| The Longest Daycare | |
|---|---|
 Poster for the short film | |
| Directed by | David Silverman |
| Written by | James L. Brooks Matt Groening Al Jean David Mirkin Michael Price Joel H. Cohen |
| Based on | The Simpsons by Matt Groening |
| Produced by | James L. Brooks Matt Groening Al Jean Richard Raynis Richard Sakai |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates |
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Running time | 4 minutes |
| Country | United States |
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare" or simplyThe Longest Daycare, is a 2012 American animated3Dcomedyshort film based on the animated television seriesThe Simpsons. In the film,Maggie Simpson is enrolled at a new daycare facility where she squares off with the foul-temperedBaby Gerald when she befriends a caterpillar. The short originated withSimpsons producerJames L. Brooks, who enlisted long-time veteran of the seriesDavid Silverman to direct the film. The picture was written by producers Brooks,Al Jean,David Mirkin, writersMichael Price andJoel H. Cohen, as well as the show's creatorMatt Groening, who also produced the short.
The film premiered on July 13, 2012, where it was attached to screenings of the20th Century Fox releaseIce Age: Continental Drift. The film is the secondSimpsons theatrical release. The short was re-released on February 15, 2013, and played before the filmLife of Pi in selected theaters in United States. Reception has been positive, praising the storytelling and animation. The film was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Animated Short Film in2013.
Marge Simpson drops offMaggie at theAyn Rand School for Tots, where, after going through a security screening, she is classified as being of "average intelligence", by a machine manufactured by "Often-Wrong Technologies". A guard then carries her past the "Room for Gifted Babies" and puts her in the "Nothing Special" dreary corner. The playtime items are either taken away or eaten by the other babies. A butterfly then makes its way into the room as Maggie's nemesis,Baby Gerald, squashes and kills it on the wall with a mallet and draws a box around it with acrayon. Another butterfly also meets the same fate. Maggie finds a caterpillar and apop-up book about thelife cycle of the butterfly. Realizing that the caterpillar could also meet the fate of the first two butterflies, she tries to protect it from Gerald. The caterpillar later encases itself in achrysalis and starts to transform. Once the newly formed butterfly emerges, Maggie tries to help it fly out of the window, but Gerald seemingly kills it by shutting the blinds on it as it attempts to pass through. Maggie dramatically mourns as she falls to the floor. Marge then arrives to pick her up, when it is revealed Maggie's scene was only aruse to cover the truth: she had slipped her hair bow onto the windowsill and wore the butterfly on her forehead in its place. She then sets the butterfly free as Marge drives her home.
In 2011,[1]The Simpsons executive producerJames L. Brooks proposed the idea of making a short film and releasing it in cinemas in front of a feature film, similar to how animation film studioPixar creates shorts to play before their feature films.[2] "He didn’t say anything about doing it in 3D,per se, but that was sort of the idea…that we would be doing it in 3D."[3] He wanted the short to be a fun gift for the fans ofThe Simpsons, and according to the series'showrunnerAl Jean, "We [the staff] just wanted to do this as a way of saying, 'We appreciate how much people have stayed with the show and watched it for 25 years.'"[2] Brooks pickedDavid Silverman, long-time veteran of the series and director ofThe Simpsons Movie (2007) to oversee the film.[2] Silverman gave credit toRichard Sakai for the idea to produce the film in stereoscopic 3-D. He considered the reasoning for employing 3-D "hard to describe," noting that was largely an experiment and its genesis was born out of "having fun."[4][5]
The group first gathered in March 2011—consisting of Brooks, Silverman, Al Jean,David Mirkin, writersJoel Cohen andMichael Price, andSimpsons creatorMatt Groening via phone—to pitch ideas for a short. Early on, it was decided to keep it entirely silent and employ Maggie as the lead character, and the setting of a daycare was decided upon.[5] Jean wrote thetreatment for the film, and Silverman completed ananimatic of early story reels in June 2011. By the following February, the team regrouped to structure the story and formulate more ideas.[4] With the help of Brad Ableson, Erick Tran and Ben Lane, the storyboards and animatic for the short were approved and the film entered production. Silverman himself animated two shots present in the final film.[6]
