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96-535: In 2013, the ride became the centerpiece of a themed Simpsons area at both parks, based on the fictional town of Springfield depicted in the animated series. The attraction is more than four minutes long and features two pre-show line queues that guests experience before boarding the ride. Its theme focuses on Krustyland , a theme park built by and named after Krusty the Clown , in which his former sidekick, evil genius Sideshow Bob , attempts to get revenge on Krusty and

192-496: A Duff Brewery . The park also added one amusement ride named " Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl ", a Dumbo-esque spinning ride where patrons drive flying saucers around Kodos' head and attack Springfield residents. The Simpsons Ride was very well received by fans after it opened. Seth Kubersky of Orlando Weekly described the ride as "a more than worthy successor" to Back to the Future: The Ride . Brady MacDonald of

288-410: A killer whale . She lassos the riders' vehicle and follows her family. Upon reaching the attraction's exit, it suddenly explodes, sending them racing in circles while dragging Homer and the riders behind them. After a series of jumping ramps, the group fly through a tipping metal water tower , where they crash at the edge of the attraction and encounter Bob again, who cuts a large hole into hell with

384-827: A Disney-owned intellectual property. Unlike the Marvel licensing agreement signed in 1994 granting Universal Destinations & Experiences the rights to use those characters in perpetuity, the licensing agreement between 20th Century Fox and Universal Destinations & Experiences was term-limited, rumored to be for 20 years, in which case it would presumably end in either 2027 or 2028. The four-minute ride uses 85 feet (26 meters) IMAX Dome screens and Sony Projectors. There are 24 ride cars, each seating eight people, and approximately 2000 people can ride it per hour. The projection system uses four overlapping Sony SXRD 4K resolution projectors on each dome, using custom-made semi-circular fisheye lenses to project undistorted images at

480-466: A Mapple Store (a parody of the Apple Store ), numerous knockoff Starbucks coffee shops, and several Krusty Burgers. Springfield Elementary School is a fictional local school attended by Bart Simpson , Lisa Simpson , and most other Springfield children. It teaches children from kindergarten through to sixth grade. Springfield Elementary is depicted as a grossly underfunded school that suffers from

576-485: A Speed-E-Mart, Joe's Tavern, and a school. Per " Last Exit to Springfield ", Shelbyville was at least briefly called "Morganville" during Abe Simpson's youth. According to The Simpsons Movie , Shelbyville is west of Springfield. It is the home of the button fly. Shelbyville was ranked 10th in "The 10 Best Dystopias " in the December 2005 issue of Wired . Capital City (often spelled Capitol City in early episodes)

672-440: A buzz saw. Maggie, now giant-sized from the effects of the reactor room depicted earlier, reappears and grabs Bob, causing his robotic panda to fall into the hole. She slams him into the riders' vehicle, which almost plummets into the hole before it is saved by Professor Frink flying a hi-tech helicopter, but not before the riders catch of glimpse of a small devil who pokes at their ride vehicle with his trident. After Frink attaches

768-536: A gambling junket to refurbish and redecorate the home and has the dining hall renamed in Bea's honor. The fictional City Hall of Springfield serves as the workplace of Mayor Quimby and the City Government. It is often the site of town meetings , where the citizens hold a vote to approve proposals in an attempt to fix an issue facing the city. These proposals generally cause havoc and create even more problems for

864-456: A gun in a second state, the bullet will travel through the third, hitting you in the fourth, so you fall dead in the fifth. No single act is against any law, but their sum total is the greatest murder..." The fictional city of Shelbyville is Springfield's rival. It was founded in 1796 by Shelbyville Manhattan, who advocated cousin marriage among his followers, causing a split between himself and Jebediah Springfield. An intense rivalry between

960-551: A left-handed specialty store which had failed. The Springfield Mall is a fictional shopping mall that features comical fictional stores and pastiches, such as the Happy Market, Cost-Mo, Girdles N' Such, Eye Caramba, The Ear Piercery, Happy Sailor Tattoo Parlor, Love Your Computer, Gum4Less, Popular Books, the Leftorium , Nick's Bowling Shop, Stoner's Pot Palace, Bookacchino's, Moe's Express (a mini version of Moe's Tavern ),

1056-478: A mall cart, the "Leftorium Express", which he splits with a cosmetic saleswoman. In the season 29 episode " Left Behind ", the Leftorium closes for good, leaving Flanders unemployed until he finds a new job as Bart Simpson 's new teacher. The writers had wanted to have Flanders own a failing business and the idea for the store was suggested by George Meyer . He got the idea from a friend whose family had owned

