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The Simpsons DVD boxsets

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The Simpsons DVD season boxsets have been released since 2001 in different regions all over the world. They have been released with Region 1 (North America), Region 2 (Europe) and Region 4 (New Zealand, Australia, and Latin America) encoding.

The first five box sets all have outer packaging based around a memorable couch gag from the show. For the next five box sets (Seasons 6-10), the production changed to plastic packages in the shape of the head of one of the Simpson family members. Alternatively, themed boxes are also available for the "head" seasons.

Seasons 1-10
Seasons 1-10

The Complete First Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 1)

This is the first Simpsons box set, released on September 25, 2001 in North America, and September 24, 2001 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It contains all 13 episodes from the first season, remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1. Although the video quality is generally of a high standard, it is from a broadcast tape and not an original film print, as the show was edited on video. The outer packaging is of the family sitting on the couch with Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II sitting upright with them (used a couple of times in Season 1), whereas the inner packaging and the discs feature the family spinning in a vortex. The spine features Bart and Lisa on the outer casing, and Homer, Marge and Maggie on the inner casing.

Episodes

Every episode contains an additional commentary audio track with Matt Groening and usually one or two writers and director of the episode. Season one is on three discs:

Bonus features

"Bart the Genius"
"Bart the General"
"Moaning Lisa"
"Some Enchanted Evening"

Easter eggs

These can be played by finding "easter eggs", or hidden menu options in the DVD.

  • Bart T-shirt controversy clip from ABC News (accessed by highlighting Bart's T-shirt in the "Extra Features" menu).
  • Still gallery of magazine covers printed during the 1989-1990 season (accessed by highlighting the comic book Bart is holding in the "Art of The Simpsons" menu).

Regional differences

  • In the Region 2 and Region 4 releases, the episode "Moaning Lisa" is on Disc 2 and the episodes "The Crepes of Wrath" and "Krusty Gets Busted" are on Disc 3. There is also no commentary on the "Some Enchanted Evening" deleted scenes.
  • Packaging - The Region 2 version has The Simpsons' logo written in yellow rather than the red of Region 1. The spine also features the whole bodies of Bart and Lisa rather than just their heads.

Blu-ray Disc Release

A Blu-ray Disc version of the first season has been announced [1], however there is no planned release date yet.

The Complete Second Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 2)

The second season box set was released on August 6, 2002 in North America, and July 8, 2002 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was the second box set to be released, coming about a year after the first season. It contains all 22 episodes from season two. The packaging is based on the couch gag where the family come in with their heads on the wrong bodies. The spine features Homer and Bart on the outer casing, and Marge and Lisa on the inner casing. Each disc's picture features a Simpson's body with only the head cut out of it, due to the disc losing space for it (on purpose). The picture behind each disc, when you take the disc off of its centered holder in the package, shows the Simpson sitting at a table with three other Springfield residents. Before each disc loads to its main menu, it shows the four Springfield residents from the disc's picture behind it (in the package), and their heads are not on the right bodies. You have to click on the hand in the center three times before the heads are on the right bodies, and the main menu will also appear at that time. The main menu for each disc has each preceding episode below each other.

Episodes

All episodes contain commentaries with Matt Groening, writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss, and various directors. Season two is on four discs:

Bonus features

"Do the Bartman"-this is the directors cut version that replaces scenes from the Berlin Wall remain, Paris , and Statue of Liberty with an entire dance number from the "cool kids" in the video
"Deep, Deep Trouble"
"Bart Gets an F"
"Bart vs. Thanksgiving"
  • Numerous drawings and sketches.

Easter eggs

  • Thank you message to David Silverman for providing early sketches and drawings (accessed by highlighting Blinky in the "Language Selection" menu of "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish").
  • Four bizarre drawings of Bart's head (accessed by highlighting the torn quilt that Santa's Little Helper is chewing on in the "Language Selection" menu of "Bart's Dog Gets an F").
  • Gag drawing of Grampa (accessed by highlighting Grampa's fez in the root menu of "Old Money").
  • Model design sheet for Mr. Burns (accessed by highlighting the picture frame in the "Language Selection" menu of "Brush with Greatness").
  • Odd drawing of Bart, Milhouse and Martin (accessed by highlighting the baseball card Comic Book Guy is holding in the "Language Selection" menu of "Three Men and a Comic Book").
  • Acting poses of Homer for the "Living in a World of Make Believe" sequence (accessed by highlighting the statue's eyes in the "Language Selection" menu of "Blood Feud").
  • Extra storyboard (accessed by pressing up on the 11th page of storyboards for "Bart Gets an F")

