A documentary film cannot be the way television programs that choose to spend their hour-long 20th anniversary special, but The Simpsons is not a common sight. It’s easy to forget that in 2010, fully trained FOX animation, Adult Swim and several cable channels devoted to animation, The Simpsons was innovative for its time.
Although everything is now compared to The Simpsons, The Simpsons were compared with the Flintstones, a prime time cartoon that lasted six seasons in the 1960s. Nobody was doing adult animation The Simpsons, when it aired, and it has a lot of sorrow for what they were doing. However, The Simpsons put FOX on the map, and did it well be a cartoon for adults, too.
The series took the world by surprise, and has been marketed in every conceivable way, so what better way to look back at 20 years of The Simpsons to do it through the eyes of the global audience that was a phenomenon world.
I’m actually glad FOX went this route, rather than another tired clips show. Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super-Size Me, 30 Days) quite literally traveled the globe speaking to fans of all walks of life. He found the largest collection of merchandise and that Simpson was a terrible and beautiful thing to see. It highlighted the importance of this show is for some people, and the amount of these characters are echoed by generations of fans now.
It was also great to see interviews with voice actors, as so rarely get to see the faces that go with many voices in the program. There are so many great characters from The Simpsons, it’s hard to imagine that so few voice actors of all. Personally, I would have had an enormous pleasure to see all of his major characters, but maybe I am. The work that goes on behind each episode fascinates me. But that’s not what this particular question.
It was about this program and its importance. He even spoke of Tracey Ullman, who is on The Simpsons made their debut. It was fun to see how different they sounded and then, and did a great job making me feel old because I remember watching the Tracey Ullman show and get great pleasure in this odd-looking family.
It was a long time but I clearly remember a sequence in Bart’s face, effectively “locks in this way”, like all of our mothers for years have warned us would happen if we continue.
It was not particularly interesting or appealing, but neither is these days The Simpsons. And he managed to work in a couple of digs about President George W. Bush, who seemed a little attention given the supposed point of this documentary. But I guess if we have to Morgan Spurlock’s documentary, these things will happen. Imagine if Michael Moore had!
I found myself entertained during the special, and I thought that the time flew by. The Simpsons as a phenomenon is an endlessly fascinating topic. They have generated books, comics, toys, bedding, clothing, food, music, a top-grossing film and even beer Duff (pending lawsuit – a bit of dark events). It is an impressive feat for a show, but The Simpsons is not just any program. It’s something strangely beautiful, even though no great episode by episode, and that’s exactly what this documentary showed us.
Related posts: