document_title: World Health Organization

question_text: how many countries are members of world health organization

question_tokens: how many countries are members of world health organization

text: World Health Organization

text: History[edit]

text: Origins[edit]

text: The International Sanitary Conferences, originally held on 23 June 1851, were the first predecessors of the WHO. A series of 14 conferences that lasted from 1851 to 1938, the International Sanitary Conferences worked to combat many diseases, chief among them cholera, yellow fever, and the bubonic plague. The conferences were largely ineffective until the seventh, in 1892; when an International Sanitary Convention that dealt with cholera was passed. Five years later, a convention for the plague was signed.[2] In part as a result of the successes of the Conferences, the Pan-American Sanitary Bureau, and the Office International d'Hygiène Publique were soon founded in 1902 and 1907, respectively. When the League of Nations was formed in 1920, they established the Health Organization of the League of Nations. After World War II, the United Nations absorbed all the other health organizations, to form the WHO.[3]

text: Establishment[edit]

text: During the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization, Szeming Sze, a delegate from China, conferred with Norwegian and Brazilian delegates on creating an international health organization under the auspices of the new United Nations. After failing to get a resolution passed on the subject, Alger Hiss, the Secretary General of the conference, recommended using a declaration to establish such an organization. Sze and other delegates lobbied and a declaration passed calling for an international conference on health.[4] The use of the word "world", rather than "international", emphasized the truly global nature of what the organization was seeking to achieve.[5] The constitution of the World Health Organization was signed by all 51 countries of the United Nations, and by 10 other countries, on 22 July 1946.[6] It thus became the first specialized agency of the United Nations to which every member subscribed.[7] Its constitution formally came into force on the first World Health Day on 7 April 1948, when it was ratified by the 26th member state.[6] The first meeting of the World Health Assembly finished on 24 July 1948, having secured a budget of US$5 million (then GB£1,250,000) for the 1949 year. Andrija Stampar was the Assembly's first president, and G. Brock Chisholm was appointed Director-General of WHO, having served as Executive Secretary during the planning stages.[5] Its first priorities were to control the spread of malaria, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections, and to improve maternal and child health, nutrition and environmental hygiene.[8] Its first legislative act was concerning the compilation of accurate statistics on the spread and morbidity of disease.[5] The logo of the World Health Organization features the Rod of Asclepius as a symbol for healing.[9]

text: Operational history[edit]

text: In 1947 the WHO established an epidemiological information service via telex, and by 1950 a mass tuberculosis inoculation drive using the BCG vaccine was under way. In 1955, the malaria eradication programme was launched, although it was later altered in objective. 1965 saw the first report on diabetes mellitus and the creation of the International Agency for Research on Cancer.[10]

text: In 1958, Viktor Zhdanov, Deputy Minister of Health for the USSR, called on the World Health Assembly to undertake a global initiative to eradicate smallpox, resulting in Resolution WHA11.54.[11] At this point, 2 million people were dying from smallpox every year.[citation needed]

text: In 1966, WHO moved into its headquarters building.[10]

text: In 1967, the World Health Organization intensified the global smallpox eradication by contributing $2.4 million annually to the effort and adopted a new disease surveillance method.[12][13] The initial problem the WHO team faced was inadequate reporting of smallpox cases. WHO established a network of consultants who assisted countries in setting up surveillance and containment activities.[14] The WHO also helped contain the last European outbreak in Yugoslavia in 1972.[15] After over two decades of fighting smallpox, the WHO declared in 1979 that the disease had been eradicated – the first disease in history to be eliminated by human effort.[16] In 1974, the Expanded Programme on Immunization and the control programme of onchocerciasis was started, an important partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and World Bank. In 1967 the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases was also launched. In 1976, the World Health Assembly voted to enact a resolution on Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation, with a focus on community-driven care. In 1977, the first list of essential medicines was drawn up, and a year later the ambitious goal of "health for all" was declared. In 1986, WHO started its global programme on HIV/AIDS. Two years later preventing discrimination against sufferers was attended to and in 1996 UNAIDS was formed. In 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was established.[10] In 1998, WHO's Director-General highlighted gains in child survival, reduced infant mortality, increased life expectancy and reduced rates of "scourges" such as smallpox and polio on the fiftieth anniversary of WHO's founding. He, did, however, accept that more had to be done to assist maternal health and that progress in this area had been slow.[17]

text: In 2000, the Stop TB Partnership was created along with the UN's formulation of the Millennium Development Goals. In 2001 the measles initiative was formed, and credited with reducing global deaths from the disease by 68% by 2007. In 2002, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was drawn up to improve the resources available.[10] In 2006, the organization endorsed the world's first official HIV/AIDS Toolkit for Zimbabwe, which formed the basis for a global prevention, treatment and support plan to fight the AIDS pandemic.[18]

text: Overall focus[edit]

text: The WHO's Constitution states that its objective "is the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health".[19]

text: WHO fulfills its objective through its functions as defined in its Constitution: (a) to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work (b) to establish and maintain effective collaboration with the United Nations, specialized agencies, governmental health administrations, professional groups and such other organizations as may be deemed appropriate (c) to assist Governments, upon request, in strengthening health services (d) to furnish appropriate technical assistance and, in emergencies, necessary aid upon the request or acceptance of Governments (e) to provide or assist in providing, upon the request of the United Nations, health services and facilities to special groups, such as the peoples of trust territories (f) to establish and maintain such administrative and technical services as may be required, including epidemiological and statistical services (g) to stimulate and advance work to eradicate epidemic, endemic and other diseases (h) to promote, in co-operation with other specialized agencies where necessary, the prevention of accidental injuries (i) to promote, in co-operation with other specialized agencies where necessary, the improvement of nutrition, housing, sanitation, recreation, economic or working conditions and other aspects of environmental hygiene (j) to promote co-operation among scientific and professional groups which contribute to the advancement of health (k) to propose conventions, agreements and regulations, and make recommendations with respect to international health matters and to perform.

text: As of 2012[update] WHO has defined its role in public health as follows:[20]

text:
providing leadership on matters critical to health and engaging in partnerships where joint action is needed;
shaping the research agenda and stimulating the generation, translation, and dissemination of valuable knowledge;[21]
setting norms and standards and promoting and monitoring their implementation;
articulating ethical and evidence-based policy options;
providing technical support, catalyzing change, and building sustainable institutional capacity; and
monitoring the health situation and assessing health trends.
CRVS (Civil Registration and Vital Statistics) to provide monitoring of vital events (birth, death, wedding, divorce).[22]

tag: ul

text: Communicable diseases[edit]

text: The 2012–2013 WHO budget identified 5 areas among which funding was distributed.[23] Two of those five areas related to communicable diseases: the first, to reduce the "health, social and economic burden" of communicable diseases in general; the second to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in particular.[23]

text: As of 2015 WHO has worked within the UNAIDS network and strived to involve sections of society other than health to help deal with the economic and social effects of HIV/AIDS.[24] In line with UNAIDS, WHO has set itself the interim task between 2009 and 2015 of reducing the number of those aged 15–24 years who are infected by 50%; reducing new HIV infections in children by 90%; and reducing HIV-related deaths by 25%.[25]

text: During the 1970s, WHO had dropped its commitment to a global malaria eradication campaign as too ambitious, it retained a strong commitment to malaria control. WHO's Global Malaria Programme works to keep track of malaria cases, and future problems in malaria control schemes. As of 2012 WHO was to report, as to whether RTS,S/AS01, were a viable malaria vaccine. For the time being, insecticide-treated mosquito nets and insecticide sprays are used to prevent the spread of malaria, as are antimalarial drugs – particularly to vulnerable people such as pregnant women and young children.[26]

text: Between 1990 and 2010, WHO's help has contributed to a 40% decline in the number of deaths from tuberculosis, and since 2005, over 46 million people have been treated and an estimated 7 million lives saved through practices advocated by WHO. These include engaging national governments and their financing, early diagnosis, standardizing treatment, monitoring of the spread and effect of tuberculosis and stabilising the drug supply. It has also recognized the vulnerability of victims of HIV/AIDS to tuberculosis.[27]

text: In 1988, WHO launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to eradicate polio. It has also been successful in helping to reduce cases by 99% since which partnered WHO with Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and smaller organizations. As of 2011[update] it has been working to immunize young children and prevent the re-emergence of cases in countries declared "polio-free".[28] Recently, a study is conducted (2017) where researchers explain why Polio Vaccines may not be enough to eradicate the Virus & conduct new technology. Polio is on the verge of extinction, thanks to a Global Vaccination Drive. World Health Organization (WHO) stated the eradication programme has saved millions from deadly disease.