The Complete Third Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 3)

This box set was released on August 26, 2003 in North America, and October 6, 2003 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The set was also released in Australia on October 22, 2003. It contains all 24 episodes from season three plus additional bonus material. The packaging theme is based on the couch gag where the couch tips back and the family fall through the back wall. The spine features Homer and Marge on the outer casing, and Maggie and Bart on the inner casing. This was the first box set to have a "Play All" feature, which enabled the viewer to watch all episodes on one disc sequentially, without having to browse through menus. The main menu features the Simpsons sitting on their couch, but every other menu has all yellow letters/characters with a completely black background. Each preceding selection for each of those menus are below each other, save for the general selections ("back to main menu", "back to episode menu", "resume episode", etc.), which are in a horizontal line formation at the bottom of each menu.

Episodes

Season three is on four discs:

Bonus features

Easter eggs

The following episodes contain a fifth audio track with an alternate single person commentary. It can be accessed by either entering "10" on the remote on the "Special Features" menu of each episode or by switching to audio track five with the DVD player's remote while playing the episode:

  • "Stark Raving Dad" with Mike Reiss
  • "Lisa's Pony" with Mike Reiss
  • "Bart the Lover" with Al Jean
  • "Separate Vocations" with Al Jean

Audio outtakes that can be accessed from the main menu of disc three by entering "84763" (the price that appears on the cash register during the opening sequence of The Simpsons) and waiting for the menu to reload after each number. If that doesn't work, try hitting the "enter" button after each number. I.E. - 8 "enter" 4 "enter" 7 "enter" 6 "enter" 3 "enter".

Thirteen random drawings by the animators can be seen by entering 7, 4, 2 and pressing enter after each number on the remote in the "Special Features" menu of disc four.

The Complete Fourth Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 4)

This box set was released on June 15, 2004 in North America, and August 2, 2004 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The set was also released in Australia on August 25, 2004. It contains all 22 episodes from season four in addition to numerous bonus features. The packaging theme this time is of all the citizens of Springfield invading the couch gag (and the rest of the box). The spine features Homer and Krusty the Clown on the outer casing, and Lisa and Grampa on the inner casing. This set is noted to have an improved menu system over Seasons 1-3. All menus have a random animation that will play when a menu option is selected, but this animation can now be skipped by pressing the "next chapter" button on the DVD player's remote. This was also the first box DVD set to have an introduction by Matt Groening. The box where the disc's are held shows the octuplets which aren't even introduced until season 10.

Episodes

Season four is on four discs:

Bonus features

Easter eggs

  • A bonus audio commentary with Conan O'Brien on "Marge vs. the Monorail" can be accessed by either entering "150" on the remote in the episode's "Extras" menu and clicking on the microphone or by switching to the fifth audio track while playing the episode.
  • Hidden sketches of Homer can be accessed by entering "240" on the remote in the "Extras" menu of "Homer's Triple Bypass" and clicking on the pencil that appears.
  • Hidden sketches of Krusty can be accessed by entering "35" on the remote in the "Extras" menu of "Krusty Gets Kancelled" and clicking on the pencil that appears.

The Complete Fifth Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 5)

This box set was released on December 21, 2004 in North America, only six months after Season 4. It was released in the UK and Ireland on March 21, 2005 and March 23, 2005 in Australia. It contains all 22 episodes from season five, and has the memorable extra-long circus couch gag as its main packaging theme. The spine features Bart and Principal Skinner on the outer casing, and Lisa and Groundskeeper Willie on the inner casing. Its main menu format features a picture at the top half of the page based on an episode it contains, with various things happening in it relating to the other episodes. The bottom half of the page contains each episode with a "play" button next to it, and a "plus" button that goes to the episode's menu. Each episode's menu is exactly the same way. It is sometimes packaged with a "Includes the 100th Episode!" sticker.

Episodes

Season Five is on four discs:

(*=Credited as "$pringfield")

Bonus features

  • Commercials.
  • Animation Showcases.
  • Special Language Feature on "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" in four languages: Czech, Italian, Polish, and Hungarian.
  • A Look Back with James L. Brooks.
  • Deleted Scenes for 14 episodes
  • Commentary on all Episodes.

