Italy doesn't like new Homer Simpson

(ANSA) - Rome, April 10 - Italy is having a hard time adjusting to the new voice of Homer Simpson. This week Massimo Lopez took over as the voice of the father in the iconic cartoon family after his predecessor of 23 years, Tonino Accolla, died last July. The Italian Simpsons Facebook page soon took a beating with a wave of negative comments from some of its 1.3 million fans. "Homer died with Tonino Accolla," said one user. "You need to re-dub Homer's voice. This is the worst," said another. Still, some words of encouragement could be found on Twitter. "It wasn't easy to do such a difficult voice. Bravo!," said one tweet. "Sooner or later we'll get used to it". As for the voiceover artist himself, famous for performing roles in such animated features as Happy Feet and Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Lopez takes heart in other famous transitions in the Italian world of dubbing, where viewers have little patience for subtitles. "The public will always have such disputes," he told ANSA. "Just think of when the actor who played the voice of Robert De Niro died, or when the same happened with Woody Allen's famous dubber. At first, people were beyond disappointed with their replacements. Now..." "Non volevo creare traumi ai telespettatori e ho cercato di mantenere un tono vocale il più simile possibile all'originale".