Back when Disney Plus launched, The Simpsons fans were screaming a righteous "D'oh!" If you didn't notice the first time, early seasons of The Simpsons that aired before the rise of HDTV were being streamed at the 16:9 aspect ratio — which stretched out the format of the images, cutting out sight gags and making the show hard to watch.
It was such an annoying blunder (FX had already gone through this before, Disney should have known) that it helped me cancel my Disney Plus subscription once The Mandalorian was over. Thankfully, our long national Treehouse of Horror is almost at an end.
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Today (May 20), as a part of its big National Streaming Day push, Disney gave me a date to resubscribe to Disney Plus. On May 28, Disney Plus will finally fix the incorrectly cropped classic The Simpsons episodes. In a tweet, @DisneyPlus stated "Episodes in original 4:3 aspect ratio are coming to #DisneyPlus on May 28."
WOO HOO! We love a prediction for #TheSimpsons, especially coming from @AlJean himself in 2015. Episodes in original 4:3 aspect ratio are coming to #DisneyPlus on May 28. #DisneyBundle pic.twitter.com/WxEs9TC5D5May 20, 2020
Confused about why an aspect ratio could matter so much? Well, The Simpsons is famous (in part) for its excellent use of the whole screen, and background elements contained extra jokes. The below shot, for example, was how Disney Plus presented a tour of the Duff beer factory.
What you don't see there — because of the forced aspect ratio crop to 16:9 — is that each of those vats of Duff beer are coming from the same overall Duff pipe.
It's moments like this that pushed me to postpone the ultimate Simpsons marathon I've been wanting to do for a while now. But on Thursday, May 29, I restart my Disney Plus subscription.
It's a perfectly cromulent opportunity to watch all of The Simpsons.
Upcoming Disney Plus releases
The list of 2020 Disney Plus releases doesn't stop there. Here's the big list of what this year holds for subscribers.
- June 25 - Avengers: Infinity War
- July 3 - Hamilton
- July 9 - Solo: A Star Wars Story
- July 29 - Ant-Man and the Wasp
- July 30 - The Incredibles 2
- July 31 - Muppets Now
- August - The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
- October 1 - Maleficent:
- October - The Mandalorian season 2
- December - WandaVision
- December 11 - Ralph Breaks the Internet
