Although The Bobs Burgers Movie is not guaranteed to be a critical and commercial success, the animated sitcom spinoff has already managed to avoid the biggest issue faced by The Simpsons Movie upon release. Since the show’s 1989 pilot, The Simpsons has come a long way. The Simpsons went from being a hit animated family sitcom to a genuine pop culture phenomenon, before becoming one of television’s most influential shows of all time.

However, as is the case with most long-running television institutions, eventually the popularity and critical success of The Simpsons waned over time. Although The Simpsons influenced huge hits like Family Guy, South Park, American Dad, and Bobs Burgers, the show itself began to decline in both viewership and critical acclaim after its thirteenth year or so. This meant that The Simpsons Movie arrived in cinemas after the show’s peak—a mistake that the upcoming The Bobs Burgers Movie won’t risk repeating.

Related: The Simpsons' Weird Joe Rogan Parody Does More Harm Than Good

While The Simpsons season 33 earned some positive reviews, by and large, critical and audience reception of The Simpsons has been steadily declining since season 12. This meant that The Simpsons Movie’s 2007 release date came too late to capitalize on the show’s popularity, something that The Bobs Burgers Movie does not need to worry about. While this would have been even truer if release date rescheduling hadn’t pushed the movie’s arrival off by two years, The Bobs Burgers Movie is still arriving after only 12 seasons of Bobs Burgers have aired. This is plenty impressive, but it is nowhere near the legendary 17 season run that The Simpsons had before making its big-screen leap.

Homer and Bart scale the dome in The Simpsons Movie

However, longevity is not the only thing that was working against The Simpsons Movie. Before the movie’s release, The Simpsons released many classic episodes and the show’s popularity peaked around seasons 3–10, before then dwindling when its huge cultural impact started to fade. This meant The Simpsons as a television show was not only past its critical prime by the time The Simpsons Movie arrived, but also such a cultural institution that the hype around The Simpsons Movie was massive.

In contrast, Bob’s Burgers never had anywhere near as far to fall. As an animated sitcom, Bob’s Burgers is still consistently well-liked critically. However, Bob’s Burgers also has a far smaller, more contained cultural impact, meaning the movie's hype is nowhere near as intense. At the height of the cultural relevance of The Simpsons, the show was inspiring countless knock-offs, imitations, homages, and references. In contrast, Bob’s Burgers season 12 frequently earns only 1—2 million viewers per episode, a number closer to The Simpsons season 33 episodes than the show’s classic outings. The hype around Bob’s Burgers as a television show is much more muted, meaning the movie spinoff has less pressure to succeed. Where The Simpsons Movie was expected to recapture a bygone cultural era, all that The Bobs Burgers Movie needs to do to succeed is provide a big-screen version of a modestly popular cult hit.

More: The Simpsons' Marvel Insult Revealed The Show's Impossible MCU Problem

Key Release Dates