Easter eggs

  • You can highlight certain objects on each of the main menus to see some extra animation.
  • On Disc 4, on the "Art and Animations" menu, you can highlight the 100 episode banner to hear a secret commentary on the animatic. (Can also be accessed by using the 'Audio' button on the animatic.)
  • At The Start of Disk One, By Repeatly Skipping The Chapters, Various Sketches From 'Treehouse of Horror IV' Will Appear You Can Scroll Through Them By Skipping Chapters

Limited edition boxes

From the sixth season of The Simpsons through the tenth season, boxes in the shape of the family members' heads became available (they are only available as "limited edition" outside the US). Due to consumer complaints, cardboard box-sets have also been released to ease the controversy surrounding the new design. The cardboard box-sets have been added to have a hole on the front cover for a special feature.

  • Season 6- Homer's Head/Who Shot Mr. Burns? Theme - Hole is in the magnifying glass.
  • Season 7- Marge's Head/Celebrity Theme - Hole is in the camera lens where Marge's eye is.
  • Season 8- Maggie's Head/Family Album Theme - Hole is in the picture of Maggie's first tooth.
  • Season 9- Lisa's Head/Music Theme - Hole is the message "200th episode" on the ticket.
  • Season 10- Bart's Head/Movie Set Theme - Hole is in the picture of a security guard at a parking lot.

The Complete Sixth Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 6)

This box set was released on August 16, 2005 in North America, September 28, 2005 in Australia and October 17 2005 in the UK and Ireland. It contains all 25 episodes from season six. The recurring style of the booklet that came with each box set was discontinued, instead being incorporated into the theme of the box. The spine features Mr Burns and Chief Wiggum, for the first time being on both the outer and inner casings, as was to continue through to season ten. The Sixth Season's overall theme is "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", the only ever Simpsons cliffhanger, while the booklet theme is that of a police investigation file. The menus continue the format from The Complete Fifth Season. The 'window' in the outer box that shows the inner casing was carried on from the couch gag sets to the regular-shaped box sets for the sixth through tenth seasons. For the Sixth Season the window is Homer's eye through the magnifying glass, which shows through to a picture of Homer's face.

Episodes

Bonus features

  • Commentary on all episodes.
  • Deleted scenes for 20 episodes
  • Springfield's Most Wanted TV special.
  • Commercials.
  • The Simpsons promotional plane footage.
  • Animation showcases.
  • Special language feature on "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part 1)" in four languages: French, Spanish, Czech, and Russian.

Easter eggs

  • On all episode menus, you can highlight the episode number after you watched at least one second of the episode. Usually it will just continue, but on "Treehouse of Horror V," you will see an eye peek through the logo that says "Season Six Disc One." Also, on "Who Shot Mr. Burns (part one)" some gun shots will appear through the menu.
  • A drawing of the Simpsons' house made out of squirrels (a cut scene from "Treehouse of Horror V") can be accessed by highlighting the 'Play All Deleted Scenes With Commentary' option from the Extras menu of Disc 4, pressing Right, and selecting the pencil icon.
  • If you watch the episode "Fear of Flying" with the audio commentary, after the episode is complete there is a short memorial for guest star Anne Bancroft, who died just before the boxset was released, by David Mirkin.

Box controversy

The new design model for Season 6 has sparked controversy among Simpsons DVD collectors. Most do not have a problem with the box itself, the problem stems from the fact that a sense of uniformity in the DVD collection is now lost. However, there have also been complaints that the plastic is weak and tends to wear down quickly.

A flyer included in the set directs purchasers to a website which allows those disaffected with the "Homer's Head" design to receive (for $2.95 US or $4.95 CA shipping) a box for the season which will be uniform. The website (and flyer inside the DVD set) is vaguely and humorously insulting to consumers who are "afraid of change" and are "anal-retentive nerds who want their DVD boxes to line up on the shelf." The website however has stopped selling the box.

It was announced on August 25 2005 that the UK release on October 17 2005 would have two covers - the Homer head would be limited edition and only 50,000 would be released. The alternate cover art was speculated to also be the USA alternative cover art. Copies of the alternative box began arriving to the USA in late September 2005, and it was indeed the black 'Homer magnifying glass' box. However, there have still been complaints - the fact that it doesn't have a couch gag, that the 'Homer head' innards must be placed inside, thus it is different from past sets, the fact that the box falls apart easily and that, overall, it is not an "old-style just-like-before box" as the flyer quoted. Recent copies of the Season 6 box set are issued using the regular box configuration, though with better build quality and normal box innards that match those of other seasons. However the old-showing box was re-released on June 26th, 2007.

