Long before Family Guy made references the backbone of its comedy, The Simpsons has always incorporated pop culture into its stories. A lot of the allusions acted as introductions to films, TV shows, and music for many who grew up on the various adventures of the citizens of Springfield. The writers and animators always did a great job of putting a Simpsonian twist on the reference and made it something original yet tied so closely to the source that it’s hard to separate them in one’s mind.
Celia Gómez has assembled many of these movie references across multiple seasons into one video, splitting the screen between the original work and the Simpsons take on it. Watching this compilation shows off many things about the show: how it’s able to transpose very serious scenes from mature films into a humorous riff (usually featuring children); how closely the animators stuck to the original editing and shots of the source material that shows off a devotion and reverence for the films, even while being totally irreverent themselves. While the video doesn’t capture all of the references made over its 27 seasons, many of them are from classic episodes that have left indelible impressions on The Simpsons fans.
The Simpsons movie references from cgmzz on Vimeo.