<P> The problem with the animation from the producers' point - of - view was that it did not exhibit a distinct style envisioned for the show . At the time there were only a few choices for animation style . Usually, they would either follow the style of Disney, Warner Bros., or Hanna - Barbera . Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons had a universe that was bendy and the characters seemed to be made of rubber . The producers wanted a realistic environment in which the characters and objects could not do anything that was not possible in the real world . One example with the early animation being cartoonish was that the doors behaved liked rubber when slammed . The style of Hanna - Barbera featured the use of cartoon sounds, which they did not want either . </P> <P> However, during the first screening of the episode, the producers discovered that the animation was so appalling that 70% of the episode needed to be redone . The producers considered aborting the series if the next episode ("Bart the Genius") turned out as bad, but it only suffered from a few, easily fixable problems . The producers convinced Fox to move the debut to December 17, and aired "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" as the first episode of the series . </P> <P> The half hour series premiere debuted on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" a Christmas special . The next episode "Bart the Genius" was the first to feature the series' full title sequence, including the chalkboard gag and couch gag . Matt Groening developed the lengthy sequence in order to cut down on the animation necessary for each episode, but devised the two gags as compensation for the repeated material each week . Groening, who had not paid much attention to television since his own childhood, was unaware that title sequences of such length were uncommon by that time . As the finished episodes became longer, the production team were reluctant to cut the stories in order to allow for the long title sequence, so shorter versions of it were developed . </P> <P> In some of the episodes the characters act completely differently to how they do in later seasons; Lisa, for example, is undisciplined and short - tempered, while Homer is the voice of reason; these roles are reversed in later episodes . Mr. Burns, was voiced by Christopher Collins in "Homer's Odyssey". Originally, the character was influenced by Ronald Reagan, a concept which was later dropped . </P>

When was the first episode of simpsons aired