Story
In the country town of Springfield, Lisa Simpson (voiced by Yeardley Smith) starts a campaign to rid the local lake of pollution. Her father, Homer (Dan Castellaneta), decides that the rules do not apply to him and proceeds to dump a load of pig manure into the recently cleaned lake. This causes a natural disaster of toxic proportions, which means the government must isolate the town by enclosing it in a large glass dome. Naturally, the townspeople are less than happy and the Simpson family barely escape. After much soul-searching, Marge (Julie Kavner) decides to return to Springfield to try to save it from being permanently wiped out. Homer and Bart (Nancy Cartwright) eventually follow and Homer manages to save the town.
Themes
Environmental disaster; animal cruelty; substance abuse
Violence
There is a significant amount of animated violence in this movie including:
- A mouse (from the “Itchy & Scratchy” cartoon) spears a cat with a flag whilst they are on the moon then proceeds to beat his helmet in until the cat’s eyes explode.
- The “president” of mice from the same cartoon presses a nuclear bomb button to launch warheads to the moon to destroy the cat. The cat swallows the warheads and explodes, spreading body parts everywhere.
- When a cartoon “Green Day” band mention the environment at a concert, the townspeople throw rocks and rubbish at them and their pontoon until it sinks. The drummer is hit with a rock in his groin.
- Homer ‘strangles’ Bart more than once
- A bully hits a boy in the head so that he falls to the ground.
- Bart repeatedly shoots Homer with an air gun while Homer is carrying a load of bricks.
- Homer pulls a pig’s tail to make him squeal.
- An old woman washes her cats on a washboard at the side of the lake.
- With his car, Homer purposely runs over an old man holding a sign near the lake and later reverses over another person.
- Bart jabs a mutant squirrel in its many eyes with a stick.
- A child is bounced off a seesaw and flung into the wall of the glass dome.
- A resident is squashed flat under the rim of the dome.
- Birds fly into the wall of the dome and get squashed. Cats are waiting below for them to fall down.
- The police shoot at the dome to break it and the bullets ricochet off it back into them, injuring them.
- The townspeople stick Homer in the backside with a pitchfork and throw an electric saw at his head. As he disappears down a hole in the sandpit, they scratch and claw at his head. One person fires an arrow at it, which lodges into his scalp.
- Lisa hits Bart in the face, knocking him down.
- The Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) throws his binoculars at his second in charge. They miss, hit their vehicle, bounce back, hit the wall of the dome, then bounce off to hit him in the head.
- Homer has repeated accidents which result in injury, including nailing himself to the roof through the leg, falling through the roof, or falling on his head whilst riding a motorcycle inside a sphere.
- A man strikes the wall of the dome with a large fish and an elephant is encouraged to run into it to try and break it. The elephant collapses.
- On a video game, a walrus shoots a dancing penguin. The penguin is forced through a window with the force of the shot.
- A polar bear attacks a dog.
- During a vision, Homer is repeatedly hit by trees. His body is then dissected into small pieces before being put back together again.
- Homer drives sled dogs with a whip all day and into the night. When he releases them from their harnesses they attack him.
- Homer has an accident with a wrecking ball and is beaten up by it.
- Bart and Lisa kick each other in their sleep.
- Mo and Barney throw a Molotov cocktail to each other.
- Homer hits a security guard in the face.
- Townspeople throw rocks at Homer.
- A bomb disposal robot shoots itself in the head to commit suicide.
- A victimised child takes revenge on bullies by beating them up with a plank of wood.
- A resident is killed by a falling shard of glass.
- Maggie drops a rock on to the Head of the EPA as he threatens to shoot Homer and Bart with a shotgun.
Sexual references
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
- Bart skateboards naked down the streets of Springfield.
- Bart is flung naked into the window of the café while the Flanders are dining.
- Bart is handcuffed to a pole while still naked and left to be teased by the locals. He is then taken, partly dressed, by Homer into the café.
- Homer sticks both middle fingers up in a rude gesture to the townspeople as he disappears down the sinkhole.
- Two male police officers walk towards a door, kiss each other in a passionate embrace, and fall on top of each other as they throw open the door.
- Disney-like animals help Marge and Homer to undress, revealing sexy underwear, as they prepare to spend some adult time together without the children.
- Marge and Homer are seen kissing passionately in their wedding video and later on a motorcycle.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
- Bart drinks from a whisky bottle supplied in the mini-bar of a motel. He ends up drunk as a result.
- Homer refers to Alaska as being “(a) place where you can’t be too fat or too drunk.”
- There is a scene in Mo’s tavern where the patrons are drinking at the bar and then steal the alcohol during a blackout.
- Marge and the children are gassed with an anaesthetising substance while in the back of a prison van.
Nudity and sexual activity
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
- Bart skateboards naked down the streets of Springfield.
- Bart is flung naked into the window of the café while the Flanders are dining.
- Bart is handcuffed to a pole while still naked and left to be teased by the locals. He is then taken, partly dressed, by Homer into the café.
- Homer sticks both middle fingers up in a rude gesture to the townspeople as he disappears down the sinkhole.
- Two male police officers walk towards a door, kiss each other in a passionate embrace, and fall on top of each other as they throw open the door.
- Disney-like animals help Marge and Homer to undress, revealing sexy underwear, as they prepare to spend some adult time together without the children.
- Marge and Homer are seen kissing passionately in their wedding video and later on a motorcycle.
Product placement
The blockbuster movies Spider-Man and Happy Feet are mentioned.
Coarse language
This movie contains some mild coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
The Simpsons Movie is a feature-length version of the long-running American cartoon series of the same name. The series has always been controversial, dividing its viewers between those regarding it as crude and offensive, and those regarding it as enlightened and funny. The movie will no doubt do the same.
The main messages from this movie are the need to respect the environment and protect it from the detrimental effects of pollution, and the importance of family cohesion. You might like to talk to your child about the values presented in this movie, such as honesty and determination against all odds. And you might also like to talk about the real-life consequences of violence, lack of respect for authority, animal cruelty and poor eating habits.