Simpsons movie and it had been a lot of discussion for so many years. But a Simpsons movie, there was lots of plots discussed about what could be done in the Simpsons movie. I was going to say, it wouldn't be a bad end.
00:01:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's true though, there was a lot of talk about the Simpsons going on the big screen and everything and when we were growing up, the Simpsons as it's safe to say was still at the height of the popularity even though they had the struggling seasons.
00:01:28
Speaker
I don't know that it was necessarily the height of its popularity. I certainly was still watching Simpsons from week to week at that point. I was really excited for this movie. I remember the anticipation and like going to see it pretty much opening weekend. There was a lot of hype leading up to this and the episodes that were coming up around that were very interesting. We were in between seasons 18 and 19. And so there'd been some interesting episodes that come out in season 18 that were getting you in the mood to then watch this movie.
00:01:55
Speaker
I actually remember going to the cinema at the time and seeing all the trailers and the teasers for this film, but the weird thing was, and I don't know if you remember this, but there wasn't really much information about this film coming out. Like there was rumours and there was, oh this might happen, that might happen, but do you actually remember seeing a full length trailer and being like, oh I know everything about this film.
00:02:19
Speaker
No, and that, to be honest, I think is quite a good thing. I'm always of the mind that going into a movie without knowing every detail of the plot is better. I mean, it's not particularly a hot take, but yeah, I think that's commendable. If something looks amusing or draws you in to watch it without telling you every detail that you need to know before going in, then I think that it's succeeded.
Nostalgia and School Projects
00:02:40
Speaker
No, I totally agree with you. I do think that it is amazing that they managed to pull it off, especially for a film and, of course, a series as big as The Simpsons, especially in 2007 when this film came out. But there was a lot of teasers, you know, I think they did a Superman parody because Superman Returns, I think it was, you know, the really bad one with Kevin Spacey's Luther.
00:03:05
Speaker
Yeah that was coming out so they had like a teaser trailer with Homer and the Superman t-shirt. They had the Spider-Man tie-in because in 2007 I'm pretty sure that's when Spider-Man 3 came out so they had Spider-Pig. So there was a lot of tie-ins to other films but there wasn't really any information coming out and I'll tell you how hyped I was personally and I don't know if I've ever told you this Andrew but
00:03:30
Speaker
When I was in high school, for our computing class, one of the tasks we had to do was create a newsletter. So we had to format it and everything and the teacher kind of shrugged and said, well, you can make it about anything, you know, if you want to make it about the latest games or like a film or something, go ahead. So I asked my teacher, I said, can I do it on The Simpsons? And she kind of shrugged and I don't think she cared to be honest. She was like, well, get it done, I don't care. But I ended up doing it on The Simpsons and
00:03:59
Speaker
don't get me wrong that was a really fun class that time but one of the article bits I did was gathering information for The Simpsons film and I always remember how difficult it was trying to go on to 2007's internet and try and get a plot synopsis and everything and all I knew was that Homer does something to wreck the town and they have to flee and that was really it so yeah it was very sparring but there was a lot of buildup, there was a lot of height
00:04:29
Speaker
and even despite some of the owl world that was starting to build up throughout this particular period of the Simpsons. It is safe to say though that everybody was excited for this film. Yeah, I think there was certainly a universal excitement for the movie. I know that people had started to see a downturn in the quality of episodes.
00:04:51
Speaker
or rather that they had in their own personal opinion, they no longer cared for The Simpsons as much. But this once in a lifetime opportunity of seeing The Simpsons as a movie, I think did interest even those who had kind of lost interest in the series. And they've got to ask before we dive into the main discussion of this episode, did you go see this in the cinema? I did. As I said earlier, I'm pretty sure I went opening weekend to go see this
Movie Release and Initial Reactions
00:05:16
Speaker
in the cinema.
00:05:16
Speaker
can't actually remember. I went to see it and then I got annoyed at the very beginning because I thought a child was humming along to the 20th Century Fox theme. And then I realised it was Ralph like, I'm on the screen. I was like, oh, nevermind. Yeah, I loved that. I thought that was such a fun idea. I like when studios sort of play with their little studio logo being a little bit different. I actually saw a tweet about this recently about like
00:05:40
Speaker
how different studios have a bit of fun with that. Warner Brothers often has a little bit of fun with changing the style of the Warner Brothers logo at the beginning of a film, depending on the film that's about to show. See, without any further ado, will we just jump into why we think this is... I was about to joke and say The Citizen Kane or The Simpsons, but will we just dive into it? Yeah, let's jump into it. As always, we'll be right back.
00:06:09
Speaker
Previously on Chatsunami, we've analysed what makes a good horror game, conducted a retrospective on Pierce Brosnan's runs James Bond, and listened to us take deep dives into both the Sonic and Halo franchises.