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1152-561: A new pacifier, sucking on it repeatedly and separating riders from Frink in the process while Lisa and Marge tell her to spit it out. Water effects gets riders wet a second time accompanied by a foul smell effect of baby powder that sprays at the guests as Maggie spits them out onto power lines , which catapults them into the Simpsons' house by crashing through the front door just after the Simpsons have arrived. Now sitting on their couch,

1248-415: A nontoxic substance described as a "derivative of vegetable oil". No injuries were reported, and the guests were given a change of clothes and allowed to shower at the property. The park identified the source of the oil but could not determine the cause of the incident, and the unaffected ride vehicles remained open. Springfield (The Simpsons) Springfield is the primary fictional setting of

1344-455: A passage in the Bible, left Maryland trying to find "New Sodom ". After he refuses to found a town where men are free to marry their cousins , half of the group leave. The dissenters found the nearby town of Shelbyville , named after fellow pioneer Shelbyville Manhattan, and the two cities have remained rivals ever since. Springfield reached its pinnacle in the mid-20th century when it became

1440-523: A police raid on the store. Barney's Bowl-A-Rama is a fictional bowling alley in Springfield. It is owned by Barney Gumble 's Uncle Al. In the episode " And Maggie Makes Three ", Homer tells the family the story of Maggie 's birth. In this story, Homer explains how he quit his job at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to work at the Bowl-A-Rama, which was Homer's dream job, before returning to

1536-419: A rate of 60 frames per second (in comparison, most feature films project at 24 frames per second). The video is projected onto two dome screens which are made of 416 panels (each 4 feet (1.2 meters) by 2 feet (0.61 meters)) and are approximately 80 feet (24 meters) tall and 85 feet (26 meters) wide. The animation in the ride uses computer-generated 3D animation rendered by Blur Studio and Reel FX , rather than

1632-499: A short test pitch, under the title "Tahu Nuva vs Kohrak" , but Lego had ultimately passed on the project. The studio worked on the 2004 short film Gopher Broke which was nominated for 2004 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film . In 2009, they assisted with the creation of CGI environments in the Academy Award-winning film Avatar . In 2011, Blur created the opening title sequence for The Girl with

1728-427: A sitcom, much less a theme park." However, he admitted that the ride was "a little discombobulating". The Universal Studios Florida version of the ride hosted its one millionth rider on July 14, 2008, reaching the milestone faster than any other attraction in the resort. The ride was named the best new attraction of 2008 by the website Themeparkinsider.com. On June 13, 2008, guests in one ride vehicle were sprayed with

1824-446: A towline to their car, he pulls them out. Bob steals Maggie's pacifier and orders her to destroy Springfield if she wants it back. Riders then fly through Springfield attached to the helicopter, with references to the original opening sequence being made along the way. An army converges around Maggie while the Simpsons drive across town in a stolen Krustyland tour tram. The riders then encounter Maggie again, who mistakes their car for

1920-456: A variety of drops and turns. Homer, who wasn't sitting down, gets hit by Bob's wrecking ball before it smashes into the track. With a portion of the track now missing, the riders fly into a different part of the coaster's layout along with Homer. The "steel" wrecking ball breaks free from its cable and rolls along the track chasing Homer and the riders. During the pursuit, the wrecking ball eventually runs over Homer. The riders are then knocked off

2016-516: Is Joe Quimby , a Democrat . In the episode " Sideshow Bob Roberts ", Sideshow Bob ( R ) runs for mayor and defeats Mayor Quimby, but Bob is later discovered to have committed electoral fraud . Krusty the Klown (R) represents Springfield in Congress. Previous representatives include Horace Wilcox, who dies of a heart attack while in office in " Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington ", and Bob Arnold, who

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2112-543: Is Springfield's retirement home for the elderly. Some noted residents of the Castle include Abraham "Grampa" J. Simpson , Jasper Beardley , and Old Jewish Man . For Grampa Simpson, the Retirement Castle is a lonely place to be. He often gets mad when his family does not come and visit him. The door features a sign reading 'Thank you for not discussing the outside world'. The most interesting way to pass time at

2208-406: Is a fictional two-unit pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant in Springfield owned by Charles Montgomery Burns . Among the plant's employees are Homer Simpson , Lenny Leonard , and Carl Carlson , and Burns' assistant Waylon Smithers . The plant is shown to be the key supplier of the city of Springfield's energy, and the carelessness of Mr. Burns and the plant's employees often endangers

