May the 4th be with the Simpsons

[Quacs]

If the pictures indicate screen shots of the May 4 TV show, color me surprised that TLG wouldn't match the minifigures shown on the show to the ones produced.  Isn't there a potential for many TV viewers to wind up disappointed that the TV version of the figs would not be available for purchase?  That said, the CMFs looks 10x better and 50x more realistic than the TV show figs.

[johnwray]

I can think of two excellent reasons why they didn't use the CMF versions:

 

1) These are easier to animate. All they have to do is animate flat facial expressions and then digitally paste them onto standard yellow minifig heads which never have to move or turn. Detailed CMF versions would require a lot more time and money. 

 

2) As with the Lego Movie that just came out, they seem to be going for a style where the bricks and characters never break the rules of physics. Plastic in the movie doesn't distort; all animation is done as though it was stop-motion using actual minifigs and other Lego elements. If they used the CMF minifigs, they would have to break that reality and the heads would change shape. This way, the heads and bodies are solid and all character animation is done in the joints or as though expressions were painted onto real minifig heads.

 

EDIT: Expanded #2.

[TheOrcKing]

More images taken from The Simpsons episode.

via The Brick Fan

And a very short teaser promo.

via The Brick Fan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz9x2bcTYqE

[HarryG]

I wonder why the house and car are also different. Would have thought they would keep the set the same as the show..

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Brickpicker mobile app

[Quacs]

I can think of two excellent reasons why they didn't use the CMF versions:

1) These are easier to animate. All they have to do is animate flat facial expressions and then digitally paste them onto standard yellow minifig heads which never have to move or turn. Detailed CMF versions would require a lot more time and money.

2) As with the Lego Movie that just came out, they seem to be going for a style where the bricks and characters never break the rules of physics. Plastic in the movie doesn't distort; all animation is done as though it was stop-motion using actual minifigs and other Lego elements. If they used the CMF minifigs, they would have to break that reality and the heads would change shape. This way, the heads and bodies are solid and all character animation is done in the joints or as though expressions were painted onto real minifig heads.

EDIT: Expanded #2.

So the figs came first, then the show? That's plausible, but according to the interview with the show's producers, the episode has been in the works for two years. The typical product cycle for a set is 6-9 months. I suppose animation probably occurs at the back end of the production cycle, but I have to believe they knew what the characters would look like after storyboarding.

You could be right, and the CGI process actually dictated the limitation of the show's minifigs. But, I'm still surprised the CMFs figs don't reflect the show's design, although after seeing the show figs I am happy they don't. The "realistic" minifigs produced are fantastic.

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[jbacunn]

It would be very difficult to match the figs up exactly with what is on the show due to timeline development and animation issues. They probably did the best they could but at the end of the day these were two separate projects worked on by completely different teams. 

[cladner]

I wonder why the house and car are also different. Would have thought they would keep the set the same as the show..

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Brickpicker mobile app

the episode has been in production for 2 years. 

i think the house and car look pretty accurate - not 100% but not totally different.

maybe the episode idea came first and then LEGO said why don't we make some products.

[johnwray]

So the figs came first, then the show? That's plausible, but according to the interview with the show's producers, the episode has been in the works for two years. The typical product cycle for a set is 6-9 months. I suppose animation probably occurs at the back end of the production cycle, but I have to believe they knew what the characters would look like after storyboarding.

You could be right, and the CGI process actually dictated the limitation of the show's minifigs. But, I'm still surprised the CMFs figs don't reflect the show's design, although after seeing the show figs I am happy they don't. The "realistic" minifigs produced are fantastic.

Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

It isn't so much about the limitations of the CGI, but rather that animating the CMF heads would look very un-Lego-like. There's nothing about the isolated CMF heads that is recognizably "Lego", so if you fully animated them, they'd just look like 3D versions of the regular Simpsons. If you're going to do a special Lego episode, it makes sense to use Lego-fied heads.

They avoided using non-standard heads in The Lego Movie for just this reason (I think). The only characters without the regular minifig head were background characters that didn't talk: Leonardo & Milhouse are the only ones I can even think of. If they'd had Leonardo (the turtle, not the painter) speak, they would have had to break the rules of the world they'd already established. Instead of animating paint on plastic that never distorts, Leonardo's head would have had to distort to shape the words and become expressive. Unlike Ninjago and Clutch Powers, The Lego Movie takes place in a world where the plastic NEVER bends.

But yeah, budget issues were probably also an issue, and the fact that the TV show is a completely different set of people than the minifig designers and work on a different timetable.

[TheOrcKing]

A longer sneak peak at the upcoming episode can be found

[TheOrcKing]

They finally put the clip from Hulu onto Youtube which means I can now embed it here for easy viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYGSpOfIr9Y

Found some other preview clips as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBorckuyaPs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdgLZ1gW75E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3QIeQcyij0

Also, just one more day until the episode airs! WOOHOO!

[Wazzapova]

The episode was great!!! Especially the end!

[Anakinisvader]

The episode was great!!! Especially the end!

 

 

[cladner]

The episode was great!!! Especially the end!

i liked the part in the church about how the world began with bag #1.

[jbacunn]

Simpsons Lego episode was a lot of fun. Maggie as giant Duplo was funny and the brick separator in the church was great. There are tons of little jokes in there. I'll have to watch it again.

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[terrymc4677]

I only caught the last ten minutes of it. Anyone know if it will be re-aired any time soon?

[Stevenplays]

If you have Directv, when I recored it it did not have any rerun date I could find at all, hopefully it does or atleast gets posted online. My fellow AMFOPs, I have no doubt that this should be a right for every AMFOP, a time when every TV show will be based upon LEGO, every food product, every toy and even every person... the path we shall take is a differcult and dangerous one... but we shall overcome...

Eh that was a bit overkill.

Hope you can get to see it soon, nice episode and liked the LEGO movie reference at the end.

[odysea11]

Simpson's Advent Calendar???? Would be kinda cool.......

[imirish11]

I felt like there were hints that the school could be a future set in the line...

[brick-of-life]

Comcast sucks. My entire episode was chopped up. if anyone knows of YouTube links to the episode, please post! Thanks. :)

[TheOrcKing]

I think this was the first Simpsons episode I enjoyed in a long while. It had plenty of inside jokes, references, and details sprawled throughout the background. The 'bedroom scene' was amusing with Homer and Marge's parts everywhere, and the whole church sermon was great. One question though, did anyone else cringe a little when the police helicopter crashes? I think it's the familiar sound it made some of us know all too well. Anyway, now I really wish Lego had released the Comic Book Guy in the Minifigures series considering how much the story revolved around him and his store.

But I'm having all these hallucinations! Like right now my hands look like they're these weird wiggly things! ....I think they have a name but I can't put my finger on it.

[seapotato]

you might be able to stream it somewhere, like at project free tv

 

I only caught the last ten minutes of it. Anyone know if it will be re-aired any time soon?

[Brick625]

one of the worst episodes ever, got boring in 2 minutes 

[TheOrcKing]

I added a poll to this thread as my own curiosity would like to know what general (and anonymous) opinion of the episode was.

[seapotato]

I just watched the ep. Cute!

[vincevaughn]

Just watched the episode.  It was great, loved the jokes and the story was pretty cool.  I found it kinda jarring when they hit on some of the more adult themes in brick form (i.e. The bedroom scene, Moe's tavern and the "Busty" LEGO model).  I mean I would expect that from The Simpsons but from TLG?  Big stride there.

 

For those who didn't catch it, there are ways of seeing it on the internet if you are knowledgeable, that's how I got it