Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Theatrical: 20th Century Fox Television

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

• Audio commentaries on every episode featuring executive producers, writers, directors, cast and notable guest stars on select episodes including Stan Lee, Joe Mantegna, Delroy Lindo, Robert Pinsky and others.
• Deleted scenes
Special Featurettes:
• A Token from Matt Groening
• Ralphisms
• The People Ball
• The 13th Crewman
• Blame It On The Monkeys
• The Games
• The Sweet Life of Ralph
• Animation Showcases for eps. The Parent Rap and Sweet & Sour Marge - Animatic with episode PIP - Storyboard with episode PIP
• Sketch Galleries
• Commercials
• Special Language Feature

Sample Episode Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Talk about lucky! Season 13 of The Simpsons arrives on Blu-ray and DVD with 22 hilarious episodes and tons of fun-filled extras, including audio commentaries, animation showcases, and featurettes. So grab a donut and pull up a couch to see Lisa becoming a Buddhist, Bart living in a plastic bubble, Homer doing community service (which lands him in the electric chair), and the Simpsons offending the entire nation of Brazil, plus your favorite couch gags and a slew of celebrity guest voices.

 

The longest running comedy, animated series and prime-time entertainment in television history, "The Simpsons" has taken home the Emmy(R) for Outstanding Animated Program 10 times during its remarkable run. The hilarious thirteenth season features 22 episodes including two noteworthy standouts: the Simpsons' trip to Brazil in "Blame It On Lisa" and Homer's foray into medicinal marijuana in "Weekend at Burnsie's." Once again, a talented line-up of guest stars lend their voices including Ben Stiller, Reese Witherspoon, Richard Gere, Pierce Brosnan, Matthew Perry, R.E.M. and the legendary Paul Newman.

"The Simpsons" immediately struck a chord with viewers across the country as it poked fun of itself and everything in its wake. With its subversive humor and delightful wit, the series has made an indelible imprint on American pop culture, and the family members have become television icons.

"The Simpsons" The Complete Thirteenth Season is packed with special features including deleted scenes, audio commentaries on every episode, featurettes, storyboards, animatics, easter eggs and much more. The Blu-ray release also includes specially created menus with additional animation that does not appear on the DVD. The set comes in collectible packaging modeled after Springfield's "special" child, Ralph Wiggum.

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.
 

Season 20, reviewed HERE, was the first to adopt the HD widescreen format (and the 1st season available on Blu-ray) which comparatively looks quite different from the 4:3 format - especially in terms of detail. After Season 20 and The Simpsons Movie - we've gone back in order though and Season 13 which follows the first 12 - although now offered in Blu-ray. But we can certainly see the improvement in 1080P from SD-DVD. Colors seem to be the greatest beneficiary.  Still a bit hazy but very bright with strong contrast. By rendering digital animation to 1080P Blu-ray the creators should be able to obtain the highest accuracy of the original. The 4:3 episodes have a few 'jaggies' and are definitely softer than you might expect but in motion is quite smooth and the colors are notable as the screen captures below should indicate. The 3 discs are dual-layered with 7 episodes on each disc (disc 2 has 8)and very high bitrates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Simpsons episodes can have some aggressive audio and the DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 3424 kbps sounds perfect handling the many effects. Beyond that the many voice characterizations clean and consistent with the theme music sounding crisp and toe-tapping. There are English (SDH), Spanish and French subtitles (and similar DUBs) and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

The Simpsons digital packages remain extremely generous with supplemental material. Humor filled audio commentaries are on every single episode featuring executive producers, writers, directors, cast and notable guest stars on select episodes including Stan Lee, Joe Mantegna, Delroy Lindo, Robert Pinsky and others. There are deleted scenes and 7 shortish special featurettes entitled A Token from Matt Groening, Ralphisms, The People Ball, The 13th Crewman, Blame It On The Monkeys, The Games and The Sweet Life of Ralph. Included are Animation Showcases for episodes; The Parent Rap and Sweet & Sour Marge - Animatic with episode PIP - Storyboard with episode PIP, Sketch Galleries, mock commercials and more. The menus give a brief summary of the storylines and there is the ability to bookmark. I haven't sought out the imbedded easter eggs yet - but know they exist.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I watch The Simpsons all the time as a relaxing break from... everything else. While it can occasionally falter it is usually very consistent and there are only a couple of weak episodes in this 13th Season. The Blu-ray renderings are easily discernable as HD with the exuberant colors and tight audio. A huge plus here is having 7-8 full shows on one disc and being able to 'Play All' running in the background as I check email or have lunch - this goes for the commentaries as well. It seems like endless entertainment.  The shows have such scattered plots and are filled with one-liners that it never seems essential to pay strict attention. Then there are the bountiful video extras. This is definitely the best way to watch this addictive television and I look forward to the next package from Fox and hopefully a second movie. Surely, we recommend! 

Gary Tooze

August 17th, 2010