2304-537: Is a large college which Homer attended in " Homer Goes to College ". It teaches several different courses, including nuclear physics, arts management, and the meaning of cartoons. Springfield University also has a fierce rivalry with Springfield A&M University. In the episode " Faith Off ", the nickname of the Springfield University football team is revealed to be the Nittany Tide—a reference to

2400-626: Is forced to resign after Lisa exposes his corruption in " Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington ". Mary Bailey is the fictional governor of Springfield's state. The town is home to a number of fictional sporting teams, including the Springfield Isotopes, a minor league baseball team which plays its home games at Duff Stadium; the Springfield Atoms football team at Springfield Stadium; the NBA 's Springfield Excitement (formerly

2496-612: Is generic and that "the Springfield Nuclear Power plant was not based on the Trojan Plant or any other power plant in the country." The Android's Dungeon is a fictional comic book store owned by Comic Book Guy . The comic book store and its owner first appeared in the episode " Three Men and a Comic Book " when Bart sees a copy of the first issue of the Radioactive Man comic on sale for $ 100. In

2592-486: Is in any state but yours" — Chalkboard gag , " Beware My Cheating Bart " Because of the many contradictory statements made regarding Springfield in the show, the town cannot exist in a specific state. In The Simpsons Movie , Ned Flanders tells Bart that the state where Springfield is located is bordered by the states of Ohio , Nevada , Maine , and Kentucky – only Ohio and Kentucky are neighboring states in reality, and Nevada and Maine are at opposite sides of

2688-568: Is shown as unusually polluted. Overflowing garbage forces the whole town – population and structures — to move five miles (8km) away from the massive dump that the old town of Springfield had become. Springfield is also home to the state's largest self-sustaining tire fire , which has been burning continuously for many decades. Lake Springfield's pollution almost leads to the town's destruction by an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bomb in The Simpsons Movie , and pollution from

2784-552: Is shown to be comically varied and includes forests , meadows , mountain ranges , a desert , a glacier , beaches , badlands , canyons , swamps , a harbor , waterholes , and waterways . Major named geographical features include the Springfield Gorge, Springfield National Forest, the volcanic Mt. Springfield, the West Springfield Desert, which is claimed to be "three times the size of Texas ",

2880-402: Is taught by Elizabeth Hoover . Notable students in this class include Lisa's best friend, Janie Powell, and Ralph Wiggum . The school's principal is Seymour Skinner . Other staff members include janitor Groundskeeper Willie , music teacher Dewey Largo , bus driver Otto Mann , and cafeteria chef Lunchlady Doris . The school district is overseen by Superintendent Gary Chalmers . In 1994,

2976-413: Is the fictional capital and largest city in the state in which the show is set. It is represented as a major urban center, hosting major sports events, conventions, and United Nations conferences. Its nickname is The Windy Apple (a joke by the show's writers, combining the nicknames of New York City's "The Big Apple" and Chicago 's "The Windy City"). Landmarks include a Duff brewery, possibly mimicking

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3072-563: The Halo 2 cutscenes for Halo: The Master Chief Collection (2014) and produced the cutscenes for Halo Wars 2 (2017) after doing so for Halo Wars (2009). In 2016, Miller and the studio returned to the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and were involved with the film adaptation of the series which was in development at Sony Pictures until they put the project into turnaround and sold

3168-607: The Los Angeles Times described the ride as "visually stunning" and said it "truly delivers — with loads of in-jokes and satire for serious fanatics and tons of thrills and fun for casual fans." Elise Thompson of the LAist said "the ride is a total blast, with plenty of laughs as well as thrills." Jay Cridlin of the St. Petersburg Times wrote that "the ride is packed with more original, funny material than you'd expect to see in

3264-472: The Leftorium closes, leaving Flanders unemployed, and he returns to Springfield Elementary School, where he becomes Bart's new teacher, filling the void left by Krabappel's death. He holds that role until season 33, when Rayshelle Peyton (voiced by Kerry Washington ) takes the job. Other students in this class include Milhouse van Houten , Nelson Muntz , Martin Prince , and Sherri and Terri . Lisa's class

3360-502: The Penn State Nittany Lions and Alabama Crimson Tide . Springfield Agricultural and Mechanical (A&M) University is a rival institution of Springfield University. Carl Carlson is an A&M alumnus. Springfield A&M's mascot is a pig named Sir Oinks-A-Lot, who was kidnapped by Homer and his three student tutors as a prank in " Homer Goes to College ". Springfield Heights Institute of Technology focuses on

3456-510: The Simpson family getting picked by Krusty. The Simpsons are then asked to pick another group, and Bart chooses all the guests waiting in the pre-show room. As guests are led into the next waiting room, Sideshow Bob bursts out into an evil laughter. The next pre-show is themed to a funhouse room, where Krusty leads the group into a backstage area revealing that the park is powered by a nuclear reactor . Grampa and Maggie Simpson are told by

