Springfields vie for ‘Simpsons’ premiere

updated 9:41 a.m. ET March 9, 2007

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - Springfield, the Oregon one, is on a list of like-named towns competing for the big-screen debut of Homer, Bart and the rest of the TV Simpson family this summer.

City officials accepted an invitation from 20th Century Fox to compete for the honor of hosting the premiere of “The Simpsons Movie” in July.

Fox publicist Gwyne Ortiz said Fox has asked 16 Springfields from Oregon to Massachusetts to participate.

Fox will pick the winner after reviewing short film entries showcasing the community’s positive aspects and links to the Simpsons, who live in their own fictional Springfield.

The prime-time animated series created by Oregon-born Matt Groening is now in its 18th season.

‘A little fun’
“There’s plenty of serious issues to talk about, but this is something that we might as well try to have a little fun with,” Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken told the Register-Guard newspaper.

Newsweek once called the Simpsons’ Springfield “America’s Crud Bucket,” hardly an honor worth fighting over.

The cartoon Springfield has a nuclear power plant and several prisons, amenities Oregon’s Springfield lacks.

Groening has said he chose “Springfield” because it’s one of the more common city names in the United States.

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