text: Non-communicable diseases[edit]

text: Another of the thirteen WHO priority areas is aimed at the prevention and reduction of "disease, disability and premature deaths from chronic noncommunicable diseases, mental disorders, violence and injuries, and visual impairment".[23][29] The Division of Noncommunicable Diseases for Promoting Health through the Life-course Sexual and Reproductive Health has published the magazine, Entre Nous, across Europe since 1983.[30]

text: Environmental health[edit]

text: The WHO estimates that 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012 – this accounts for nearly 1 in 4 of total global deaths. Environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change, and ultraviolet radiation, contribute to more than 100 diseases and injuries. This can result in a number of pollution-related diseases.[31]

text: Life course and life style[edit]

text: WHO works to "reduce morbidity and mortality and improve health during key stages of life, including pregnancy, childbirth, the neonatal period, childhood and adolescence, and improve sexual and reproductive health and promote active and healthy aging for all individuals".[23][32]

text: It also tries to prevent or reduce risk factors for "health conditions associated with use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs and other psychoactive substances, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity and unsafe sex".[23][33][34]

text: WHO works to improve nutrition, food safety and food security and to ensure this has a positive effect on public health and sustainable development.[23]

text: Surgery and trauma care[edit]

text: The WHO promotes road safety as a means to reduce traffic-related injuries.[35]

text: WHO has also worked on global initiatives in surgery, including emergency and essential surgical care,[36] trauma care,[37] and safe surgery.[38] The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is in current use worldwide in the effort to improve patient safety.[39]

text: Emergency work[edit]

text: The World Health Organization's primary objective in natural and man-made emergencies is to coordinate with member states and other stakeholders to "reduce avoidable loss of life and the burden of disease and disability."[23]

text: On 5 May 2014, WHO announced that the spread of polio was a world health emergency – outbreaks of the disease in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East were considered "extraordinary".[40][41]

text: On 8 August 2014, WHO declared that the spread of Ebola was a public health emergency; an outbreak which was believed to have started in Guinea had spread to other nearby countries such as Liberia and Sierra Leone. The situation in West Africa was considered very serious.[42]

text: Health policy[edit]

text: WHO addresses government health policy with two aims: firstly, "to address the underlying social and economic determinants of health through policies and programmes that enhance health equity and integrate pro-poor, gender-responsive, and human rights-based approaches" and secondly "to promote a healthier environment, intensify primary prevention and influence public policies in all sectors so as to address the root causes of environmental threats to health".[23]

text: The organization develops and promotes the use of evidence-based tools, norms and standards to support member states to inform health policy options. It oversees the implementation of the International Health Regulations, and publishes a series of medical classifications; of these, three are over-reaching "reference classifications": the International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD), the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI).[43] Other international policy frameworks produced by WHO include the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (adopted in 1981),[44] Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (adopted in 2003)[45] and the Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel (adopted in 2010).[46]

text: In terms of health services, WHO looks to improve "governance, financing, staffing and management" and the availability and quality of evidence and research to guide policy. It also strives to "ensure improved access, quality and use of medical products and technologies".[23] WHO – working with donor agencies and national governments – can improve their use of and their reporting about their use of research evidence.[47]

text: Governance and support[edit]

text: The remaining two of WHO's thirteen identified policy areas relate to the role of WHO itself:[23]

text:
"to provide leadership, strengthen governance and foster partnership and collaboration with countries, the United Nations system, and other stakeholders in order to fulfill the mandate of WHO in advancing the global health agenda"; and
"to develop and sustain WHO as a flexible, learning organization, enabling it to carry out its mandate more efficiently and effectively".

text: Partnerships[edit]

text: The WHO along with the World Bank constitute the core team responsible for administering the International Health Partnership (IHP+). The IHP+ is a group of partner governments, development agencies, civil society and others committed to improving the health of citizens in developing countries. Partners work together to put international principles for aid effectiveness and development co-operation into practice in the health sector.[48]

text: The organization relies on contributions from renowned scientists and professionals to inform its work, such as the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization,[49] the WHO Expert Committee on Leprosy,[50] and the WHO Study Group on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice.[51]

text: WHO runs the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, targeted at improving health policy and systems.[52]

text: WHO also aims to improve access to health research and literature in developing countries such as through the HINARI network.[53]

text: Public health education and action[edit]

text: Each year, the organization marks World Health Day and other observances focusing on a specific health promotion topic. World Health Day falls on 7 April each year, timed to match the anniversary of WHO's founding. Recent themes have been vector-borne diseases (2014), healthy ageing (2012) and drug resistance (2011).[54]

text: The other official global public health campaigns marked by WHO are World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Hepatitis Day, and World AIDS Day.

text: As part of the United Nations, the World Health Organization supports work towards the Millennium Development Goals.[55] Of the eight Millennium Development Goals, three – reducing child mortality by two-thirds, to reduce maternal deaths by three-quarters, and to halt and begin to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS – relate directly to WHO's scope; the other five inter-relate and affect world health.[56]

text: Data handling and publications[edit]

text: The World Health Organization works to provide the needed health and well-being evidence through a variety of data collection platforms, including the World Health Survey covering almost 400,000 respondents from 70 countries,[57] and the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) covering over 50,000 persons over 50 years old in 23 countries.[58] The Country Health Intelligence Portal (CHIP), has also been developed to provide an access point to information about the health services that are available in different countries.[59] The information gathered in this portal is used by the countries to set priorities for future strategies or plans, implement, monitor, and evaluate it.

text: The WHO has published various tools for measuring and monitoring the capacity of national health systems[60] and health workforces.[61] The Global Health Observatory (GHO) has been the WHO's main portal which provides access to data and analyses for key health themes by monitoring health situations around the globe.[62]

text: The WHO Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS), the WHO Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL), and the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) provide guidance for data collection.[63] Collaborative efforts between WHO and other agencies, such as through the Health Metrics Network, also aim to provide sufficient high-quality information to assist governmental decision making.[64] WHO promotes the development of capacities in member states to use and produce research that addresses their national needs, including through the Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet).[65] The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/AMRO) became the first region to develop and pass a policy on research for health approved in September 2009.[66]

text: On 10 December 2013, a new WHO database, known as MiNDbank, went online. The database was launched on Human Rights Day, and is part of WHO's QualityRights initiative, which aims to end human rights violations against people with mental health conditions. The new database presents a great deal of information about mental health, substance abuse, disability, human rights, and the different policies, strategies, laws, and service standards being implemented in different countries.[67] It also contains important international documents and information. The database allows visitors to access the health information of WHO member states and other partners. Users can review policies, laws, and strategies and search for the best practices and success stories in the field of mental health.[67]

text: The WHO regularly publishes a World Health Report, its leading publication, including an expert assessment of a specific global health topic.[68] Other publications of WHO include the Bulletin of the World Health Organization,[69] the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal (overseen by EMRO),[70] the Human Resources for Health (published in collaboration with BioMed Central),[71] and the Pan American Journal of Public Health (overseen by PAHO/AMRO).[72]

text: Structure[edit]

text: The World Health Organization is a member of the United Nations Development Group.[73]

text: Membership[edit]

text: As of 2016[update], the WHO has 194 member states: all of them Member States of the United Nations except for the Cook Islands and Niue.[74] (A state becomes a full member of WHO by ratifying the treaty known as the Constitution of the World Health Organization.) As of 2013[update], it also had two associate members, Puerto Rico and Tokelau.[75] Several other countries have been granted observer status. Palestine is an observer as a "national liberation movement" recognized by the League of Arab States under United Nations Resolution 3118. The Holy See also attends as an observer, as does the Order of Malta.[76] In 2010, Taiwan was invited under the name of "Chinese Taipei".[77]

text: WHO Member States appoint delegations to the World Health Assembly, WHO's supreme decision-making body. All UN Member States are eligible for WHO membership, and, according to the WHO website, "other countries may be admitted as members when their application has been approved by a simple majority vote of the World Health Assembly".[74] Liechtenstein is currently the only UN member not in the WHO membership.

text: In addition, the UN observer organizations International Committee of the Red Cross and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have entered into "official relations" with WHO and are invited as observers. In the World Health Assembly they are seated alongside the other NGOs.[76]

text: Assembly and Executive Board[edit]

text: The World Health Assembly is the legislative and supreme body of WHO. Based in Geneva, it typically meets yearly in May. It appoints the Director-General every five years and votes on matters of policy and finance of WHO, including the proposed budget. It also reviews reports of the Executive Board and decides whether there are areas of work requiring further examination. The Assembly elects 34 members, technically qualified in the field of health, to the Executive Board for three-year terms. The main functions of the Board are to carry out the decisions and policies of the Assembly, to advise it and to facilitate its work.[78] The current Director General of the WHO is Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian national. The current chairman of the executive board is Dr. Assad Hafeez.

text: Regional offices[edit]

text: The regional divisions of WHO were created between 1949 and 1952, and are based on article 44 of WHO's constitution, which allowed the WHO to "establish a [single] regional organization to meet the special needs of [each defined] area". Many decisions are made at regional level, including important discussions over WHO's budget, and in deciding the members of the next assembly, which are designated by the regions.[79]

text: Each region has a Regional Committee, which generally meets once a year, normally in the autumn. Representatives attend from each member or associative member in each region, including those states that are not fully recognized. For example, Palestine attends meetings of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional office. Each region also has a regional office.[79] Each Regional Office is headed by a Regional Director, who is elected by the Regional Committee. The Board must approve such appointments, although as of 2004, it had never over-ruled the preference of a regional committee. The exact role of the board in the process has been a subject of debate, but the practical effect has always been small.[79] Since 1999, Regional Directors serve for a once-renewable five-year term.[80]

text: Each Regional Committee of the WHO consists of all the Health Department heads, in all the governments of the countries that constitute the Region. Aside from electing the Regional Director, the Regional Committee is also in charge of setting the guidelines for the implementation, within the region, of the health and other policies adopted by the World Health Assembly. The Regional Committee also serves as a progress review board for the actions of WHO within the Region.

text: The Regional Director is effectively the head of WHO for his or her Region. The RD manages and/or supervises a staff of health and other experts at the regional offices and in specialized centres. The RD is also the direct supervising authority—concomitantly with the WHO Director-General—of all the heads of WHO country offices, known as WHO Representatives, within the Region.

text:
Regional Offices of WHO

Region
Headquarters
Notes
Website

Africa
Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
AFRO includes most of Africa, with the exception of Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Tunisia, Libya, Somalia and Morocco (all fall under EMRO).[81][82] The Regional Director is Matshidiso Moeti.
AFRO

Europe
Copenhagen, Denmark.
EURO includes Europe, Israel, and former USSR, except Liechtenstein.[82]
EURO

South-East Asia
New Delhi, India
North Korea is served by SEARO.[83]
SEARO

Eastern Mediterranean
Cairo, Egypt
Eastern Mediterranean Regional office includes the countries of Africa that are not included in AFRO, as well as the countries of the Middle East, except for Israel. Pakistan is served by EMRO.[84]
EMRO

