The Simpson family is a family of fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town of Springfield, U.S. and they were created by cartoonist Matt Groening who conceived the idea while waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name. The family debuted April 19, 1987 in the The Tracey Ullman Show show short "Good Night" and were later spun off into their own series which debuted on December 17, 1989.

Alongside the five main family members, there are a number of other major and minor characters in their family. The most commonly recurring characters are Homer's father Abraham Simpson; Marge's sisters Patty and Selma Bouvier; and the family's two pets, Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II. Other family members include Homer's mother Mona Simpson, Homer's "Vegas wife" Amber, Marge's mother Jacqueline Bouvier, and other minor relatives.

Main family[link]

The Simpsons are a family who live in at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the town of Springfield in the United States.^[1] Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge Simpson, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, a baby who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. The family owns a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball II. Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. Despite the passing of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays, the Simpsons do not physically age and still appear just as they did at the end of the 1980s. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.^[2]

Creation[link]

Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Brooks had asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series. However, when Groening realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work, he chose another approach and formulated his version of a dysfunctional family.^[3] He named the characters after his own family members — his father Homer, his mother Margaret, and his younger sisters Lisa and Maggie. He substituted "Bart", an anagram of "brat", for his own name,^[4] and modeled the character after his older brother, Mark.^[5][6]

The five family members were given simple designs so that their facial emotions could easily be changed with almost no effort^[7] and so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.^[8] Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned-up in production. However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial short episodes.^[4] The Simpson family made their debut on April 19, 1987 in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night".^[9] In 1989, the shorts were adapted into The Simpsons, a half-hour series airing on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The Simpson family remained the main characters on this new show.^[10]

Casting[link]

Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, and Yeardley Smith all began voicing their characters on The Tracey Ullman Show. Nancy Cartwright was the only one of the group who had been trained to be a voice actor^[11] while Castellaneta had done some voice over work in Chicago. Castellaneta and Kavner had been part of the regular cast of The Tracey Ullman Show and voices were needed for the shorts, so the producers decided to ask them to voice Homer and Marge rather than hire more actors.^[12][13] The producers decided to hold casting for the roles of Bart and Lisa. Yeardley Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Bart, but casting director Bonita Pietila believed her voice was too high. Smith later recalled, "I always sounded too much like a girl. I read two lines as Bart and they said, 'Thanks for coming!'"^[14] Smith was given the role of Lisa instead.^[15] On March 13, 1987, Nancy Cartwright went in to audition for the role of Lisa. After arriving at the audition, she found that Lisa was simply described as the "middle child" and at the time did not have much personality. Cartwright became more interested in the role of Bart who she found more fascinating because he was described as "devious, underachieving, school-hating, irreverent, [and] clever."^[16] Matt Groening let her try out for the part instead, and upon hearing her read, gave her the job on the spot.^[17]

Homer Simpson[link]

Homer Jay Simpson, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, is the father of the Simpson family. He embodies several American working class stereotypes: he is crude, overweight, incompetent, clumsy, thoughtless and a borderline alcoholic.^[18] He has occasionally displayed flashes of great intellect and fitness whenever the situation calls for it, and an integrity reflecting his own values, including a fierce devotion to and protectiveness of his family. His voice started out as an impression of Walter Matthau but eventually evolved into a more robust voice during the second and third season of the half-hour show, allowing Homer to cover a fuller range of emotions.^[13] Homer has since become one of the most influential fictional characters and has been described by the UK newspaper The Sunday Times as the greatest comedic creation of modern time.^[19] He has inspired an entire line of merchandise and his catchphrase, the annoyed grunt "D'oh!", has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary.^[20]

Marge Simpson[link]

Marjorie "Marge" Simpson (née Bouvier), voiced by Julie Kavner, is the well-meaning and extremely patient wife of Homer and mother of Bart, Lisa and Maggie. She often acts as the voice of reason, but displays exaggerated behavior traits of stereotypical mothers and takes the blatant dysfunctionality of her family for granted,^[21] unlike the other family members, who are aware that they are eccentric. Her most notable physical feature is her blue hair, styled into an improbably high beehive. Julie Kavner received a Primetime Emmy Award in 1992 for voicing Marge in the episode "I Married Marge".^[22] For her performance in The Simpsons Movie, Kavner received a nomination for "Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature" at the 2007 Annie Awards, but lost to Ian Holm in Ratatouille.^[23][24] Kavner's emotional performance in the movie got positive reviews and one critic said she "gave what must be the most heartfelt performance ever".^[25] Part of Kavner's contract says that she will never have to promote The Simpsons on video because she does not want to "destroy the illusion for children".^[26] In 2008, CityNews published an article entitled "Top 10 Greatest TV Moms of All Time", and placed Marge in eighth spot.^[27]

Bart Simpson[link]

