There have been a number of problems with Disney+, from initial technical difficulties to the “Maclunkey” Star Wars business, but one problem has been particularly galling: classic episodes of The Simpsons — one of the greater gets the super-corporation acquired in the Fox merger — were presented cropped, chopped to fit widescreen televisions, to the fury of more purist fans. Well, Disney actually heard your complaints, and as per Deadline, they’re going to fix it…eventually.
The company revealed that, starting 2020, subscribers to the new streaming service will be able to choose which version of the show to watch: the censored version that fills your modern television or the original 4:3, that includes black on both sides. The Simpsons jumped formats in February 2009, with the Season 20 episode “Take My Life, Please,” when they acknowledged that square TVs were out and rectangular ones were the future. That, of course, meant animators had even wider canvas to play with.
The option to watch 20 seasons of classic Simpsons in their original format had long been offered on the show’s website. Fans weren’t happy when Disney+ didn’t carry on that tradition, as the show is legendary for visual gags, many of which are now ruined. So eventually things will go back to normal, although the Michael Jackson episode will still be locked away in the Simpsons vaults, at least for the foreseeable future.
(Via Deadline)
