GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
Baseshment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Robert Reynolds
This short was nominated for an Academy Award. There will be spoilers:This short, which is without dialog, takes place at The Ayn Rand School For Tots. Maggie is left there by Marge and is incorrectly labeled of average intelligence. Of course, she spends the rest of the short proving she's anything but that, as she safeguards a caterpillar through its various stages from the predations of the unibrowed Gerald, another baby and her enemy from time to time.There's a chase scene and lots of very nice visual touches throughout the short. The ending is perfect and allows Maggie the opportunity to chew the scenery, like any good ham actor would.Well crafted short which is well worth watching. Most recommended.
giggitygiggitygoo451
The question The Longest Daycare raises is "what is the point?" Overall, it's an interesting enough experience, and it is certainly an antidote to the spectacularly awful standard of the television show for the last few years. But as a standalone experience, it just seems kind of pointless.For starters, the story isn't exactly the most original ever conceived. We see Maggie being dropped off at daycare by Marge, and she is then left to fend for herself against her arch-nemesis, baby Gerald. Let alone the fact that this kind of story has already been done in various different ways a couple of times, it has also been done much better. The television episode "A Streetcar Named Marge" deals with Maggie being sent to Daycare, and we've seen baby Gerald several times also, so there really isn't many new ideas raised here.Also, Maggie is actually quite a strong character considering she rarely, if ever, talks, but despite this she is the one Simpson that tends to be forgotten about, so a short based solely on her probably was never going to work particularly well anyway.It does, however, allow the writers to work without dialogue, which is an interesting idea that we haven't seen from the Simpsons before, and is the strongest aspect of the short, and is certainly the best way to deal with a story based on Maggie.Unfortunately, this doesn't save the story from being weak, and the adventure Maggie embarks on in daycare is pretty lacklustre and not particularly exciting or entertaining. Couple that with the brand-new animation, which I firmly believe only reminds us that this isn't the same show that was so legendarily hilarious and of such high quality back in its prime, and we're left with merely another hollow shell of what The Simpsons used to be.The Longest Daycare is another example of the traps the show has fallen into these last few years. The new-age animation can't make up for poor stories, unfunny scenarios and wasted characters. This kind of material is fine for low-rated, low-quality shows struggling to get by, but it shouldn't be enough for The Simpsons.
MartinHafer
I have been going to the theater on a pilgrimage for quite a few years now each January-February to see the annual showings of the Best Animated and Best Live Action Shorts. I am lucky enough to live in one of the few places in the country that shows it each year. Now what I am about to say might offend some, but it seems that compared to most years, this year's crop of animated shorts is not as good as usual. While I liked a few films, I didn't love any of them--and no really memorable film was in the lot (such as a couple recent winners, "Logorama" or "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"). Now this is not to say not to see them--but none bowled me over, that's for sure.I enjoyed "The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare" quite a bit--and the people in the theater seemed to like it as I heard a lot of laughs. However, I wonder how it got nominated. Apart from being shown in 3-D as a short before a feature film, it just felt much like seeing a TV episode of "The Simpsons". While this TV show is great, it isn't original and I can't see rewarding a film for giving us more of what we've been seeing for over 20 years. Good but nothing special.
Neil Welch
This is a short (5 minutes) film featuring Maggie at her daycare centre: denied the stimulus of contact with the brightest kids, she is placed with her nemesis, the thuggish monobrowed baby who, in this story, kills butterflies.There is no dialogue, just a simple story, loaded with sight gags, and with a terrific payoff. It is in the familiar Simpsons animation style, albeit in 3D which is reasonably effective but far from essential. It works well, as an ice-breaker (pun deliberate) for the 4th Ice Age movie, which it precedes.A minimal, but welcome, addition to the Simpsons canon.
