Will the real Springfield please stand up?
Posted: 12 July 2007 1029 hrs

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NEW YORK - A small town in the northeastern US state of Vermont is to host the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" later this month after beating 13 other Springfields -- the fictional setting of the long-running cartoon series - from across the United States.

The New England town of 9,300 people beat rivals from Oregon to Louisiana and Florida to Michigan to host the July 21 gala in a competition run by the newspaper USA Today and film studio Twentieth Century Fox.

The 14 Springfields were asked to submit a video showing their enthusiasm for the series, which first hit screens in 1989 and is now in its 18th season.

Vermont's offer featured a local Homer -- the lovable but unintelligent father of the dysfunctional animated family -- chasing after a doughnut through the town and causing general mayhem.

"We're so excited," Patricia Chaffee, from the Vermont Springfield's chamber of commerce told USA Today. "We came in at the last minute, and for us to win, we feel like the underdogs, which makes this so big and so great for us."

The creators of the series have never identified which state it is supposedly based on, although settings from Moe's Tavern to the local nuclear power plant have led several Springfields to claim the title. - AFP/ra