00:06:21
Speaker
Also, if you're an anime fan, then don't forget to check us out on our sub-series, Chatsunani, where we dive into the world of anime. So far, we've reviewed things like Death Note, Princess Mononoke, and the hit Beyblade series. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out on Spotify, iTunes, and all good podcast apps. As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated. I'm Dan, I'm Lou, and together we are Casting Views.
00:06:50
Speaker
An uncle and nephew chatting on random topics. Some heavy, some fun, but we aim to amuse. Don't miss out, don't delay. Subscribe to Casting Views today. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor and Good Pods.
Podcast Promotion and Sponsorship
00:07:14
Speaker
This episode is sponsored by Zincaster. If you're a podcaster that records remotely like me, then you'll know how challenging it can be to create the podcast you've always wanted. That's where Zincaster comes in. Before I met Zincaster, I was put a naive podcaster, recording on low-quality, one-track audio waves.
00:07:49
Speaker
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00:08:00
Speaker
So before we dive into talking about what this film is about, let's face it, this film came out in 2007 and we are definitely going to be going into spoilers so this is just spoiler warning for a 2007
Creative Concepts and Delayed Ideas
00:08:14
Speaker
film. But before we talk about the plot and really what makes this film so great, well we talk about the development of this film because as we said it is quite interesting that before this particular film there wasn't really any film
00:08:28
Speaker
that it's come out not even like an attempt at like a long-form episode of the show and by this point The Simpsons was on season 18. We had had the two-part episodes of Who Shot Mr. Burns, which many had kind of felt should have been the movie and would have been a more interesting movie. Like if they extended that out and made that into a movie, it would have made more sense.
00:08:49
Speaker
because it was a bridging episode between season six and seven, that was the height of Simpson interest, I think like that was their golden years of episodes. So like, if between season six and seven, they released that as a movie, that would have been better than what we ultimately got. We'll discuss in this episode more thoughts on the movie. But I do think that that would have been superior to what we eventually did get with the 2007 version, there was a thought process behind making a movie
00:09:15
Speaker
before that. They wanted to make the episode in season four camp crusty into a film, but thought that trying to expand that 25 minute episode into a feature length movie would have been too difficult. So they didn't really want to go much further with that. They thought about making anthology stories, but like trials of horror, they thought about doing almost a Fantasia esque
00:09:33
Speaker
movie called Sympastasia. And I know that prior to his unfortunate death in 1998, Phil Hartman, who voices, you may have heard him in such characters as Troy McClure and Lionel Huts. Before his passing, he wants to do a live action movie based on the character of Troy McClure. And then I know in the early 2000s, the cast had signed on to do a movie like Ebbing Greenlit. They were like, okay, let's do this. And then I think we're growing
00:10:01
Speaker
Groaning in Brooks, who were sort of produced and created the show, their feeling at the time was that if they put effort into a movie at that point, less effort would be going into the show and the show's quality would deteriorate and they didn't want that. Boy, I bet their faces were right. And so their kind of impression was that they should just focus on their bread and butter of the show instead of trying to do this more experimental movie version of this universe.
00:10:27
Speaker
It is interesting though that for such an iconic franchise, they took so long from 1989 all the way to 2007 to actually create a
Plot Synopsis and Initial Reactions
00:10:38
Speaker
film. I mean for good sake, the Digimon film got a film before them and that was like 3 films in 1. Come on, they're both owned by Fox. I actually wouldn't put it past Fox if they just put 2 episodes together and went, yeah that's a Simpsons film.
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah, it's fascinating to see how long this film was in development. You know, the ideas that they kind of threw together. It does sound like an American sitcom, doesn't it? It's like a while they won't they? While they make a film, won't they make a film? And then, of course, they eventually did, where we got a very
00:11:09
Speaker
strange mix of religious and environmental messaging in this film. But before we deep dive into that, do you want to give a quick synopsis into what this film's actually about? Yeah, for sure. So, The Simpsons movie essentially takes place somewhat in Springfield where an environmental disaster has occurred as a result of
00:11:31
Speaker
the citizens of Springfield polluting their lake. And as a result of that, the government cordoned the town off fear that their stupidity and pollution would spread. And so the Simpsons managed to escape because it is Homer's fault that this ultimately happens. And then they kind of learn that the plan from the government is to destroy Springfield. And so they have to come back to Springfield, save the day and rescue the town. During that they have all kinds of family fallouts and you get a lot of
00:12:00
Speaker
emotional moments and comedic moments with a somewhat satisfactory ending with The Simpsons winning at the end of the day. Did I cover everything? No, I thought you did a fantastic job of summarising it there. But I've got to ask you though, see the first time you watched this film, what were your initial impressions? Did you think this was a return to form for The Simpsons? Or did you watch it and think, huh, that was a thing?
