The Simpsons - The Movie - 07.27.07

[luke]

Toms right. I can't remember the last time the Simpsons was even funny, let alone smart.

[b.miller]

i stopped watching simpsons at around season 10, but from what i understand, the people who are doing the Simpsons movies are the guys from those golden seasons 5-8 so i'm looking forward to it!

as for Family Guy, it was funny before it was cancelled. I don't think you can honestly say it's at the same level now. I'd like to see one episode without a single nonsensical reference to some past event and accompanying flashback. Maybe Simpsons is just as bad as that now i dunno, but let's see what Family Guy's like on season 17 or whatever... Simpsons season 3 kicks all sorts of Family Guy season 3 ass. undisputedly.

[grady]

Fuck that! Family guy is following in the same suit as a Kevin Smith film, ten years from now, you will need a reader's guide to get all the little piddly bullshit referential nonsense that pervades that show that at the time seems so hip and of reverance. You can use the same arguement for the Simpsons too, but it doesn't seem as painfully over the top as the Family Guy.

And there is the goddamn turd that could'nt get flushed down the toliet, American Dad.

As someone above, b.miller, in particular mentioned, Family guy is now a series of thought bubbles that begin with, "Hey, remember that one time....", then cue the film reference.

The Family Guy resurrected is nowhere near what it was before cancellation.

And as a simpsons fan/appologist, yeah, it's not stellar at all anymore, but I get a least a laugh and a chuckle, one of each from most episodes. However there are some that are so bad it makes me cringe, but never to the level of going to watch Family Guy.

[holden]

Can't believe we're debating cartoons worth... They're supposed to make you laugh, is all. The Simpsons used to, ten years ago, still does occassionally. The Family Guy consistently makes me laugh, don't care if it's over the top of juvenile. It's a freakin' cartoon. Freakin' sweet.

p.s. Sometimes comedy is supposed to be topical, cos no one laughs at "where's the beef?" jokes in 2006.

p.s. to Dirty0900: yeah, South Park ripped on Family Guy as being a bunch of puns and recollections written by manatees who moved "idea balls" from one side of a tank to another. Truth hurts, but it's still funny.

[grady]

Originally Posted by holden

Can't believe we're debating cartoons worth... They're supposed to make you laugh, is all. The Simpsons used to, ten years ago, still does occassionally. The Family Guy consistently makes me laugh, don't care if it's over the top of juvenile. It's a freakin' cartoon. Freakin' sweet.

p.s. Sometimes comedy is supposed to be topical, cos no one laughs at "where's the beef?" jokes in 2006.

p.s. to Dirty0900: yeah, South Park ripped on Family Guy as being a bunch of puns and recollections written by manatees who moved "idea balls" from one side of a tank to another. Truth hurts, but it's still funny.

True they are just cartoons, but compare Family Guy to The Simpsons is not really much of an arguement. On one level, it's apples to oranges, but The Simpsons level of writing is leaps and bounds above the Family Guy.

So yeah, they're cartoons, but much greater thought and care goes into each episode of the Simpsons, compared to Seth McFarlane thinking it would be funny to parody Lost at the moment as it's the hip TV show. Even the bad episodes of The Simpsons will stand up better upon review than Family Guy.

[grady]

New Trailer.

[mmm skyscraper]

Sweet.....

[Dirty0900]

I really think this film will be shit. It should have been made 6 years ago, from the trailer it looks like theres to many ideas being checked around.

*Runs*

[Sean]

Originally Posted by holden

Can't believe we're debating cartoons worth... They're supposed to make you laugh, is all.

Originally Posted by grady

True they are just cartoons,

Okay....check yerselves, people. "Just cartoons"? Do you have any idea how much work goes into making an animated short, commercial, television show, or feature film? Or how many incredibly talented artists it requires to be able to pull it off? And I suppose that shows like the Simpsons and Family Guy have two strikes against them in that they're also comedies...Hollywood's least respected genre. All based on ignorance. Most any great comedian could also deliver a high quality dramatic performance, but not so many dramatic actors can deliver a high quality comic performance. Put simply, great comedies are about a hundred times harder to make than great dramas.

All that being said, I think it's hard to compare Simpsons to Family Guy to South Park to any other animated show on tv. They all just have very different approaches. South Park's put down of Family Guy seemed kind of failed to me because it was essentially criticizing a bird for flying. The comedic style of Family Guy is unabashadly to go off on tangeants as the opportunities present themselves, just as a bird's main mode of transportation is to fly. South Park is a more solid three act structure. The Simpsons falls somewhere in the middle, but probably closer to the three act structure again.

I hope the Simpsons movie is good. I honestly haven't heard anything about the film from friends working over there since they're all preoccupied with the fact that the studio's shutting down when they finish up the projects they're already working on.

[grady]

Originally Posted by Sean

Okay....check yerselves, people. "Just cartoons"? Do you have any idea how much work goes into making an animated short, commercial, television show, or feature film? Or how many incredibly talented artists it requires to be able to pull it off? And I suppose that shows like the Simpsons and Family Guy have two strikes against them in that they're also comedies...Hollywood's least respected genre. All based on ignorance. Most any great comedian could also deliver a high quality dramatic performance, but not so many dramatic actors can deliver a high quality comic performance. Put simply, great comedies are about a hundred times harder to make than great dramas.

To quote myself Sean, So yeah, they're cartoons, but much greater thought and care goes into each episode of the Simpsons.

I do have an idea of the amount of work goes into creating an animated short, a feature, a commercial and a feature length film. I've been privy to people who've worked on the simpsons, as well as others in the film industry, the context of that quote is taken a bit too far, but I can understand your knee jerk response sean, esp. in light of the recent thread regarding animated films a few weeks back. I feel I've pretty well checked myself and have tried to avoid the simple breakdown you've made regarding the big three(Simpsons, S.P., and F.Guy).

Everyone one has their bias regarding the big three and you could almost draw and analogy to political parties with the shows in questions. But at this point in the evening I don't have the patience to do so.

So to answer your query, I do understand the amount of work, time and creative ingenuity that goes into constructing a 30 second shot, or a 30 second spot, or a 30 minute short.