Disney+ subscribers will finally get to stream the series the way it was meant to be seen…
Some subscribers were miffed to find that Disney+ was streaming episodes of The Simpsons in the wrong aspect ratio, which ended up cropping out a lot of classic visual gags, when they first signed up for the service, but they can now rest easy. Disney has confirmed that seasons 1-19 of The Simspsons – and a bit of season 20 – will be available in the original 4:3 aspect ratio by May’s end.
“We presented The Simpsons in 16:9 aspect ratio at launch in order to guarantee visual quality and consistency across all 30 seasons,” Disney said in a statement. “Over time, Disney+ will roll out new features and additional viewing options. As part of this, in early 2020, Disney+ will make the first 19 seasons (and some episodes from Season 20) of The Simpsons available in their original 4:3 aspect ratio, giving subscribers a choice of how they prefer to view the popular series.”
Various people have been pointing out how Disney+’s choice to use the incorrect aspect ratio has affected their viewing experience since the streaming service launched in the US last November:
All the classic Simpsons episodes on Disney+ are in cropped widescreen format — this means you miss out on tons of great visual jokes, like how Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry all come from the same tube. pic.twitter.com/cTy9adulFl
— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) November 12, 2019
Some way through the 20th season of The Simpsons, the show switched to 16:9 ratio, so only part of the series catalogue that Disney acquired from Fox will need to be updated.