The One Regret The Writers Have About The Simpsons Movie
In 2007, a major cinematic event finally arrived in theaters: The classic, long-running animated sitcom "The Simpsons" got a movie adaptation starring the main voice cast in the form of "The Simpsons Movie." It was even penned by a core team featuring legendary scriptwriters like John Swartzwelder, who'd left the show a few years prior.
The main plot depicts a pollution crisis starting in Springfield, which is worsened by Homer carelessly dumping pig waste into the lake. Russ Cargill (Albert Brooks), the corrupt head of the EPA, then quarantines the entire town under a huge glass dome to deal with the problem. Enraged, the population forms a mob against the Simpson family. Homer (Dan Castellaneta), Marge (Julie Kavner), and the kids escape to Alaska, only to return to Springfield when they discover the EPA plans to demolish it.
The film grossed over $500 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo) and received positive reviews (via Rotten Tomatoes), but the writers do wish one thing had been different about the release of "The Simpsons Movie."
The Simpsons writers wish Spider-Pig hadn't taken over the ads
In an article about the 10th anniversary of "The Simpsons Movie," director David Silverman and co-writer and producer Al Jean commented that they wished the Spider-Pig joke hadn't become the dominant one in every trailer and ad for the film (via Entertainment Weekly). The joke in question comes right as wife Marge is telling daughter Lisa how important it is for a partner to listen to you. Meanwhile, Homer walks past while holding his pig upside down on the ceiling and singing the famous "Spider-Man" theme — only this time, the lyrics depict "Spider-Pig."
The team was surprised that Jean and Silverman's silly gag became the center of the film's marketing campaign. "The next thing we knew, it was half the ads," Jean told Entertainment Weekly. "That was the one thing that was a very late addition that suddenly took over the whole movie. I wished they hadn't advertised it quite as much — because it was really just a little joke."
Still, Spider-Pig almost appeared in much more of the movie, including Homer's dream, so maybe it was good that those sequences were deleted. Silverman recalled that, at the time, Jean shot down including more of the joke: "Al was like, 'Oh, I think we're tired of Spider-Pig at this point.' Yeah, you're probably right."