Simpsons Movie Premieres in Springfield, VT

BURLINGTON FREE PRESS: First family of Springfield
Published: Sunday, July 22, 2007 - By Brent Hallenbeck

SPRINGFIELD — It was easy to find the festivities for the world premiere of “The Simpsons Movie” Saturday in downtown Springfield. All you had to do was follow the people with the sky-high blue hair.

Diane Bilotta was wearing a beehive wig mimicking the famous blue hairdo of Marge Simpson, the long-suffering wife of Homer, her fellow yellow-skinned cartoon character.

“It puts Springfield on the map,” the Grantham, N.H., woman said, clutching a Homer Simpson doll as she stood outside the Springfield Theater where the film would debut in about two hours. “It’s a lovely town, and Marge and Homer wouldn’t live anywhere else.”

It’s only been a couple of weeks since the world learned that the Springfield that Homer, Marge and their children Bart, Lisa and Maggie call home is Springfield, Vt., a well-worn town of 9,300 in a pretty spot among hills buffeting the Connecticut River that defines the Vermont/New Hampshire border.

The southern Vermont town was the smallest among the 14 Springfields in the country taking part in a contest through USA Today. By registering 15,367 votes among more than 100,000 cast, Springfield, Vt. — on the strength of a “Simpsons”-inspired online video produced by Vermont filmmakers — won the movie premiere and bragging rights as the hometown of “The Simpsons.”

Police estimated Saturday afternoon that the celebration drew a shade below the 5,000-10,000 fans organizers expected. Those who gathered for a chance to win some of the 800-plus tickets to the premiere and to hear from the filmmakers were excited enough to make up the difference.

Matt Groening, who created the satirical cartoon for television two decades ago and attended the feature film’s celebration, was stunned by the outpouring from fans.

“We knew that wherever the real Springfield was there would be a lot of enthusiasm. This is unbelievable,” Groening said in an interview along the yellow carpet — a red carpet just wouldn’t suit this jaundiced, dysfunctional family — that stretched toward the Springfield Theater.

“Rabid, zealous, fanatic, and yet they’re all smiling,” Groening said of the crowd. “Usually in Springfield on the show, any time a large crowd gathers it turns into a mob.”

Fans who gathered in a spacious parking lot next to the Springfield Theater heard short speeches from Groening and others who worked on the film, which opens nationwide Friday. Springfield officials presented Groening with a key to the town; Groening gave the town a plaque depicting “Simpsons” character Krusty the Clown placing his hands in cement outside the Springfield Theater while an oblivious hot-dog-munching Homer strolls through the ceremony and the cement.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the first-term Vermont independent, said the contest win demonstrated that Springfield is a “can-do community” despite the obstacles the town has faced.

“Fortunes go up and down,” Sanders said. “This town, like ‘The Simpsons’ family, occasionally has its problems.” Springfield rose on the back of the machine-tool industry and slid into hard times once that business declined. Residents of the former industrial town are glad Springfield is animated again.
Betsy Eldredge was one of those residents happy to see her town so lively. “Springfield has been quite a depressed area for some time,” she said.

Springfield pride and “Simpsons” mania merged in front of the theater where a huge yellow hand hoisting a pink-frosted doughnut — Homer’s famously favorite food — rose like a beacon. A banner stretched across Main Street, also festooned with images of doughnuts, read “Welcome to Springfield, Vermont – Home of the Simpsons.” Big yellow lettering in the window of the Springfield Copy Center proclaimed “We Won!” in front of a backdrop showing Homer’s and Bart’s faces and, of course, more doughnuts.

There were also real doughnuts to be had from Vermont vendors near the theater. The Woodstock Water Buffalo Co. offered special “yo-nuts” filled with maple-flavored yogurt made from water-buffalo milk. The Magic Hat Brewing Co. crafted a “Springfield VT Premiere” ale that was more golden than yellow. Ben & Jerry’s combined Homer’s two favorite flavors for the one-day-only “Duff & D’oh-Nuts” ice cream with a heavy chocolate-doughnut flavor and a hint of stout beer.

Along with Vermont’s most famous ice-cream maker, the celebration featured two members of Phish, the band that, before the Simpsons were discovered to live in Springfield, was Vermont’s best-known group of celebrities.

“Thank you very much, Springfield, this is a huge honor for us,” said keyboard player Page McConnell, who preceded the ceremony with a set from his band. They were joined by ex-Phish bass player Mike Gordon who, like McConnell, appeared in flesh tones rather than the yellow hue the four members of Phish had in a 2002 episode of “The Simpsons.”

Several of the filmmakers remarked about the beautiful, idyllic setting of Springfield.

“It’s just amazing. I feel like we journeyed through America,” Emmy- and Oscar-winning producer James L Brooks said in an interview after the pre-premiere ceremony. “I feel like I’m going to bump into Frank Capra.”

The film’s director, David Silverman, also mentioned Capra, the classic movie maker known for setting his films in bucolic burgs.

“It’s wonderful. What a picturesque American town it is,” Silverman said.

Some people were there not to celebrate but to make a point. Eldredge was passing out fliers in her hometown opposing renewal of the Vermont Yankee nuclear-power plant’s license when it expires in 2012. The plant — perhaps the one Homer works in on the show — is about 45 minutes south of Springfield.

A shutdown of the plant might put Homer out of work. Eldredge has a suggestion for the head of the Simpsons family — he could work on a wind farm.

Nancy Schaefer was making a different sort of statement on Main Street, where the Bellows Falls woman and a handful of youths were gyrating inside Hula Hoops. Schaefer wore a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Drop the Donut.”

Schaefer and her fellow exercisers were recommending 30 minutes of exercise a day and five servings of fruit and vegetables. “Homer represents too many doughnuts and beer,” she said.

With her yard-high blue wig made of foam insulation, Schaefer suggested she might not be Marge but instead an obscure member of “The Simpsons” clan. “I could be her unknown sister, the one we don’t talk about, Nancy Simpson,” Schaefer said. “The crunchy-granola unknown sister.”

Stephanie and Matthew Strangwood were in Springfield to celebrate “The Simpsons Movie.” They drove 15 hours from Romeoville, Ill., to be there, and that’s not even the biggest sign of their “Simpsons” devotion: They met in 2000 through a “Simpsons” trivia online chat room, became friends, and Matthew, 26, moved to Illinois from his native England to be with Stephanie, now 23. They’ve been married almost four years. “The Simpsons” is the tie that binds.

“It’s brilliant,” Stephanie, wearing a Homer Simpson backpack, said of the show.

“It’s witty, it’s great satire,” said Matthew, who wore a Krusty the Clown backpack.

They wouldn’t have missed the Springfield celebration for anything.

“It’s the biggest event of all time,” Matthew Strangwood said.

In “Simpsons” history or world history?

He paused for a moment. “World history,” he said.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenb@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.