The Simpsons pokes fun at Disney+ in this week's opening titles

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https://deadline.com/2019/11/the-sim...us-1202783666/

This week's episode showed a billboard of The Krusty Clown Show -- "The Only Thing NOT on Disney+."

The Simpsons fans aren't happy that Disney+ has old episodes in widescreen format

Every episode of The Simpsons is currently streaming on Disney+ in a 16:9 ratio, which means that old episodes made with the 4:3 are being cropped. The Simpsons switched from the 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 in the middle of its 20th season in 2009. "There isn’t an option to change the aspect ratio, either," according to Julia Alexander. "This ultimately means there’s a plethora of gags from the first 20 Simpsons seasons that don’t land because the cropping prevents the joke from being fulfilled." Disney declined to comment on the change.

It's disconcerting to see The Simpsons wrapped in Disney clothing on Disney+

One of the biggest flaws of the streaming era is the erosion of pop-culture history, says Jen Chaney. NBC put Friends and The Office on television, yet some consider them Netflix shows. NBC made Cheers and Family Ties massive hits, but they're owned by CBS Television and, thus, now available on CBS All Access. Twin Peaks is also a CBS-owned property, despite becoming a sensation on ABC. "Anybody who’s curious about the history of these shows can easily Google their way to a ton of information about how they began," says Chaney. "And ultimately, it’s important that anyone interested in TV history has a way to access those older shows. I’d much rather have a budding TV scholar be able to experience Twin Peaks on CBS All Access than not get to see it at all. But as streaming services proliferate and more shows start appearing in unexpected places, this kind of agnostic approach to pop culture could further blur the perception of certain shows and movies, as well as the public’s ability to ascertain their place on the artistic spectrum." Which is why Chaney finds it disconcerting that The Simpsons is now a Disney property. "This has been public knowledge for months, but my heart and head still cannot accept it," says Chaney. "It feels odd because The Simpsons — a show that once depicted Lisa getting strung out after drinking the water in a parody of the 'It’s a Small World' ride — has mocked Disney for years. Based on the Simpsons-related promotion around Disney+, it has no plans to stop. But The Simpsons being part of the Disney family is disturbing for reasons beyond that: As a work of animation, the ethos behind The Simpsons is the complete opposite of what Disney traditionally represented. Yes, the show has some genuinely poignant family moments, but it excels at sly, sarcastic humor that exposes the inherent hypocrisy and absurdity within American society. Disney animation has cuddly animals; The Simpsons has Santa’s Little Helper, a scrawny dog picked up from a seedy race track. Disney movies have wide-eyed, sweet children going on adventures; The Simpsons has Bart Simpson telling his father to get bent. Disney is Ned Flanders saying 'Okily-dokily!'; The Simpsons is Homer Simpson saying, 'Shove it, buddy!' It feels contrary to the spirit of The Simpsons to see it wrapped in digital Disney clothing, even more now that we know Disney+ is streaming the series in a cropped format." ALSO: The Simpsons fans had the same Disney+ cropping complaints when FX launched Simpsons World.

Quit blaming Disney+ for showing old Simpsons episodes in the wrong aspect ratio

"Here is the thing, this isn't Disney+'s fault," says Brian Galindo. "The old episodes of The Simpsons were upgraded to HD a long time ago (way before Disney even considered buying 20th Century Fox). In fact, this was the problem that FXX ran into in 2014 when it aired the old episodes of the series in HD for the first time. And, again, it was the same issue fans complained about when Simpsons World was launched that same year. It wasn't until a few months later that FX made the 4:3 ratio episodes of the series available to stream on Simpsons World as an option — but with a catch, the 4:3 ratio episodes were only in standard definition...So basically, Disney, in an effort to stream the show in the highest quality possible, is having to stream it in 16:9 — which is the format they ~inherited~ it in."

The Simpsons' Disney+ aspect ratio problem will be fixed in early 2020

“We presented The Simpsons in 16:9 aspect ratio at launch in order to guarantee visual quality and consistency across all 30 seasons," Disney said in a statement Friday responding to complaints that jokes are cropped out with the 16:9 aspect ratio. "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.”