Stars: The Simpsons, Dan Castellanata, Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner

Summary: A collection of four movie themed episodes of the Simpsons, featuring 'Beyond Blunderdome' sees Homer being invited by Mel Gibson to help remake the film 'Mr Smith Goes To Washington', 'Itchy And Scratchy - The Movie' sees Bart being banned from watching the new Itchy and Scratchy film because of bad behaviour, '22 Short Films About Springfield' which is a quick tour of what happens in Springfield over the course of one day and 'A Star Is Burns' which sees Springfield being voted the least popular city in America. To increase tourism Springfield hosts a fim festival.

This SIMPSONS collection features four movie-related episodes. In "Beyond Blunderdome," Homer ruins a Mel Gibson film--and possibly the actor's career. "Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie" has Bart and Homer clashing over permission to see the gory animated mammals in their big screen debut. "22 Short Films about Springfield" is exactly that, a witty look at the various residents of the Simpsons' hometown. Finally, "A Star Is Burns" pits a surprisingly soulful short film by Barney Gumble against a vanity production funded by the ruthless C. Montgomery Burns in the Springfield Film Festival.

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Any four episodes of The Simpsons chosen at random would make perfectly acceptable entertainment, but The Simpsons’ Film Festival is a particularly happy selection. One of the show’s many delights has always been its unending stream of movie parodies, and here we have four episodes devoted to just that. In "Beyond Blunderdome", Mel Gibson (playing himself) sends up his tough-guy persona when he hires Homer to produce his latest movie. Then in "A Star is Burns" Springfield hosts its own film festival (with acerbic guest critic Jay Sherman in attendance). The competition boils down to Barney’s haunting cinema verité short about the horrors of alcohol or Mr Burns’ grandiose vanity project (though Homer prefers Hans Moleman being hit by a football). "22 Short Films About Springfield" is a series of parodies within a parody featuring Springfield’s secondary characters, including Milhouse’s dad and Chief Wiggum in a glorious Pulp Fiction sequence. Finally, the show’s own internal parody cartoon duo hit the big screen in "The Itchy and Scratchy Movie", while Bart and Homer lock horns about going to see it. They sell Soylent Green in the future cinema foyer; and Homer loves it, of course.

On the DVD: just four episodes is hardly stunning value for money, but it’s perhaps quality not quantity that counts here. Annoyingly there is no "Play All" facility, a serious let down in all the Simpsons DVD releases (Futurama had the same problem, too). The only extra feature of any note is a three-minute montage of Troy McClure’s finest moments. Sound is unexceptional Dolby Stereo and the picture is standard 4:3 ratio. --Mark Walker

Aspect Ratio:	4:3 Full Frame
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Troy McClures Finest Moments, Chapter Selections
Subtitles:	Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
Year:	2001
Release Date:	April 1, 2002
Runtime:	87 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	22279 D V D
Keywords:	Animated, Film, Comedy, General, Festival, Animation, Simpsons, Simpson's
Genre:	Comedy