"In hopes of bringing a Hollywood night to Central Kentucky, Springfield joined other cities with the same name from across the country in making a movie of their own to attract the "hometown premiere" of "The Simpsons Movie," in advance of its July 27 release date.
Michael Breeding, a Springfield native who wrote and directed Kentucky's entry, said he knew he was going to have to pull out all of the stops to garner the national votes needed to bring the premiere to town.
"It would be huge for Kentucky. I did this for two reasons: I did it for Kentucky and I did it for Springfield," said Breeding, who admitted to not being a "huge fan" of the show, only seeing 10 to 20 of the Simpsons' 400 episodes.
Nonetheless, he and others know it would be quite a feat for the small Washington County town 55 miles southwest of Lexington to host the premiere.
"It would be fun and exciting for a small town to be able to host something that there would be national interest (in)," said Sen. Dan Kelly, the Republican floor leader in the state senate. "Also, anything that draws attention to your community when you're out competing for economic development."
Regular series guest Marcia Wallace, who voices Bart's teacher Ms. Edna Krabappel and played Bob Newhart's secretary Carol Kester Bondurant in the 1970s series, said the movie has gotten so big, she was asked to trek back to her small hometown in Iowa for opening night. "It would be great," she said of the opportunity for any of 14 Springfields that entered, mostly small towns, to land the premiere. "My movie theater, the Strand, in Creston, Iowa, asked me to come back for a big extravaganza (for the Simpson's movie)."
No matter where the premiere is, one thing is for sure according to Wallace: the movie has been hyped to the hilt. In addition to the hometown premiere stunt, a number of 7-Elevens have been made over to look like Springfield's Kwik-E-Marts, owned and operated by the character Apu.
"This has been anticipated for 10 years at least, and I wouldn't think they'd need to do hardly any promotion at all," Wallace said. "But they're certainly doing it. If there was ever a movie that had a built-in audience, this is it."
With that in mind, Breeding got to work.
"We decided very early that we didn't want to mirror scenes from the show, which we thought a lot of cities would do," Breeding said of the video. Kentucky's production started with the idea of a musical and became a quasi-documentary, putting Simpsons creator Matt Groening on trial to prove Springfield, Ky., is the true inspiration for the fictional home of the Simpsons.
Breeding didn't have long, nor did he know the true framework in which to make the film, as he said FOX took a lot of time getting the rules to the cities for making their short films. Little more than a month separated a request from his former classmate and Springfield city clerk Laurie Smith and production on Kentucky's submission, which included two original songs by Beau Haddock and a vocal appearance of Los Angeles morning DJ and Jessamine County resident Rick Dees.
Kentucky's entry wasn't the only one to be aided by celebrities. Springfield, Mass., enlisted the help of Sen. Ted Kennedy, the inspiration for the fictional Springfield's Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby. Springfield, Ore., which claims to have literally been on the path Groening took to Hollywood from his hometown in Portland, had skateboard legend and former Simpsons guest Tony Hawk make a pitch for the city.
Producers for "The Simpsons Movie" sought video submissions from Springfields around the country and got 14 three- to five-minute videos imploring them to bring the premiere to their town. The 14 entries were posted on the Web, and the public was allowed to choose which city would get the premiere. The time for voting ended after presstime.
"We think we're going to win this thing," Breeding said, citing the professional manner and production behind Kentucky's entry, which compared favorably to fairly pedestrian entries from others hoping to stake claim to the Simpson clan.
Which of the country's 27 Springfields is actually home to the four-fingered, spike-headed miscreants that have been a staple of FOX's primetime lineup for almost two full decades is a favorite debate. Wallace said most fans she comes in contact with are accepting of the fact that Springfield belongs to no one state.
Kelly, however, thinks his hometown has a pretty good claim on the matter. He reiterated a point made in the city's video that a statue in the town square was twice beheaded, predating Bart's decapitation of Jebediah Springfield's statue on the show.
"All my kids accuse me of being Ned Flanders because we live next door to the Simpsons and I'm kind of a churchy kind of guy," Kelly added.
Beyond a pious neighbor to a family named Simpson and a statue that's been known to lose its head every now and then, there may not be much to tie Springfield with its TV counterpart. There is no nuclear power plant, which is probably good as it might be overkill for Springfield's 2,800 residents. Also, the only place where the movie could possibly premiere in town, according to Breeding, is the city's restored opera house that seats 250.
But such trifles are not dampening the enthusiasm, win or lose.
"We've always considered our little town to be the real inspiration for Springfield," Kelly said.