“Everybody get ready, here comes the birthday girl in her very first dress.” – Marge Simpson
“Awww.” – Everybody
“She’s a little angel.” – Patty Bouvier
“Yeah, I want to put a hook in her and hang her from our Christmas tree.” – Selma Bouvier
“What smells?” – Abe “Grampa” Simpson
“Uh-oh.” – Marge Simpson
There were so many links about “The Longest Daycare” and the other award nominated animated shorts this week that I’ve set them aside in their own special VIP section. (I came across so many that I initially thought the ceremony was this Sunday, not next Sunday.) Almost everyone seems to like or love “The Longest Daycare”, though it also seems like nobody has any idea who’s actually going to get to read an awkward thank you speech on stage while most of the audience wonders when they’re going to get to the good awards.
Beyond that there are also a bunch of Valentine’s Day links, including not only the usual assortment of “I Love Lisa” stuff, but also one taking Valentine’s Day to task for being oh so much like Love Day from “Trash of the Titans”. And beyond even those, there’s also a great animated .gif of one of Homer’s more epic nights out, a homemade Simpsons blanket, awesome looking Simpsons cookies, someone who thinks the show peaked in Seasons 6 and 7, and some fashionistas who take some of those couture Bart clothes for a spin.
Enjoy.
(BEGIN “The Longest Daycare” Section)
The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare – People of Australia, you’ll be able to see the Maggie movie at 6:25pm this Sunday on TEN.
FOX to Broadcast Oscar Nominated Short Film MAGGIE SIMPSON: THE LONGEST DAYCARE, 2/17 – People of America, we will be able to see the Maggie movie after Zombie Simpsons this Sunday.
Watch All Five of the 2013 Best Animated Short Film Nominees in Full – Or the people of Australia, America and everywhere else can just click through here and watch all five of the Oscar animated shorts on the internet. (via Animation Fascination)
‘The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare’ review by Javier – A short review which I will quote in its entirety because it agrees with us:
I enjoyed this mini Simpsons episode, heck, it could be the best episode I seen from the Simpsons in 7 years, actually, now that I’am thinking about it, they should make the Maggie Simpsons adventures, I be down for that.
Back to the short.. ‘The Longest Daycare’ is fun, well pace. The comedy is classic Simpsons but with the class of a film from the 1930′s.
Indeed.
Maggie Simpson in: The Longest Daycare (2012): Academy Award Nominee Best Animated Short Film 1 of 5 – More kind words for Maggie:
This short film is certainly the funniest of this year’s nominees, and with its success I am sure we will see more Simpsons short films in the future. Let’s just hope they are all this entertaining.
Fingers crossed.
Oscar-nominated animated shorts: The Simpsons spin-off The Longest Daycare – And a rather more negative review:
This five-minute Simpsons cartoon played before the most recent Ice Age feature; and while it features a couple of satirical gags worthy of a good Simpsons episode, it feels closer in spirit to the kid-friendly entertainment of the Ice Age movies. The plot has baby Maggie enrolled at the "Ayn Rand School for Tots," where toddlers are divided into a "Gifted Area" and a grim-looking room marked "Nothing Special." Apart from the appearance of "Raggedy Ayn Rand" dolls, the filmmakers never advance on the satirical promise of that set-up.
Could they have done more? Sure. On the other hand, the Ayn Rand School for Tots is from Season 4’s “A Streetcar Named Marge” and has all of the things this review is looking for in terms of satire (The Fountainhead Diet, Helping Is Futile), so something that was just whimsical and funny worked well.
[F the] Oscar Nominated Shorts: The Ghost of Nominees Past – And a more positive one:
As far as I’m concerned, Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare was the best (read: least annoying) short that the collection had to offer. In tribute to the short movie convention of actually being a SHORT movie, it was only five minutes long. Those five minutes were filled with humour, brilliant sight gags, and a sense of completion for which every film should aim (call me a traditionalist). Yeah, Fox has the budget to make all of their wildest dreams and ambitions into animated reality, but you know what? Money works. Sorry. I feel like this film will win.
I guess we’ll see.
Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts – A take that liked it, but not to win:
While it is the second shortest nominee it’s stil an example of The Simpsons at their finest, it’s a little bit crude, but it’s funny, and packed full of pathos. I’d probably rank it as my least favorite of the five, but that’s a tribute to the competition, rather than a slight to this fine film.
