This year, the team behind The Simpsons celebrated May 4 (aka Star Wars Day) with “The Force Awakens From Its Nap,” a new Disney+ short film inspired by the galaxy far, far away starring none other than Maggie Simpson. In an exclusive interview with CBR, The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean — who co-wrote the short — explained why he believes the youngest member of Springfield’s First Family was the perfect choice to headline this homage to Star Wars.
“You know, so much of Star Wars is visual, and Maggie obviously doesn’t speak but is a very visually-oriented character,” Jean said. “It just seemed that you could still fit all these characters in. You have nonverbal characters in Star Wars, like R2-D2 and BB-8, so that they would be ones that Maggie would communicate with well, and it just seemed to really work out. Maggie is just great, silent, tough, can take a fall — perfect silent comedian, like Buster Keaton.”
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Of course, “The Force Awakens From Its Nap” certainly isn’t the first Simpsons short Maggie has headlined. The character previously starred in the 2012 short film “The Longest Daycare,” which accompanied the theatrical release of Ice Age: Continental Drift and was even nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013. Then, Maggie starred in 2020’s “Playdate with Destiny,” which accompanied the theatrical release of Onward. Like “The Force Awakens From Its Nap,” both “The Longest Daycare” and “Playdate with Destiny” are currently available to stream on Disney+.
The new Star Wars-themed short comes amid The Simpsons‘ 32nd season on Fox. Back in March, the long-running animated series released “Manger Things,” its 700th episode. The Simpsons Season 32 is slated to conclude later this month on May 23 with “The Last Barfighter,” the season’s 22nd episode and the show’s 706th episode overall. The series has been renewed through Season 34, which will bring it to a total of 757 episodes.
Per the official synopsis for “The Force Awakens From Its Nap,”
In a daycare far, far away… but still in Springfield, Maggie is on an epic quest for her stolen pacifier. Her adventure brings her face-to-face with young Padawans, Sith Lords, familiar droids, Rebel scum, and an ultimate battle against the dark side, in this original short celebrating the Star Wars galaxy.
Directed by Dan Silverman and written by Al Jean, Joel H. Cohen and Michael Price, The Simpsons short “The Force Awakens From Its Nap” is now available to stream on Disney+.
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