Bartholomew "Bart" JoJo Simpson, voiced by Nancy Cartwright, is the eldest child and only son in the family—at age 10. Bart's most prominent character traits are his mischievousness, rebelliousness, disrespect for authority and sharp wit. During the first two seasons of The Simpsons, Bart was the show's main character. The name "Bart" is an anagram of the word "brat".^[28] Groening conceived Bart as an extreme version of the typical misbehaving child character, merging all of the extreme traits of characters such as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn into one person.^[28] Groening's older brother Mark provided most of the inspiration for Bart.^[29][30] Bart's catchphrase "Eat My Shorts" was an ad-lib by Cartwright in one of the original table readings, harking back to an incident when she was at college.^[31] In 1998, Time magazine selected Bart as 46th of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, and the only fictional character to make the list.^[32] He had previously appeared on the cover of the December 31, 1990 edition.^[33] Bart is rebellious and frequently escapes without punishment, which lead some parents' groups and conservative spokespeople to believe he provided a poor role model for children. This prompted George H. W. Bush to rally, "We're going to keep trying to strengthen the American family. To make them more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons."^[34] Bart, and other Simpsons characters, have appeared in numerous television commercials for Nestlé's Butterfinger candy bars from 1990–2001, with the slogan "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger!"^[35]

Lisa Simpson[link]

Lisa Marie Simpson, voiced by Yeardley Smith, is the eldest daughter and middle child of the family. She is an extremely intelligent eight year old girl, one of the most intelligent characters on the show. Lisa's political convictions are generally socially liberal.^[36] She is a vegetarian, and a supporter of the Free Tibet movement,^[37] and while still supportive of the Christian church in which she was raised,^[38] Lisa became a practicing Buddhist following her decision to follow the Noble Eightfold Path.^[39] In the Tracey Ullman Show shorts, Lisa was more of a "female Bart" and was equally mischievous. As the series progressed, Lisa began to develop into a more intelligent and more emotional character with "Krusty Gets Busted" being one of the first episodes where her true intelligence is fully shown.^[40] Many episodes focusing on Lisa have an emotional nature, the first one being "Moaning Lisa". The idea for the episode was pitched by James L. Brooks, who had wanted to do an emotional episode where Lisa is sad because the show had done a lot of "jokey episodes".^[41] In 2001 Lisa received a special "Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award" at the Environmental Media Awards.^[42] "Lisa the Vegetarian", an episode from the seventh season, won both an Environmental Media Award for "Best Television Episodic Comedy"^[43] and a Genesis Award for "Best Television Comedy Series, Ongoing Commitment".^[44] In Japan, the broadcasters of the series found they were able to turn the apparent viewer dislike of the series around by focusing marketing attention on Lisa. Lisa's well-intended but ill-fated struggles to be a voice of reason and a force of good in her family and city struck a chord with the Japanese.^[45]

Maggie Simpson[link]

Margaret "Maggie" Eve Simpson, is the youngest of the five main family members and is almost always seen as a baby. She was quite prominent in the Tracey Ullman Show shorts, often being featured alongside Bart and Lisa but has since become the least seen and heard of the five main Simpsons. It has been revealed that Maggie has outstanding artistic and academic abilities, much like her sister Lisa.^[46] Maggie rarely speaks, but has been voiced by several different actors including Jodie Foster, Elizabeth Taylor,^[46] James Earl Jones,^[47] Harry Shearer, who used his Kang voice,^[48] Yeardley Smith,^[49] and Nancy Cartwright.^[50]

Pets[link]

Santa's Little Helper[link]

Santa's Little Helper, voiced by Frank Welker^[51] and Dan Castellaneta,^[52] is the Simpsons' pet greyhound. He first appeared in the series premiere as a race dog adopted by Homer and Bart and has been in the series ever since.^[51]

Snowball II[link]

Snowball II (officially Snowball V) is the Simpsons' pet cat. There have been several different Snowballs throughout the series. Snowball I has only appeared briefly during flashbacks and dream sequences, but has been mentioned numerous times. Snowball II is the second cat in the Snowball lineage, but is killed in "I, D'oh-Bot". Lisa attempts to replace Snowball II with Snowball III and Coltrane (Snowball IV), but they are also killed in accidents. The Crazy Cat Lady appears and throws a cat at Lisa, which she quickly adopts and names Snowball V, but decides to call it Snowball II to prevent having to spend money on a new named dish and to pretend that the whole incident never occurred. Snowball V is the current pet cat of the family.^[53]

Extended Simpson family[link]

Abraham Simpson[link]

Abraham J. "Grampa" Simpson, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, is the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer. He is a World War II veteran who was later sent to the Springfield Retirement Castle by Homer. He is known for his borderline senility, his long rambling (and probably apocryphal) stories and his love of Matlock. He shares his name with one of Matt Groening's relatives, in this case his grandfather. However, Groening says he refused to name him, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, the writers chose the name Abraham.^[54]

