With “The Simpsons – The Movie”, the team around David Silverman and Matt Groening took a big risk: after more than 20 seasons and an unassailable cult status, the bar was set extremely high. Added to this was the challenge of bringing a 2D cartoon show nearly four times its length to the big screen. And that at a time when 3D animations were already state of the art. After all, cinematic heavyweights like “Shrek the Third” or “Ratatouille” appeared in the same period! Despite this, the film was a resounding success at the box office, grossing over $536 at the worldwide box office on a budget of $75 million.
This was mainly due to the fact that the needs of the fans were noticeably taken into account. They have everything they’ve come to love about the show over the years: Almost all well-known characters did their due credit, main characters were presented with stories that sounded familiar, many running gags were used and there were plenty of pop culture references. The focus, of course, was on Homer, who risked the safety of all of Springfield with his silly foolish ways. No major changes were made to the optics either. The Simpsons Movie feels like a long series episode.
A huge production effort!
It’s always been one of the Simpsons’ strengths to come off as casual and simple, even though behind the episodes are a huge production effort and some well-thought-out, satirical concepts. In the film, the makers have outdone themselves. The screenplay has been rewritten over 100 times! The intensive work on the story benefited the work, which, while remaining close to the series, still leaves room for fundamental further development of the characters. Just think of the relationship between Homer and Marge!
But not only the screenplay, which has been worked on since 2003, was the result of a complex development process. The animations were also detailed and complemented the cinema format well. This becomes especially clear when the full width of the image is used, as is the case with the wildlife images of Alaska, for example. However, one of the most visually impressive scenes can be found in the first third of the movie, when it feels like all of Springfield is chasing Homer like a torch-carrying platoon. This almost looks like an epic battleground!
An orc in the evil pack
The impression doesn’t seem entirely out of place in this scene. After all, there is a reference to “Lord of the Rings” in it! An orc has been hiding in the evil pack! You can find it by pressing pause at 32 minutes and 57 seconds. Since the shot cuts through the crowd quite quickly, you have to choose the right moment. If you don’t want to take a look yourself, we have of course made a small snapshot for you.
It’s not Springfield’s only allusion to the “Lord of the Rings” universe. The makers also dedicated one of the famous couch gags to the Hobbit movies. You can find him at the beginning of the third episode of the 25th season. You can also find some references in the legendary “Treehouse of Horror” episodes. For example, in the third episode of season 33, you can meet Treebeard! Also particularly cool are Sauron’s eyes over Mr. Burn in the first episode of Season 32. There would be so many more such references to discover, but the orc is certainly one of the best hidden easter eggs.