Ads by Google Residents of Springfields get chance at stardom Dylan Swanton remembers watching "The Simpsons" when it was just a short cartoon that aired during "The Tracey Ullman Show" in 1989. He still watches and can recite word-for-word conversations between the characters. So despite his lack of professional acting experience, the 24-year-old Swanton jumped at the opportunity to play a spin-off of one of his favorite characters in a short film produced by his hometown of Springfield, Ohio.
On Monday, Swanton paused his Simpsons DVD, logged on to the Internet and cast a vote for Ohio in a contest 18 years in the making that should answer a question fans of the long-running show love to debate: Just which Springfield is the Simpsons' Springfield? City officials in Springfield, Ohio, Springfield, Ky., and 12 other Springfields submitted five-minute videos demonstrating their communities' Simpson spirit in hopes of winning the hometown premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" July 26th.
The victorious city will be determined by an online vote held through July 9 at thesimpsons.usatoday.com, where the public can view all 14 short films.
"People have been arguing for years about it, and it will never stop," said Swanton. "Even if they say somewhere else is Springfield, I'm still going to say it's ours. Though they share the same name, Springfield, Ohio, and Springfield, Ky.
, are about as different as Barney Gumble and Barney Rubble. The bars that make up Main Street in Springfield, Ohio, are churches along Main Street in Springfield, Ky. City Hall in Kentucky barely has four offices.
City Hall in Ohio stands four stories tall. Indeed, everything seems bigger in Springfield, Ohio, where about 63,000 people live. Maybe that's why the thought of winning a movie premiere valued at $2,500 hasn't overwhelmed the director of Ohio's Simpson spirit video.
"Would it alter or change the community? I don't think so," said Rod Hatfield, co-founder of OH-10 New Media. "I think there would be a little bump of excitement.
And then it would be Friday." Michael Breeding returned to Springfield, Ky., to direct Kentucky's video.
Based in Lexington, Breeding has produced three documentaries that aired on PBS. He said he was pleasantly surprised on the set of the small town's Simpsons shoot June 16, where he planned a courtroom scene for 10 but wound up with 150 enthusiastic participants. "I have never had more fun in my life," said Breeding, who edited nine hours of raw footage down to five minutes.
"We had a blast filming this thing. I was surprised at the performance quality of all our actors." In a city of fewer than 3,000 people, it could have been difficult for Breeding to stage a well-written production with well-rehearsed talent.
In early-May, though, Mayor John Cecconi launched a committee chaired by City Administrator Laurie Smith to study "The Simpsons," produce a catchy script and recruit potential characters. By the time 20th Century Fox delivered the contest's rules to the 14 participating Springfields in June, the Kentucky city had a major edge on its Ohio counterpart. Michael Morris, Hatfield's partner in the Ohio production, said he struggled to inspire involvement from citizens of Springfield, Ohio.
Smith, on the other hand, said she received many e-mails and phone calls from Simpsons enthusiasts willing to help. Can tiny Springfield, Ky., really overcome Ohio and the rest of the field to win the movie premiere and the worldwide attention that goes along with it?
"It could be tremendous for us," said Smith, who has been interviewed on Australian and Israeli radio stations regarding the contest. "Tourism is the third largest industry in the state of Kentucky, and we certainly aren't up the totem pole." Until now, Springfield, Ky.
, was most famous for being the city where Abraham Lincoln's parents were married and Phil Simms, Super Bowl XXI's MVP, was raised. But five minutes can rewrite the town's history books. Kentucky's Simpson spirit video has the potential to appeal to an audience far beyond city limits.
Nine committee members and three special consultants spent nights and weekends researching the similarities between their Springfield and "The Simpsons" Springfield. What they found was enough evidence to take "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening to court. Which is exactly what they do.
Groening, played by local actor Scott Fattizzi, is summoned to the Washington County Courthouse to respond to townspeople's claims that he based his show's faces and places on their city. Moe's Tavern? That's a takeoff of Mordecai's Restaurant and Bar on Main Street.
Shelbyville? Kentucky's got one just 48 miles north of Springfield. A headless statue?
In 1988, vandals knocked the heads off the statues of two World War I veterans in Springfield, Ky. Bart beheaded the statue of Jebediah Springfield in the eighth episode of "The Simpsons," which originally aired Feb.
News RSS