Just think of all the jokes you can make with this 'Simpsons' screenshot search engine
LatestFor years, fans of The Simpsons have suffered. There were only lots of screenshots from the show readily available online, instead of what we deserve: a searchable trove with literally millions of indexed screenshots.
But we shall endure this torment no longer! Frinkiac is a searchable database of “nearly 3 million screenshots” from the first 15 seasons of The Simpsons, named for scientist and Springfield resident Professor Frink.
Launched on Feb. 2, it was created by developers and superfans Paul Kehrer, Sean Schulte, and Allie Young. Kehrer explained in a blog post announcing Frinkiac’s launch that the engine works by parsing individual episodes into screenshots with closed captions, and searches the captions for whatever term you plug in.
Given how it was made, using Frinkiac does rely on a not insignificant level of Simpsons knowledge, but Kehrer offers a tip in his introductory post: “The more you type, the more accurate your search becomes.” So make sure to enter the entire Troy McClure intro you’re thinking of from memory.
Perhaps more importantly, Frinkiac lets you edit captions, turning Simpsons screenshots into image macros. For instance, I can turn this:
Into this:
This feature is already being put to good use:
Frinkiac embiggens us all.
Ethan Chiel is a reporter for Fusion, writing mostly about the internet and technology. You can (and should) email him at [email protected]