Western Pacific
Manila, Philippines.
WPRO covers all the Asian countries not served by SEARO and EMRO, and all the countries in Oceania. South Korea is served by WPRO.[85]
WPRO

The Americas
Washington D.C., USA.
Also known as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and covers the Americas.[86] The Regional Director is Carissa F. Etienne.
AMRO

text: People[edit]

text:
Directors-General of the WHO[87]

Name
Years of tenure

Tedros Adhanom
since 2017

 Margaret Chan
2006–2017

 Anders Nordström*
2006 (acting)

 Lee Jong-wook
2003–2006

 Gro Harlem Brundtland
1998–2003

 Hiroshi Nakajima
1988–1998

 Halfdan T. Mahler
1973–1988

 Marcolino Gomes Candau
1953–1973

 Brock Chisholm
1948–1953

*Acting Director-General following the death of Lee Jong-wook while in office

text: The head of the organization is the Director-General, elected by the World Health Assembly.[88] The current Director-General is Tedros Adhanom, who was appointed on 1 July 2017.[89] WHO employs 8,500 people in 147 countries.[90] In support of the principle of a tobacco-free work environment the WHO does not recruit cigarette smokers.[91] The organization has previously instigated the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003.[92]

text: The WHO operates "Goodwill Ambassadors", members of the arts, sport or other fields of public life aimed at drawing attention to WHO's initiatives and projects. There are currently five Goodwill Ambassadors (Jet Li, Nancy Brinker, Peng Liyuan, Yohei Sasakawa and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) and a further ambassador associated with a partnership project (Craig David).[93]

text: Country and liaison offices[edit]

text: The World Health Organization operates 147 country offices in all its regions.[94] It also operates several liaison offices, including those with the European Union, United Nations and a single office covering the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. It also operates the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, and the WHO Centre for Health Development in Kobe, Japan.[95] Additional offices include those in Pristina; the West Bank and Gaza; the US-Mexico Border Field Office in El Paso; the Office of the Caribbean Program Coordination in Barbados; and Northern Micronesia office.[96] There will generally be one WHO country office in the capital, occasionally accompanied by satellite-offices in the provinces or sub-regions of the country in question.

text: The country office is headed by a WHO Representative (WR). As of 2010[update], the only WHO Representative outside Europe to be a national of that country was for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ("Libya"); all other staff were international. Those in the Region for the Americas, they are referred to as PAHO/WHO Representatives. In Europe, WHO Representatives also serve as Head of Country Office, and are nationals with the exception of Serbia; there are also Heads of Country Office in Albania, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.[96] The WR is member of the UN system country team which is coordinated by the UN System Resident Coordinator.

text: The country office consists of the WR, and several health and other experts, both foreign and local, as well as the necessary support staff.[94] The main functions of WHO country offices include being the primary adviser of that country's government in matters of health and pharmaceutical policies.[97]

text: Financing and partnerships[edit]

text: The WHO is financed by contributions from member states and outside donors. As of 2012[update], the largest annual assessed contributions from member states came from the United States ($110 million), Japan ($58 million), Germany ($37 million), United Kingdom ($31 million) and France ($31 million).[98] The combined 2012–2013 budget has proposed a total expenditure of $3,959 million, of which $944 million (24%) will come from assessed contributions. This represented a significant fall in outlay compared to the previous 2009–2010 budget, adjusting to take account of previous underspends. Assessed contributions were kept the same. Voluntary contributions will account for $3,015 million (76%), of which $800 million is regarded as highly or moderately flexible funding, with the remainder tied to particular programmes or objectives.[99]

text: In recent years, the WHO's work has involved increasing collaboration with external bodies.[100] As of 2002[update], a total of 473 non-governmental organizations (NGO) had some form of partnership with WHO. There were 189 partnerships with international NGOs in formal "official relations" – the rest being considered informal in character.[101] Partners include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation[102] and the Rockefeller Foundation.[103]

text: Controversies[edit]

text: IAEA – Agreement WHA 12–40[edit]

text: In 1959, the WHO signed Agreement WHA 12–40 with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A reading of this document can result in the understanding that the IAEA is able to prevent the WHO from conducting research or work on some areas, as seen hereafter. The agreement states that the WHO recognizes the IAEA as having responsibility for peaceful nuclear energy without prejudice to the roles of the WHO of promoting health. However, the following paragraph adds that "whenever either organization proposes to initiate a programme or activity on a subject in which the other organization has or may have a substantial interest, the first party shall consult the other with a view to adjusting the matter by mutual agreement".[104] The nature of this statement has led some pressure groups and activists (including Women in Europe for a Common Future) to claim that the WHO is restricted in its ability to investigate the effects on human health of radiation caused by the use of nuclear power and the continuing effects of nuclear disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima. They believe WHO must regain what they see as "independence".[105][106][107]

text: Roman Catholic Church and AIDS[edit]

text: In 2003, the WHO denounced the Roman Curia's health department's opposition to the use of condoms, saying: "These incorrect statements about condoms and HIV are dangerous when we are facing a global pandemic which has already killed more than 20 million people, and currently affects at least 42 million."[108] As of 2009[update], the Catholic Church remains opposed to increasing the use of contraception to combat HIV/AIDS.[109] At the time, the World Health Assembly President, Guyana's Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy, condemned Pope Benedict's opposition to contraception, saying he was trying to "create confusion" and "impede" proven strategies in the battle against the disease.[110]

text: Intermittent preventive therapy[edit]

text: The aggressive support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for intermittent preventive therapy of malaria triggered a memo from the former WHO malaria chief Akira Kochi.[111]

text: Diet and sugar intake[edit]

text: Some of the research undertaken or supported by WHO to determine how people's lifestyles and environments are influencing whether they live in better or worse health can be controversial, as illustrated by a 2003 joint WHO/FAO report on nutrition and the prevention of chronic non-communicable disease,[112] which recommended that sugar should form no more than 10% of a healthy diet. The report led to lobbying by the sugar industry against the recommendation, to which the WHO/FAO responded by including in the report this statement: "The Consultation recognized that a population goal for free sugars of less than 10% of total energy is controversial". It also stood by its recommendation based upon its own analysis of scientific studies.[113] In 2014, WHO reduced recommended sugar levels by half and said that sugar should make up no more than 5% of a healthy diet.[114]

text: 2009 swine flu pandemic[edit]

text: In 2007, the WHO organized work on pandemic influenza vaccine development through clinical trials in collaboration with many experts and health officials.[115] A pandemic involving the H1N1 influenza virus was declared by the then Director-General Margaret Chan in April 2009.[116] Margret Chan declared in 2010 that the H1N1 has moved into the post-pandemic period.[117]

text: By the post-pandemic period critics claimed the WHO had exaggerated the danger, spreading "fear and confusion" rather than "immediate information".[118] Industry experts countered that the 2009 pandemic had led to "unprecedented collaboration between global health authorities, scientists and manufacturers, resulting in the most comprehensive pandemic response ever undertaken, with a number of vaccines approved for use three months after the pandemic declaration. This response was only possible because of the extensive preparations undertaken during the last decade".[119]

text: 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak and reform efforts[edit]

text: Following the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the organization was heavily criticized for its bureaucracy, insufficient financing, regional structure, and staffing profile.[120]

text: An internal WHO report on the Ebola response pointed to underfunding and the lack of "core capacity" in health systems in developing countries as the primary weaknesses of the existing system. At the annual World Health Assembly in 2015, Director-General Margaret Chan announced a $100 million Contingency Fund for rapid response to future emergencies,[121][122] of which it had received $26.9 million by April 2016 (for 2017 disbursement). WHO has budgeted an additional $494 million for its Health Emergencies Programme in 2016–17, for which it had received $140 million by April 2016.[123]

text: The program was aimed at rebuilding WHO capacity for direct action, which critics said had been lost due to budget cuts in the previous decade that had left the organization in an advisory role dependent on member states for on-the-ground activities. In comparison, billions of dollars have been spent by developed countries on the 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic and 2015–16 Zika epidemic.[124]

text: FCTC implementation database[edit]

text: The WHO has a Framework Convention on Tobacco implementation database which is one of the only mechanisms to help enforce compliance with the FCTC.[125] However, there have been reports of numerous discrepancies between it and national implementation reports on which it was built. As researchers Hoffman and Rizvi report "As of July 4, 2012, 361 (32·7%) of 1104 countries' responses were misreported: 33 (3·0%) were clear errors (eg, database indicated “yes” when report indicated “no”), 270 (24·5%) were missing despite countries having submitted responses, and 58 (5·3%) were, in our opinion, misinterpreted by WHO staff".[126]

text: IARC controversies[edit]

text: The World Health Organization sub-department, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has been criticized for the way it analyses the tendency of certain substances and activities to cause cancer and for having a politically motivated bias when it selects studies for its analysis. Ed Yong, a British science journalist, has criticized the agency and its "confusing" category system for misleading the public.[127] Marcel Kuntz, a French director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, criticized the agency for its classification of potentially carcinogenic substances. He claimed that this classification did not take into account the extent of exposure: for example, red meat is qualified as probably carcinogenic, but the quantity of consumed red meat at which it could become dangerous is not specified.[128]

text: Controversies have erupted multiple times when the IARC has classified many things as Class 2a (probable carcinogens), including cell phone signals, glyphosate, drinking hot beverages, and working as a barber.[129]

text: Block of Taiwanese participation[edit]

text: Political pressure from China has led to Taiwan being barred from membership of the WHO and other UN-affiliated organizations, and in both 2017 and 2018 the WHO refused to allow Taiwanese delegates to attend the WHO annual assembly.[130] On multiple occasions Taiwanese journalists have been denied access to report on the assembly.[131]

text: In May 2018, 172 members of the United States House of Representatives wrote to the Director General of the World Health Organization to argue for Taiwan's inclusion as an observer at the WHA.[132]

text: Travel expenses[edit]

text: According to The Associated Press, WHO routinely spends about $200 million a year on travel expenses, more than it spends to tackle mental health problems, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria combined. In 2016, Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO from November 2006 to June 2017,[133] stayed in a $1000 per night hotel room while visiting West Africa.[134]

text: Robert Mugabe's role as a goodwill ambassador[edit]

text: On 21 October 2017 the Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appointed Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe as a WHO Goodwill Ambassador to help promote the fight against non-communicable diseases. The appointment address praised Mugabe for his commitment to public health in Zimbabwe.