3552-499: The Simpson family . Many characters from the animated series make an appearance, all voiced by their original actors. Also, despite for being a family attraction, The Simpsons Ride is one of the first major theme park attractions to be based on an adult animated franchise . Planning for The Simpsons Ride started two years prior to its opening. The Simpsons creators James L. Brooks and Matt Groening , as well as executive producer and current showrunner Al Jean , collaborated with

3648-530: The Universal Studios Florida 's creative team, Universal Creative , to help develop the ride. Music for the ride was composed by Jim Dooley , who worked with composer Hans Zimmer on the feature film and video game . The ride is located at both Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood in the former Back to the Future : The Ride buildings at both locations. The Back to

3744-410: The nuclear power plant has mutated the fish in the river, causing some to grow an extra eye. Its atmosphere is so polluted that, in one 1995 episode, it reduces a comet to a rock the size of a chihuahua 's head. Springfield is shown to feature a large numbered grid plan , ranging from streets at least as low as 3rd Street and at least as high as 257th Street. The fictional mayor of Springfield

3840-544: The American animated sitcom The Simpsons and related media . It is an average-sized, fictional city within an unknown state in the United States . The fictional city's geography, surroundings, and layout are flexible, often changing to accommodate the plot of any given episode. Springfield was inspired by a number of real-life locations, including creator Matt Groening 's hometown of Portland, Oregon and

3936-957: The Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, the Cross-town suspension bridge resembling San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge , the Capital City Stadium, the Capital City Amphitheatre (featuring Krusty the Clown ), and the intersection of 4th Street and Avenue D. The Simpsons Movie places Capital City just to the north of Springfield. Blur Studio Blur Studio Inc. is an American production company which specialises in CGI visual effects, CGI animation, and CGI design. Located in Culver City , California ,

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4032-597: The Austin Celtics); and the Springfield Ice-O-Topes hockey team. Kwik-E-Mart is a fictional convenience store run by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon . The Kwik-E-Mart first appeared in the first-season episode " The Telltale Head " (although mentioned in " Bart the General " as the "Quick-e-Mart"). In " Stark Raving Dad ", a street sign reading "Highland" is seen outside one of the front windows, in

4128-539: The Dragon Tattoo , based on the first book of Stieg Larsson 's Millennium Trilogy and directed by David Fincher . They created the "Heaven and Hell" sequence for South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut . Blur Studio produced a cinematic trailer for the video game PlanetSide 2 titled "Death is No Excuse." They were also responsible for the cinematic trailers of Batman: Arkham City , Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Knight . They remade

4224-503: The FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker , produced and directed by David Fincher. In 2019, the studio produced the animation for the Netflix anthology series Love, Death & Robots , created by Tim Miller, and also produced the second volume of the series. On May 16, 2019, it was announced that Blur Studio's film The Goon , based on the 1999 comic of

4320-630: The Future attraction, the vehicles feature fake wheels and gull-wing doors . Each dome features 12 8-passenger ride vehicles arranged with 3 cars on the first level, 5 on the second and 4 on the third. Each vehicle is mounted on a motion platform atop a scissor lift , which raises the vehicle 9 feet (2.7 meters) into the dome. The motion platforms move a total of three feet. In addition to the motion-based ride vehicles, riders also feel water effects, smoke, mist, and experience lighting effects and scents. The Simpsons Ride uses new technology that reduces its energy consumption. According to Universal Studios,

4416-566: The Future opened in Florida in 1991 and closed March 30, 2007, while the Hollywood version opened in 1993 and closed on September 3, 2007. The construction began at Universal Studios Florida in May 2007, and the original concrete on the ground from Back to the Future: The Ride was dismantled and replaced by a red and blue ground holding trees and benches. The building was given a complete overhaul;

4512-642: The Kwik-E-Mart and shows him travelling to the Himalayas , where the Kwik-E-Mart head office is located, to ask for his job back after being fired. However, Apu mentions at a bachelor auction that he runs his own business in " The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons ". In July 2007, convenience store chain 7-Eleven converted 11 of its stores in the United States and one in Canada into Kwik-E-Marts to promote

4608-457: The Orlando attraction, Krusty is sitting in a control room and pushes an emergency button on a control panel , causing the vehicle to vibrate and ending the ride. In the Hollywood version, Krusty takes a picture of the guests. After the gullwing doors on the car lift up, guests can exit the ride. The ride features more than 24 regular characters from The Simpsons and features the voices of