Silverman and his crew began animation work on the short in March 2012, completing in May after just under ten weeks of production. He considered his crew "very experienced", noting that he worked with stereographer Eric Kurland for the 3-D shots.[4] It was animated withThe Simpsons's usual production pipeline, which involved sending shots toAKOM inSouth Korea, but with an amplified focus on the 3-D. The team would attempt to complete ten scenes to send to AKOM per week, which would be returned in a cleaned-up form after two weeks.[6] Shots were then composited together at Film Roman out of necessity as the backgrounds relied on the 3-D.[4] Most stereo elements for 3-D were picked out after shots were cleaned up, while others were manipulated in post-production with After Effects.[4] The short was more costly than the average episode of the television show.[5]
The Longest Daycare was first announced to the public in a title card at the end of the series' twenty-third-season finale "Lisa Goes Gaga" that aired on May 20, 2012.[2] It was revealed that the short would be shown in theaters in the United States prior to screenings of the filmIce Age: Continental Drift, starting on July 13, 2012.[2] A teaser trailer forThe Longest Daycare, lasting approximately five seconds, was released on July 3, 2012.[7] A 2D version of the short was displayed by the producers ofThe Simpsons at the series' panel atSan Diego Comic-Con on July 14, 2012.[2][8] It also played before the filmLife of Pi in selected theaters in United States.[9] After being nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Animated Short Film in2013,[10]The Longest Daycare was released along with all the other 15 Oscar-nominated short films in theaters byShortsHD.[11][12]
The Longest Daycare has received critical acclaim. Many film critics have said that the short was better thanIce Age: Continental Drift.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Claudia Puig ofUSA Today argued that "the brief tale is far more clever and whimsical than any sequence inIce Age."[15] Similarly,Sun Herald critic Leigh Paatsch said the short "displays all the wit and creativity missing fromContinental Drift."[16]San Francisco Chronicle writer Amy Biancolli commented that the short is "only a few minutes long, but those few minutes boast more imagination, pathos and suspense than the entire film that follows."[17] Joe Williams of theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote that while the short takes place in a daycare, it ironically features more "artistic maturity" thanContinental Drift.[18]
The Longest Daycare has been praised for being both humorous and emotional. Puig and Biancolli described the short as "hilarious".[15][17] Bill Goodykoontz ofThe Arizona Republic stated that the film is "terrific—sweet, sad, funny, surprising,"[21] and Kristian Lin ofFort Worth Weekly said it is "clever" and "surprisingly moving".[19] Writing forPioneer Press, Chris Hewitt noted that Maggie's interaction with Gerald "is hilarious and, ultimately, poignant in an animated film that covers more territory, all without dialogue, than most full-length movies."[22] He went on to call the short a "triumph of storytelling, pacing and big-hearted humor."[22]
A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times called the short a "charming 3-D cartoon" that is "witty and touching and marvelously concise".[20] He added that it "cleverly blends the bright-colored flatness of the television show with the gimmickry of 3-D. It also upholds (more than the TV series itself) one of the golden rules of animation: no talking."[20] Tim Martain ofThe Mercury has also described the short as "touching".[23]The Boston Globe's Tom Russo thought the short was "a welcome throwback to the days whenThe Simpsons had more sentiment at its core, and wasn’t so much about the latest batch of newbieIvy League writers taking their cues fromFamily Guy."[24] In a joint review of the episode "Hardly Kirk-ing", Teresa Lopez of TV fanatic said "The Longest Daycare was a beautiful piece of animation showcasing a tender story of hope in an otherwise bleak environment. I feel like the only timeThe Simpsons can really exercise some creativity and depth is in these shorts and during the show's opening sequence."[25]
Subsequent episodes involving Maggie as a protagonist have been produced including2015's "Puffless" and2020's "The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby."[26]
On March 6, 2020, a new short film with Maggie Simpson calledPlaydate with Destiny premiered with the release ofOnward fromDisney andPixar,[27] with a further short featuring Maggie Simpson titledThe Force Awakens from Its Nap released onDisney+ on May 4, 2021,Star Wars Day. It is the first of a series of shorts featuringThe Simpsons, crossing over with other franchises on Disney+, throughout 2021.[28] In 2023, another short film was released with Maggie Simpson celebratingStar Wars Day calledRogue Not Quite One.[29]
Films directed byDavid Silverman | |
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| Features |
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| Shorts |
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