In a S-M-R-T move, Disney has announced that ‘classic’ episodes of The Simpsons will be fixed on Disney Plus following complaints about the show’s switch to widescreen. Several hundred episodes from the animated series' golden era will, therefore, be available to stream in the original 4:3 ratio from next month.
“We appreciate our fans’ patience and are working to make the first 19 Seasons (and part of 20) of The Simpsons available in 4:3 versions on Disney Plus,” Disney said on Twitter. “We expect to accomplish this by the end of May.”
We appreciate our fans’ patience and are working to make the first 19 Seasons (and part of 20) of #TheSimpsons available in 4:3 versions on #DisneyPlus. We expect to accomplish this by the end of May.April 2, 2020
The Disney Plus US launch late last year was met with an outcry from fans who set about streaming The Simpsons, only to find seasons 1 through to 19 (and every season 20 episode up until “Lisa The Drama Queen”) in widescreen 16:9 format without the option to watch episodes in the original, more letterboxed 4:3 ratio.
This led to slightly stretched characters in places and – in some cases – entire visual gags being cropped out of the show. At the time, Disney expected the changes to roll out in “early 2020”
However, even with the forthcoming changes, it still won’t be a complete collection of every episode of The Simpsons. As pointed out by several in the tweet above, “Stark Raving Dad” is missing – and it’s sure to stay that way due to the controversy surrounding Michael Jackson, who played Leon Kompowsky in the season 3 episode.
Urge to binge, rising. Here are the best Simpsons episodes… ever!
