When Disney announced The Simpsons would be part of its launch line-up for Disney Plus, millions of fans rejoiced. However, when the service launched, the elation abated somewhat.
Disney, for all its power in the entertainment world, was not streaming the episodes in the native 4:3 aspect ratio, and instead showing the episodes in 16:9. They were cropped and stretched to fit the widescreen format.
While that doesn’t sound like too much of a big deal, it meant many of the show’s subtle jokes were actually ruined. Including, famously, the tour of the Duff brewery where the original showed Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry all emanating from the same pump.
You can see it, and the stretching issue, below:
Not only are the classic Simpsons episodes on Disney+ awkwardly cropped, but they're stretched in a lot of places too. Bart's head looks 4 inches wider here: pic.twitter.com/fCpmTPasGj
— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) November 12, 2019
Now, Disney has promised a fix for the issue before the summer, in a tweet posted on Thursday.
The entertainment giant wrote: “We appreciate our fans’ patience and are working to make the first 19 Seasons (and part of 20) of #TheSimpsons available in 4:3 versions on #DisneyPlus. We expect to accomplish this by the end of May.”
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Disney didn’t go into how it is managing to make the adjustment, but it sounds as simple as just enabling the 4:3 format within Disney Plus. There’s probably a little more to it than that though, given the timescale involved.
Disney Plus launched in Britain a little over a week ago and the timing couldn’t be better, considering the nationwide lockdown as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The affordable, £5.99 a month streaming service finally gives Brits access to The Mandalorian and the new season of The Clone Wars, as well as an unrivalled content library from Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, Fox and National Geographic.
How are you enjoying Disney Plus so far? Is the archive content enough to justify the lack of originals so far? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