4704-526: The Simpsons are sitting on crushes and presumably kills him, followed by the Simpsons landing on top of it and Bob. Maggie appears and ends the ride by pushing down a large Krusty head sign directly over the Simpsons. The vehicle calmly lowers back down while mist, fire, and smoke effects spray. Homer enthusiastically yells that he wants to ride again. Krusty then appears on the TV screen in the loading room and remarks, "Well, that's our ride. Hey, what does this do?" For

4800-587: The Springfield Badlands, the gigantic Murderhorn Mountain, Springfield Glacier, Mt. Useful National Park, Springfield Mesa, Springfield Monument Park, and Springfield National Park. The town's climate is usually depicted as dry and sunny, with a bright blue sky. However, in various episodes, it has been subject to many natural disasters, including heatwaves, blizzards, avalanches, earthquakes, acid rain , floods, hurricanes, lightning strikes, tornadoes, and volcanic eruptions. Springfield's environment

4896-686: The Springfields in America, [ The Simpsons ] is most popular in Springfields in Virginia , Minnesota and New Jersey , and least popular in Springfields in Louisiana , Arkansas and Georgia ". The episode " Lisa the Iconoclast " revealed that Springfield was founded by a group led by Jebediah Springfield (a cover identity for notorious pirate Hans Sprungfeld) who, after misinterpreting

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4992-483: The Squeaky-Voiced Teen not to ride due to safety restrictions that serves a reminder to guests about the ride's height requirements and thrill intensity that can aggravate certain heart conditions . Grampa suddenly falls asleep while Maggie crawls into the nearby nuclear reactor room, causing her to grow larger. Meanwhile, on screen, Krusty leads the Simpsons into a ride room where he tells them to enjoy

5088-424: The U.S. called Springfield competed to hold the premiere . The promotion was, whichever state sent in the most votes would be the winner and would officially be which state The Simpsons takes place in. Despite the smaller size of Vermont compared to other states, the town of Springfield, Vermont was chosen. In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that "of all

5184-552: The US. The fictional city's unknown geography is a recurring joke in the series; the Dayton Daily News called it the "riddle wrapped in an enigma that is Springfield's location." Episodes frequently make fun of the fact that Springfield's state is unidentifiable, by adding further conflicting descriptions, obscuring onscreen map representations, and interrupting conversational references. David Silverman , who directed

5280-466: The US; the location is a spoof of Four Corners . While on their road trip to Itchy & Scratchy Land , the Simpsons visit Five Corners, where they each "stand in five different states while holding hands". The location is visited again in " The Bob Next Door ", where Sideshow Bob plots to kill Bart at the marker where the location's unique property would result in a lack of extraterritorial jurisdiction , explaining it as: "I can stand in one state, fire

5376-642: The Universal Studios Florida version of the ride received notable projection system upgrades, as well as adding a few new lines for Homer recorded by Dan Castellaneta. In April 2022, the Universal Studios Hollywood ride reopened from refurbishment with an updated soundtrack and slightly altered timings. As a result of the Walt Disney Company 's acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, The Simpsons are now

5472-515: The World Expo area at Universal Studios Florida and a portion of the Upper Lot at Universal Studios Hollywood were converted into a new themed area called Springfield (although Florida's version of Springfield would actually be a subsection of World Expo until 2016), based on iconic landmarks from The Simpsons such as Krusty Burger , Frying Dutchman , Lard Lad Donuts , Moe's Tavern , and

5568-631: The attraction, causing riders to catapult to another attraction called "Captain Dinosaur's Pirate Rip-Off". Homer and Marge are seen riding a boat, which plunges down a waterfall. As they approach a second waterfall, Sideshow Bob appears in a projection on the waterfall; wishing to play fair, he tells Homer to resist all temptations in the area up ahead, parodying the Pirates of the Caribbean and Jurassic Park: The Ride attractions. As riders pass through

5664-494: The business in several episodes. In the season 10 episode " Thirty Minutes over Tokyo ", Ned mentions the competitor business "Leftopolis" next door. In the episode " Home Away from Homer ", in a parody of Wal-Mart , Ned mentions the new megastore "Left-Mart" is threatening his business. The season 25 episode " White Christmas Blues " reveals that competition from the Southpaw Superstore forced Flanders to downsize to

5760-457: The cars were changed and the original Intamin mechanics system was updated by Entech Innovative Engineering . The construction began at Universal Studios Hollywood in mid-September 2007, with the disposal of the building's Back to the Future insignia. Outdoor painting on the building began in January 2008. In the summer of 2013, shortly after the Springfield U.S.A. land opened near the ride,