text: The appointment attracted widespread condemnation and criticism in WHO member states and international organizations due to Robert Mugabe's poor record on human rights and presiding over a decline in Zimbabwe's public health.[135][136] Due to the outcry, the following day the appointment was revoked. [137]

text: World headquarters[edit]

text: The seat of the organization is in Geneva, Switzerland. It was designed by Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and inaugurated in 1966.[138] In 2017, the organization launched an international competition to redesign and extend its headquarters.[139]

text: Early views[edit]

text: Views 2013[edit]


document_title: Burn Notice (season 6)

question_text: burn notice when does fiona get out of prison

root

text: Burn Notice (season 6)

text: Cast[edit]

text: John C. McGinley appeared in six episodes as Tom Card, Michael's original CIA trainer.[1] Taryn Manning appeared in one episode as one of Fiona's fellow prisoners.[1] Jere Burns and Kristanna Loken returned to the series for multiple episodes as Anson Fullerton and Rebecca Lang, respectively.[2] Lauren Stamile and Alex Carter also returned to the series as Dani Pearce and Jason Bly, respectively.[3] Faran Tahir appeared in the third episode as Ahmed, a ruthless Lebanese agent.[4] William Mapother appeared in the sixth episode as Garret Hartley, a mercenary hired to kill Barry (Paul Tei).[5] Richard Burgi appeared in the seventh episode as a villain who has targeted Evan (Brando Eaton), the troubled son of Sam's new sugar momma, Elsa (played by Jennifer Taylor).[6] Angélica Celaya guest starred in the ninth episode of the season as Angela Flores, a woman whose boyfriend is accused of illegally trading weapons on the black market.[7] Chad Coleman appeared in the tenth episode as Brady Pressman, a CIA operative who, after failing in his mission to capture Anson alive, hopes to set things right.[7] Also appearing in the tenth-to-twelfth episodes was Kenny Johnson as Tyler Gray, the trigger man behind the death of Michael's brother.

tag: p

text: Patton Oswalt and Sonja Sohn each had guest appearances during the winter season. Oswalt appeared in episodes 14-16 as Calvin Schmidt, a smuggler whom the team contacts for help in escaping the country. Sohn plays Olivia Riley, a high-level CIA director who “literally [wrote] the book on counter-intel training and procedures", and she appeared on a recurring basis beginning with the thirteenth episode.[8]

text: Production[edit]

text: A sixth season, consisting of 18 episodes, was ordered by USA Network on April 16, 2010.[9] This announcement came just over a month after the fourth season had completed airing. The season began in summer 2012.[10][11] Jeffrey Donovan stated in a pre-season interview that one of the show's long-standing characters will die during this season.[12]

text: Matt Nix wrote the first episode of the season, his twentieth credit for the series. The episode was directed by Stephen Surjik; it was his seventh directing credit for Burn Notice. Series star Jeffrey Donovan directed one episode as well, his second of the series and first since season 4.

text: Episodes[edit]

text: In the following table, "U.S. viewers in millions" refers to the number of Americans who viewed the episode on the day of original broadcast.

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Prod.
code
Viewers
(millions)

81
1
"Scorched Earth"
Stephen Surjik
Matt Nix
June 14, 2012 (2012-06-14)
BN601
3.87[13]

With Fiona in jail, Michael has no restrictions as he chases the dastardly Anson, who tries to distract Michael by sending a troubled assassin with a special operations background to kill Madeline. Once she's safe, Michael secures support from Agent Pearce and the CIA, who now has Anson on their watchlist, as they corner him in a chemical plant. They almost capture him, but have to let him go after he rigs the place to a dead man switch, whereas Sam narrowly escapes when the plant explodes anyway. On the other hand, Fiona is interrogated by Michael's old nemesis, Agent Bly, and, despite her claims she acted alone at the British consulate, he pressures her to implicate Michael in the bombing.

82
2
"Mixed Messages"
Jeffrey Donovan
Alfredo Barrios, Jr.
June 21, 2012 (2012-06-21)
BN602
4.09[14]

To gain visitation rights with Fiona, Michael is reunited by the CIA with his training officer, Tom Card, who assigns Michael to bring down a major drug ring. When the approach reveals a cartel lawyer who knows Michael from a previous case (see: "Fight or Flight"), Jesse ends up being forced to go it alone, and he gradually works his way up the chain of command where he's able to force the number two guy to become a cooperating witness for the authorities. At the same time, Fiona is fighting off prison attacks, both from big-shot inmates and outside forces who extort another prisoner (Guest Star: Taryn Manning) to kill Fiona when she's on kitchen duty, but she survives and, with his mission done, fills Michael in at his first visit. On the family front, Michael's brother Nate returns to Miami after his marriage falls apart.

83
3
"Last Rites"
Nick Gomez
Ben Watkins
June 28, 2012 (2012-06-28)
BN603
4.11[15]

Pearce asks Michael to help her go after her ex-fiance's killer, a CIA asset from a foreign country who's protected by information secured on his home computer. They team up with Jesse to follow the man on a cruise, creating a fake outbreak of a viral sickness and panicking his family in Miami into giving up the files. Meanwhile, after learning she's been marked for death, Fiona befriends the prison's chief distributor of banned goods to help her find out who's after her, and, once she does a favor for her new ally, she asks Michael in his next visit to go after a guard involved in the plot to kill her.

84
4
"Under the Gun"
Dennie Gordon
Michael Horowitz
July 12, 2012 (2012-07-12)
BN604
4.44[16]

Michael and the guys are tracking down the prison guard who's after Fiona, but things get more difficult when Sam is taken prisoner by the man's killer, a former spy named Rebecca (Guest Star: Kristanna Loken) being forced by Anson to do his bidding. While Sam works to shake her off, Michael and Jesse give chase, and are eventually able to convince her that they can work together to help her brother, who Anson is using as leverage against her. Along the way, Fiona asks Michael to track down a package for her new distributor friend, who needs it to keep from being thrown into solitary confinement, leading Michael to use force when her brutal ex-husband refuses to hand it over.

85
5
"Split Decision"
Scott Peters
Ryan Johnson & Peter Lalayanis
July 19, 2012 (2012-07-19)
BN605
4.97[17]

As the team's new ally, Rebecca explains that her brother, an informer on a small-time mobster, is on the run from the man's son, who blames the kid for his father's dying while imprisoned. While working to make the guy believe he has the wrong informer, the team slowly gains Rebecca's trust, allowing them an inside look into Anson's future plans. At the prison, Card comes to Fiona with a deal: he'll get her out, and protect her as a CIA asset, but she has to give up a former associate in the arms dealing business, so she calls on Michael after the guy refuses to meet with anyone else.

86
6
"Shock Wave"
Renny Harlin
Jason Tracey
July 26, 2012 (2012-07-26)
BN606
4.86[18]

With Rebecca's information, and full CIA support, Michael and his team follow Anson to Atlantic City to capture him once and for all. Nate tags along on the stakeout and almost messes it up, so Michael kicks him out, but he redeems himself when Anson leads the CIA on a wild goose chase and Nate's the only one close enough to make the arrest. Tragedy strikes, though, when an unknown sniper kills both Anson and Nate at the handoff, leaving Michael's mother despondent and his life shaken to the core. At the same time, Sam takes Barry to a beach house where he has stored important files for his clients, but armed mercenaries sent to kill Barry arrive before they can leave and trap them inside. While they work to get rid of the pests and escape intact, the British government comes to take Fiona, who's holding out hope that Michael is about to secure her freedom. With help from her distributor friend, Fiona evades the authorities to stall for time and is relieved when she is released into the arms of Michael, who says he needs her now more than ever.

87
7
"Reunion"
Craig Siebels
Rashad Raisani
August 2, 2012 (2012-08-02)
BN607
4.32[19]

Sam's rich girlfriend asks him to help her son, a skillful car thief being bothered by a ruthless loan shark. The team's investigation leads them into a gang war over a mobile drug lab, and, in the end, they just avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Meanwhile, with revenge on their minds, and Fiona newly freed, Michael and the team begin looking for the person who killed Nate, and their suspicions are raised when they find Rebecca has gone on the run.

88
8
"Unchained"
Alfredo Barrios, Jr.
Alfredo Barrios, Jr.
August 9, 2012 (2012-08-09)
BN608
4.04[20]

As he looks for clues to the person who killed his brother, Michael goes to the FBI for help, and they rope him into helping them take down a vicious Boston mobster. Taking another angle, Jesse and Pearce follow up on the gun sale that put the weapon in the hands of the killer, but, when it gets back to the CIA that they used blackmail, Pearce gets reassigned abroad as part of the deal to keep her job.

89
9
"Official Business"
Jonathan Frakes
Bridget Tyler
August 16, 2012 (2012-08-16)
BN609
4.36[21]

In her first assignment from the CIA, Fiona is tasked with helping a fellow asset, who is having trouble accessing information that will put a stop to a prospective black market buy. They're able to break into the seller's heavily guarded safe for the necessary information, but the asset unveils herself as a double agent in the process. Also, a lead on Nate's killer takes the guys to a security firm that trains mercenaries, so they pose as potential customers to gain access to the company's files, going off the books to find the man's name: Tyler Gray.

