BROWNSVILLE - David Escarcega squirmed uncomfortably in his chair with eyes shut and index fingers plugged deep into his ears to block out the commercial playing on the television at the Blue Shell restaurant, where he gathered with friends recently.
On the tube, Homer Simpson is tracking a muddy pig on the ceiling and singing: “Spider-pig! Spider-pig! He does whatever a spider-pig does!”
The cartoon clip is a scene from the much-anticipated “Simpsons Movie” that premiered at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
Escarcega’s reaction, usually reserved for a horror film or horrible news, happens each time a “Simpsons Movie” trailer airs. For super Simpsons fans like these, spoiling even a small part of the plot is unthinkable.
Why does he force himself to go blind and deaf whenever a “Simpsons” preview is on?
“I wanna save every second that the director wanted me to see,” he said. “I don’t want any breaks in the story, and I want to go in their fresh.”
How excited is Escarcega for this movie?
“I was hoping it would happen for a long while. I was worried though, things from TV to movie have been bad.”
Could Escarcega be referring to something like the 1994 “Flintstones” movie?
“Exactly,” he said. “That one was the worst.”
Buzz about a big screen version of the small screen hit has been circulating among fans for years.
In an interview on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Simpsons creator Matt Groening said they’ve been working on a movie adaptation for the FOX Television show since 2003. The show has been airing for nearly 20 years.
“We finally came up with a good notion,” Groening said. “Homer falls in love with a pig, and the rest just wrote itself.”
Movie trailers and online marketing campaigns for the move have been hit with high-traffic on Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, where Simpson “avatars” - cartoon likenesses of real-life fans - have found a home with America’s favorite yellow-faced family.
The excitement rivals that of blockbuster franchises such as “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter,” prompting the local Cinemark 16 to dedicate two screens for the midnight premiere.
As soon as he learned of the sneak preview on Wednesday, Escarcega took his lunch break, headed to the local box office and claimed his ticket.
“The girl (at the theater) giggled at me, when I bought it,” he said as he showed off his golden ticket. “But I didn’t care.”
The 23-year-old Brownsville native and former U.S. Marine is one of millions of die-hard Simpsons fans that follows the daily lives of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.
“They grow with society,” he said. “The writers make the show as timeless as possible. The writers make the show adapt, and that’s why it works. I can watch the same episode four times and find a different thing that’s funny each time.”
Escarcega, a surveyor/technician and student at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, is also an amateur Simpsons expert, carrying an electronic Jeopardy game to feed his favorite fix: Simpsons trivia.
He identifies most, he said, with “Moe,” proprietor at “Moe’s Bar,” Homer’s favorite watering hole.
“He’s bitter, with a soft side,” Escarcega said and commented on the show’s “low-brow humor” with “high-brow appeal.”
A high mark for this movie: The writers for the “Simpsons Movie” include many former and current writers. This, Escarcega predicted, will make the movie that much sweeter.
On Thursday, he counted down to showtime. It was a moment 13 years and one minute in the making for this Simpsons fan that won’t likely fall out of love with the Springfield clan anytime soon.
“The Simpsons,” he said, “are an institution that’ll be playing a role in my life for years to come.”
