The weekly episodes often pack more plot in 22 minutes than this 87-minute film. Still, The Simpsons Movie is not lacking in its hallmark: a squiggly narrative path as absurdly far-flung as it is surprisingly logical. Using summer blockbusters as its baseline, The Simpsons Movie deliciously lampoons the big, booming action flicks churned out like so many pink donuts, assembly-line style.

The basic plot centers on Homer (the brilliant Dan Castellaneta), who, after adopting a pig and disposing of its poop illegally, puts Springfield in grave ecological peril, to the point where the city is quarantined from the rest of the world. That's all I'm telling, because part of the joy of any Simpsons storyline is watching how Point A gets to Point Z. There's a subplot involving Bart (Nancy Cartwright) and neighbor Ned Flanders (Harry Shearer) that hits a sustained emotional note, and one involving Lisa (Yeardley Smith) that will likely be carried over into the show's upcoming television season. But it's really all about Homer, his idiocy, his selfishness, his hunger, his loveable d'oh-ness, and his ultimate redemption, spurred by a speech delivered by his blue-haired wife, Marge (Julie Kavner), in what must be the most heartfelt performance ever to find its way into a movie based on an irreverent cartoon.

Pagans have promised to conjure some "rain magic" to erase a figure of Homer Simpson which has been painted next to the Cerne Abbas giant in Dorset.

The figure, representing Homer in his Y-fronts holding up a doughnut, is standing to the left of the chalk giant and his erect penis. The cartoon character was drawn on the hill slope to promote the new Simpsons film, which will be released later this month. He was painted with water-based biodegradable paint that will wash away when it rains.