90
10
"Desperate Times"
Renny Harlin
Craig O'Neill
August 23, 2012 (2012-08-23)
BN610
4.96[22]

Along with help from the CIA, Michael and his team follow Gray to Panama, going to great lengths to fight through his security team and get him in CIA custody. Though they're able to pin him down, he informs them the CIA is coming to kill them and they narrowly escape, but now they're stuck in Central America and are on their own in getting home. In Miami, Madeline goes after Card for access to the file on Nate's death, completely unaware that he's gone rogue and is now trying to sacrifice Michael, too.

91
11
"Desperate Measures"
Stephen Surjik
Michael Horowitz
November 8, 2012 (2012-11-08)
BN611
3.47[23]

Looking for a way out of Panama, Michael and his team hijack a plane, only to discover it's being used by brutal drug smugglers for business. To get their plane back, the gang take Michael and Gray hostage, forcing the two to put aside their differences so they can get out alive. Stateside, the team calls on Madeline to find Sam's hacker friend and infiltrate an FAA office to hide the flight from the authorities.

92
12
"Means & Ends"
Ron Underwood
Jason Tracey
November 8, 2012 (2012-11-08)
BN612
3.47[23]

After the team returns home, their attempts to lie low are put in jeopardy when Fiona's prison ally, now out on parole, asks them to help her shake a dirty cop and his attempts to send her back to jail. They come close to making him reveal his corruption, but, after he suddenly develops a conscience, things come to a head in an explosive confrontation with the gang that killed his former partner. Meanwhile, they decide to use Gray to feed information to Card, who has assigned him with burning down the loft and bringing him Michael's files on Anson, but their meeting ends with both men murdered, Gray by Card and Card by Michael in cold blood for his deviousness.

93
13
"Over the Line"
Marc Roskin
Ben Watkins
November 15, 2012 (2012-11-15)
BN613
3.17[24]

In the wake of murdering Card, the CIA, led by legendary agent Olivia Riley, are hot on Michael's tail. With Sam in her custody, Michael and the rest of the team head to their storage shed to regroup and arrange an ambush, where they reclaim Sam and capture Riley as leverage for their escape. Despite their best attempts to convince her that Card was running illegal operations around the world, she will not be swayed and promises to hunt Michael down for his crimes. During all this, Michael tries to convince his mother to leave Miami so the government can't pit them against each other, but she is determined to stay.

94
14
"Down & Out"
Henry J. Bronchtein
Story by: Daniel Tuch
Teleplay by: Daniel Tuch & Matt Nix
November 29, 2012 (2012-11-29)
BN614
3.14[25]

In order to stay one step ahead of Riley, and leave the US, Michael and the team end up at the door of the resourceful Schmidt, who is being hunted by a former Syrian spy looking for one of Schmidt's clients. To get Schmidt's help for his team, Michael has to satisfy the spy's request while also protecting the person's identity, and he almost kills Schmidt in the process. Riley, on the other hand, goes after Madeline to find Michael, even as all the chaos causes Sam to consider sticking around and marrying his girlfriend.

95
15
"Best Laid Plans"
Nick Gomez
Rashad Raisani
December 6, 2012 (2012-12-06)
BN615
3.16[26]

Before receiving their new identities, the team helps Schmidt retrieve a high-tech alarm disrupter from his warehouse to cover his costs. When the gadget is seriously damaged amid a firefight at the warehouse, they work to patch it up in hopes that his buyer doesn't notice, and they just barely get the money when the buyer asks for a test run. Concurrently, with Sam back on the team after his girlfriend convinces him to stick with his friends, Michael asks his mother to find Barry so the team can keep Riley from discovering their plans to leave the country, but he's forced to include his mother in their escape when Riley captures Barry and threatens Madeline.

96
16
"Odd Man Out"
Marc Roskin
Ryan Johnson & Peter Lalayanis
December 13, 2012 (2012-12-13)
BN616
2.86[27]

In order to get microchip implants necessary for their new identities, the team helps Schmidt when the supplier, a rival smuggler (Guest Star: Kevin McNally), comes after him for revenge over a past botched deal. When he pins them in an abandoned warehouse, the crew improvise to salvage both their lives and the chips. Before leaving the country, though, Madeline insists on visiting Nate's grave one last time, despite the danger, and there Michael discovers a note from "a friend" fishing for a chat.

97
17
"You Can Run"
Nick Gomez
Craig O'Neill
December 20, 2012 (2012-12-20)
BN617
3.78[28]

While working to gain passage out of the country via boat, Michael and the guys are ensnared by Riley and the CIA, with Jesse captured and Sam critically shot. With lives on the line, Michael and Fiona team up to keep Sam from bleeding out and to reclaim Jesse, who is being pressured by Riley to give up his friends. The duo are able to find Jesse and rescue him, but Sam is fading, so they rush to a recently disgraced doctor for the surgery needed to save him. Meanwhile, the "friend" turns out to be Bly, who meets with Michael to discuss Card's transgressions and offer Michael a deal to turn himself in, but he refuses and decides to remain on the run.

98
18
"Game Change"
Matt Nix
Matt Nix
December 20, 2012 (2012-12-20)
BN618
3.78[28]

After Riley sends a hit squad to take them out, Michael and his team track the assassins and discover Riley is teaming up with a drug cartel that Michael infuriated sometime before. Recognizing the opportunity to clear his federal record, Michael contacts Bly to help document the proof of Riley's illegal actions, but has to change tactics when Bly dies at the cartel's hands. He pursues the cartel's boat and carefully works his way to the control room, where he ends up in a standoff with Riley, a close shave that ends when she agrees to confess to save their lives. Three weeks later, Michael's friends and family are still in CIA custody, until the day arrives when they are released, and Fiona is particularly shocked and disappointed when they find that Michael is back running special missions for the CIA.

tag: table


document_title: The Simpsons Movie

question_text: who played arnold schwarzenegger in the simpsons movie

text: The Simpsons Movie

text: Plot[edit]

text: While performing on Lake Springfield, the band Green Day perishes when the lake's pollution dissolves their barge, following an audience revolt after frontman Billie Joe Armstrong proposes an environmental discussion. At their memorial, Grampa foresees the destruction of the town, but only Marge takes this seriously. Later that day, Homer dares Bart to skateboard naked to Krusty Burger and Bart is arrested by Chief Wiggum. Bart considers their neighbor Ned Flanders a better father figure after Homer refuses to take responsibility for the incident. Lisa and a new Irish friend named Colin convince the entire town to clean their lake.

text: Meanwhile, Homer adopts a pig from Krusty Burger and names it "Spider Pig" (later "Harry Plopper", and simply "Plopper" afterwards), and stores the pig's feces (and some of his own) in a silo, until Marge tells him to safely dispose of the waste. Homer initially intends to take his silo to the waste management plant, but after Lenny calls to tell him that Lard Lad Donuts has been shut down due to health violations and is giving away free donuts, Homer impatiently dumps the silo straight into the lake, polluting it much worse than before. Moments later, a squirrel jumps into the lake and becomes severely mutated; Flanders and Bart (who bond after Homer humiliates Bart) discover the creature before the EPA captures it. Russ Cargill, head of the EPA, presents five "unthinkable" options to U.S. President Arnold Schwarzenegger to keep the town's pollution contained. The slow-witted president picks an option without reading it, and Springfield is enclosed in a large glass dome. When the police discover Homer's silo in the lake, and his responsibility for sealing Springfield in the dome, the townspeople of Springfield except for the Flanders family form an angry mob and advance on the Simpsons' home to kill Homer, but the family escapes the town through a sinkhole, which then destroys their house and car. With the EPA on their trail, the Simpsons flee on foot to a motel. Homer wins a truck at a carnival by riding a motorcycle inside a spherical steel cage, with Lisa's help, and drives the family to Alaska.

text: After three months of futile escape attempts, Springfield's residents finally make a crack in the dome; pointing out the damage, Cargill manipulates Schwarzenegger into ordering the town's destruction. In Alaska, the Simpsons see an advertisement starring Tom Hanks for a new Grand Canyon on the site of Springfield; realizing that the town is endangered, Marge and the children want to go back to save it, but Homer refuses to help the people who tried to kill him. After failing to talk Homer into it, his family eventually leave him for good. Alone, Homer is stranded on a slab of ice and floats away. Meanwhile, Marge and the children are captured by the EPA after a conversation of theirs is overheard by the NSA. After a mysterious Inuit shaman woman saves Homer from a polar bear, he has an epiphany and decides to return to Springfield to save the town from danger.

text: As Homer arrives, a helicopter lowers a small but powerful bomb down a rope through a hole in the dome. While Homer climbs to the top of the dome, the townspeople attempt to climb the rope to escape through the still-opened hole, but Homer slides down the rope and knocks them off along with the bomb. After reconciling with Bart, Homer drives a motorcycle up the dome interior, inspired by the earlier carnival attraction. Bart, riding with him, throws the bomb through the hole; seconds later it detonates, shattering the dome and freeing the town. Cargill arrives personally and prepares to kill Homer with a shotgun, but Maggie knocks him out with a rock. The town finally praises and forgives Homer, who rides into the sun rise with Marge and Maggie, whereupon the townspeople restore Springfield to normal. As a symbol of their gratitude, the townspeople help the Simpsons rebuild their house.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Voice actor

Credited roles

Uncredited roles (in order of appearance)

Dan Castellaneta

Homer Simpson, Abe Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby, Sideshow Mel, Mr. Teeny,  EPA Officer, Itchy, Barney Gumble

Stage Manager, Blue Haired Lawyer, Multi-Eyed Squirrel, Hans Moleman, Panicky Man, Kissing Cop, Bear, Boy on Phone, NSA Worker, Officer, Rich Texan, Santa's Little Helper, Squeaky-Voiced Teen

