- Joined
- May 18, 2014
The Simpsons Movie was made by a committee of veteran writers and then sat thru a lengthy development hell. This kind of process is what the classic era used to develop scripts but it didn't end there. They then did a series of test screenings and the reactions of the audience altered the movie heavily. This is why "Spider-Pig" which was once one dumb throwaway joke became the Pickle Rick of the movie's meme marketing.
What you were left with is a heavily lopsided film that tries to please everyone including the jaded 90s "Comicbook Guy" style fans and your normies. I saw it once in the theater and my reaction was it felt like a decent recreation of the classic show, until The Simpsons escaped Springfield and then it turned into unfunny trash.
I still remembered being bored to tears during the Eskimo Dream sequence. Why did they try to make drama with Marge leaving Homer when we know such a dramatic event would obviously be resolved? Why did they rename Rainer Wolfcastle "Arnold Schwarzenegger?"
It amazes me that the movie is only 86 minutes long yet felt so much longer. I wonder why Mr. Burns is reduced to a small credits cameo when he's the most iconic antagonist the show had and could have easily been written in as a character who was behind the destroying of Springfield. Why do the Simpsons writers have an apparent disdain for the EPA? Whatever, what should have been used as the finale for the show now just feels like a footnote in the TV show that'll never end.
I read somewhere that the Movie was like 95% written with Hank Skorpio as the villain but he was too likable and not evil enough so they had to scrap the script and start over.