It is the characters of Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie, and, of course, Bart Simpson who bring audiences back to the town of Springfield with the crazy predicaments offered up by the towns folk. There have been fans of the Simpsons for years since the shows origins on the sketch comedy program The Tracey Ullman Show way back in 1987.



The Simpsons marked one of the first time that an animated TV show was treated as more than just kid's stuff due to the salty language and sharp political and social satire underlined by what would be considered stupidity to the unenlightened.

As the Simpsons had gone into its tenth season, rumors had begun to circulate as to whether or not the Springfield citizens would ever make the leap from small screen to big screen. The rumors ran wild for years with fan expectations quickly building. Then the show's creator Matt Groening announced that it would not happen anytime soon. Fans, while disappointed, could still take solace in the new season.

Flash forward seven years and the rumors began to rekindle after Groening had stated the potential of a Simpsons movie once again. And it was at the 2006 San Diego Comic Con that fans got their first peak at the movie. And now that the film is out, what is the verdict on the transition? Well, that would depend on the fan.

The film opens with an amusing Itchy and Scratchy piece which is revealed to be in a movie theatre where Homer begins to complain that he could see it on TV at home without having to pay for it and declares that anyone who would do that is a sucker.

He then points to the camera and says Especially YOU! This sets the tone of the rest of the movie which deals with Springfield's heavy pollution, Marge and Homer's marriage starting to crumble, Bart finding himself with father issues, and Lisa falling in love with an Irish/environmentalist/musician boy who is NOT related to U2 front man Bono.

The movie features every character from the series (which there are many). The Simpsons Movie is a great translation of TV to movie that, despite maybe not pushing the envelope enough, still delivers quite a lot of laughs.