Julie Kavner

Marge Simpson, Selma Bouvier, Patty Bouvier

Nancy Cartwright

Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, Nelson Muntz

Maggie Simpson, TV Daughter, Woman on Phone

Yeardley Smith

Lisa Simpson

Hank Azaria

Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Cletus Spuckler, Professor Frink, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Lou, Comic Book Guy, Captain McCallister, Bumblebee Man, Dr. Nick

Carl, Male EPA Worker, Dome Depot Announcer, Kissing Cop, Carnival Barker, Gas Station Clerk, Drederick Tatum, EPA Passenger, Robot, Wiseguy

Harry Shearer

Mr. Burns, Smithers, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, Lenny, President Arnold Schwarzenegger, Seymour Skinner, Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibbert, Otto Mann

Scratchy, Skull, Toll Booth Operator, Guard

Pamela Hayden

Milhouse Van Houten, Rod Flanders, Jimbo Jones

Tress MacNeille

Medicine Woman, Agnes Skinner, Crazy Cat Lady, Colin, Cookie Kwan

Sweet Old Lady, Mrs. Muntz, Plopper, Female EPA Worker, Lindsey Neagle, GPS Voice, TV Son, Girl on Phone

Albert Brooks (as "A. Brooks")

Russ Cargill

Karl Wiedergott

EPA Officer, Man

Marcia Wallace

Edna Krabappel (scenes deleted)

Russi Taylor

Martin Prince

Maggie Roswell

Helen Lovejoy

Miss Hoover

Phil Rosenthal

TV Dad

Billie Joe Armstrong

Green Day (himself)

Frank Edwin Wright III

Green Day (himself)

Michael Pritchard

Green Day (himself)

Joe Mantegna

Fat Tony

Tom Hanks

Himself

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: The production staff had considered a film adaptation of The Simpsons since early in the series.[6] The show's creator, Matt Groening, felt a feature-length film would allow them to increase the show's scale and animate sequences too complex for a TV series.[7] He intended the film to be made after the show ended, "but that [...] was undone by good ratings".[8] There were attempts to adapt the fourth season episode "Kamp Krusty" into a film, but difficulties were encountered in expanding the episode to feature-length.[9] For a long time the project was held up. There was difficulty finding a story that was sufficient for a film, and the crew did not have enough time to complete such a project, as they already worked full-time on the show.[10] Groening also expressed a wish to make Simpstasia, a parody of Fantasia; it was never produced, partly because it would have been too difficult to write a feature-length script.[11] Before his death, Phil Hartman had said he had wished to make a live-action Troy McClure film, and several of the show's staff had expressed a desire to help create it, even Josh Weinstein proposed to use the plot of the 1996 episode "A Fish Called Selma" for the film, before the cancellation of the project.[12][13]

text:
"If every episode of The Simpsons is a celebration, which we try to make it, then the movie is like a big celebration. It's a way of honoring the animators, allowing them to really strut their stuff and really go as far as they can with the art of the handwritten gesture. It's a way of honoring the writers, because we were able to get the best all-star writers of The Simpsons and write our hearts out, and it's a way of honoring all the great actors."

— Matt Groening[7]

text: The voice cast was signed on to do the film in 2001,[14] and work then began on the script.[15] The producers were initially worried that creating a film would have a negative effect on the series, as they did not have enough crew to focus their attention on both projects. As the series progressed, additional writers and animators were hired so that both the show and the film could be produced at the same time.[16] Groening and James L. Brooks invited back Mike Scully and Al Jean (who continued to work as showrunner on the television series) to produce the film with them.[17] They then signed David Silverman (who, in anticipation of the project, had quit his job at Pixar) to direct the film.[17] The "strongest possible" writing team was assembled, with many of the writers from the show's early seasons being chosen.[16] David Mirkin, Mike Reiss, George Meyer, John Swartzwelder, and Jon Vitti were selected. Ian Maxtone-Graham and Matt Selman joined later, and Brooks, Groening, Scully, and Jean also wrote parts of the script.[16] Sam Simon did not return having left the show over creative differences in 1993. Former writer Conan O'Brien expressed interest in working with the Simpsons staff again, although he later joked that "I worry that the Simpsons-writing portion of my brain has been destroyed after 14 years of talking to Lindsay Lohan and that guy from One Tree Hill, so maybe it's all for the best."[18] The same went for director Brad Bird who said he had "entertained fantasies of asking if [he] could work on the movie", but did not have enough time due to work on Ratatouille.[14] The producers arranged a deal with Fox that would allow them to abandon production of the film at any point if they felt the script was unsatisfactory.[19]

text: Work continued on the screenplay from 2003 onwards,[19] taking place in the small bungalow where Groening first pitched The Simpsons in 1987.[20] The writers spent six months discussing a plot,[21] and each of them offered sketchy ideas.[20] Jean suggested the family rescue manatees, which became the 2005 episode "The Bonfire of the Manatees", and there was also a notion similar to that of The Truman Show where the characters discovered their lives were a TV show. Groening rejected this, as he felt that the Simpsons should "never become aware of themselves as celebrities", but the idea was later used in the video game The Simpsons Game.[14] Groening read about a town that had to get rid of pig feces in their water supply, which inspired the plot of the film.[17] The decision for Flanders to have an important role also came early on, as Jean wished to see Bart wonder what his life would be like if Flanders were his father.[22] Hank Scorpio, a character from the 1996 episode "You Only Move Twice", was originally meant to return as the main antagonist, but the staff dropped the idea and created Russ Cargill instead.[23] Having eventually decided on the basic outline of the plot for the film, the writers then separated it into seven sections. Jean, Scully, Reiss, Swartzwelder, Vitti, Mirkin, and Meyer wrote 25 pages each, and the group met one month later to merge the seven sections into one "very rough draft".[16] The film's script was written in the same way as the television series: the writers sitting around a table, pitching ideas, and trying to make each other laugh.[19] The script went through over 100 revisions,[21] and at one point the film was a musical. However, the songs were continually being shortened and the idea was dropped.[24] Groening described his desire to also make the film dramatically stronger than a TV episode, saying that he wanted to "give you something that you haven't seen before".[25]

text: Animation[edit]

text: Animation for the film began in January 2006,[17] with the Itchy & Scratchy short being the first scene to be storyboarded.[26] Groening rejected making either a live-action or a CGI film,[20] calling the film's animation "deliberately imperfect" and "a tribute to the art of hand-drawn animation".[27] The film was produced in a widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio, to distinguish it from the look of the television series,[16][26] and colored with the largest palette the animators had ever had available to them.[7] A lot of the animation was produced using Wacom Cintiq tablets, which allowed images to be drawn directly onto a computer monitor to facilitate production.[26] Animation production work was divided among four studios around the world: Film Roman in Burbank, California, Rough Draft Studios in Glendale, California, and AKOM and Rough Draft's division in Seoul, South Korea. As with the television series, the storyboarding, characters, background layout, and animatic parts of production, were done in America. The overseas studios completed the inbetweening, digital ink and paint, and rendered the animation to tape before being shipped back to the United States.[28]

text: Director David Silverman said that unlike the TV series where "you [have] to pick and choose", the film gave them the opportunity to "lavish that attention [on] every single scene". The characters have shadows, unlike in the show.[19] Silverman and the animators looked to films such as The Incredibles, The Triplets of Belleville, and Bad Day at Black Rock for inspiration, as they were "a great education in staging because of how the characters are placed".[19] They also looked for ideas for a dream sequence, in Disney films such as Dumbo and the Pluto cartoon Pluto's Judgment Day,[20] and for crowd scenes in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.[22] Silverman looked at some of the Simpsons episodes he had directed, primarily his two favorites, "Homie the Clown" and "Three Men and a Comic Book".[29] Mike B. Anderson, Lauren MacMullan, Rich Moore, and Steven Dean Moore each directed the animation for around a quarter of the film under Silverman's supervision, with numerous other animators working on scenes.[28]

text: Casting[edit]

text: For inspiration for the crowd scenes in the film, the production staff referenced a poster featuring more than 320 Simpsons characters.[30] Groening said they tried to include every single character in the film, with 98 having speaking parts,[17] and most members of the crowds being previously established characters instead of generic people.[26] The series' regular voice actors: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer, as well as semi-regular performers Tress MacNeille, Pamela Hayden, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, Russi Taylor, and Karl Wiedergott, reprised their roles.[8] Joe Mantegna returned as Fat Tony,[31] while Albert Brooks, who supplied many guest voices in episodes, was hired as Russ Cargill,[16] after he told the staff that he wanted to be part of the film.[22] For "about a week", he was to reprise the role of Hank Scorpio, but when the character was omitted from the film, he ended up voicing Cargill.[28]

text: The cast did the first of three table readings in May 2005,[8][32] and began recording every week from June 2006 until the end of production.[33] James L. Brooks directed them for the first time since the television show's early seasons. Castellaneta found the recording sessions "more intense" than recording the television series, and "more emotionally dramatic".[34] Some scenes, such as Marge's video message to Homer, were recorded over one hundred times, leaving the voice cast exhausted.[22]

text: The writers had written the opening concert scene without a specific band in mind. Green Day were cast in that role having requested to guest star in the show. Tom Hanks also appears as himself in the film and accepted the offer after just one phone call.[22] Everybody Loves Raymond creator Philip Rosenthal provides the voice of the father in the "new Grand Canyon" commercial with Hanks.[26] Due to time restraints, several guests who had recorded parts were cut from the film. Minnie Driver recorded the part of a patronizing grievance counselor in a scene that ended up being cut.[35] Edward Norton recorded the part of the man who gets crushed as the dome is implemented, performing a Woody Allen impression. The staff felt the voice was too distracting, so Castellaneta re-recorded Norton's dialogue with a different voice.[26] Isla Fisher and Erin Brockovich also recorded cameos, but their scenes were cut.[17][36] Kelsey Grammer recorded lines for Sideshow Bob, who was to appear at several different points,[26][28] but these scenes were also cut.[22] Johnny Knoxville was also touted as a possible guest star.[22]