00:12:24
Speaker
As I've said in other episodes, at this time on first airing, I didn't see much difference between what I was watching on TV in the early 2000s from the older episodes that are considered kind of the golden age of The Simpsons.
00:12:39
Speaker
no issue with what I was watching on TV and tuned in every Sunday to watch new episodes. And so this just seemed like more of that. And I liked it. There were parts 12 year old or other 11 year old me raised my eyebrow about but ultimately, I enjoyed it. It wasn't really a case of return to form. It wasn't really a case of this is meh kind of thing. I think I just I enjoyed the movie at the time.
Controversial and Emotional Moments
00:13:00
Speaker
And there was the whole controversy over the very early stage of the movie, but very briefly showing his penis is ding-a-ling please ding-a-ling Yeah,
00:13:08
Speaker
this film is over. But very briefly showing his dingaling and that was the big talking point like oh my god they showed a penis in a children's animated movie and I remember going back to my brother being like oh my god oh my god it was like on screen for like forever and my brother was like it was on screen for about half a second. Yeah I'm not gonna lie I felt the same way where you did see it and you're like oh my god could they get away with that that went on for ages and you're right it goes on for like one second or two and that's it and you're like huh
00:13:36
Speaker
Yeah, it is probably one Mississippi at most. Yeah, I would say that's probably the most controversial part of it. I mean, other than Kelly Green Day at the very beginning. Well, I mean, some of the other controversies that kind of surround it, I would say is just sort of
00:13:51
Speaker
maybe ruining continuity, which The Simpsons have never been shy of doing. They quite frequently ruin their own continuity with regards to Marge and Homer's wedding. That, I remember bothering me at the time, because I knew that that wasn't what Marge and Homer's wedding was like. There's a scene in the movie in which Marge tapes over their wedding video to make a point about how their marriage is over. And you see a clip
00:14:14
Speaker
of the wedding. From early Simpsons episodes we know that they had a bit of a quick shotgun wedding and didn't really have that kind of romantic videotaped wedding like that and so it felt very out of place. I don't know. I do agree with you. I'm very defensive when it comes to certain parts of the lore, like when it comes to how Homer and Marge met their kind of story. And I think the reason behind that is probably because
00:14:40
Speaker
It's something that's kind of held in high reverence that's important for their characterisation. That's why I hate, and this is slightly off topic, but that's why I hate the episode Sadgasm, the one where they say, oh, Homer and Marge met in the 90s and I know why they did that. Oh, is that the one where Homer becomes like a rock star?
00:14:59
Speaker
yeah pretty much. There's only one line in that that did make me laugh but other than that the whole thing just really irritates me. But for that particular scene and again this is something that we were talking about in the last two previous episodes about what made The Simpsons so great or maybe not so great was that idea of an emotional core. And after watching the early to mid-teen seasons
00:15:23
Speaker
there was a lot more episodes where they just happened and I was like okay this isn't as emotional I don't know if I'm really into this but I was surprised at how gut-punched I felt and I know I'm kind of skipping ahead here but the fact that they had this very poignant scene which don't get me wrong gets ruined a couple of scenes later but the fact they had this poignant scene of Marge at the beginning as you said the town turned against the Simpsons
00:15:49
Speaker
and there's another controversial scene where they imply that they're going to hang Maggie, which I thought even for the Simpsons hanging the babies up at dark. There's no real way. I quite like how they were joking about it with the pacifier on it though. I thought that was kind of
Character Analysis and Critiques
00:16:04
Speaker
funny. And after that, when they're running away, Marge grabs the tape and you can see him
00:16:09
Speaker
important it is to her, her family's important to her, her memories are important to her, and then when Homer betrays their trust by being selfish, ruining the town, ruining the lives, and then when Marge needs Homer they are generally just a band as they're like, no, screw them, which I know he has a bit of a point because he tried to kill him, and after that I'd probably be the same boat, but I do absolutely love that scene. I do think that is probably the best scene
00:16:34
Speaker
and the entire film purely because it is just such an emotional moment where there's quite a, and this is a magic notice until I was researching this, but there's a really neat touch, in fact two neat touches. The first being that apparently they asked the voice actress for Marge, Julie Kavanagh,
00:16:51
Speaker
to do that scene several times over until she sounded tired and run down and that's why she sounds so just despondent which I thought was brilliant but the other one was see when Marge drops the bombshell and says and to show you how serious I am I taped over her wedding tape you can see Homer's face and the reflection when it cuts out and then it goes to their wedding and then they play the very iconic carpenter song close to you
00:17:18
Speaker
just such a beautiful moment because that's also a callback I'm pretty sure to them having that song together and you know it just it felt like old Simpsons again see for that brief bubble moment because there's a lot of silliness in this film some bits land other bits don't but I feel as if for that particular scene that is the only one that I would say is the perfect moment in a sea of otherwise
00:17:42
Speaker
Maybe silliness. You expect the Simpsons to be silly, but would you say that there is too much silliness even for the Simpsons in this film? I do think so. I think they tried a bit too hard in some scenes and they're kind of hitting on the family guy-ness of the Simpsons, which is a big issue at the time. One kind of comes to mind is when Homer's all depressed and he's at the bar and he's playing Grand Theft Walrus. What is that joke? It's just a penguin dances and then as a walrus in a car, you shoot the penguin.
00:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think that was a reference to when Happy Feet had come out, and GTA 4 came out in 2008, I think. So, you know, a year after, but it was still the run-up to the game getting advertised. But it's still not really a joke. Are they writing backwards from Happy Feet, from the dancing penguin that then gets shot? What was the thought process behind that joke? It seemed so out of place. Although, imagine the comments we're going to get from a Simpsons movie, Laura Fishy and Addo.
00:18:41
Speaker
It's going to be like you don't understand, there's a cultural critique of cinema, for legal reasons that's a joke. There does seem to be a lot of weird out of place moments. Do you want to know what my pet peeve moment is? What's that? Colin. Do you remember Colin?
00:18:57
Speaker
Yeah, the little Irish boy. For no reason. He appears at the beginning, he appears during the mob scene, and then he appears at the end. It's to give Lisa something to do in the movie, because she has nothing else to do in this movie. They're so lazy with the character of Lisa, I think particularly around this time period, that they just don't develop her enough. And the movie just does next to nothing with her. It's so highly focused on Homer and Marge, that Lisa is such a push to the side character. And then Maggie is, as is often the case, is kind of an afterthought. I mean, she's a baby.
00:19:27
Speaker
I mean even she has funny moments. I'm just thinking of seeing the same mother in the motel and they all look at Homer when he sneaks back in and Maggie's in the drawer and she just rises up and glares at him. Oh yeah and the bottle's smashing as well when she fights off Mr T. That was quite funny but you're right, Lisa doesn't really have much to do in this one. I was listening to someone
00:19:48
Speaker
was talking about this film, and they said it would have been an interesting idea if they developed the relationship between Lisa and Milhouse. And I know that they don't usually get on, but it would have been more interesting because they're both pre-established characters, you know, and they've both got that connection. JG The Milhouse is the character they're determined to be like, he is a dweeb who obsesses over her and you should not settle for that. And Lisa is better than Milhouse.
00:20:14
Speaker
So yeah, let's throw in the pitch-perfect Colin, who is an environmentalist and a musician and only appears for three scenes. I don't get Colin, I'm sorry, I just genuinely- He doesn't really offend me, I quite like the he's not Bono. He's not Bono, yeah, I like that.
00:20:31
Speaker
Yeah, I'm trying to think of what else. The whole plot of it is outlandish, obviously. It's like a huge dome over Springfield. I don't mind that so much. And the whole idea of destroying Springfield, it had been an idea for such a long, long time. Initially the idea was that Steven Spielberg, voiced by himself, would destroy the town as part of a movie that he wanted to make with Tom Hanks.
00:20:54
Speaker
And then they had the idea that Hank Scorpio would return to be the antagonist, but that didn't end up happening. I wish they'd stuck to an existing character as the villain, like a Mr. Burns, a Hank Scorpio, a Sideshow Bob. These will be much more interesting than like fake government agent. That's very strange that that's the route they took for this. There were a few things that kind of bothered me in the movie scene from scene. I wasn't really a fan of the shaman lady and like her use.
00:21:22
Speaker
hate that. I'm just gonna hope I'm quickly in agree with you. I feel as if it wasn't that funny when I first watched it, but upon rewatching it and showing it to my partner for the first time, that just derailed the entire film for me. It didn't seem particularly culturally sensitive. Oh yeah, that too.
00:21:40
Speaker
It did teach me the word epiphany 11 years old. I never heard of that word prior to watching the movie. So that was something it gave me. But then the whole thing her like big swinging boobs directing him and then that whole scene. Yeah, you're right. It slowed down the movie. And I do remember at the time watching it and feeling like the movie had kind of gone to a bit of a weird place at that point. So I wasn't particularly thrilled by that.
00:22:02
Speaker
And the other thing that often irks me as well is the very end when Maggie knocks the antagonist Russ Cargill over the head. Where did she come from? I don't like this use of Maggie as like a deus ex machina. The whole joke with her and Mr. Burns was it was just an accident. And then they had her becoming some almost like a super assassin type character.
Thematic Elements and Critiques
00:22:22
Speaker
Like there was that one episode where the mob is after Homer and she shoots them from the bedroom and then like hides a gun under her bed.
