The Simpsons Will Finally Stream on Disney+ in Its Correct Aspect Ratio on May 28
Photo via Disney Comedy News The Simpsons
Simpsons fans—and who among us isn’t a fan of the classic era?—will soon have reason to rejoice, as Disney+ is checking a major item off our wish list: Classic episodes of The Simpsons streaming in their correct aspect ratio.
If you’ve watched The Simpsons since Disney+ first debuted as a major streamer, you may have occasionally detected that something seemed amiss. This is because the show’s older episodes have been visually cropped to cram them into a standardized, modern 16:9 aspect ratio. This is problematic because the first 19 seasons of the series—which contains the entire golden era and then some—originally aired in a 4:3 aspect ratio, as was more common at the time. When you crop that ratio to 16:9, it results in a “zoomed in” appearance that has a tendency to destroy some of the show’s classic visual gags, as the tweet below illustrates.
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
The folks at Disney+ heard enough fan outcries over this problem that they eventually confirmed that the show would be offered in its original aspect ratio, but we never had an actual date until now. The below tweet from Disney today confirms that the return of the proper, 4:3 aspect ratio is coming in just over a week, on May 28, 2020. Finally, you’ll be able to watch “Bart the Lover” or “Duffless” without missing out on the show’s signature visual humor. This will be a big day for Simpsons fandom, as it will make the entire run of the series available, in the format in which it originally aired.
WOO HOO! We love a prediction for #TheSimpsons, especially coming from @AlJean himself in 2015. Episodes in original 4:3 aspect ratio are coming to #DisneyPlus on May 28. #DisneyBundlepic.twitter.com/WxEs9TC5D5
— Disney+ (@disneyplus) May 20, 2020