text: Although he does not provide the voice, Arnold Schwarzenegger is President of the United States rather than then-President George W. Bush because, according to Groening, "in two years ... the film [would be] out of date".[21] Brooks was nervous about the idea, noting that "[Schwarzenegger's] opinion polls were way down", and has said that they "were [hoping] he'd make a political comeback".[7] The animators began by drawing an accurate caricature of Schwarzenegger,[22] but one of the staff instead suggested an altered version of recurring character Rainer Wolfcastle as President.[29] This idea was developed, with the design of Wolfcastle, himself also a caricature of Schwarzenegger, being given more wrinkles under his eyes and a different hairstyle.[22]

text: Editing[edit]

text: Every aspect of the film was constantly analyzed, with storylines, jokes, and characters regularly being rewritten.[26] Although most animated films do not make extensive changes to the film during active production due to budget restrictions,[14] The Simpsons Movie crew continued to edit their film into 2007, with some edits taking place as late as May, two months before the film was released.[26] James L. Brooks noted, "70 percent of the things in [one of the trailers]—based on where we were eight weeks ago—are no longer in the movie."[30] Groening said that enough material for two more movies was cut.[20] Various new characters were created, and then cut because they did not contribute enough.[14] Originally Marge was the character who had the prophetic vision in church. The writers however considered this to be too dark and it was changed to Grampa.[26] The role of Lisa's love interest Colin was frequently revised. He was previously named Dexter and Adrien, and his appearance was completely altered.[22] One idea was to have Milhouse act as Lisa's love interest, but the writers realized "the audience was not as familiar with [his] long-standing crush on [Lisa] as [they had] thought".[26] A car chase in which Homer throws flaming mummies out of a truck at the EPA was replaced with "more emotional and realistic" scenes at the motel and carnival that allowed for a change of pace.[26]

text: Further changes were made after the March 2007 preview screenings of the film in Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona.[26] This included the deletion of Kang and Kodos heavily criticizing the film during the end credits.[17] A lot of people at the screenings found the original film too coarse, and some of Homer's behavior too unkind, so several scenes were toned down to make him appear nicer.[26] Russ Cargill was redesigned several times, originally appearing as an older man whose speech patterns Albert Brooks based on Donald Rumsfeld. The older model was the one used by Burger King for the action figure.[26] Cargill's scene with Bart and Homer at the film's conclusion was added in to fully resolve his story, and the "Spider-Pig" gag was also a late addition.[22] One excised scene, before the dome is put over Springfield, had Mr. Burns reminding viewers that it was the last point in the film that they could get a refund.[26] Other deletions included Homer's encounter with a sausage truck driver, which was featured on the DVD, a scene with Plopper the pig at the end,[37] and a news report, showing the dome's effect on daily life in Springfield in areas such as farming and sport, was cut because it did not fit the overall context of the film.[26] Several musical numbers, at various intervals throughout the film, were cut.[26] These included a song about Alaska, featuring music by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. Jean said it "got pretty far along in the animation, and then we got scared that the movie began to drag in that section."[38][39]

text: Music[edit]

text: James L. Brooks chose Hans Zimmer to compose the film's score, as they were good friends and regular collaborators.[40] Zimmer felt that the score was a "unique challenge", and he had to "try and express the style of The Simpsons without wearing the audience out".[41] He used Danny Elfman's original opening theme, but did not wish to overuse it. He created themes for each member of the family. Homer's leitmotif was a major focus, and Zimmer also composed smaller themes for Bart and Marge.[42] Regular television series composer Alf Clausen was not asked to score the film, noting: "sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug".[43]

text: In addition to their appearance in the film, Green Day recorded its own version of the Simpsons theme, and released it as a single.[44] Zimmer turned the Spider-Pig song into a choral piece, which was a joke he never intended to be put into the film. Zimmer also had to write foreign-language lyrics for the 32 dubbed versions of the song when the film was released internationally. He found translating the song into Spanish the hardest to write. The same choir learned to sing the piece for each of the foreign-language dubs.[42]

text: Themes[edit]

text: Al Jean described the film's message as being "a man should listen to his wife". In addition, the film parodies two major contemporary issues, religion and environmentalism.[45] The theme of environmentalism is present throughout the film: in Homer's polluting of Lake Springfield, Green Day's cameo, Lisa's activism and her romance with Colin. The villainous Russ Cargill is head of the Environmental Protection Agency.[17] Reviewer Ed Gonzalez argued the plot was a satire of the government's reaction to the effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans.[46] Ian Nathan of Empire magazine criticized this focus, believing it gave the film an "overt political agenda [which] border[s] on polemic".[47] James D. Bloom of Muhlenberg College commented on the "explicitness" of the film's "intellectual agenda", on this issue, shown particularly through Lisa. He wrote that the film's first post-opening credits scene, which sees Green Day fail in an attempt to engage their audience on the issue of the environment, "sets in motion a plot expressly built around cultural agenda-setting" and "reflection on timely 'issues'."[48]

text: Religion is focused on in Grampa's momentary possession, and Marge believing what he said to be a message from God.[49] Groening joked the film "posit[s] the existence of a very active God", when asked if he believed it was likely to offend.[45] Mark I. Pinsky, author of The Gospel According to The Simpsons, said the film "treats genuine faith with respect, while keeping a sharp eye out for religious pretension and hypocrisy of all kinds". Regarding the scene where the tenants of Moe's Tavern and the Church switch locations, he believed it took the "chance to unmask everyone's human fallibility." In analyzing the role of Ned Flanders, he wrote, "It is [the] willingness of The Simpsons to depict all the different sides of us [...] that makes it so rich and funny on our complicated relationship with religion."[50] Trees are a motif in the film, and they were implemented in every important or emotional scene throughout the film. The animators inserted an apple tree behind Lisa and Colin during their initial meeting, a reference to the biblical figures of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.[28]

text: Cultural references[edit]

text: Many cultural references and allusions are made throughout the film. Green Day play "Nearer, My God, to Thee" on violins as their barge sinks, in a sequence parodying the film Titanic.[26][51] When Bart is riding his skateboard naked, different passing objects are almost constantly covering his genitalia, a nod to similar techniques used in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.[28] Homer and Marge's love scene parodies many Disney films, including Cinderella,[20] with Disney-style animals helping them undress.[22] Originally, the music from The Wizard of Oz was used in that scene, and the fawn had white spots; these were removed because the animators felt it resembled Bambi too clearly.[26] Bart impersonates Mickey Mouse on the train, calling himself "the mascot of an evil corporation".[22] Homer plays Grand Theft Walrus, an allusion to the video game series Grand Theft Auto. In the game, his character shoots a tap-dancing penguin in reference to the film Happy Feet.[26] The "Spider-Pig" song is a parody of the theme song of the 1967 Spider-Man TV series,[42] and the name of Lisa's lecture is An Irritating Truth, a play on Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth.[49] The bomb disposal robot was based on Vincent D'Onofrio's character Leonard "Pyle" Lawrence from the film Full Metal Jacket, who commits suicide in a similar way.[28] At the end of the film, the crowd's celebration is similar to the conclusion of Return of the Jedi, with Carl performing exactly the same hand gestures as Lando Calrissian.[28]

text: The $1,000 Homer received when entering Alaska is a reference to the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend.[52] As Homer leaves Eski-Moe's he grabs on to a passing truck and uses it to propel himself back to the house, a tribute to actor Buster Keaton,[26] while the epiphany scene features homages to the film Brazil and the works of Salvador Dalí.[28] Hillary Clinton appears as Itchy's vice president, while an Orc from The Lord of the Rings appears in the mob scene.[26] A scene that was cut had Marge and the kids appear on the TV talk show The View to spread the news of Springfield's impending doom. Parts were written for the show's entire panel and the scene was planned to feature Russ Cargill having a gunfight with Joy Behar.[26] Another dropped scene featured Moe describing Springfield's varying physical states inside the dome, one of which was the Disneyland ride Autopia.[26] There are several references to events in previous TV episodes of The Simpsons. These include the wreckage of the ambulance from the episode "Bart the Daredevil" crashed into a tree next to Springfield Gorge.[22] The Carpenters' song "(They Long to Be) Close to You" was used in Homer and Marge's wedding video and had also been used in several emotional moments between them in the TV series.[26]

text: Release[edit]

text: 20th Century Fox announced on April 1, 2006 that the film would be released worldwide on July 27, 2007.[53] The film was released a day earlier in Australia and the United Kingdom.[54][55][56][57] Little information about the plot was released in the weeks building up to the film's release. Groening did not feel that "people look in the TV section of the newspaper and think, 'I'll watch this week's Simpsons because I like the plot.' You just tune in and see what happens."[14]

text: Fox held a competition among 16 Springfields across the United States to host the American premiere.[58] Each Springfield produced a film, explaining why their town should host the premiere, with the results being decided via a vote on the USA Today website.[59] Springfield, Minnesota dropped out on May 31, 2007.[60] The winner was announced on July 10 to be Springfield, Vermont.[61] The town beat Springfield, Illinois by 15,367 votes to 14,634. Each of the other 14 entrants held their own smaller screenings of the film on July 26.[59] Springfield, Vermont hosted the world premiere of the film on July 21 with a yellow carpet instead of the traditional red.[61]

text: The film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for "irreverent humor throughout".[62] The production staff had expected this rating.[15] However, the British Board of Film Classification passed the film as a PG with no cuts made.[63] A BBFC spokeswoman said regarding Bart's brief nude scene, "natural nudity with no sexual content is acceptable in PG films".[64] The film was banned in Myanmar, not for the scene of nudity, but for excessive use of the colors yellow and red, which is prohibited in the country.[65]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: The convenience store chain 7-Eleven transformed 11 of its stores in the U.S. and one in Canada into Kwik-E-Marts, at the cost of approximately $10 million.[66][67] 7-Eleven also sold Simpsons-themed merchandise in many of its stores. This included "Squishees", "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O's" Cereal, and "Pink Movie Donuts".[67] This promotion resulted in a 30% increase in profits for the altered 7-Eleven stores.[68] Homer performed a special animated opening monologue for the edition of July 24, 2007 of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, as part of another promotion.[69]

