The Simpsons Movie (July 27, 2007)

This movie is based on the Fox animated television series The Simpsons and stars the regular television voice cast. The film follows Homer Simpson, who irresponsibly pollutes the lake in Springfield after the town has cleaned it up, causing the Environmental Protection Agency to imprison the town under a giant dome. The Simpson family are able to escape to Alaska but feel remorse when they see that Springfield is going to be destroyed. They decided to return to save it though Homer refuses and chooses to remain in Alaska. Eventually however, Homer sees the error of his ways and works to redeem his folly by returning to Springfield himself and saving the day. Although previous attempts to create a Simpsons film had been made, they all failed due to the lack of a script of appropriate length and production crew members; eventually in 2001, development began of this film. The script was rewritt

en over a hundred times, with rewrites continuing after work on the animation began in 2006. I have never watched a full episode of The Simpsons, only brief clips (including of this movie), so I will be reviewing this film from that limited background. The animation is great, it stays true to the television style but is plussed for theatrical release. The humor is terrific with smart social commentary and popular culture references that, surprisingly, do not feel too dated (though you definitely can place the time in which this film was released). I am also pleased that there are few gross or childish jokes. It is very ironic that they make fun of Disney in a few instances when, unbeknownst to them, the franchise along with the rest of Fox’s properties would become part of that very Disney empire. The plot is slow to start but once the bubble drops it really gets going, grabbing my attention until the end. The Simpsons Movie grossed $536.4 million worldwide and became the eighth highest-grossing film of 2007, the second highest-grossing traditionally animated film (behind Disney's 1994 film The Lion King) and the highest-ever grossing film based on an animated television series. I think this financial success is well deserved as I thoroughly (and unexpectedly) enjoyed The Simpsons Movie and it deserves the recognition it has received throughout the years, becoming ingrained in the very culture it lampooned.

Final Rating: 8/10