After the Fox-Disney merger, The Simpsons had new place to call home. Producers and cast members of the long-running animated comedy series made their very first appearance at the D23 Expo convention on Saturday to answer fan questions and address plans after the acquisition of Fox.
Following the success of The Simpsons Movie in 2007, fans were eager to hear the news of another potential film sometime soon. Executive producer, Matt Selman, talked about the chances of that happening and a spinoff series for the show.
“I think Disney would be supportive of anything we wanted to do, maybe a crazy limited series with a side character or a movie that we surprised you with, they’ve been really creatively supportive and this is going to afford so many new ways to do the show than just the traditional format,” said Selman.
All 30 seasons of The Simpsons will be available to stream when Disney+ launches on November 12. Fans of the show are a little hesitant about the change and rightfully so. Disney is known for their overall family-friendly image and The Simpsons are more of a dysfunctional “family-friendly” TV show. It’ll be interesting to see how upcoming episodes will play out in the Mouse House.
The Simpsons have made references to Disney in some episodes which is why their move is ironic. “Isn’t this the craziest thing you could imagine, that we would start out working for an evil corporation and then working for a nice one?” joked Selman.
The show has always portrayed controversial topics, but one that recently made the rounds was the characterization of Apu and why South Indians felt like it was a stereotypical way of judging their entire race and culture. Many believed Apu was well on his way out from the show, but creator Matt Groening confirmed that he was staying.
“Some people are offended by the character and I take that very seriously,” explained Groening. “Others really love the character. It’s a difficult choice. I don’t want to offend people but we also want to be funny. We don’t want to be totally politically correct. That has never been us. It’s given us a lot of thought.”