The Complete Seventh Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 7)

The Complete Seventh Season was released on December 13, 2005 in North America and January 27, 2006 in Ireland on January 30, 2006 in the UK and in Australia on March 29, 2006. It contains all 25 episodes from season seven. The set was released in two different covers: a Marge head to match the Homer head of Season 6, and also a regular-shaped box. The menus continue the same format from the Complete Fifth and Sixth Seasons, and the overall theme (menus, packaging etc.) is a Celebrity Theme (possibly to do with the 138th episode celebration or episode 22 Short Films About Springfield), and the booklet's theme was a newspaper. The spine features Bumblebee Man and Ned Flanders. Unlike season 6, you cannot get both of the box designs unless you buy one of each at full price. The 'window' for this box is Marge's eye in the camera viewfinder, which leads through to a picture of Marge similar to the cover of the head-shaped box. The episodes on the DVD set are:

Episodes

Bonus features

  • Introduction by Matt Groening.
  • Commentaries on all episodes.
  • Deleted Scenes for 20 of the episodes.
  • Featurette - "Homer in the 3rd Dimension".
  • Featurette - "Paul and Linda's Lentil Soup".
  • Illustrated commentaries.
  • Art and animation features.
  • Special Language Feature on "22 Short Films About Springfield" in four languages: Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and German.
  • Smithers Trading Card.

Audio outtakes by Kelsey Grammer were also mentioned in the official press release, however these are not featured on the set.

Easter eggs

  • By watching "Team Homer" with commentary, a special message from David Mirkin about his show-running job ending will appear at the end.

The Complete Eighth Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 8)

The Complete Eighth Season was released in the U.S. on August 15 2006, and on October 2 2006 in the UK. The release date in Australia was September 27 2006. It contains all 25 episodes from season eight. The set was released in two different forms: a Maggie-shaped head to match the Homer and Marge shaped heads of the previous two sets and also a standard rectangular shaped box. Like The Complete Seventh Season, both box set versions are available for sale separately. Both editions share the same theme of a Simpsons' family picture album. The back has a film reel with pictures of Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II. The menus again continue the format first used in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Season DVDs. The window on the package front is inside the top picture of the photo book Maggie is holding, showing her first tooth as well as her mouth that is on the packaging inside. The spine features Mr. Sparkle from "In Marge We Trust" and Frank Grimes from "Homer's Enemy". This is the first spine to feature one-time characters rather than regulars.

There are two known versions of disc art for this box set being found in seemingly random products. One version has the Simpsons family members holding up the number of fingers pertaining to each disc. The other version simply has the family members posing with a number in the form of a camera lens reflection signifying the disc number.

Episodes

(1=Credited as "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer")

(2=Credited as "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(D'oh)cious")

Bonus features

  • The Simpsons House featurette with James L. Brooks about The Simpson House built in Las Vegas.
  • Animation Showcase: "In Marge We Trust" - Act III, "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" - Act I, and "Treehouse of Horror VII" - Act III
  • Illustrated Commentary: "Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment", "Lisa's Date With Density", "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson", and "Treehouse of Horror VII" - Act III.
  • Deleted Scenes gallery with optional commentary by Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Josh Weinstein, and Steven Dean Moore.
  • Promotional spots featuring Matt Groening.
  • Sketch gallery.
  • A special language feature of "Homer's Enemy" in four different languages: Czech, German, French and Japanese.

Easter eggs

On the episode menus for one or two episodes on each disc, if a red button is seen on the video projector, select it and you will get a secret deleted scene from that episode. These episodes are:

The Complete Ninth Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 9)

The Complete Ninth Season was released in the U.S. and Canada (Region 1) on December 19, 2006, UK (Region 2) on January 29 2007, and Australia (Region 4) on March 21, 2007. The box set comes in two varieties – a limited edition Lisa Simpson head-shaped box and a standard rectangular box with artwork prominently featuring Lisa and her saxophone. The theme of the set is based around the 200th episode ("Trash of the Titans"), a concert, and an edition of "Rocking Stone" magazine. The spine returns to featuring show regulars (after Season Eight's use of one-off characters), with Brandine and Cletus Spuckler.

A special bonus item consists of a sneak preview of the Simpsons Movie (released on Friday, July 27, 2007) that plays after placing Disc #1 into your DVD player. Homer introduces the short scene by asking the viewers NOT to tell Fox Studios that the clip is here, and to not complain that it's not in color. (He then, in typical Homer fashion, screams "What happened to the color!?!" as the clip begins.)

Once again, the menus continue in the same format already used in the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Season DVDs. Also, on each disc, you can hear Lisa playing her saxophone before the menus show up.

