17 Years Later, One Simpsons Story Got Everything Right About the Series (2024)

It's no secret that The Simpsons has been through some rough patches over the decades. With 36 seasons under its belt, there were bound to be some hits and bound to be some misses. The best seasons of The Simpsons are typically considered to be within the first 10, but nostalgia is no reason to dismiss the gems that the later seasons have to offer.

Season 36 of The Simpsons premiered on September 29th, 2024, and it's been praised for having one of the funniest episodes in years. Given the high praise, many fans on social media have gone back to watch episodes from the middle seasons and have been pleased with their findings. Season 19, in particular, is one that many fans have been rediscovering and reappraising, and it makes perfect sense. Season 19 came immediately after the release of The Simpsons Movie, which is where it truly feels like they cracked the code. Directed by series regular David Silverman, The Simpsons Movie has everything from brilliant gags to devastating emotional moments and is absolutely the best the series has been so far.

What is The Simpsons Movie?

Turning a beloved TV show into a feature-length film is a transition that doesn't always work, but there's a clear difference between The Simpsons Movie and other attempts. Even successful attempts like The Bob's Burgers Movie and all the Futurama films fail to differentiate themselves from the typical weekly episode of their show. The Simpsons Movie, on the other hand, miraculously manages to appeal to fans of the original series while also feeling like an entirely separate product.

The Simpsons Movie follows an even more politically chaotic version of Springfield than the one fans were used to seeing. With Lake Springfield reaching unprecedented levels of pollution, Lisa attempts to rally Springfield to finally pay attention to such a terrible issue. After some clever persuading on Lisa's part, the town finally bands together after 19 seasons to stop dumping in it for good. Homer, predictably, disobeys this and dumps his silo of pig waste into the lake, leading to an environmental emergency. A dome is placed over the entirety of Springfield to contain the spreading environmental defects, and when the town finds out that Homer caused the lake's downfall, the Simpson family is forced to go on the run. The family believes they've made it off scot-free until they learn that the government is planning to blow up Springfield.

• The Simpsons voice cast reprised their roles for The Simpsons Movie.
• Hans Zimmer composed the music for The Simpsons Movie.
• 158 drafts of the film were written before the final product.

What follows from this point is a masterful balancing act between stellar comedy and intense familial tension. Every iconic The Simpsons character here, even beyond the Simpson clan, is used to their fullest potential. From Bart and Ned Flanders to Lisa and Collin, to Marge and Homer, all the way to Moe Szsylak and Ralph Wiggum. Every single beat, every single gag, every single line is tuned to perfection.

The Simpsons Movie Has The Comedy Fans Fell in Love With, and So Much More

The Simpsons has a proven formula at this point and, year after year, can produce 22 episodes of reliable comedy without fail. There is no real risk of being taken off the air, or any risk of failure on television. The mere existence of The Simpsons Movie is a risk, especially with the abandonment of a reliable formula. To differentiate itself from regular episodes, The Simpsons Movie chose to heighten the drama by providing final resolutions to long-building storylines.

The relationship between Homer and Marge reaches a boiling point after Homer's environmental error, but the real reason is the lack of trust, and breaking of promises. Throughout the whole film Marge is increasingly worried about the environment due to a frightening omen from Grandpa Simpson, and Homer entirely disregards her concerns. The film puts their relationship to the test by displaying the stark discrepancy in sacrifices each one is making. The emotional climax of this subplot comes at the start of the third act, when it's revealed that Marge taped over their wedding video in what is truly a rare heartbreaking moment for The Simpsons. The effort Marge has put into the relationship is hammered home the entire way through, and her frustration is entirely understandable.

• The Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You" is played during Homer and Marge's wedding video.
• Julie Kavner, the voice of Marge, did over 100 takes of Marge's impassioned monologue.
• Dan Castellenata, the voice of Homer, voices 20 other characters in the film.

The heightened drama continues with Bart's storyline and his growing desire for a consistent father figure. While Bart and Homer get along in a friendly way, as evidenced by the opening and closing scenes of the film, Homer constantly fails to provide Bart with solace and reassurance. Over and over again, Homer fails to be there for Bart during a time of need, and it reaches a breaking point. Bart finds a father in Ned Flanders. Ned is as different from Bart as anyone can be, but he's there for him and parents him gently. The frustration, again, is understandable, but in both cases, it's hard not to empathize with Homer. This complexity and dynamism from The Simpsons characters is not normal for a typical episode, and the film is absolutely better for it.

