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How to watch The Simpsons in its original aspect ratio on Disney Plus

How to watch The Simpsons in its original aspect ratio on Disney Plus

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Just switch the toggle to see the beloved show as it’s meant to be seen

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As promised, Disney now gives subscribers of Disney Plus the option to watch over 19 seasons of The Simpsons in the show’s original 4:3 aspect ratio. When the subscription streaming service first launched, it only presented The Simpsons in a remastered, 16:9 aspect ratio — and this resulted in audiences missing out on some visual gags that were near the top or bottom of the frame.

Image: Disney

It didn’t take long for Disney to address viewer complaints by announcing it would give subscribers a choice between 16:9 (optimized for modern widescreen TVs) and the original 4:3 aspect ratio to see episodes true to the way they originally aired.

  • Open Disney Plus and go to The Simpsons page. This link should get you there on the web version.
  • Choose the Details tab.
  • You should see a new toggle for “Remastered Aspect Ratio.” When this is enabled, you’ll get The Simpsons formatted to 16:9. But if you want the true 4:3 experience, all you need to do is switch this to off. The toggle should be present on all devices that support Disney Plus.

Halfway through its 20th season, The Simpsons made the transition to widescreen format and high definition. So for all episodes after that point, the toggle won’t make any difference: you’ll only see HD episodes in 16:9.