"The Simpsons'" animation has gone through significant changes, from the rough-around-the-edges style of Matt Groening's early sketches to a crisp, clean look.
We look at how the animation evolved throughout the past 32 seasons. 👇
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"The Simpsons" has come a long way from its humble beginnings.
It's become the longest-running scripted series on prime time, the longest-running American animated series, and the longest-running American sitcom.
🗓️ 1987 - 1989
The Simpsons first appeared on TV as a recurring segment of "The Tracey Ullman Show."
Groening, the creator of "The Simpsons," would sketch out the shorts and then hand them to the show's three animators.
David Silverman (@tubatron), one of the animators, estimated that in the early days, they worked 60- to 80-hour weeks to animate a minute and a half between the three of them.
Artists designed and redesigned the Simpsons as they went along. This led to some pretty noticeable inconsistencies.
But all of this laid the groundwork for the defining features of "The Simpsons" look, from how many fingers they had to their color.
🗓️ 1989 - 1990
Throughout the first season of "The Simpsons," the show developed its model sheets, style guides that lay out the right poses, movements, and expressions for each character.
🗓️ 1990 - 1996
By season two, "The Simpsons" had developed an almost 500-page style bible laying out exactly how and how not to draw the residents of Springfield.
Movement has always been key for "The Simpsons."
Animators studied Kermit the Frog, liking how he could convey emotion with just a slight change in his mouth. This style left the Simpsons plenty of room for expressiveness.
🗓️ 1995 - 2002
"The Simpsons" stuck with hand-painted cel animation through the '90s, but by season seven, the showrunners were experimenting with digital paint in one-off episodes and even digital animation.
A few episodes later, the show switched over to digital coloring for good.
It's these experiments with digital that set the stage for the biggest transformation yet: "The Simpsons Movie."
🗓️ 2007
Artists added tone and drop shadows on characters in every scene of "The Simpsons Movie," something only occasionally done on the show. These artistic decorations stuck around, as well as computer animation and 3D effects.
🗓️ 2009
Working in widescreen HD animation for the movie proved to be a useful trial run. For its 20th season, "The Simpsons" officially moved to HD.
This meant the animators had to redo entire libraries of backgrounds.
"The Simpsons'" iconic opening was also redone for the first time since season two, a controversial move to some devoted fans.
They said characters' movements were too rigid, but that might be because artists were still getting used to the new HD tech.
🗓️ 2010 - now
"The Simpsons" continues tinkering with its look after more than three decades.
It's this constant adapting that's helped the show last through so many different eras of TV.
Head to @thisisinsider's YouTube page for more Movies Insider episodes.
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