Mona Simpson[link]

Mona Penelope Simpson (née Olsen), voiced by Glenn Close, is Homer's long-lost mother. Her first major appearance was in "Mother Simpson" where she reveals that she was forced to abandon her family after being caught up in the hippie movement and participated in various acts of political activism. The writers used this episode as an opportunity to solve several little puzzles, such as where Lisa's intelligence came from.^[55] Prior to the seventh season, Mona Simpson had only made two brief flashback appearances, the first being season two's "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" and the second being season six's "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" and in both episodes she was voiced by Maggie Roswell.^[56] Mona dies in the episode "Mona Leaves-a", as Homer struggles to come to terms with her death. The character is named after writer Richard Appel's wife, whose maiden name is Mona Simpson.^[55] Mona was designed in a way so that she has little bit of Homer in her face, such as the shape of her upper lip and her nose.^[57] There were several design changes because the directors were trying to make her an attractive older and younger woman, but still be Simpson-esque.^[57] Glenn Close recorded original material for another episode, season fifteen's "My Mother the Carjacker". Mona also has a speaking appearance in season ten's "D'oh-in in the Wind", this time voiced by Tress MacNeille.^[58]

Herbert Powell[link]

Herbert "Herb" Powell, voiced by Danny DeVito, is Homer's half-brother. He resembles Homer, though is much slimmer, boasts a full head of hair and is more intelligent. His first appearance was in the season two episode "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" when Homer discovered he had a half-brother, the product of a short-lived affair between his father Abe and a carnival prostitute. Homer's mother insisted on keeping his existence secret, so Herb was put up for adoption. He put himself through college by working odd jobs, then founded Powell Motors, a car company based in Detroit. Herb was overjoyed to learn that he had a birth family and bonded with his nieces and nephew, and — in his role as CEO — allowed Homer to design a car. However, the miserable failure of Homer's car bankrupted the company, and Herb became a street vagrant.^[59] The episode was written by Jeff Martin but the idea of having Herb voiced by Danny DeVito had been pitched by Sam Simon.^[60] Some were upset with the sad ending of the episode, and as a result the producers decided to write a sequel.^[50]

Herb re-appeared the next season in "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?". Now broke and homeless, he briefly settled in the Simpson household, despite his intense continuing antipathy toward Homer. Homer loaned Herb $2000, which Herb used to build an invention that translated infantile speech into comprehensible English, based on observations he made of Maggie. He proceeded to mass-produce his new product and regained his fortune. In gratitude, he bought gifts for each member of the family and paid Homer back with his forgiveness.^[61] Herb has not had a speaking appearance since this episode,^[61] although Homer once referenced him as his "seldom seen half-brother".^[62]

Amber Simpson[link]

Amber Simpson is Homer's former "Vegas wife" from the season ten episode "Viva Ned Flanders". Homer and Ned Flanders visit Las Vegas for the weekend, get drunk and unknowingly marry two women.^[63] Amber reappears in "Brawl in the Family", where the Simpson family trick her into marrying Grampa, and in the process forsake all other spouses. Amber is horrified at the deception and runs away back to Vegas, much to Grampa's disappointment.^[64] In "Jazzy and the Pussycats", the Simpsons attend her funeral after she dies from a drug overdose.^[65]

Other Simpson family members[link]

• Chet, voiced by Dan Castellaneta,^[66] owns an unsuccessful shrimp company.^[67]
• Cyrus, voiced by Hank Azaria, is Grampa's older brother who is seen in "Simpsons Christmas Stories". Cyrus crashed his Corsair at Tahiti in World War II's Pacific Theater of Operations during a kamikaze raid. He never left and now has 15 wives.^[68]
• Dr. Simpson, voiced by Tress MacNeille,^[58] is the chief of complicated surgeries at the invasive care unit; she is first seen in "Lisa the Simpson".^[67]
• Grampa's parents both appear briefly in "Much Apu About Nothing" when Grampa tells the story of how his family emigrated to America.^[69] Their names were given to be Orville J. Simpson and Yuma Hickman in The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album, but have never been mentioned in the series.^[70]
• Stanley, voiced by Dan Castellaneta,^[66] is the Simpson children's second cousin who shoots birds at the airport.^[67]
• Uncle Tyrone, voiced by Hank Azaria, is a cynical elderly Simpson relative who lives in Dayton, Ohio. The family intends to visit him during his birthday in the episode "Catch 'Em If You Can".^[71]
• Abbie is hinted to be Abraham's illegitimate daughter and Homer's half sister from a relationship he had with a British woman named Edwina during World War II.^[72]
• A group of unnamed relatives show up in the episode "Lisa the Simpson", when Homer tries to prove to Lisa that not all Simpsons are failures.^[67]
• Mabel Simpson, an ancestor of the Simpson family who was part of the underground railroad. She appeared in "The Color Yellow". She was married to Hiram before divorcing him and fleeing to Canada to marry Virgil.
• Virgil, an African American slave owned by Mr Burns' father, Colonel Burns and rescued by Eliza. He was betrayed by Hiram but escaped with Mabel who he later married, from whom the Simpson family are really descended.
• Abraham Simpson, son of Mabel and Virgil, half-brother of Eliza and great-grandfather of Grandpa Simpson.
• Hiram Simpson, a distant relative of the Simpson family who was bribed into revealing Virgil’s whereabouts with a new pair of shoes.
• Eliza Simpson, a distant relative of the Simpson family and daughter of Mabel and Hiram. She was part of the underground railroad with her mother and helped Virgil evade capture.
• Uncle Arthur, an uncle referenced in "The Boy Who Knew Too Much". It is unclear whether he is an uncle on the Simpson side or the Bouvier side. His theory, mentioned in passing by Marge, was "Shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out." One day, he put his theory into practice, and it took 75 federal marshals to bring him down. He has not been spoken of in any other episode.