00:22:28
Speaker
became a flanderisation, didn't it? That she became this ruthless, as you said, assassin baby. Do you think it was a Stewie Griffin type thing? Do you think that's why? No, that is an interesting point. Maybe. I mean, obviously she's not characterised as being evil, but as the seasons got on further,
00:22:48
Speaker
There is definitely that shift between her acting like a baby and this whole moulding her identity over her shooting Mr Burns, because you're right, there's a, and I can't remember what episode or season that is, but there is literally a scene where Smithers bursts into the room of the Simpsons' home and is like, oh no, Maggie shot Mr Burns again, and they're supposed to be like, this throw away line, and you're just like,
00:23:12
Speaker
Is that her identity now that she is just a gun-toting baby? They had set her up as being adventurous, outgoing, as a joke of her age. I remember there was that episode where Marge is in Streetcar Named Desire. I think it's Streetcar Named Marge.
00:23:29
Speaker
over the episode title. And she's put into like baby daycare. And this gets kind of like a parody of The Great Escape. And so that she does a whole almost like a chicken run style, which also is a parody of The Great Escape. She tries to get her pacifier back and does all these crazy little plots to do that. And so you do have to kind of understand that that's where they've been going with her before, but hiding like an actual gun under her bed and appearing presumably out of nowhere by the Springfield Gorge to then whack
00:23:54
Speaker
or like push a rock over Russ Cargill. That just didn't seem right. That didn't play for me. Speaking of rushed parts of this film, one of the other bits that does annoy me is, and this is one of the positive points that I have about this film as well, I do love a lot of the themes that they try to explore in this film.
00:24:13
Speaker
I know obviously there's the religious themes, there's the environmental themes, they're the most prominent ones but in between that you've got the theme of family, you've got the theme of a fractured family that is falling apart because of the selfishness of one member. The fact is that because of that fracture Bart is seeing Flanders of all people as this ideal father figure
00:24:38
Speaker
There's even this particular scene where they go fishing and I do laugh at that scene every time when it gets the bugs up and he puts it in the lake and it kills all the fish. I always laugh at that. And you know Bart jokes himself before he realises that Flanders isn't going to do that. And you know that is an interesting dynamic and everything but at the very end it seems like
00:24:58
Speaker
the conflict is very rushed. They just say, oh Bart, you can hold the bomb and then that would be a Bart Simpson thing to do. You'd be like, oh the man knows me and he grabs the bomb and you know they ride up. It is something that Bart would do but see at the same time you're kind of like,
00:25:14
Speaker
Well, I don't know. I feel as if they built it up really well. He does give a bit of a speech to him prior to that, but you do kind of feel like it's almost like an abusive partner trying to win you back, but this time it'll be different. Bart would be better off with the Flanders. Homer is always going to be a jerk-ass. I mean, especially at this period of time in The Simpsons lore. But again, I know they have to get the film moving along, but what are the other nitpicks?
00:25:38
Speaker
moment I have to have is the fact that they don't use Rainier-Wolf Castle as the president. Yes, I agree with that. That they decided to make it Arnold Schwarzenegger when Rainier-Wolf Castle was a parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger and they essentially just did the same voice, which I think is a Harry Shearer. I think so, yeah.
00:25:54
Speaker
They see the same voice, the character design is pretty much the same. I think they just changed the hair, I think, because the only thing that's really different. And then maybe give them a few wrinkles. And they try and get away with this joke about Arnold Schwarzenegger being the president because at the time he was governor of California. But I mean, not to push my glasses too far up my nose, but Arnold Schwarzenegger, born in Austria, could not be the president of the United States because he was not born in the United States. He can be a governor, but not the president. No, never say never.
00:26:19
Speaker
Apparently. The Simpsons universe is into a universe of its own, I guess. It doesn't have to follow the laws of US politics. I mean, considering this film kicks off because of a massive silo of big crap, I feel as if we could let that go by.
00:26:33
Speaker
It's not the only silo of pig crap in this movie. It's an adulterous piece of shit.
00:26:54
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know whether that coincides with that scandal. I'm assuming it does, because my God, it has been a while. I think it was around that time, yeah. Yeah, so let's just hope it blows over. So it would have made more sense for Rainier Wolf Castle to come in, but again, it's like it's not a major thing that I'm going to say, oh, I hate the film because of it, but that is definitely one of the things I think they could have probably done to briefly improve it.
00:27:19
Speaker
I guess they wanted to try and make it a bit more accessible in that those who didn't remember Rainier Wolfcastle's character would just be able to understand just straight up making it on Schwarzenegger instead. And for someone who wasn't like an avid Simpsons watcher that was just kind of watching this movie, they'd be like, Oh, that's funny. I asked what's in anger as the president. Damn, Norby's coming into the Simpsons.
