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Springfields vie for Simpsons debut

It is the battle of the Springfields with residents in 14 towns with that name across the United States competing to be chosen to host the premier of the upcoming Simpsons movie.

The creator of the popular cartoon television series, Matt Groening, located Homer, Marge and their children - Bart, Lisa and baby Maggie - in the fictional town of Springfield after noting that this was one of the most common US town names.

But in the series' 18-year history it has never been clear which of the 34 Springfields in the US was the basis for the version in the cartoon, a satirical parody of middle American lifestyle.

Some already have a claim to fame, such as Springfield, Illinois, which was home to Abraham Lincoln, and Springfield, Massachusetts, known as the birthplace of basketball.

But the chance to host the July 26 premiere of the first Simpsons movie and become the real-life home for the Simpsons has sparked new rivalry.

"We always really did think we were the one," Tim Farley, executive director at the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau in Illinois, told Reuters.

"The similarities between the cartoon and Springfield are really uncanny."

Springfield, Illinois, with its population of 116,000, is competing with Springfields in Oregon, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Vermont, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida and Louisiana for the title.

The winner will be announced this week.

People have been asked to choose the video entry that best represents the "Simpsons' spirit" online.

Many entries focus on similarities between their town and the cartoon one, featuring residents who look like the cartoon characters and matching historical events with those in cartoon episodes.

Illinois' entry features Todd Renfrow, general manager of the local power plant, whose receding hairline and elongated nose resembles the Simpsons' villain, power plant owner Montgomery Burns.

The 2,800 residents in Springfield, Kentucky, pitched in to raise $US1,100 to finance its video entry, which imagines Groening being brought before a court and shown witnesses, including Homer Simpson, to prove the series is based on their town.

The film's producer, Michael Breeding, claimed an episode in which Bart beheads a statue of the town founder was based on events in Kentucky when a war veteran statue was vandalised. © 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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