The boxset also comes with six 5 inch by 5 inch postcards, musically themed, including the three album cover parodies featured on the famous edition of Rolling Stone.[2]. One non-Rolling Stone postcard has been identified as a parody of a Bob Dylan album cover (Lisa silhouette).

The Complete Ninth Season also features surprise commentators; Jay Leno on "The Last Temptation of Krust" and John Swartzwelder (via phone) on "The Cartridge Family", although the person on the phone denies being Swartzwelder at the end of the call. [3]

In the Region 1 and Region 2 versions of the Boxset, some of the episodes in the booklet are incorrectly stated as being on disc two when they are actually on disc one.

Episodes

Bonus features

  • Commentary on every episode by various people (including two listed commentaries on the season premier episode, "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson").
  • The Simpsons Movie Exclusive Sneak Peek
  • Animation Showcase: Principal & The Pauper, Lisa The Simpson Act 1
  • Illustrated Commentary: "All Singing, All Dancing" with Matt Groening, Yeardley Smith, Mike B. Anderson, Pete Michels
  • Illustrated Commentary: "Lost Our Lisa" with Matt Groening, Yeardley Smith, Mike B. Anderson, Pete Michels
  • Deleted Scenes Gallery with intro by Mike Scully and optional commentary with Matt Groening, Mike Scully, Josh Weinstein, David Mirkin, Al Jean, Steve O'Donnell
  • Promotional Spots: Butterfinger "Alien" (May 1998), Butterfinger "Hit a Homer" (May 1998), Butterfinger "Philosophy" (July 1998), CC's Chips Australia "Parachutist" (June 1998), CC's Chips Australia "Homerdini" (June 1998)
  • Sketch Gallery
  • Special Language Feature on "Trash Of The Titans" in four different languages: Polish, Portuguese, German, and Japanese
  • A Riff From Matt Groening
  • A Moment With U2

Easter eggs

  • Like in season 8, there are a few extra deleted scenes seen by pressing the red button that blinks on some of the speakers on the episode menu. The episodes are:
  • "The Principal and the Pauper"
  • "Treehouse of Horror VIII"
  • "The Cartridge Family"
  • "Realty Bites"
  • "The Joy of Sect"
  • "The Last Temptation of Krust"
  • "Lisa the Simpson"
  • "Simpson Tide"
  • "Girly Edition"
  • "Natural Born Kissers"
  • In the episode menu of "Trash of the Titans", after the animation, press 7, and then 27 (for July 27, the day The Simpsons Movie opens in 2007), and you'll see David Silverman working on the movie.
  • Also on the episode menu of "Trash of the Titans" if you wait for the clip to end, the words "The 200th" will appear, Homer's eyeballs making the two zeros.
  • In the episode "Lisa the Simpson" when Lisa looks at the brain teaser at lunch press the 6 button and a hidden, episode-long commentary from Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein reflecting on their time working on the show and saying goodbye will come up. This secret is hinted at by Matt Groening in his intro.

The Complete Tenth Season

Further information: The Simpsons (season 10)

The Complete Tenth Season of The Simpsons was released for Region 1 on August 7, 2007, and Region 2 on September 10, 2007, and Region 4 on September 26, 2007. The box set comes in two varieties – a limited edition Bart Simpson head-shaped box and a standard rectangular box with artwork prominently featuring Bart riding a cart to a movie studio. The spine features Rupert Murdoch from "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" and the Squeaky Voiced Teen. According to Matt Groening's introduction this is the last one to be shaped as a Simpson's head.

Episodes

Bonus features

  • Introduction by Matt Groening
  • Audio commentaries on all 23 episodes
  • Deleted Scenes with optional commentary
  • Animation Showcase for Lard Of The Dance
  • Animation Showcase for Homer To The Max
  • A Sneak Peek From The Simpsons Movie DVD
  • Butterfinger Commercials
  • Intel Homer Advert
  • CC's Chips Commercials
  • Special Language Feature on "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" in four languages.
  • Sketch Gallery with 5 images
  • Crank Calls from Seasons 1-7

Easter eggs

Hidden deleted scenes are included for the following episodes:

They can be found by pressing up until none of the options on the screen are highlighted, then press OK/Select.

Footnotes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ The Simpsons Archive review of the season/boxset, 1-1-2007
  3. ^ "Simpsons, The - Season 9 - List of Extras include Sneak Peak at the Movie!". Retrieved 2007-01-26.
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