Believe it or not, but there was a time when TV shows weren't presented in a widescreen aspect ratio. As widescreen televisions began taking over, programs quickly began shifting over to the new format, but when it came time to air older programming which was intended for a 4:3 aspect ratio, some chose to crop and zoom those shows until they fit the screen. Sure, some may bitch and moan about the black bars, but I've always been a supporter of the original aspect ratio.
When Disney+ launched earlier this week, it brought with it hundreds of movies and TV shows, including The Simpsons, Matt Groening's extremely long-running animated series which is in the midst of its 31st season. For the first 19 and a half seasons, The Simpsons was naturally produced and aired in the 4:3 aspect ratio, but when fans turned to stream the series on Disney+, they found that those seasons, which include more than 400 episodes, had been cropped in a 16:9 ratio, destroying many of the visual gags. 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 imagine, this prompted a good deal of backlash, and to their credit, Disney was quick to respond and correct the issue.
We presented The Simpsons in 16:9 aspect ratio at launch in order to guarantee visual quality and consistency across all 30 seasons. Over time, Disney+ will roll out new features and additional viewing options. As part of this, in early 2020, Disney+ will make the first 19 seasons (and some episodes from Season 20) of The Simpsons available in their original 4:3 aspect ratio, giving subscribers a choice of how they prefer to view the popular series.
Not sure if I buy the "consistency" line, but it's nice to know that fans will once again be able to enjoy The Simpsons as intended. This isn't the first time that the series has dealt with this issue, as those early seasons also underwent cropping when they aired on FXX several years ago.
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