Five Animated Shorts, Only One Oscar – People do seem to enjoy this film:
Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare, directed by David Siverman displays the still relatively sharp and wiry humor that the show is known for. Set in “Ann Rand’s School for Babies” we get Maggie battling her arch nemesis to save a hapless butterfly. Entertaining and even a tad suspenseful, I liked how clever this short was. 8.5/10
Oscars 85.0: Best Animated Short Film – Though not everyone thinks it’s worth of the golden phallus:
Finding its place somewhere between a rejected minor subplot for an episode of The Simpsons and a cheap short to simply capitalize on 3D technology, Maggie Simpson’s antics in The Longest Daycare are fun but nowhere near Oscar-worthy. The short is simple and full of the satire and subtle humor that has made The Simpsons beloved for so long, but the multiple decisions that were clearly made simply for the purposes of 3D are hard to overlook, as are the choices of humor and satire that seem poorly out of place in a short like this.
And we’re done. Good luck next Sunday, Maggie!
(END “The Longest Daycare” Section)
Beckerman Bite Plate: Bart Simpson + Layering – The Bart Simpson scarf and hat in the wild, photographed for a sisterly fashion blog. Cool.
The Simpsons and ‘Moneyball’ – This seems about right:
I clicked on it expecting to hate it, but like Scott Hatteberg fielding grounder after grounder, it worked and worked and worked at its goal, and I think it succeeded. A Simpsons/Moneyball mashup worth about 120 seconds of your time:
Brad Pitt as Mr. Burns and Jonah Hill as Smithers works pretty well. (Incidentally, the YouTube account there is called “simpsonstrailers” but this is the only one on there. It was posted last year when Moneyball came out, and if you look at the stats the video had just a few views until earlier this week when it went nuts, so maybe they’ll finally get around to making some more.)
39/365 – From the same blog that brought us the image of the three Homers last week comes this very cool, double exposure ghosted Otto. Bravo.
Blankets!!! – A homemade Simpsons blanket for a friend’s daughter. Aww.
Simpsons Challenge – Another blogger contemplates taking the leap and watching every episode:
One idea I have is a review based one. And what do I feel like reviewing? Every episode of The Simpsons. Yes, even terrible ones.
I thought this would be an interesting one, as I’ll be honing my reviewing skills and I know that I’ll get a chance to review some fantastic episodes and some lousy episodes. It would take me over 500 days to do them all… I think I’m okay with that.
I still don’t know if I will or not, but it’s an idea that’s bouncing around my head.
Would you, O grand Internet, be interested in something like that?
Of course! But having seen people both succeed and struggle with it, I’d strongly recommend calling it quits around Season 11.
Simpsons Reviews – From the same blog as the above:
The more I think about reviewing every episode of The Simpsons, the more I really, really want to do it.
It just sounds like a cool idea to try! I love the golden years of the show (and who doesn’t) and I’m honestly baffled by how far the quality has declined. By watching every episode, I’d have a complete understanding of the show… Kind of.
What do you need to know? The show grew up, got married, and became cheap TV.
From Fuzz, to Clarity, to Convenience: The Revolution of Television – From a college course blog about the evolution of television:
Being a child of the broadcast waves I gradually started to recognize advancements and transitions in the Television Industry. Everyday when I was young I vividly remember rushing home to watch the Simpsons, which aired at 5:00 on the fuzzy, off color living room TV set. This meant that everyday at 5 o’clock I was at the same place, doing the same thing. It didn’t take long before I found myself following a pretty strict schedule, never missing an episode.
She goes on to discuss how with all the silicon chips and such these days you can watch it whenever you like, which means you can also watch more stuff. Hooray!
TV’s Best Valentine’s Day Episodes: The Office, Modern Family, Glee and More! – According to E! Online, “I Love Lisa” is the #2 Valentine’s Day episode.
Valentine’s Day: A History – Taking a look at the opening of “Trash of the Titans” as a way to get into the true spirit of Valentine’s Day: figuring out how it got this out of control.
The Simpsons Valentine’s Day Cookies – Deliciously sugary looking Valentine’s day cookies featuring various Springfield twosomes.