text: Promotions also occurred around the world. 20th Century Fox erected a "giant pink donut" in the town of Springfield in Canterbury, New Zealand to celebrate being named Springfield,[70][71] while in London a double decker-sized floating inflatable Spider Pig was set up by the Battersea Power Station.[72] In Dorset, England, an image of Homer was painted next to the hill figure, the Cerne Abbas Giant. This caused outrage amongst local neopagans who performed "rain magic" to try to get it washed away.[73]

text: McFarlane Toys released a line of action figures based on the film,[74] EA Games released The Simpsons Game, to coincide with the film's DVD release, although the plot of the game was not based on the film.[75][76] Samsung released The Simpsons Movie phone,[77] and Microsoft produced a limited edition The Simpsons Movie Xbox 360.[78] Ben & Jerry's created a Simpsons-themed beer and donut-flavored ice cream, entitled "Duff & D'oh! Nuts".[79] Windows Live Messenger presented their users with the opportunity to download a free animated and static content for use within their conversations.[80] Burger King produced a line of Simpsons toy figures that were given away with children's meals, and ran a series of Simpsons-themed television adverts to promote this.[68] JetBlue Airways held a series of online sweepstakes to win a trip to the film's Los Angeles, California premiere. They also included a channel dedicated to The Simpsons on their planes' in-flight entertainment system.[68]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc worldwide on December 3, 2007 and on December 18, 2007 in the U.S. It contains commentary tracks from both the producers and animators, six short deleted scenes, and a selection of material used to promote the film release.[81] An unfinished deleted scene of the townspeople singing the Springfield Anthem was also included on The Simpsons The Complete Tenth Season DVD box set.[82]

text: Promotions for the DVD release occurred across the United States. The Empire State Building was illuminated yellow, the first time the building had ever been used as part of a film promotion.[83] In the United Kingdom, Fox launched a £5 million advertising campaign.[84] They also signed a £1.6 million deal with the yogurt company Yoplait, to produce a The Simpsons Movie design for their brand Frubes.[85] In its first week it topped the U.S. DVD chart, and generated $11.8 million in rental revenue.[83]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 221 reviews and an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Simpsons Movie contains the hearty laughs, biting satire, and honest portrayal of an American family that makes the show so popular. And it boasts slicker animation and polished writing that hearkens back to the show's glory days."[86] On Metacritic, it received a score of 80 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[87] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[88]

text: British newspapers The Guardian and The Times both gave the film four out of five stars. The Times' James Bone said that it "boasts the same sly cultural references and flashes of brilliance that have earned the television series a following that ranges from tots to comparative literature PhDs".[89] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw stated that it "gives you everything you could possibly want" and that he thought, "Eighty-five minutes [was] not long enough to do justice to 17 years of comedy genius".[90] Ed Gonzalez praised the film for its political message, likening the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon at the beginning to President Schwarzenegger's situation later on, as well as the film's visual gags.[46] Randy Shulman praised the cast, and described them as having "elevated their vocal work to a craft that goes way beyond simple line readings", and particularly praised Kavner who he said "gave what must be the most heartfelt performance ever".[91] Roger Ebert gave a positive review, but admitted he was "generally [not] a fan of movies spun off from TV animation". He called it "radical and simple at the same time, subversive and good-hearted, offensive without really meaning to be".[92] Richard Corliss of Time said that the film "doesn't try to be ruder or kinkier, just bigger and better".[93]

text: USA Today film critic Claudia Puig said that the story did "warrant a full-length feature, thanks to a clever plot and non-stop irreverent humor".[94] Patrick Kolan believed that the film was "easily the best stuff to come [from the Simpsons] since season 12 or 13" and praised the animation, but also said that the appearances of characters such as Comic Book Guy and Seymour Skinner were "small and unfunny".[95] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film's good nature, stating that the laughs "come in all sizes", but also noted that, "little has been gained bringing the Simpsons to the screen."[96]

text: Variety's Brian Lowry called it "clever, irreverent, satirical and outfitted" but that it was "just barely" capable of sustaining a running time longer than a television episode.[97] Lisa Schwarzbaum praised the voice cast but stated that the "'action' sequences sometimes falter".[98] When comparing the film to the early episodes of the show, Stephen Rowley concluded that the film "has more going for it than the show in its later years, but is still a long way short of what made it so invigorating".[99] The Monthly critic Luke Davies echoed Lowry's concerns about the length: "everything moves with the whip-crack speed of a half-hour episode. And that's the paradox: it makes the film feel like three episodes strung together. We're in a cinema, and we expect something epic." He opined that "in the great arc that is the history of The Simpsons, this film will come to be seen as oddity rather than apotheosis."[100]

text: More negative reception came from the magazine Empire, where reviewer Ian Nathan compared the film to New Coke, saying that "it utterly failed".[47] Phil Villarreal believed that there were "too few laugh-worthy moments" and that "instead of stretching to new frontiers, the film rests on the familiar".[101] Sheila Johnston criticized the pacing of the film and its joke level saying that "the overall momentum flags at times" and that it was "a salvo of comic squibs, some very funny, others limp".[102] David Edwards agreed with this, writing that although "there's a great half-hour show rattling around...the rest is padding at its very dullest", concluding that it "isn't a terrible film, just a terribly disappointing one."[103] Cosmo Landesman believed, "the humour seem[ed] to have lost its satirical bite and wit" and that "much of the comedy is structured around the idiocy of Homer".[104] This assessment was shared by Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times, who felt that "once the movie wanders into its contemplation of mortality and meaning, the trenchancy kind of creaks and falls off." She negatively compared it to South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), a film similarly adapted from an animated television series, saying that, in terms of satire, it offers "nothing we don't hear every night on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."[105] Bruce Newman criticized the fleeting appearances of many of the show's secondary characters, and found the film to be "a disappointment".[106]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film earned $30,758,269 on its opening day in the U.S. making it the 25th-highest, and fifth-highest non-sequel opening day revenue of all time.[107] It grossed a combined total of $74,036,787 in its opening weekend on 5,500 screens at 3,922 theaters, reaching the top of the box office for that weekend.[108] This made it the tenth-highest revenue of all time, for an opening weekend in July, and highest among non-sequels, and the highest animated TV adaptation of all time.[109] This outperformed the expectations of $40 million that Fox had for the release.[110]

text: It set several American box office records, including highest grossing opening weekend for a non-CG animated film and for a film based on a television series, surpassing Mission: Impossible 2. It was also the third-highest grossing opening weekend for an animated film.[111] It opened at the top of the international box office taking $96 million from 71 overseas territories, including $27.8 million in the United Kingdom, the second-highest UK opening ever for a 20th Century Fox film.[112] It contributed to over half of the record 5.5 million people attending British cinemas that weekend.[113] In Australia, it grossed $13.2 million, the third-highest opening weekend in the country, and the highest for an animated film.[114] The United Kingdom is the highest-grossing country for the film outside the US with a $78,426,654 gross overall, with Germany in second place with a $36,289,250 gross overall.[115] The film closed on December 20, 2007 with a gross of $183,135,014 in the United States and Canada and a worldwide gross of $527,068,706. It was the eighth-highest-grossing film worldwide and the twelfth-highest grossing in the United States and Canada of 2007.[4]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The Simpsons Movie won the award for Best Comedy Film at the British Comedy Awards,[116] Best Animation at the inaugural ITV National Movie Awards,[117] and Best Movie at the UK Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, beating Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Shrek the Third.[118] The film's trailer won a Golden Trailer Award in the category Best Animated/Family Film Trailer at the 8th Annual Golden Trailer Awards.[119] Forbes named the film the third best of the year, based on its box office takings and Metacritic critical response score.[120] The film's website received a Webby Award at the 12th Annual Webby Awards in the category "Best Movie and Film Website".[121]

text: At the 35th Annie Awards the film was nominated in four categories: Best Animated Feature, Directing in an Animated Feature Production, Writing in an Animated Feature Production, and Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Julie Kavner. All four awards were won by Ratatouille.[122][123] It was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 65th Golden Globe Awards, the BAFTA for Best Animated Film, and the Producers Guild Award for Animated Theatrical Motion Picture.[124][125][126][127] It also received nominations for the Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Feature, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Feature.[128][129][130][131]

text: Before its release, the film received a nomination at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards for "Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet", with the award ultimately won by Transformers,[132] and lost the Teen Choice Award for "Choice Summer Movie – Comedy/Musical", which was won by Hairspray.[133] It was also nominated for Favorite Movie Comedy at the People's Choice Awards, losing to Knocked Up.[134]

text: Sequel[edit]

text: In 2014, James L. Brooks stated that he had been approached by Fox and that they had requested a second film. He added that there were no immediate plans, stating: "We've been asked to [develop it], but we haven't. We're doing a lot of other stuff."[135]

text: In December 2014, just prior to the broadcast of the episode "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner", Al Jean took to Twitter to reveal that the episode (which had been produced in 2012 and was originally set to air in 2013) had been held back by him and Brooks because it was being considered for adaptation into a sequel film as the episode was "cinematic".[136][137] Jean later expanded that there was the fear of the potential film being considered "not canonical" with the TV series[137] and the potential backlash of overcoming it by using a "memory wipe".[138]

text: In July 2017, Silverman and Jean said that the sequel was in the early stages of development, while stressing the toll production of the first picture took on the entire staff.[139] On August 10, 2018, it was reported that a sequel to The Simpsons Movie is in development.[140]