The Simpsons on Disney Plus: how to get the original aspect ratio

The Simpsons on Disney Plus is one of the biggest draws of the service. Yes, Channel 4 has been showing a lot of the old seasons and Sky practically has channels dedicated to them, the fact you can pick and choose from over 600 episodes is quite something.

Imagine, then, the disappointment that the older seasons were given an aspect ratio makeover (from 4:3 to 16:9) that, literally, cropped out many of the jokes from the show, jokes from the backgrounds that were timeless.

That's right, in a world where widescreen TVs are practically in every room, everyone is crying out to see The Simpsons back in plain-old boxy 4:3.

One of The Simpsons creators took to Twitter to reveal the news, with Al Jean noting that: As always you have been heard! The Simpsons episodes will be available in their original 4:3 aspect ratio on #DisneyPlus beginning 5/28.

The even more important most important tweet I can make!
As always you have been heard! @theSimpsons episodes will be available in their original 4:3 aspect ratio on #DisneyPlus beginning 5/28.
— Al Jean (@AlJean) May 20, 2020

That sound you hear is a collective gasp of Simpsons fans who are about to see their favourite background gags back where they belong.

Now, there is the fact that 4:3 content does look a bit crap on a widescreen TV, but it's great to see that The Simpsons are coming back in their original form.

This is how to get the original aspect ratio of The Simpsons on Disney Plus. Simply head to an episode and go to the Details section of that episode. Here there is a toggle that says 'remastered aspect ratio'. Toggle this to off and 4:3 ratio will magically appear. Once you have done it once, the service remembers this and you don't have to do it again.

Remember that in the later seasons, 16:9 was the norm so it won't change the aspect ratio of these.

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