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By Kylee Dawson
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Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons | What could have possibly taken so long to create a Simpsons movie?
“It’s taken 18 years because we’re lazy,” says Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, at a press conference in Beverly Hills, on Sunday, July 22. “We’ve been asked that question quite a bit and we don’t have the answer.”
“It took 15 years to get up the nerve and four years to make it,” adds James L. Brooks, co-executive producer of The Simpsons Movie and TV series. “Initially, we said we wanted to be true to ourselves, be true to The Simpsons and still do things that make it worth a movie, [things] that we’ve never done before.”
Good timing and coming up with a film-worthy story were essential, according to Al Jean, producer and writer for the movie and showrunner for the series. Additionally, because The Simpsons has never gone on hiatus, there had not really been enough manpower to produce both a film and a series, simultaneously.
“It’s very much a team project,” says director David Silverman, who has helped animate The Simpsons since its inception as a short on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987.
Silverman, co-director of Monster’s Inc., left Pixar exclusively to direct The Simpsons Movie.
Who’s got jokes?
Groening, along with three other Simpsons alums, began writing the script in November 2003. Others eventually jumped on board bringing the total number of writing credits to 11.
“It’s very, very hard to describe the process of working with other people and writing jokes in the same room for hours a day and into the night,” Groening says. “I think it’s sorta like trying to be amorous with a three-headed dog: you’re gonna be licked a lot, but somebody’s gonna get bitten by the end of the night.”
“Well we do lots of different kinds of jokes, but my particular favorite kind is when we set up something for deliberately leading the audience into what they think the joke is,” adds Mike Scully, a producer and Simpsons showrunner.
A perfect example of such a joke involves a unique array of scenes portraying a naked Bart. While on the subject of genitalia, Brooks is sure they could have taken a joke involving super glue and Homer’s “cojones” much further.
In a post Janet Jackson nipple ring toting world, keeping series content within the boundaries of what the FCC considers suitable has not been an issue until recently, Brooks said.
“Strangely, nothing that we were able to do in the early days in the show (was censored), but lately it’s become very repressive,” he says. “We’re so happy with the PG-13 because of the ‘Irreverent Humor Throughout.’ We won’t get a better rating than that.”
Who’s got talent?
Brooks says nothing was more exhausting than completing the voiceover work. Some scenes, such as a pivotal speech by Marge (voiced by Julie Kavner) toward the end, required more than 100 takes, though the actors were intent on getting the job done well.
“The voices of our cast are absolutely perfect,” Groening says. “The actors are unbelievable. In fact, I think one of our favorite scenes in the movie is Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) trenching through the snow, talking to himself. That was an improvisation by Dan. And we have 300 secondary characters on the show…”
“But we only have to pay eight people,” Jean adds.
Of those 300 secondary characters, a few new ones made the final cut, including Lisa’s love interest: an environment-loving Irish boy.
“We thought an Irish romance would be suitably tragic for Lisa,” Jean says.
Some scenes, such as Marge and the children appearing on The View and a one-liner from Disco Stu, among others, didn’t make the final cut, but will be released on the DVD, along with alternate endings.
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David Silverman, director of The Simpsons Movie | Despite one simple phone call to an A-list celebrity to do a cameo, all other cameos were made by folks who explicitly approached the producers, asking to be in the film, including longtime Simpsons voice contributor Albert Brooks and punk rockers Green Day, who revamped The Simpsons theme.
“Spider Pig”
A classic Simpsons song before audiences even heard it in its entirety, the origins of the “Spider Pig” song are more ridiculous than the song itself. Though 11 writers contributed to The Simpsons Movie script, 12 are credited with writing “Spider Pig,” which consists of a whopping five lines.
“We’re generous with writing credits,” Jean says.
When Jean suggested, “Homer should be holding the pig up and say, ‘It’s the amazing Spider Pig,’” Scully and Mike Mirken began singing the Spider-Man theme song and… you can assume the rest.
“[The song] came from the room’s energy,” Silverman says.
“I was there! I was listening and laughing! I think I would have thought of it,” Groening insists.
2D vs. 3D
Before the success of The Simpsons series, Groening says people would feel sorry for him when he was introduced to them at parties as a cartoonist. And now, during an era dominated by 3D animation, it’s almost nostalgic to have a 2D film in the movie mix these days. Yet, to this day, Groening is still fascinated by the simplicity of and joy he gets from 2D animation.
“There is something about the hand drawn gesture,” he says. “I think it’s why comic books are successful. Comic books are not drawn with computers. And, with The Simpsons, I can see the specific personalities of animators and the actors. I can see David Silverman in basically everything that The Simpsons are today.”
“Look at that design on Homer,” Groening says, pointing to a Simpsons Movie poster. “Very few lines on that face. There’s no human iris. It’s just a dot and a circle. All you need to is to change the shape of the circle slightly and he’s the greatest actor of the twenty-first century.
“These days we still try to obey the rules of no unnecessary motion and no unnecessary lines. I love that deer-in-the-headlights look that we have in this poster. It’s something that you don’t see in other movies.”
Is the show over?
Rest assured that a Simpsons Movie is not marking the beginning of the end of the series.
“This has been enormously energizing, doing this movie,” Brooks says, “because it’s all home grown. So many people connected to the show have just contributed. So many. I think it’s been a great bonding, energizing thing. We haven’t felt better in a long time.”
Though a sequel may not be another 18 years away, a major benefit of making The Simpsons Movie was receiving a great education to keep the momentum of the show going, Silverman says.
The promotion of the film, via 11 7-Eleven chains across the country being turned into Kwik-E-Marts, has helped show just how culturally resonating The Simpsons has become.
“To see the lines outside the Kwik-E-Mart and the enthusiasm of people, we were staggered,” Groening says.
On Saturday, July 21, Groening and crew visited Springfield, Vermont, which beat out a dozen other Springfields in the U.S. to host the world premiere of The Simpsons Movie.
“It was an amazing experience,” Groening says. “We were given the key to the city and it opens up every door.”
When the film screened in Portland, Phoenix and other U.S. cities, audiences were asked to keep the film’s plot and secrets under wraps. Though astonished that they honored the request, Brooks says it was because “they didn’t want to spoil the fun for anyone.”
“I always thought that the series would be successful,” Groening says. “I thought that if we could get it on the air, kids would tune in for sure. I didn’t know adults would give an animated series a chance. And the fact is, adults did too.”
Who said “sequel”?
“It would be uberous, I think,” Brooks says, to talks of making a Simpsons Movie II. “I mean, we just finished making this.”
“I do this like pig crap,” Scully added, in reference to the soon-to-be infamous silo of pig droppings in the film. “It don’t come overnight.”
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