Note: This was originally intended to be solely a review of The Simpsons Movie, but instead became a stroll down memory lane, which I suppose is both appropreate and required, given the subject matter.

One December evening two decades ago I sat down in the cool blue glow of the television with my brother to watch The Tracy Ullman Show. During the show, a just-shy-of two minute animated short appeared. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had just met one of the most constant and reliable companions of my life. The characters were crudely drawn, the timing virtually non-existent, the jokes were subtle and careful. Still, the yellow, bug-eyed family struck a chord in my heart and apparently also in the collective hearts of the country. It wasn’t long before The Simpsons outgrew the short-run variety show and earned their own 30-minute block, once a week in prime time.

It would be an understatement to say the show took off. “D’oh” entered the American lexicon and people began to sport Bart Simpson t-shirts as if they had both always been the norm. The show’s popularity however was (like all popularity) not universal. Conservatives the country over sought to sweep the show off the air. Even George H. W. Bush had opinion, stating “We’re going to strengthen the American family to make them more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons.” My own parents had their distrust of the show, but this distrust was abated after they actually sat down to watch a show with me one night. Eventually, the controversy ebbed, as people picked new battles to fight and the show continued on.

I have an interesting relationship with The Simpsons. While the characters on the outside have aged none, every aspect of the series has grown and matured as I have. A few years ago I was speaking with a friend about the show, and he brought up an interesting point: The Simpsons started out as a series about Bart Simpson, and has since become a show about Homer Simpson. I can’t recall the last time I heard “Don’t have a cow, man,” or “Eat My Shorts,” but Homer always has his donuts in something. It makes sense if you think about it. Bart, while a mischievous little boy is exactly that, a boy. There is only so much trouble he can get into. Homer, on the other hand is an adult, and while he is not the epitome of complex he is much more easily related to because he gets into situations Bart could never get into. Having grown up with The Simpsons, this has been their legacy for me: I could always relate, both as a child with Bart and as I have gotten older with Homer.

Last night, I like many crowded into a theater and saw The Simpsons Movie. I did have my doubts— with a few notable exceptions, recent films have been… lackluster. The movie industry has become to industrialized. Movies today are made to appeal to the widest possible audience, rather than to fit the vision of the director. With The Simpsons Movie however I was very pleasantly surprised. The show’s essence remained in tact, despite the one and a half-hour length and big budget and branched out to fill the unique shoe that the movie theater creates. The writers obviously enjoyed the freedoms that writing for a theater audience provides, but still kept to the core of what the Simpsons is all about: A show about a below-average father derailing all hopes of peace and happiness in his, the ubiquitous dysfunctional family.

Rating: *****

Links:

• The first Simpsons short appearing on the Tracy Ullman Show
  
• The Simpsons Movie Trailer
• Their Wikipedia entry
• Official Website
• Official Movie website