Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare" (2012)

Absolutely brilliant

The first must-see film of the year.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

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.

I would usually be careful with such a statement as I have not seen a single Simpsons episodes in its entirety for years, but this 5-minute short film was truly forgettable. I thought it had really only one single moment, which was kinda good, namely when Maggie did not get to sit and play with the gifted kids but with those who had no future and we see her disappointed face there. The rest (which was basically Maggie going against a mean little boy) was neither funny, nor somehow dramatically relevant. One interesting aspect is that, fittingly with Maggie, there is no dialogue in this short film. Then again, we see nobody but Marge from the family and also only for a very short period of time.There is some irony to the fact that it was actually the smallest Simpson who got them their first Academy Award nomination after the full feature film from 2007 came short and "only" managed a Golden Globe nomination. Then again, I probably should be more surprised that "The Longest Daycare" actually managed nominations at the Annies and Oscars. In my opinion, it was far inferior to the actual winner "Paperman" and also worse than most of the other nominees. Oh well.. in any case this did not get me motivated at all to get back to watching the Simpsons again. Maybe, I will give it another go if they make another theatrical release at some point, but I haven't heard about plans for that. For these five minutes here, not recommended.

The question The Longest Daycare raises is "what is the point?" Overall, it's an interesting enough experience, and it is certainly an antidote to the spectacularly awful standard of the television show for the last few years. But as a standalone experience, it just seems kind of pointless.For starters, the story isn't exactly the most original ever conceived. We see Maggie being dropped off at daycare by Marge, and she is then left to fend for herself against her arch-nemesis, baby Gerald. Let alone the fact that this kind of story has already been done in various different ways a couple of times, it has also been done much better. The television episode "A Streetcar Named Marge" deals with Maggie being sent to Daycare, and we've seen baby Gerald several times also, so there really isn't many new ideas raised here.Also, Maggie is actually quite a strong character considering she rarely, if ever, talks, but despite this she is the one Simpson that tends to be forgotten about, so a short based solely on her probably was never going to work particularly well anyway.It does, however, allow the writers to work without dialogue, which is an interesting idea that we haven't seen from the Simpsons before, and is the strongest aspect of the short, and is certainly the best way to deal with a story based on Maggie.Unfortunately, this doesn't save the story from being weak, and the adventure Maggie embarks on in daycare is pretty lacklustre and not particularly exciting or entertaining. Couple that with the brand-new animation, which I firmly believe only reminds us that this isn't the same show that was so legendarily hilarious and of such high quality back in its prime, and we're left with merely another hollow shell of what The Simpsons used to be.The Longest Daycare is another example of the traps the show has fallen into these last few years. The new-age animation can't make up for poor stories, unfunny scenarios and wasted characters. This kind of material is fine for low-rated, low-quality shows struggling to get by, but it shouldn't be enough for The Simpsons.

'THE SIMPSONS: THE LONGEST DAYCARE': Three Stars (Out of Five) A 'SIMPSONS' animated short that was actually nominated for a 2013 Oscar! It's 5 minutes long and focuses on Maggie Simpson's adventures at an Ayn Rand Daycare center. As she's placed with the normal kids, she longs to join the gifted children but then makes it her mission to save a butterfly cocoon from an evil Baby Gerald instead. The movie is somewhat humorous if you get a kick out of Maggie but nothing really special. It's just like a 5 minute segment of a 'SIMPSONS' TV episode. It was directed by David Silverman, who also directed 2007's 'THE SIMPSONS MOVIE' (and written by many of the same writers). It also played in theaters before 'ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT'. Why this is up for an Oscar is beyond me but if you like the 'Simpsons' you're almost sure to enjoy.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6yq7kwUUDQ