The sound you just heard was the entire Disney+ launch team smacking themselves in the heads
while projecting a collective "Doh!" into the stratosphere.
"Doh!"
You've probably already heard that the hotly anticipated streaming service made its debut,
bringing with it all manner of titles from the Disney vault, not to mention a slew of
properties of the Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar persuasion.
We're pretty sure you've also heard that launch day for Disney+ was far from perfect, with
many early subscribers unable to even log on to the service.
Those that were finally able to log on, and had a hankering for some early episodes of
The Simpsons, were met with their own set of issues when they found that those episodes
of the beloved animated series appeared to be missing something: significant portions
of the picture.
The problem, it seems, stemmed from Disney's decision to screen all content on Disney+
in the widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9.
On the surface, that seems like a sound choice by the House of Mouse, as the widescreen ratio
is by far the most popular for home viewing; computer monitors and flatscreen televisions
display images rendered in this aspect ratio natively, and it's standard for HDTV broadcasts
and digital media.
The problem lies in the fact that The Simpsons has been on the air since before the format
was in wide use; before, in fact, consumer flatscreen televisions even existed, and that
earlier episodes were aired in the then-standard 4:3 aspect ratio.
Episodes of the series weren't produced in the 16:9 format until its twentieth season,
and when the 4:3 aspect ratio is cropped for the newer format, a large portion of the picture
is lost.
So, much to the dismay of the show's fiercely loyal and often fanatically astute fan base,
the first 19 seasons of The Simpsons are indeed only partially streaming on Disney+.
"Okay, don't panic.
Marge, stop panicking!"
Now, for some shows that would not be a significant problem.
But as any Simpsons fan would be quick to tell you, part of what's made the show so
special is that some of its best jokes are not front and center.
Rather, the creative teams behind The Simpsons have long reveled in the chance to hide sly
in-jokes and savage social jabs in virtually every corner of the frame.
That's obviously a big part of what has made The Simpsons one of the more endlessly re-watchable
shows in the history of television.
It's also exactly why fans were so excited at the chance to revisit some of their favorite
early moments of the iconic series on launch day, but for now, at least, it seems that
those brilliantly winking comedic morsels have been unceremoniously nixed, as Disney
made the questionable decision not to adjust the aspect ratio for Homer and the rest of
the Simpson family's game-changing early episodes.
"Rest assured that I was on the internet within minutes, registering my disgust throughout
the world."
The decision to go ahead and screen the cropped versions of those early episodes is even more
surprising because it seems like there's no way that the Mouse House wouldn't have known
this would be an issue.
After all, extended cable outlet FXX, now also owned by The Walt Disney Company, did
the exact same thing when it began airing episodes of The Simpsons back in 2014, and
it also experienced the same sort of backlash from the series' eagle-eyed fandom.
It seems like it'd be pretty simple for Disney+ to remedy the issue by offering earlier seasons
in 4:3, or perhaps even giving viewers a choice between the two aspect ratios, but so far,
Disney hasn't announced any plans to do anything of the sort, and in fact, the entertainment
megalith has been mum on the whole uproar.
While we wait to see how Disney+ addresses its launch day Simpsons crisis, it seems that
most of the show's fans are at least trying to take the issue in stride, if only because
they're beyond excited to stream all 30 seasons of the series.
Still, there is a faction of fans already threatening to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions
if the problem is not addressed.
For the time being, it seems they'll just have to make do with watching some of the
series' best episodes without getting all of the in-joking goodness they're used to.
Maybe in the future we'll all forget this ever happened.
"Smithers, use the amnesia ray.”
“You mean the revolver, sir?”
“Precisely.
Be sure to wipe your own memory clear when you're finished."
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