From Springfield to Kenya

July 27th, 2007

So today is new release day and one of the hotly-anticipated debuts is The Simpsons Movie. It seems like people are really mixed about it. Some have been waiting for this moment for years – no wonder the Simpsons writers felt the need to complete over 100 rewrites! Some are skeptical about and others feel violated at the prospect of seeing full-frontal Bart. (Have you heard? El Barto gets nekkid in the film!)

Based on the trailers and the hype do y’all predict it will be a hit or a miss?

And while we’re on hit or miss, let’s take a moment to wax nostalgic: Favourite Simpsons episode? (here’s Vanity Fair’s list, to jog your memory)

Call me old fashioned, but I still think that the one with the land of chocolate (“Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk”, season three, episode 11) and the one with Duff Gardens, which features a contender for best line ever – “I am the lizard queen” – (“Selma’s Choice”, season four, episode 13) are two of the best.

The jury may be out on the movie itself, but everyone (correction: everyone on Facebook) loves the Create Your Own Avatar program on the movie’s website. If you ever wondered what you’d look like as a Springfieldian, you can build a Simpsons character in your own likeness. Caution: It’s easy to get obsessed.

While googling early reviews of the movie, I came across this cool article. Apparently the global reach of the show is so huge that even a small group of carvers in Western Kenya stand to profit. That’s right. Most of them have never seen The Simpsons, but in the small village of Tabaka, where the craft of soapstone carving is a tradition passed down from one generation to the next, expert sculptors are earning a living off of the movie’s release.

20th Century Fox commissioned the soapstone-savvy Tabakans to make carvings of the Simpson’s characters as official merch. The business employs about 80 people and has turned around the local economy.

So if the movie is good, great. And if it sucks bags, well, at least something good came out of it, non?

Check out a couple pictures of their work here and be sure to read our coverage of Simpsons Movie fodder on MuchNews!

See you at the movies!

Posted on Friday, July 27th, 2007 at 11:03 am by Liz and is filed under Just For Fun.