Disney Plus just gave me a reason to subscribe again — here's why

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Disney Plus is righting its wrong with The Simpsons, and I'm ready to start paying again.

Disney Plus the simpsons
(Image credit: Future)

Back when Disney Plus launched, The Simpsons fans were screaming a righteous "D'oh!" If you didn't notice the first time, early seasons of The Simpsons that aired before the rise of HDTV were being streamed at the 16:9 aspect ratio — which stretched out the format of the images, cutting out sight gags and making the show hard to watch.

It was such an annoying blunder (FX had already gone through this before, Disney should have known) that it helped me cancel my Disney Plus subscription once The Mandalorian was over. Thankfully, our long national Treehouse of Horror is almost at an end.

Today (May 20), as a part of its big National Streaming Day push, Disney gave me a date to resubscribe to Disney Plus. On May 28, Disney Plus will finally fix the incorrectly cropped classic The Simpsons episodes. In a tweet, @DisneyPlus stated "Episodes in original 4:3 aspect ratio are coming to #DisneyPlus on May 28."

Confused about why an aspect ratio could matter so much? Well, The Simpsons is famous (in part) for its excellent use of the whole screen, and background elements contained extra jokes. The below shot, for example, was how Disney Plus presented a tour of the Duff beer factory.

(Image credit: Disney)

What you don't see there — because of the forced aspect ratio crop to 16:9 — is that each of those vats of Duff beer are coming from the same overall Duff pipe. 

It's moments like this that pushed me to postpone the ultimate Simpsons marathon I've been wanting to do for a while now. But on Thursday, May 29, I restart my Disney Plus subscription. 

It's a perfectly cromulent opportunity to watch all of The Simpsons.

Upcoming Disney Plus releases

The list of 2020 Disney Plus releases doesn't stop there. Here's the big list of what this year holds for subscribers.

  • June 25 - Avengers: Infinity War
  • July 3 - Hamilton
  • July 9 - Solo: A Star Wars Story
  • July 29 - Ant-Man and the Wasp
  • July 30 - The Incredibles 2
  • July 31 - Muppets Now
  • August - The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
  • October 1 - Maleficent: 
  • October - The Mandalorian season 2
  • December - WandaVision
  • December 11 - Ralph Breaks the Internet
Henry T. Casey
Henry T. Casey

Henry was a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.