The Simpsons Movie

Cinephile deep dive

The take

David Silverman directs. Hans Zimmer scores. John Carnochan cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
• 3Made its money back 7.0× over at the box office.
• 4Released 19 years ago.
• 5Part of the "The Simpsons Movie Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 6Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor John Carnochan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner and Nancy Cartwright carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "See our family. And feel better about yours.".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0462538 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 21 themes, including "garbage", "pollution", "quarantine", "environmental protection agency".
• 12Released under 38 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Original score

Hans Zimmer

Editing

John Carnochan

Sound

Chris Scarabosio

Runtime

87 min · 1h 27m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$75,000,000

Box office

$527,068,851

Return

703% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

The Simpsons Movie (2007) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

87% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

80/100

IMDB rating

7.3/10 · 362,148 votes

MPAA

PG-13

Part of

The Simpsons Movie Collection

The theatrical adventures of the Simpson family.

• 
  The Simpsons Movie

  2007 · this one
• 
  The New Simpsons Movie

  2027

Also by

David Silverman

• 
  The Simpsons

  1989 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Simpsons: Tracey Ullman Shorts

  1987 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Maggie Simpson in "Playdate with Destiny"

  2020 · ★ 7.4
• 
  The Good, the Bart, and the Loki

  2021 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"

  2012 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Maggie Simpson in "The Force Awakens from Its Nap"

  2021 · ★ 6.6

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Simpsons Movie (2007) Trailer #1 | Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  #TBT Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Gimly2019-01-22
  ★ 4/10

  I've never been particularly invested in The Simpsons. This movie didn't turn me around on that. I could stand watching it, Hell, this was actually the second time I've seen it, but I assure you, it was not for my own enjoyment I did so. Final rating:★★ - Definitely not for me, but I sort of get the appeal.

  Read full review ↓
• Kamurai2021-01-01
  ★ 4/10

  Forgive this forward, but I literally watched all 31 seasons because I was sick and have never understood what the fuss was about the Simpsons. I really have to conclude that the appeal of the Simpsons was a simple lack of options when it first came out, and then it just grew in power by simply existing for so long. For this movie: Uninspired watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend, unless you're already a Simpsons fan. It's really just a lot of the Simpsons being Simpsons, but that also means that the overall story writing is actually pretty good, even if the character writing is rather repetitive. I did enjoy the introduction of Ploppers, Spider-Pig, but it doesn't really even out everything else. The big adversity is an "under the dome" scenario, which is actually interesting enough to explore, but because it's the Simpsons, we know that nothing ultimately interesting is going to happen, and that everything is going to resolve like its TV counterpart. Now, that said, the TV show does drop unexpected, unexplainable shifts, like the death of characters. I don't think Fox was brave enough to put such a thing in the movie, which would have completely changed the gravity of the movie. It's fine, it's well produced, it's just not very interesting, and I don't think I'd ever watch it again unless I was binging the Simpsons again, and wanted to watch it in order.

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2026-04-15
  ★ 6/10

  I might be the only person on this planet who has never seen an edition of 'Friends' or 'The Simpsons' ! The former didn't ever make a movie and the latter - well, it has taken me twenty years to get around to watching it, and I found it all a bit tame. With the townsfolk of 'Springfield' constantly abusing their environment, it falls to 'Lisa' and the other kids to force the mayor to take steps! A grand-scale tidy up ensues and everyone obeys the new dumping ordnances, all except 'Homer' whose need for cheap donuts is greater than his care for the lake. When he deposits his vat of toxic pig manure into the thing, the fish start thinking they belong in 'Pirhana' and President Schwarzenegger orders his EPA to endome the entire town for public safety. When the citizens discover just whom the cause of their newfound misery actually is, well they become akin to an army of vengeful zombies and the 'Simpson' family might well end up with their days numbered. I can't compare this with the television series, and it is always much more difficult to take a tried and tested short-term comedy format and turn it into a full length feature, but what this doesn't really do it make you laugh. It takes some low hanging fruit from the 'Janet and John' basket of politically correct topics and then writes some vaguely humorous jibes that take few risks or push any boundaries of satire, irony or even sarcasm. It's too light-hearted to make much impact and so we are largely left with a scene-stealing pig and some typical family dysfunctionality as I felt it really struggled along for ninety minutes. There are also too few opportunities for the engaging array of supporting characters to get in on the act, and by the conclusion I felt more the recipient of some well-meant school philosophising than some hard and gritty comedy. It is watchable enough, and there are a few one-liners that do raise a smile, but my first visit to 'Simpson'-land left me wondering what much of the fuss was about.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Gracie Films

  US

• 

  20th Century Fox

  US

Key crew

• ProducerJames L. Brooks
• ProducerMatt Groening
• ProducerAl Jean
• ProducerRichard Sakai
• ProducerMike Scully
• Executive ProducerNikki Vanzo
• EditorJohn Carnochan
• Art DirectionDima Malanitchev
• Sound DesignerChris Scarabosio
• Sound Re-Recording MixerTom Myers
• LayoutFrans Vischer
• CompositorsRick Moser
• CompositorsEdwin Shortess
• Assistant DirectorMatthew Schofield
• AnimationAnthony DeRosa
• AnimationJohn Pomeroy
• CompositorsMiae Kim
• Post Production SupervisorJeannine Berger
• LayoutRichard Manginsay
• LayoutEric Koenig
• LayoutEddie Rosas
• LayoutManny DeGuzman
• CompositorsColin Sittig
• CompositorsBeth S. Morris

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• garbage
• pollution
• quarantine
• environmental protection agency
• parent child relationship
• villain
• dysfunctional family
• dysfunctional marriage
• alaska
• fugitive
• ecology
• first love
• angry mob
• duringcreditsstinger
• dome
• wanted
• based on tv series
• ambiguous
• amused
• bold
• enthusiastic

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2007-07-21
• Theatrical2007-07-27PG-13

Also known as

International titles

• Der Simpsons - Der FilmDE
• Los Simpson: La películaES
• Les Simpson, le filmCA
• ザ・シンプソンズ MOVIEJP
• Simpsonovi ve filmuCZ
• Simpsonowie - Wersja kinowaPL
• I Simpson - Il filmIT
• Les Simpson, le filmFR
• Simpsoni filmHR
• Симпсоны в киноRU
• Сімпсони у кіноUA
• Simpsonlar: Sinema FilmiTR
• เดอะซิมป์สันส์ มูฟวี่TH
• Simpsonovi FilmSI
• 심슨 가족: 더 무비KR