00:27:40
Speaker
Let's just start gatekeeping this episode. You're not allowed to like it until you watch all 34 seasons, or if you're watching it in the future, all 100 seasons. Yeah, we can't date this episode. Yeah, of course not, when they unearth this in the time capsule. But going onto the positives though, is there anything you would say that this film does excel at or does better than the average episode?
00:28:04
Speaker
There were some bits for sure that I enjoyed and they worked well at the subversion of humour as well. The whipping sled dogs and like whipping them, yelling rest while still whipping them was very funny, followed by when he was being mauled saying, ah, it's my whipping arm. That is objectively very funny.
00:28:22
Speaker
And, and I liked when Homer was in the motorcycle cage at the fairground and he kept going up and then falling, going up and falling and going up and then falling. And the guy at the things says, because I like seeing you hurt yourself, I'll give you one more try. That also
Memorable Jokes and Quotability
00:28:37
Speaker
gave me a bit of a chuckle. There were lots of other smaller moments throughout it.
00:28:40
Speaker
That gave me a bit of a chuckle, like the government listening to your every conversation, Nelson firing a red arrow so he'd know which one was his. There's a lot of stuff to do with what was going on inside the dome and like people in the church running to the bar and the people in the bar running to the church. These are some good visual gags that they squeezed in.
00:28:56
Speaker
Yeah, and there's another good point where Homer tries to get into the dome, dresses up as a officer, hands over to like someone who's supposed to be like a general soldier outside to release the town, but it's written on a leaf and so he punches the guy. Another bit around a similar time where he tries to stop the van that's taking his family back into the town, but he has all these misspelled signs like,
00:29:16
Speaker
yelled in one vein. It keeps working on the guards, which is quite funny. And then the last one is the use of the subverted humour of when he sees a jetpack, which could get him up the dome much easier. And instead he gets the superglue and tries that, which is then kind of ruined by the grabbing his crotch scene, which I didn't find was in great taste. This is a sophisticated film.
00:29:36
Speaker
Well, yeah, no, I get that, but I do think that it was kind of a cheaper joke that I didn't think was necessary. What are your thoughts on those and other positives from the movie? Yeah, I would agree with all of them. I do think that there is a lot of very memorable moments and very memorable iconography if we take away Bart skating nude for a second there.
00:29:56
Speaker
because that's obviously done for shock value because you've also got the scene where for the first time Homer gives the middle finger. Well I say middle finger. I only have four so I guess it's like just the second from left finger or whatever it is. Yeah because that's what I keep thinking. I'm like how do you know? What if that's your pointing finger? That's an episode for another day but
00:30:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there's all the moments there. There's a lot of quotability in this of them. As much as I hate Spider-Pig, or not hate, but dislike it a lot because I felt as if it was used so much in the advertising and the marketing. As I said before, I didn't know much about the plot, but I should as hell knew about Spider-Pig and I was like, oh, this is
00:30:36
Speaker
tedious. Again, going back to just adding on to what you were saying, I did like the fact that when the film wanted to have like a genuine sincere moment, it took its time to do that, you know, with the relationship between Bart and Flanders or with Homer and Marge or with Lisa and the fact that she'll never be relevant in this film. You know, they really took their time to let these particular relationships breathe. There were a couple of awkward moments
00:31:05
Speaker
again going back to when Barr skates nude and then for some reason they handcuff him naked outside across the burger and then Nelson laughs at him and then all these other people were laughing at a naked child and you're like really? You know it's like one of those things you don't really think about when you watch the film and then when you look back on it you're like okay this is a bit strange. The other bit of course is when Marge and Homer snuggle to use their words and I do think it
00:31:32
Speaker
is kind of funny, you know, when it's the Disney parody, it's all the animals getting them ready and they have to like get a bald eagle into it just until it's over. And the odd looking horror as well. Yeah, the doll covers its child eyes. Okay, that one is quite outlandish but it's still quite funny.
00:31:51
Speaker
There's also a really weird joke, I don't think it's a good part of it, but it's where, and I don't know if you remember this, where Ned says, oh I think the Lord's trying to tell me something, and for some reason Homer crosses his fingers and says gee gee gee gee gee. Yeah, that's very much of its time, isn't it? It really is, and I know why they use that joke.
00:32:12
Speaker
I hate using this sincerely to say it was a different time, but the early to mid-2000s definitely was that era of those kind of jokes. Happy Pride Month, everyone.
Nostalgia, Easter Eggs, and Continuity
00:32:25
Speaker
Happy... Happy Love Day, everyone! I hope you keep that in. Of course I'm keeping this in.
00:32:39
Speaker
Of course, going back to what was saying before, I do love the sincere moments in this, especially, as I said, with the Marge and Homer scene, with their relationship and everything, with the relationship between the townsfolk and things. There's just a lot of moments, and I do love the Easter eggs in the background, like when they actually jump the gorge from I think as far back as season, it's either one or two. I want to say season two, but... I think it's a little bit late now. I think it might be three or four. Season two, episode eight.