When it comes to the jokes, of course, there is more resemblance to the series. It's simply impossible to avoid the guaranteed laugh that is the D'Oh, the donuts, and the Duff. The Simpsons Movie contains some incredibly smart jokes, but it is essentially a greatest hits compilation for every character. Characters like Cletus, Chief. Wiggum and Milhouse are all granted series-best moments. While the jokes they're delivering are perfectly expected, not at all deviating from their archetypes, they're just about as good as they get.

The Simpsons Movie is Full of Iconic Moments

The Simpsons is more intertwined in culture than the average viewer cares to realize. "Meh," "Embiggen," "Cromulent," and "Jeebus" are all words that originated on the show but have become fully integrated into the American lexicon. The series' involvement in culture continues beyond there, because within 10 swipes on social media users are guaranteed to be hit with a reference. This was seemingly inevitable though, with 36 seasons, it seems there's a reaction GIF for nearly everything. The impressive part is that, despite being only 87 minutes out of 264 hours of total Simpsons content, The Simpsons Movie makes up a good chunk of the quotable material.

• 7 words that originated from the series are now in the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries.
• The GIF of Homer fading away into the bushes is commonly referred to as one of the most-used GIFs ever.
• The Simpsons Movie is the second highest grossing traditionally-animated film ever, behind The Lion King.

When it comes to reaction GIFs, the most commonly seen moment is most likely the angry mob swarming the Simpson residence, but the iconic moments extend beyond this. Spider-Pig's theme song is musical genius, and still rings in the minds of viewers, while millions of fans have been inspired to recreate Flanders' cocoa recipe. The celebrity cameos in the series are almost always great, but The Simpsons Movie provides some of the best. Tom Hanks and Albert Brooks turning in legendary voice-acting performances, pumping out a litany of hilarious quotes. Albert Brooks' Russ Cargill says, "Of course, I have [Gone mad with power]! You ever tried going mad without power? It's boring! No one listens to you!" and it's perhaps the most poignant and hilarious of the bunch.

Is The Simpsons Movie 2 On the Horizon?

After the success of The Simpsons Movie, both critically and at the box office, fans were expecting The Simpsons Movie 2 immediately. During the end credits of the film, Maggie Simpson even breaks her silence, addressing the audience by saying, "Sequel?" so it seemed like a sure thing. It's possible that initial development was delayed due to the WGA strike of 2008 and with movie theater performances lacking since there has been little motivation to get a sequel off the ground.

• The chalkboard gag from Season 19's "He Loves to Fly, and he D'ohs" implies the film will be released prior to 2028.
• The Simpsons showrunners have expressed a desire to make the film canonical.
• The Simpsons Movie grossed $536.4 Million on a budget of $75 Million.

In 2014, FOX officially approached James L. Brooks and requested that they begin development on a sequel. Given the toll that the first film's production had on the staff, development continued slowly until 2019, when Disney acquired FOX. Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, claimed that he was confident that Disney would produce a sequel, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, development stalled once again. Hope for a sequel has not dwindled yet, as cast and crew continue to clamor for it to this day. Hopefully, with the success of recent animated outings at the box office, there will be justification to finally produce a sequel.

17 years later, The Simpsons Movie stands as a highlight of the series, even when placed against classics like "Homer's Enemy" and "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" It perfectly captured what makes The Simpsons such an enduring show while also differentiating itself with heightened drama, new characters, and improved animation. Rumblings of a sequel will continue to surface year after year, leaving fans wondering if they can catch lightning in a bottle twice. Regardless of the outcome, The Simpsons Movie remains a prime example of why the series became so beloved in the first place.

The Simpsons Movie

PG-13

Animation

Adventure

Comedy

Based on the long-running animated sitcom of the same name, The Simpsons Movie followed Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie as their hometown of Springfield is quarantined by the EPA due to Homer irresponsibly polluting the town's lake. The film stars the entire main cast of The Simpsons and includes famous guest stars like Albert Brooks, Tom Hanks, and the members of the band Green Day.

Director

David Silverman

Release Date

July 27, 2007

Cast

Julie Kavner , Nancy Cartwright , Hank Azaria , Dan Castellaneta , Harry Shearer , Yeardley Smith

Writers

Jon Vitti , Mike Reiss , Al Jean , John Swartzwelder , David Mirkin , Matt Groening , matt selman , George Meyer , James L. Brooks , Mike Scully , Ian Maxtone-Graham

Runtime

87 minutes