page_title: The Longest Daycare
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: The Longest Daycare / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: David Silverman in 2007 in New York, in front of The Daily Show theater. Cropped by User:Storkk, from Image:David Silverman in 2007.JPG
context_page_description: Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare" or simply The Longest Daycare, is a 2012 American traditionally animated 3D comedy short film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. In the film, Maggie Simpson is enrolled at a new daycare facility where she squares off with the foul-tempered Baby Gerald when she befriends a caterpillar. The short originated with Simpsons producer James L. Brooks, who enlisted long-time veteran of the series David Silverman to direct the film. The picture was written by producers Brooks, Al Jean, David Mirkin, writers Michael Price and Joel H. Cohen, as well as show creator Matt Groening.
  The film premiered on July 13, 2012, where it was attached to screenings of the 20th Century Fox release Ice Age: Continental Drift. The film is the second Simpsons theatrical release. The short was re-released on February 15, 2013 and played before the film Life of Pi in selected theaters in United States. Reception has been positive, praising the storytelling and animation. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2013, losing to Paperman.
context_section_description: The origins of The Longest Daycare came about when The Simpsons executive producer James L. Brooks proposed the idea of making a short film and releasing it in cinemas in front of a feature film—similar to how animation film studio Pixar creates shorts to play before their feature films. He wanted the short to be a fun gift for the fans of The Simpsons, and according to the series' showrunner Al Jean, "We [the staff] just wanted to do this as a way of saying, 'We appreciate how much people have stayed with the show and watched it for 25 years.'" Brooks picked David Silverman, long-time veteran of the series and director of The Simpsons Movie (2007) to oversee the film. Silverman gave credit to Richard Sakai for the idea to produce the film in stereoscopic 3-D. He considered the reasoning for employing 3-D "hard to describe," noting that was largely an experiment and its genesis was born out of "having fun."
  The group first gathered in March 2011—consisting of Brooks, Silverman, Al Jean, David Mirkin, writers Joel Cohen and Michael Price, and Simpsons creator Matt Groening via phone—to pitch ideas for a short. Early on, it was decided to keep it entirely silent and employ Maggie as the lead character, and the setting of a daycare was decided upon. Jean wrote the treatment for the film, and Silverman completed an animatic of early story reels in June 2011. By the following February, the team regrouped to structure the story and formulate more ideas. With the help of Brad Ableson, Erick Tran and Ben Lane, the storyboards and animatic for the short were approved and the film entered production. Silverman himself animated two shots present in the final film.
  Silverman and his crew began animation work on the short in March 2012, completing in May after just under ten weeks of production. He considered his crew "very experienced", noting that he worked with stereographer Eric Kurland for the 3-D shots. It was animated with The Simpsons's usual production pipeline, which involved sending shots to AKOM in South Korea, but with an amplified focus on the 3-D.  The team would attempt to complete ten scenes to send to AKOM per week, which would be returned in a cleaned-up form after two weeks. Shots were then composited together at Film Roman out of necessity as the backgrounds relied on the 3-D. Most stereo elements for 3-D were picked out after shots were cleaned up, while others were manipulated in post-production with After Effects. The short was more costly than the average episode of the television show.
caption: The film was directed by David Silverman.
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