5856-428: The engineering sciences. Professor Frink is a college professor at the university, and it is from where Apu Nahasapeemapetilon earned his doctorate. Spinster City Apartments, sometimes referred to as Spinster Arms Apartments, is a fictional apartment building. Patty and Selma Bouvier , along with Selma's daughter Ling and their pet iguana Jub-Jub , live at number 1599. The fictional Springfield Retirement Castle

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5952-410: The episode " Worst Episode Ever ", Bart and Milhouse are given the job of running the comic book store after Comic Book Guy suffers from a stress-induced heart attack and is instructed to try and gain a social life. During their brief tenure at the store, Bart and Milhouse discover a secret room filled with bootleg videotapes of extremely rare or illegal subjects. These tapes are later confiscated during

6048-399: The family is relieved to be back home. Suddenly, Kang and Kodos turn the house into Krusty's "Death Drop" ride while saying that all rides must end near a gift shop. Riders are then dropped with the Simpsons from the sky, encountering various Simpsons characters along the way. Riders crash back at the entrance to Krustyland, where Bob prepares to kill them with a buzz saw. However, the couch

6144-567: The fictitious Springfield featured in the 1950s sitcom Father Knows Best . Groening did not intend to place the fictional Springfield in Oregon, contrary to a 2012 interview with him in Smithsonian magazine ; he instead adopted the name for the setting of The Simpsons in the hope that "everyone will think it's their Springfield." Al Jean explained that the magazine "misinterpreted something I've heard him say for at least 10 or 20 years. He

6240-417: The hands of highly-qualified teens like himself. He tells riders to enjoy themselves but asks to keep the screaming down so he can study for a math test. He can then be seen reading his textbook, which is upside down, while quiet elevator music reminiscent of " The Simpsons Theme " begins playing in the background. Approximately a minute later, Sideshow Bob suddenly hijacks his signal and takes control of

6336-531: The home is to "stake yourself out a good spot at the starin' window", which overlooks nothing but a barren tree, and bingo (the prize being a banana ). The staff of the home has little to no respect for the residents, doing things like vacuuming their hair during "nap time", or switching their IV bags with their catheter bags when the former is empty, and the latter is full. In the episode " Old Money ", Grampa inherits $ 106,000 from his girlfriend Beatrice "Bea" Simmons. He uses both this money and his winnings from

6432-429: The home of the world's first Aquacar factory; one-half of the U.S. was said to wear Springfield galoshes, and the city's streets were literally paved with gold. However, the town's prosperity was short-lived. In a 1992 episode, a fictional Time cover story on Springfield is titled "America's Worst City", and in a 1996 episode, Newsweek called the town "America's Crud Bucket". Springfield's fictional geography

6528-401: The incompetence and apathy of its administration, teachers, staff, and students. It is portrayed within the show as a satire of publicly funded schools and education in the United States, an illustrative example and parody of the lengths undertaken by some schools to overcome the burden of underfunding. Bart's class was taught by Edna Krabappel until her death in season 25. In " Left Behind ",

6624-525: The main ride room and board the vehicle. After entering the Krusty-themed ride vehicle, Homer orders everyone to sit down, stating that "all seats are the same with the exception of the better ones", and threatens to make an annoying noise until everyone has taken a seat. Despite riders' actions, he makes the annoying noise anyway. The Squeaky-Voiced Teen then appears on a TV screen in the ride cabin and assures guests that their comfort and safety are in

6720-564: The majority of other North American 7-Elevens, sold products found in The Simpsons , such as " Buzz Cola ", " Krusty-O's ", " Squishees ", pink frosted "Sprinklicious doughnuts", and other Simpsons -themed merchandise. The Squishes were Slurpees that are sold in special collector cups, and the Krusty-O's were made by Malt-O-Meal . The promotion resulted in a 30% increase in profits for the changed 7-Eleven stores. This can be seen during

6816-487: The movie and various episodes of the series, joked that Springfield is located in the fictional state of "North Takoma". This is substantiated by the state abbreviations NT and TA used within the show. As of A Tale of Two Springfields (season 12, episode 2), the telephone area codes for Springfield are 636 ( St. Charles County and Western St. Louis County, Missouri ) and 939 ( Puerto Rico ). To promote The Simpsons Movie , various actual towns and cities across

6912-540: The naming of a new, real-life elementary school in Greenwood, South Carolina , was left up to the students, and the name Springfield Elementary was chosen. The school board was unaware of the connection to The Simpsons until a protest by one group of parents, who argued that the character of Bart Simpson was a poor role model. The name stood, and the school opened in August 1994. The fictional Springfield University

