Homer's Big Ride

Variety notes that The Simpsons once again roams beyond the teevee, this time charging headfirst into their own big amusement park ride:

..."Simpsons'" creators worked closely with Universal Creative to develop the $40 million ride over the past two years.

"They wanted to make sure it was different from the television show and 'The Simpsons Movie,' " says Michael West, director and exec producer at U Creative.

At forty million bucks, this thrill-ride extravaganza, minute for minute is rocketing past feature animation budget territory. A Simpsons Ride staffer said:

"They had a good size crew working on it here at the studio, and we were making lots of changes all the way along. Some Simpson writers worked on it all through the WGA strike, since it wasn't covered work.

"I understand Universal opened the ride a few days later than they wanted in Florida because of extended deadlines, but what the hey. It's a good ride."

In the next few days, we can all run over to Universal Hollywood and see what all the time, effort and money has brought forth. The Simpsons Rid opens on May 19.