"How Did The Pig Tracks Get On The Ceiling?"

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 2008)

Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie original debuted as super-short spots on the popular TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW in 1987--and proved so popular that they soon graduated to their own series, THE SIMPSON, on Fox. A mixture of zany action and pop culture satire, the show was a huge hit--and some twenty years later is still going strong.
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE finds the family in their usual spate of comic chaos, including Grandpa's prophecy at church and Homer's acquisition of a pet pig. Unfortunately, when Homer dumps a silo full of pig crap into Lake Springfield, rendering it toxic, he attracts the attention of the EPA and makes Grandpa's prophecy come true. Is Springfield domed? Er, doomed? There's a lot to like about THE SIMPSONS MOVIE. It's well crafted, the characters have lots of off-the-wall bits, and when it scores it scores big. But series fan who complain that the series has lost some steam over the years have a point: although its amusing and clever and lots of fun, The Simpsons just don't have the same bite they did back in the day--and this is as true of the film as it is of the series. It's more akin to the pop culture it mocks than to the satire-sharp show it used to be.
The DVD release, which is available in both full screen and widescreen, comes with several bonuses. The audio tracks are inconsistently interesting, but the rest is enjoyable. D'oh! GFT, Amazon Reviewer