Is It Bacon Day? Happy…Valentine’s Day! – Just a screen grab of Homer’s love letter from “Bart the Lover”, but at least someone remembered that yesterday is also Bacon Day.
Vege-might – “Lisa the Vegetarian” holding its own in a serious contemplation of vegetarianism with George Orwell and Peter Singer:
A familiar – and more possibly revealing than was intended – portrayal of the meat industry broadcast to my generation can be found in an episode of The Simpsons. In the episode Lisa the Vegetarian , students at Springfield Elementary are shown the Troy Mclure (who you may remember from other such educational films as “Two Minus Three Equals Negative Fun” and “Firecrackers: The Silent Killer”) fronted student education film Meat and You. Following a tour of a meat processing plant, the film’s protagonist, Jimmy, asks “Mr McClure? I have a crazy friend who says its wrong to eat meat. Is he crazy?” to which McClure responds “Nooo, just ignorant. You see, your crazy friend never hear of the food chain”. The image then presented to the viewer is a telling and brilliantly satirical representation of our perceived relationship with the animal kingdom:
That image remains hilarious.
An Engagement with a Tiny Box – Discussing Homer’s onion ring proposal among many other television propositions:
The poverty-stricken Homer, now a lowly trainee at a fast-food outlet, puts an onion ring on pregnant Marge’s finger before she asks him to take it off before the grease burns her. Homer, of course, eats the onion ring seconds after removing it. The poignancy of The Simpsons can make unglamorous moments like these seem like the ending of Casablanca,
Well put.
3 episodes of The Simpsons students in blizzards should watch – I’d replace “Skinner’s Sense of Snow” with “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”, but that’s just me.
DR ZAIUS, DR ZAIUS – Somebody just discovered Eye on Springfield:
for those of you who know each joke off the top of your head, it’s still an entertaining way to kick back, ignore that lingering deadline, and indulge in some eye candy.
viva la simpsons!
Viva! (And bonus points for naming the blog Glower Power.)
Winter Storm Nemo…In 10 Words – Lisa, these men are professional meteorologists.
The 2013 Grammys…In 10 Words – It really shouldn’t be considered an award at all.
The Pope’s Resignation…In 10 Words – Feh. I’d rather watch the baby goat drinking from the bottle.
Identity Thief…In 10 Words – Hello, my name is Mr. Burns.
28 More Funny Signs From The Simpsons (2.11.13) – A great list with some fantastic sign gags. There’s one or two from Zombie Simpsons, but that’s it.
Simpsons – Homer’s Night Out (gif) – Awesome animated .gif of Homer’s “Scene Missing” evening on the town.
Valentine’s Day is no joke – Just YouTube of Skinner’s Valentine’s Day Vietnam flashback. Johnny!
The Vacuous Love of Valentine’s – A defense of Ralph from “I Love Lisa”:
How should we think about love? Ironically, Ralph Wiggum – one of the dumber characters on The Simpsons, a character who may be accused of not thinking at all – answers this question. Walking Lisa home from school he explains that he picks his nose too much, so much in fact that he must see a doctor because it frequently bleeds. If that’s not being yourself I don’t know what is. Have you seen that episode? Ralph Wiggum gets his heart totally annihilated, on live television no less. And yet, Ralph Wiggum demonstrates something profound, something he may not entirely comprehend: there is nothing romantic or loving or compassionate or chivalrous or true about taking a girl on a date and acting like someone else. That is the real selfish behavior.
I never thought of it that way, but Ralph certainly is incapable of jerking anyone around.
Was 1995 The Greatest Year In The History Of The Simpsons? – Maybe? There’s some good discussion here about why Seasons 6 and 7 are incredibly fantastic.
Top 10: Television Shows of All-Time – The show checks in at a shockingly low #10 here.
It’s 6 o’clock! – That episode where Marge briefly gets breast implants comes in for a lot of well justified criticism here.
30 Day Book and Literature Challenge: Day 25 – And finally, I get to end the way I like, with someone who agrees with us. Reviewing “Planet Simpson” by Chris Turner, Mrs. S. writes:
Given what the show has become this book is already like a time capsule of a happier, more intellectual and richer time.
Indeed.
