Congratulations to Disney+ subscribers, who can now see this Simpsons joke

Congratulations to Disney+ subscribers, who can now see this Simpsons joke

Our long national nightmare is over: As of this writing, Disney+ subscribers can view episodes from the first 19-plus seasons of The Simpsons in the proper aspect ratio, restoring punchlines to visual-information-rich frames like the one above.

When clicking on the “Details” tab on the Simpsons show page, users are able to toggle between the remastered 16:9 crop and the original 4:3. Please refrain from tasting the toggle; instead, click on it to reveal Big Butt Skinner’s big butt.

Families—happy families—may once again revel in the glories of crackers and cracker-related art.

Enjoy this comically sized box of nutmeg Marge buys at a store whose parking lot you can now see—a box which is funny enough on its own, but funnier when the full “economy size” label is in view

Episodes that debuted after the show’s 2010 conversion to high-definition remain available exclusively in 16:9; users are also still able to watch everything from before “Take My Life, Please” in the HD aspect ratio, like some kind of sicko who wants to see the Wiggums and Principal Skinner squashed and stretched.

And so ends another extremely trivial skirmish in the streaming wars. And no one will ever mention it again… under penalty of torture. (Until the next time The Simpsons moves to a new platform, and we do this all over again.)

UPDATE: On the wager that Simpsons fans just might have an interest in technical minutiae, here’s a Medium blog breaking down the process of bringing the 4:3 version of the show to Disney+.

 
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