The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!
| The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice! | |
|---|---|
| Genre |
Documentary Comedy |
| Directed by | Morgan Spurlock |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Distributor | 20th Century Fox Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Original release | January 10, 2010 |
The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice! is a documentary special that examined the "cultural phenomenon" of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 2010. The special was directed by Morgan Spurlock.
The film examines the "cultural phenomenon" of The Simpsons and includes interviews with both the cast and fans of the show.
In 2009, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiere of The Simpsons, Fox announced that a year-long celebration of the show titled "Best. 20 Years. Ever." would run from January 14, 2009 to January 14, 2010. Morgan Spurlock, an Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker (Best Documentary Feature for Super Size Me in 2004) and fan of The Simpsons since his college days, was asked to direct the special in February 2009.
The producers of The Simpsons were impressed with an animated sequence in Spurlock's 2008 film Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? and decided to ask him to direct the special. Spurlock immediately accepted the offer, describing the opportunity as "the coolest thing I could ever get to do in my career." The special was later announced in July 2009.
The producers spent several months deciding on the content and format of the film. Spurlock believes "the reason [the producers] called [him] to begin with was to not have a show that would be a glad-hand, pat-everyone-on-the-back special, that's why rooting it in the people who kept this show on the air for the last 20 years is important." It was originally scheduled to air on January 14, 2010, exactly twenty years after the first broadcast of "Bart the Genius". However, it was shown on January 10, 2010 alongside "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", which was promoted as the 450th episode of the series.
Despite its promotion as a special event broadcast, The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice! was directed by Spurlock as a component of the series' 20th production season. It therefore received a Simpsons episode production code (LABF21, seen in the closing credits), one production number higher than the episode which aired alongside it ("Once Upon a Time in Springfield", LABF20).
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