The Simpsons - The Movie - 07.27.07

[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.....

[grady]

I love the shot near the end with Homer and the Pig where he's craddling it and blowing on it's belly.

[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*

[grady]

Yeah, I have a feeling this is going to be a near miss, but I like to keep hope alive, mainly out of sheer enjoyment occassionally of weekly episodes.

This week's episode spoofing Michael Apted's Up documentary series of films had some great laughs.

[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.

[den]

As far as Simpsons vs. Family Guy goes, here are my thoughts. The Simpsons, partially becauase of their longevity (and speaking as a whole, not specific recent or past seasons), is a lot more characeter based. Think about how many episodes there have been about secondary characters, like Apu or Moe, that are more story driven. You actually care about the characters. Family Guy is more random and skit based, without the attachment. Besides Brian and Stewie, I feel like most of the other characters aren't that compelling, at least not to base a whole episode around. I'm not saying that one show is funnier than the other, they're just funnier in different ways.

One show I have recently enjoyed more is Futurama (also apparently coming back with new episodes). I think it has the development of the characters, but also a lot more freedom for random stories and parodies. My favorite episode is the one with the Harlem Globetrotter planet and the time crystals. Completely hilarious, but it also ends on a sad and touching note. And there's also that Fry's dog episode.