7008-408: The nearby town of Springfield, Oregon . However, in order to emphasize it as an example of " Anytown, USA ", the location of the fictional Springfield remains a mystery. "Clues" regarding Springfield's climate, geology, history, distance from real cities, or political alignment, which are found in numerous episodes of the series, are intentionally contradictory. The fictional city of Springfield

7104-614: The opening of The Simpsons Movie . Moe's Tavern, or often simply referred to as "Moe's", is a fictional bar operated and named after the owner, Moe Szyslak . Moe's Tavern first appeared in the first episode of the series " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire ". Homer Simpson , Lenny Leonard , and Carl Carlson often visit the bar after a day of work at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Other frequent patrons of Moe's Tavern are Barney Gumble , Sam , and Larry Dalrymple . The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant

7200-462: The outside security booth often going unmanned. The design of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is often rumored to be based on the troubled Trojan Nuclear Power Plant (closed in 1993 due to defects) near Matt Groening 's hometown of Portland, Oregon , or the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington . However, Antonia Coffman, Groening's publicist, has said that the Springfield plant's design

7296-600: The plant when Maggie was born so that he could afford to care for her. The Leftorium is a fictional store in the Springfield Mall specializing in products for left-handed people. The store is owned by Ned Flanders , who first started the Leftorium in the episode " When Flanders Failed ". Although business at the store initially went very poorly, it became significantly more successful when Homer recommended it to many of his left-handed friends. The Leftorium had challenges in subsequent years, with Flanders discussing

7392-545: The queue play video clips from the Krusty the Clown television show, animated footage from Krustyland, and clips from episodes of The Simpsons, many of which are theme park-related and hail from episodes such as " Itchy & Scratchy Land " and " Selma's Choice ". Guests eventually leave the queue and enter "Krusty's Carnival Midway", the first of two pre-shows. Themed to a fair's midway , riders are lined up into rows waiting for confirmation from Krusty to proceed. TV screens line

7488-756: The queue video, several clips from episodes of the show are featured. They include: In October 2007, gift shops modeled after the Kwik-E-Mart were built, replacing the Back to the Future: The Store gift shop at Universal Studios Florida and the Time Travelers Depot gift shop at Universal Studios Hollywood . The stores sell Simpsons -related merchandise. Carts were opened near the stores which sell Squishees , (which are The Simpsons ' parody of 7-Eleven 's Slurpees .) A large portion of

7584-462: The regular cast members, as well as Pamela Hayden , Russi Taylor , and Kelsey Grammer . Harry Shearer , however, did not participate in the ride's creation due to scheduling and availability conflicts. Paying homage to the Back to the Future ride that The Simpsons Ride replaced, a video featuring a brief animated cameo from Doc Brown , voiced by Christopher Lloyd , is played in the ride queue. In

7680-462: The release of The Simpsons Movie . The locations of the renovated Kwik-E-Marts were: Bladensburg, Maryland /Washington, D.C.; Burbank, California ; Chicago ; Dallas ; Denver ; Henderson / Las Vegas ; Los Angeles ; Mountain View / San Francisco ; New York City; Orlando / Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; Seattle ; and Vancouver / Coquitlam, British Columbia , Canada. These 12 locations, as well as

7776-472: The residents and natural environment of Springfield. Mutated fish with more than two eyes are often shown in the lake behind the power plant, which has a large pipe pumping nuclear waste into it. There is a crow or raven shown living near the Power Plant, which caws whenever an establishing shot of the Power Plant is on screen. A running gag in earlier seasons was the poor security of the plant, with

7872-470: The ride saves over 55,000 watts on average and 662 kilowatt-hours per day. The ride includes over 2,500 LEDs , the largest number in theme park history. Guests walk through a 32-foot (9.8 m) head of Krusty the Clown as they enter the ride's line queue, which leads them into a pavilion under various circus tents themed to carnival stalls. A variety of posters are on display advertising attractions at Krustyland, while television monitors stationed around

7968-478: The ride, but Sideshow Bob appears and knocks out Krusty. After telling the Simpson family to enter the ride vehicle, Homer hastily boards followed by the rest of the family. Sideshow Bob then forces everyone to watch a safety video from Itchy and Scratchy , which depicts a recap of safety reminders. Scratchy can be seen trying to follow safety rules, but each attempt is sabotaged by Itchy. Guests are then ushered into

