# The Simpsons

## Movie

The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress MacNeille and Pamela Hayden. It features Albert Brooks as Russ Cargill, the evil head of the Environmental Protection Agency who intends to destroy Springfield after Homer pollutes the lake. As the townspeople exile him and eventually his family abandon him, Homer works to redeem his folly by stopping Cargill's scheme.

Previous attempts to create a film version of The Simpsons failed due to the lack of a script of appropriate length and production crew members. Eventually, producers James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Scully, and Richard Sakai began development of the film in 2001. A writing team consisting of Scully, Jean, Brooks, Groening, George Meyer, David Mirkin, Mike Reiss, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, Ian Maxtone-Graham and Matt Selman was assembled. They conceived numerous plot ideas, with Groening's being the one developed into a film. The script was re-written over a hundred times, and this creativity continued after animation had begun in 2006. This meant hours of finished material was cut, which included cameo roles from Erin Brockovich, Minnie Driver, Isla Fisher, Kelsey Grammer and Edward Norton. Tom Hanks and Green Day appeared in the final cut as themselves.

Tie-in promotions were made with several companies, including Burger King and 7-Eleven, which transformed selected stores into Kwik-E-Marts. The film premiered in Springfield, Vermont, which had won the right to hold it through a competition organized by Fox. The film was a box office success, grossing over US$526 million. It received a significant majority of positive reviews, with some critics saying it was better than the latter seasons of the show.

### Plot

While performing on Lake Springfield, rock band Green Day are killed when the pollution in the lake erodes their barge. At a memorial service, Grampa has a prophetic vision in which he predicts the impending doom of the town, but only Marge takes it seriously. Lisa and an Irish boy named Colin, with whom she has fallen in love, hold a meeting where they convince the town to clean up the lake.

Meanwhile, Homer adopts a pig from the Krusty Burger. Homer stores the pig's feces in an overflowing silo which Marge tells him to dispose of safely. However, Homer gets distracted and instead dumps the silo in the lake, re-polluting it. Moments later, a squirrel jumps into the lake and becomes severely mutated. Nearby, Flanders and Bart discover the squirrel during a hike, and the EPA captures it. Russ Cargill, head of the EPA, presents five options to President Schwarzenegger, who randomly picks the action of enclosing Springfield in a giant glass dome. When the police discover Homer's silo in the lake, an angry mob of townspeople approach the Simpsons' home and sets it on fire, but the family escapes through a sinkhole and flees to Alaska.

Cracks start to appear in the dome and Cargill, not wanting news of what he has done to become widespread, plans to destroy Springfield. In Alaska, the Simpsons see an advertisement for a new Grand Canyon to be located on the site that was Springfield. Marge and the kids decide to go and save the town, but Homer refuses to help the people who tried to kill them. The family abandons Homer and leaves but are captured by the EPA and placed back in the dome. After a visit from a mysterious Inuit shaman, Homer has an epiphany and believes he must save the town in order to save himself.

As he arrives at Springfield to do so, a helicopter lowers a bomb suspended by rope through a hole in the dome. Homer climbs to the peak of the dome and descends the rope, knocking the escaping townspeople and bomb off. Homer grabs the bomb and a motorcycle. After reuniting with Bart, they cycle up the side of the dome and Bart tosses the bomb through the hole, seconds before detonation. The bomb explodes, shattering the dome. The town praises Homer, who rides off with Marge on the motorcycle into the sunset. The townspeople begin restoring Springfield back to normal.