Springfield Vermont Wins As Simpsons Home

Simpsons Movie — Posted 11 Jul, 2007 by DisgruntledGoat

A last-minute entry wound up the winner in the competition to host The Simpsons Movie premiere.
Springfield, Vt., beat out 13 other Springfields across the country that entered the Hometown Movie Challenge. Twentieth Century Fox studio asked them to create a video showing their enthusiasm for The Simpsons. Videos were posted on USA TODAY's website, where readers voted for their favorite.

"We're so excited," says Patricia Chaffee, vice president of the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce and producer of the town's film. "We came in at the last minute, and for us to win, we feel like the underdogs, which makes this so big and so great for us."

The town planned to spread the news the old-fashioned way: "Downtown is only a couple of blocks away, and we'll probably go door to door on Main Street," Chaffee said before the official announcement Tuesday.

During 18 seasons of The Simpsons TV series, the fictional Springfield's location has never been identified. Several of the Springfield videos made their case for being considered Homer's "real" hometown.

"All of these years, the Springfields have supported The Simpsons, and we wanted to do something to give back and get them involved," says Breena Camden, executive vice president of publicity for Fox.

Springfield, Vt., rallied support through the local media and sent out mass e-mails, Chaffee says. On Monday, local newscasts aired footage of Gov. Jim Douglas voting online and encouraging everyone to participate.

The winning entry took two days to film with help from the Vermont Film Commission. It begins much like the opening sequence of the TV show, with the familiar theme song playing as Vermont's Homer chases a giant doughnut (actually an inner tube designed by a local graphic artist) through the town, causing mayhem wherever he goes. The townspeople chase after him until they are beckoned into the movie theater, where they sit down for the premiere of The Simpsons Movie.

The 13 other Springfields need not go "D'oh!" They'll each be given special screenings of their own the night before the movie hits theaters nationwide July 27.