The Simpsons :: essays papers

The SimpsonsThe American animation The Simpsons is now in its tenth season as a show in its own right. It was created by Matt Groening as shorts for the Tracy Ullman Show and was bought by the Fox Network, which began screen it as half-hour shows in 1989. Initially its success was restricted to the 9-16 form old age group, and for animation there is nothing unparalleled intimately this. Its success grew quickly and it is now popular in some(prenominal) countries with umpteen different audiences. In the 1990s we are seeing dramatic transformations in media industries and media cultures. In geographical terms, these transformations may be seen in the shift from subject to global media. The Simpsons can be seen as both a remarkable piece of global culture and as a hugely sure-fire piece of global television. (One need only look on an profit search engine to discover that there are literally millions of Simpsons fan-sites near the world.). The Simpsons themselves are a simple fa mily in a small townsfolk in Middle America called Springfield. They are Homer (loyal but wild father), Marge (dissatisfied, trapped housewife/mother), Bart (rebellious son), Lisa (unappreciated genius daughter), and Maggie (silent baby). The show in any case revolves around a number of other of the townsfolk, such as Mr burn (Homers miserly boss), Smithers (Burnss loving assistant), Apu (Indian shop owner), Principal Skinner and Moe (owner of the local bar). in that location are a number of reasons why we cannot simply view The Simpsons as a cartoon like any other. The rules and conventions that it follows are far more(prenominal) those of television or cinema than those of animation. The humour within The Simpsons exists on many different levels ranging from the obvious to the subtle, from the literary to the movie reference, and beyond. But most significantly we must consider the shows ability to make significant social comment, on general issues of culture and society, but more specifically on television, exact and media, and on audience viewing and acceptance of these media. Traditionally, cartoons have been action determined and animation. Aside from the use of cameras to create the visual illusion of depth (Walt Disney gorgeously explained the complicated technique used to allow Mickey Mouse to walk along a street without distorting depth or perspective), cartoons had a language of their own, ludicrous and separate from that of cinema or television. They were simple and without layered meanings.