The Simpsons Movie/Trivia

* For the entire month of July 2007, as part of a campaign to hype the July 27th opening of the movie, twelve "7-Eleven" stores all over North America changed their names to Kwik-E-Marts, and begun selling products like Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal, Radioactive Man comics, and Squishees, including WooHoo! Blue Vanilla flavor. One store in Burbank, California reported selling over 57,000 sprinkled donuts matching the one featured in the movie poster. Only one of the twelve locations was in Canada, located in Coquitlam, British Columbia (a suburb near Vancouver).
* Work on the script began in 2003. 158 drafts were written.
* *The Simpsons Movie* is the only PG-13 rated animated film to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature. It is also the only film based on a television show to do so.
* Twentieth Century Fox registered the internet domain SIMPSONSMOVIE.COM on April 22, 1997, nine years before the movie finally was green-lit.
* In total, *The Simpsons Movie* (2007) took nine years to complete. This is because Fox greenlit the project back in 1997 but in the years up until release, they had to get the voice cast to sign deals, which they didn't do up until 2001. Producing a final script also took several years because almost 160 different versions were written before choosing the final one as plots were continuously being repurposed for the television episodes.
* *The Simpsons Movie* (2007) debuted in Springfield, Vermont on July 21, 2007. 20th Century Fox held a contest to select one of sixteen possible Springfields (spanning nationwide) to decide which city would host the premiere. Springfield, Vermont won, just beating out Springfield, Illinois.
* In the original script, Marge was going to have the vision in church. However, it was changed when the crew felt it would make more sense for the family to be ignoring Grandpa than Marge.
* "Spiderpig" by Hans Zimmer reached number three after climbing from the 20s in the Irish Music Charts. At just over a minute, it is the shortest track ever to make it in to the Irish Music Charts. In the U.K., it got as far as the Top 20.
* One of the movie's promotional materials is a skit where Marge, Lisa, and Homer are American Idol (2002) judges and are listening to Simon Cowell. Cowell's contestant number is "72707." The movie was released in theaters on July 27, 2007.
* The ring tone from Homer's cell phone is an "anti-cell" joke to warn viewers about turning their cell phones off.
* Released between seasons 18 & 19 of the TV show.
* The 20th Century Fox logo appears just as usual, but with Ralph Wiggum standing inside the "O" humming the last few bars of the logo's theme.
* Tom Hanks' sixth theatrically released animated film after *Toy Story* (1995), *Toy Story 2* (1999), *The Polar Express* (2004), *Cars* (2006), and T*he Ant Bully* (2006).
* Homer also tried to jump the "Springfield Gorge" in the season 2 episode Bart the Daredevil. The ambulance used to transport Homer to the hospital, can still be seen sitting where it collided with a nearby tree.
* The first new episode of The Simpsons (1989) broadcast after the release of the movie featured an altered opening credit sequence which included numerous references to the movie, including Bart skateboarding through a destroyed Springfield, the multi-eyed squirrel, Russ Cargill, President Schwarzenegger, the Simpsons' house in the process of being rebuilt, and Homer pulling into the driveway with the silo strapped to the roof of his car. The couch gag featured Spiderpig/Harry Plopper sitting on the couch, waiting for them. Homer cuddles him and says, "Ah, my summer love!"