The Longest Daycare

I have been going to the theater on a pilgrimage for quite a few years now each January-February to see the annual showings of the Best Animated and Best Live Action Shorts. I am lucky enough to live in one of the few places in the country that shows it each year. Now what I am about to say might offend some, but it seems that compared to most years, this year's crop of animated shorts is not as good as usual. While I liked a few films, I didn't love any of them--and no really memorable film was in the lot (such as a couple recent winners, "Logorama" or "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"). Now this is not to say not to see them--but none bowled me over, that's for sure.

I enjoyed "The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare" quite a bit--and the people in the theater seemed to like it as I heard a lot of laughs. However, I wonder how it got nominated. Apart from being shown in 3-D as a short before a feature film, it just felt much like seeing a TV episode of "The Simpsons". While this TV show is great, it isn't original and I can't see rewarding a film for giving us more of what we've been seeing for over 20 years. Good but nothing special.

I enjoyed the fact that the daycare Maggie is left in is named after Ayn Rand. She experiences the whole "virtue of selfishness" thing, being pushed around. I've been through the whole Rand thing, suffering through pretentiousness. Look at our world today! Anyway, Maggie doesn't succumb to the slings and arrows and manages to think her way through the long day

'The Longest Daycare (2012)' is a 'Simpsons' short film focusing on everyone's favourite TV baby, Maggie Simpson. It walks on familiar ground, being reminiscent of a sequence in the episode 'A Streetcar Named Marge (1992)', and clearly takes inspiration from animated cinema of the 1940s and 50s. It is, however, animated in its source show's 'new style' and, as such, is relatively flat compared to most other animated shorts. Still, the piece is enjoyable enough. It has a succinct, simple-to-understand story and some decent referential humour. It's not hugely exciting, but it's engaging and contains a nice little 'twist' at the end. It's entertaining. 6/10

I heard of this short film because it was screened about 6 times in one day in the UK when it was released and the weekend paper informed me that it was one of the animated shorts up for the Oscar this year, so I figured I should give it a look. The plot sees Maggie enrolled in daycare only to find another baby in the "meh" class is smashing butterflies. Maggie saves a caterpillar from a similar fate and tries to keep it safe until it can become a butterfly. The plot is simple but it is played out wordlessly and with a sense of operatic melodrama that is clever despite not totally working.

It is clever, but not as clever as it should have been; it is funny, but never as funny as it should have been and it is sweet, but never as heartfelt as expected. The biggest problem it has is the stable that it comes from, because the legacy of The Simpsons is a massive shadow to escape, either generally or specifically. I say specifically because this short film is in the shadow of not only the golden era of the show but it isn't even the best "Maggie in the nursery" that the show has produced, since the Great Escape sequence in the Streetcar episode was stronger and funnier than this.

It is still good though and it is worth a look even if it isn't up to Simpsons at its best but then, in fairness, what is?

I generally don't indulge to Top Ten lists, but it won't take much time to see the film, so there's no need to make a thesis about it. The short is brilliant and here's why you should give it a try. Lesser said, the better. Ten Reasons to Watch "The Longest Daycare":

1/ It's about Maggie Simpson. I think we can count the Maggie Simpson-related episodes with two hands, she's the least represented and developed character, which also makes her the freshest and most original to some extent. We just can't get enough of Maggie, anything that puts her under the spotlight is welcome.

2/ Short cartoon is the right format. While she's a member of the most iconic TV family, she can't carry over her frail little shoulders the weight of a long narrative, but four minutes are perfect to tell a poignant and whimsical story with a proper beginning, middle act and ending. As they say, brevity is the soul of wit.

3/ It is silent, which is also fitting for her character, who only speak in non-canon episodes of for the sake of some inspired gags. Here, we speak her non-existent language, made of raises shoulders, jump scares, running, toddling and frowned eyebrows. We see the world through the perspective of a little baby with all the joys, fears and thrills induced by her small size. The silent format also allows the film to exude some Golden Age vibes (the opening screen shot is similar to Donald Duck's cardboard) and work like something Chaplin would have endorsed, I mean it.

4/ There's a heart in the story from its positive attitude toward animals and a brain through its sharp comment on human methods (especially to detect intelligence in children), both mix perfectly with comedy, the drama works on an emotional level, the comedy on an intellectual one. As they always do.

5/ The film has a bad-ass villain and consecrates Baby Gerald's finest hour, needless to say that the final word belongs to Maggie and she's as heroic as Gerald was naughty.

6/ There's a clever Checkov Gun's in the film and without spoiling it, I'll say the story makes good use of one of Maggie Simpson's trademarks and it's not the one you think, and it's one you don't see coming, say no more and don't try to anticipate, let the story unfold.

7/ The animation is top notch without being too sophisticated, but it also shows that the Simpsons universe is so rich and multi-layered it can work on every format, feature film, TV episode, an episode of a TV episode. If the series ever stopped, I can't see what would prevent them to get back to their roots.

8/ The ending. A short is generally as good as its ending and this one doesn't disappoint.

9/ The run-time again, at four minutes, it's pretty short even for a short but at least it doesn't try to add new material or stuff up the story for the sake of it, we get right to the point, the middle-act leads to a great culmination, and with an emotionally rewarding ending, and a wonderful "A-ha" moment one's not ready to forget.

10/ It was nominated for an Oscar, that should tell you how at least worthy of your attention it should be.

That's all, folks, enjoy your short. Unlike Maggie with her pacifier, it doesn't suck! More seriously, I know this review is preaching a choir, but I wish someone who's not a fan of the series will read this, because the merit of this little gem is that it doesn't depend on any appreciation of the show, it's a standalone little masterpiece.