00:33:08
Speaker
Oh, you're right. You were right. I'm sorry. Look at me. Now I'm pushing my glasses up going. At last I win.
00:33:18
Speaker
But yeah, I liked those kind of references. I think it was kind of weird that they killed off Dr Nick at one point and they just never explained that. Yeah, and to my knowledge, he doesn't appear again after the movie. I don't think he appears again in the show. Where's Dr Nick? Is he safe? Please tell me he's not dead. Bye everybody. Yeah, I don't actually remember if he does. I think that that is his last appearance. Possibly. Which is quite depressing to be honest. That's the way they killed him off.
00:33:47
Speaker
There's so many characters like that. Growing up not realising about the death of Phil Hartman, I didn't realise the point in which the reason didn't get any more Troy McClure or Lionel Hutz. It didn't cross my mind that we hadn't seen those characters in so long because it was syndicated so much. I was seeing him in episodes all the time, and so it hadn't even crossed my mind that I hadn't seen him in a newer episode and why that might be. Yeah, so when you look it up and you're like, I wonder what happened to that character? And then you're like, oh. Oh, his wife. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
00:34:14
Speaker
Oh god, true crime month next everyone! But to summarise my thoughts on the film, I do think that this film was relatively a step in the right direction. I didn't feel as if it was the worst I've ever seen of The Simpsons, and at the time, absolutely loved it. I loved the emotional core, as I said. I loved the characterisation of a lot of the characters.
00:34:38
Speaker
Looking back on it now though as an adult and as someone who now lives in 2023 as opposed to 2007 which is very depressing but I digress, the fact is I do think for the most part the film does hold up and it is a neat time capsule but some of the references data you know like Spider Peg and so on and Grand Theft Walrus
00:35:02
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the Granite Walrus, as I've already pointed out, that's really hated that scene. But I mean, Spider-Man is pretty timeless in that we're always kind of getting Spider-Man content. So I mean, the joke itself of just kind of the absurdism is very of its time. I think that's what particularly dates those jokes. There's been references to Spider-Pig in later seasons of the show. I'd been like, hey, guys, remember the movie?
00:35:22
Speaker
I don't like that. I don't enjoy that they've done that. There are points in this movie which we didn't touch on, which are still funny. Like you talked about the scene at the start where Bart is naked and locked to a pole. The line of, and we referenced it earlier in the episode of, it's the worst day of my life and then Homer says the worst day of your life so far.
00:35:38
Speaker
I think that is a very funny line. It is very much jerk-ass Homer, but I think it is peak funny jerk-ass Homer. And there's a scene towards the end when Bart runs off with Homer onto the bike and either Rodder Todd says, like, I wish Homer was my father. Ned just quickly responds that I wish you didn't have the devil's curly hair, clearly touching a nerve there, which you don't often see with Ned. So I thought that was quite a funny little insight into Ned. But my kind of overall thoughts on the movie as very similar to yours is that it's an okay movie. It's not terrible.
00:36:07
Speaker
I watched it a little while ago now. I watched it earlier this year and then just kind of some research around it and kind of build up to this. And watching it, it was better than I remembered it being because I'd kind of built up this negative impression of it over the years after not watching it for so long. But there are a lot of points in the movie that make you chuckle that have those kind of genuine
Film's Impact and Speculation on Sequel
00:36:26
Speaker
moments. And they were able to achieve those with a lot of the returning writing team from the earlier Golden Year episodes. They put a lot of effort into bringing back some really star writers.
00:36:36
Speaker
which they weren't able to necessarily replicate the gold that was the earlier seasons. But there is quality there, and there is quality over what we would see in some of the seasons around it and after it. It does have jokes that don't age very well, it does have jokes that aren't very good, just generally, and it has themes that I don't think work particularly well. But it is an okay adaptation. It isn't the one that I would have liked to have seen, but it works.
00:37:01
Speaker
Do you think that the creators should have made an attempt to make a Simpsons film earlier in the timeline, you know, like in the 90s? Do you think that would have been better for the series as a whole? It's tricky because you don't want that butterfly effect of other episodes that we love from that time.
00:37:19
Speaker
not having the same level of quality because they focus on a movie instead. Because that is a very real thing that happens within TV shows and movie adaptations. Like I know if you look at something like going to the world of anime, like My Hero Academia, My Hero Academia often releases a movie that coincides with the television show. And when that movie is in production,
00:37:39
Speaker
The TV episodes suffer so much in terms of the quality of animation, the quality of writing, the pacing. It is so night and day different to seeing the quality of episodes that when there isn't a film being made concurrently and when there is one. Did someone say filler episode?