8064-457: The rights to Paramount Pictures in 2017. The film was released on February 14, 2020 in collaboration with Sega and their animation studio, Marza Animation Planet , and Original Film . A sequel was released on April 8, 2022. In 2017, Blur created another opening title sequence for the Netflix psychological thriller, Mindhunter based on the 1995 true-crime book, Mindhunter: Inside

8160-464: The roller coaster by the wrecking ball as it explodes and sends the Simpsons flying. Riders end up on the park's "Happy Little Elves in Panda Land" attraction with Bart and Lisa, landing in separate ride vehicles, where Bob appears in control of an evil robotic panda, who then smashes some nearby singing elves out of annoyance. He then forces the ride vehicles in reverse, sending them crashing through

8256-465: The same blue color as is used for signs for Highland Avenue in Los Angeles . Likewise, three buildings are visible that are similar to some of those that might be seen on that street: two low buildings with bars over the windows, and a third, also with barred windows, which has a mission-style roof and a sign reading "Smog Center". The episode " Homer and Apu " suggests that Apu is an employee of

8352-418: The screen, telling riders that he is now in control of Krustyland. After threatening guests by saying no area in the park is safe from him, he starts the ride by flipping a switch from "thrilling" to "killing", which activates the vehicle causing it to virtually rise out of the room while telling them to enjoy the ride which is about to be destroyed with them on it. The ride simulator combines physical movement of

8448-525: The studio has produced CGI-animated films, teasers and ad spots for television, as well as video-game CGI cinematics. Blur Studio was founded in March 1995 by David Stinnett, Tim Miller , and Cat Chapman. Blur produced Xbox demo video Two to Tango for console's mascots Raven and Robot. Sometime between 2001 and 2003, the studio took interest in The Lego Group 's Bionicle theme and produced

8544-459: The town to later deal with. The building is based on the Chelmsford, Massachusetts public library due to longtime The Simpsons background designer Lance Wilder, being a former Chelmsford resident. Five Corners is a fictional location, imagined as "the only geographic location in the US where five states meet". A boundary marker indicates the exact spot. In reality, no such place exists in

8640-416: The traditional 2-D animation seen on The Simpsons and the queue and pre-show of the ride. The animation reference was provided by Film Roman , the animation studio that animates the series. Each car contains 12 speakers and a Dolby 6.1 surround sound, while the domes contain an additional 90 speakers. The ride vehicles are themed to look like cars from a classic dark ride , and like the previous Back to

8736-411: The two cities continues today, especially in the sixth-season episode " Lemon of Troy ", in which Shelbyville residents steal a prized lemon tree from Springfield. In several episodes, "Lemon of Troy" in particular, it is suggested that Shelbyville is to an extent a parallel version of Springfield. Shelbyville is also the city where Luann van Houten grew up. It also has at least one McDonald's restaurant,

8832-424: The vehicle with on-screen motion. The experience continues with riders emerging onto a track with the Simpsons' vehicle in front of them. Bob is also nearby, operating a wrecking ball crane. The riders then ram into the Simpsons' vehicle, which can be seen taking a plunge. The rider's vehicle plunges soon after, revealing they are on the " Tooth Chipper " roller coaster (which was scheduled for demolition) involving

8928-512: The walls to both the left and right, displaying the residents of Springfield running through midway booths at the park. Krusty eventually appears on another screen located directly in front, seemingly to pick the first family to ride the most extreme ride at his park called "Thrilltacular: Upsy-Downsy Spins-Aroundsy Teen-Operated Thrillride". Sideshow Bob sneakily appears in a Scratchy costume when Krusty isn't looking and steps on Homer Simpson 's foot, causing him to yell " D'oh! ", which results in

9024-494: The waterfall, they get sprayed with water effects. Homer grabs a barrel of beer handed to him by an animatronic pirate T-Rex while Marge attempts to warn Homer that it's a temptation. His actions trigger a trap that destroys their surroundings, transporting them to "Krusty's Wet and Smoky Stunt Show", running over a popcorn seller in the process. They reunite with Bart and Lisa. The panda robot can be seen still under Bob's control. Homer and Marge escape with Bart, as Lisa appears riding

9120-573: Was inspired by growing up in Portland , but it's really an every town". Groening liked Second City Television 's setting of Melonville, a town with a large cast of recurring characters, and used it as inspiration for The Simpsons . He said, "I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the show's success, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do". "The true location of Springfield

9216-422: Was intended to represent "Anytown, USA", and not be derived from any specific real-life location. However, the producers acknowledge deriving inspiration from numerous locations, including The Simpsons creator Matt Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon , and Mike Scully 's hometown, Springfield, Massachusetts . Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon, which, as a child, Groening had believed to be

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