Disney+ Taking Heat for Widescreen Crop of Simpsons Episodes
Though many Simpsons fans are absolutely delighted that entire series is now available for Disney+ viewers, a few loyal fans are noticing a slight change that Disney has made that may potentially mean that some of the subtle jokes in the series go unnoticed. You see, in readying The Simpsons for Disney’s new streaming platform, the episodes are changed to a widescreen format, this means that crops inevitably have to be made to the top and bottom of the frame.
As Tristan Cooper from College Humor points out this means some things may get lost in translation. Here’s an example:
All the classic Simpsons episodes on Disney+ are in cropped widescreen format — this means you miss out on tons of great visual jokes, like how Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry all come from the same tube. pic.twitter.com/cTy9adulFl
— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) November 12, 2019
As you can see from the side by side images above, the visual joke that you see at the top of the uncropped screen is not visible in the widescreen format.
Another Twitter user highlights the differences below comparing the changes to the way Disney formated another near and dear franchise:
— Todd Vaziri (@tvaziri) November 12, 2019
Tristan Cooper also went on to notice that the images are getting stretched in the process like Bart’s head in the Disney+ image you see below!
Not only are the classic Simpsons episodes on Disney+ awkwardly cropped, but they're stretched in a lot of places too. Bart's head looks 4 inches wider here: pic.twitter.com/fCpmTPasGj
— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) November 12, 2019
Many fans have taken to social media to vent their frustrations over Disney+’s decision to go widescreen with The Simpsons. According to a recent piece on popculture.tv, comments included the following, “Cropping to widescreen seems like, I don’t know, the worst choice that shouldn’t even have been thought of by anyone with experience in viewing film or television.”
Another fan commented: “Why is modern media so afraid of 4:3 aspect ratio on old shows? They are literally cutting off 1/3 of people’s work! This is a crime, especially with animation! And it happens all the time despite everyone hating it!” another commented.
It will be interesting to see if Disney+ makes any further alterations to the way The Simpsons is screened on the platform. We promise to keep you posted.
In the meantime, this is just one of a few niggly complaints Disney Plus has received on launch date. Earlier today we told you about fans struggling to log-in and watch content without getting error messages. However, it is still early days and we remain optimistic that little kinks like the ones above will get smoothed over in time!
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