If I was a Simpson...

Now I've seen some brilliant web promotions for movies. From Corpse Bride's website, you could send a custom Message From the Land of the Dead to your friends (this involved your pal receiving a link to a site that would show a skeletal hand awkwardly and verrrry sloooowly writing a message on a dusty mirror). The blink-and-you-missed-it ventriloquist-dummy horror film Dead Silence had a similiar schtick which allowed you to send a Dumm-E-Mail featuring the vocal stylings of creepy-ass dummy stars Cornelius, Billy, and Ursula. Both of these sites created hours of fun and endless giggles for my friends.

And now, with the impending release of The Simpsons Movie, those crafty folks on the World Wide Internets have created the ultimate Web toy that allows us all to experiment with a dream that I'm sure all of us have thought about at one time or another: "What would *I* look like if I were on The Simpsons?" With the Create Your Simpsons Avatar tool, you can choose your hair, your nose, your toothiness (or lack thereof). Choose your pale yellow to brown skin tone. Choose the design on your t-shirt. Voila! Here is your Springfield doppleganger!

This avatar creator, I believe, is actually an amazing social experiment to inflict upon all your friends. Sure, after some playing around with your own image, you start to get an idea of what your friends may look like in this yellow world. However, start an email chain and require all of your cohorts to respond by attaching their self-made 'toon. This simple task turns out to be an extremely revealing insight into your friends' self-image. Some creations are right-on, others are strangely baffling. What were they thinking?

For a taste of the fun to be had, here are some of your favorite Moviepie contributors (at least how they see themselves!)...