The head of the EPA is voiced by the Simpsons stalwart Albert Brooks, but the movie is generally light on celebrity cameos and voice-overs, properly emphasizing the talents of the series regulars (Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith and Nancy Cartwright as the family, with Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer filling out much of the non-Simpson Springfield phone directory). There is Green Day, performing an excellent revved-up version of Danny Elfman's theme song, but other than that the filmmakers stick to the solid core of family and town, and to the mixture of irreverence and sentiment that has underwritten the program's longevity.
One of the esoteric pursuits that divert Simpsons devotees is what might be called the question of authorship. A movie may be the work of a single, imperial auteur, but a television comedy, more often than not, arises from the collective, at times antagonistic labor of a bunch of writers in a room. It is easy enough to identify the graphic style and populist sensibilities of Matt Groening, and to intuit the sharp, fuzzy humanism of James Brooks. But over the years dozens of writers have passed through the bungalows on the Fox lot where The Simpsons is written. Many have stuck around, come back after grazing elsewhere or left traces of their influence behind. They are, as a group, responsible for the show's variety and its consistency, for its high points and its occasional doldrums.
Quite a few storied figures of Simpsons history turn up in the movie credits - the screenplay is attributed to Groening, Brooks, Al Jean, Ian Maxtone-Graham, George Meyer, David Mirkin, Mike Reiss, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, John Swartzwelder and Jon Vitti, several of whom have served in the crucial and mysterious role of show runner - and this is a sign that the movie is more to its makers than a by-product or an afterthought.
Except, of course, that it inevitably is. Ten or 15 years ago, The Simpsons Movie, which has been contemplated for almost as long as the show has been on the air, might have felt riskier and wilder. But The Simpsons, for all its mischief and iconoclasm, has become an institution, and that status has kept this film from taking too many chances. Why mess with the formula when you can extend the brand? Do I sound disappointed? I'm not, really. Or only a little. The Simpsons Movie, in the end, is as good as an average episode of The Simpsons. In other words, I'd be willing to watch it only - excuse me while I crunch some numbers here - 20 or 30 more times.
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