00:37:57
Speaker
I mean, if you did it in the earlier seasons, if you did it in between six and seven, would you have gotten some of the great episodes from season six and seven that we did get? Season six is probably my favorite season. I'm sure I remember now what I said my favorite season was in the episode we did so long ago. I think it might have been nine I said actually. Yeah, but season
00:38:18
Speaker
Season 6 and 7 both have so many iconic episodes that might have suffered and might not have been written as a result of a movie coming out that time. So it might be fortunate that we received the film at the time we did, and we still have those great episodes to look back on. That is an excellent point. Creating a film, and don't get me wrong, I'm no expert in the field of professional filmmaking, but I can only imagine that if you are running a show and I know Matt Groening
00:38:45
Speaker
I don't know if he had Futurama going on at the same time in 2007, maybe, maybe not. Futurama season 6 came out in 2008. At the end of the day though, it's interesting to think that this came out during a time where I think people were getting fatigued with The Simpsons. Like I know especially I was getting fatigued. I watched all the old seasons. I read the comics as well. And even the comics were getting very lackluster. So I was kind of like,
00:39:15
Speaker
I don't know if I'm Roya Simpson's fan anymore, and this is the thing that I will admit did reinvigorate my interest in the Simpsons and to Springfield and the wider world of this show. But I agree with you, I do think that looking at it from that perspective,
00:39:32
Speaker
if it wasn't for the film coming out this time then it would have had a certain ripple effect of affecting our favourite episodes from season 7, season 8, even season 9. I feel as if if they didn't have the chance or the time to do certain episodes it would have been just more clip shows or lazy guest starings. I don't know we haven't brought that up in this film but
00:39:56
Speaker
I mean there's not really many guest stars, there's like Green Day, there's some Hanks, yeah there's a fair few. All we'll say is I'm glad we got the Simpsons film and even though we do get that scene at the end where Maggie kind of teases and says Sequel in the post-credits scene you know before Marvel made it cool.
00:40:16
Speaker
Yeah, we never got a sequel. Seeing this stage, seeing unless they have a story to tell, and I think people have said that, that they don't really have a story to tell in a movie format, but if they had the right story... I'm surprised they didn't. It was very huge box office success, so it was interesting that they didn't then follow that up.
00:40:36
Speaker
I just remember that Futurama had a bunch of movies itself as well. So Futurama had movies coming out almost like twice a year around that time. Like it was the one in 2007, it was like two in 2008 and it was one in 2009. They had a lot of movies happening around that time. Yeah, I remember those films. They were okay as far as I remember, but they were like straight to DVD, I'm sure. Yeah, they very much varied in quality. I think they were like TV movies. So I think I remember seeing them come out, a lot of them come out on TV before they saw them come out on DVD. Whereas The Simpsons movie was
00:41:04
Speaker
the one they were putting all their eggs into the basket for. But yeah, all we'll say is as a closing point, I'm glad we got the Simpsons film. It's not perfect, but then again the Simpsons isn't perfect, and yet we still love it for the fractured, dysfunctional show that it's become. It's become pretty much a reflection of the Simpsons themselves.
00:41:25
Speaker
I was gonna say exactly that. But at the end of the day, that's why we love it. We love it for all its wacky hygents, for all the jokes and everything, and the heart behind it. So if somehow you're a Simpsons fan, or you're maybe just a younger fan listening to this in the future and you think, should I watch this film? You might as well. Go watch it if you've got Disney Plus, and I hope to go Disney Plus's still around in five to ten years, because people listening to this will be like,
00:41:51
Speaker
the hell's it tasted like? On that note, Andrew, thank you so much for coming out and discussing this film. Thank you so much for having me. It was really fun to chat about this movie and hopefully the listeners at home enjoyed what we had to say. And if you have any opinions you want to share with us, anything you think we missed out that we should have brought up or if you have any comments on what we've said, then please do feel free to get in touch with us.
00:42:10
Speaker
and you can reach out to us on our website podpage.com forward slash chat tsunami we are also available on spotify itunes and all good podcast apps if you want to catch up with the rest of the simpsons month episodes we of course have also got a patreon page patreon.com forward slash chat tsunami where you can get early access to episodes a week early and you can also get exclusive content there so
00:42:37
Speaker
Please feel free to check that out. I also want to give a huge shout out to our Pandalorian Patrons, RoboticBattleToaster and Sonia. Thank you so, so much for supporting the channel. If you'd like to hear the latest news as well coming from us when episodes come out and just have general chit chat, you can also find the channel on Twitter at ChatsunamiPod and you can find me at greenchill95. I don't tweet very much through that platform anymore, but if you'd like, you can follow me there.
00:43:04
Speaker
As always, thank you all so so much for listening, stay safe, stay awesome and most importantly, please don't pollute your local likes, you're gonna get a dome on top of you.