Extended Bouvier family[link]

Jacqueline Bouvier[link]

Jacqueline Ingrid Bouvier (née Gurney), voiced by Julie Kavner,^[52] is the mother of Marge, Patty and Selma, and the widow of Clancy Bouvier. She was first referenced in a flashback in the episode, "Moaning Lisa" and made her first appearance in the episode "Bart vs. Thanksgiving".^[73] She had a sister named Gladys, who is now deceased. Like all Bouvier women, she is voiced by Julie Kavner, and has large, unique hair, resembling Marge's, only a light gray color due to her old age. In her younger days she smoked heavily but now has quit, although she still speaks more raspily than Patty and Selma. Mr. Burns and Abe Simpson once battled for her affections; she became engaged to Burns, but eventually decided not to marry either man.^[74] She seems to disapprove of Marge's marriage to Homer, such as stating that Homer is to never address her as "Mom".^[75] However, she has shown that she can overcome her disgust for him in "Moe Letter Blues" when she explained to Homer that Patty and Selma were really at fault for ruining her birthday party and not him. Her name is identical to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's maiden name.

Clancy Bouvier[link]

Clancy Bouvier, voiced by Harry Shearer,^[52] is the deceased father of Patty, Selma and Marge Simpson and the husband of Jacqueline Bouvier. His first appearance was in the episode "The Way We Was".^[76] He did not appear again until "Fear of Flying" where it was revealed that he was one of the earliest male flight attendants. Marge initially believed he was a heroic pilot and was traumatized when she discovered he was a flight attendant instead. The cause or time of his death is undetermined, but Homer reveals that he got Marge a "white-noise machine" to help her deal with her father's death.^[77]

Patty and Selma Bouvier[link]

Patty and Selma Bouvier, both voiced by Julie Kavner,^[52] are Marge's older twin sisters. They work at the Springfield Department of Motor Vehicles, and possess a strong dislike for their brother-in-law, Homer. Selma is the elder by two minutes, possesses a strong desire for family, and has been married and sought to have a child on numerous occasions. Her sister, Patty, is one of the show's few openly gay recurring characters^[78] although for the most part she has avoided relationships. Kavner voices them as characters "who suck the life out of everything".^[79] Kavner makes Patty's voice more masculine and a lower register, while Selma's voice is a little sweeter.^[80] The origins of their names are unknown, Matt Groening has a sister named Patty, but unlike the other Simpson relatives, this has not been explicitly revealed.^[81]

Ling Bouvier[link]

Ling Bouvier, voiced by Nancy Cartwright, is Selma Bouvier's adopted daughter. In "Goo Goo Gai Pan", Selma discovers that she has reached menopause and adopts Ling in China, after lying that she is married to Homer Simpson, to fool the Chinese authorities into thinking that Ling would be part of a traditional family as opposed to being raised by a single mother. The authorities briefly reclaim Ling, but the adoption agent relates on her experiences of her childhood with her single mother and allows Selma to adopt Ling.^[82] Ling has since become a recurring character and has appeared in several episodes.^[83]

Gladys Gurney[link]

Gladys Gurney, voiced by Julie Kavner,^[52] is Marge's aunt and the sister of Jacqueline. Her death was noted in the episode "Selma's Choice", in which she died of a bowel obstruction. Her final words to Patty and Selma during a video will is a plea that they not end their lives old and alone like herself, prompting Selma to become more intent on having a family.^[84]

Notes[link]

References[link]

	The Simpsons portal
	Fictional characters portal

• Cartwright, Nancy (2000). My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy. New York City: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-8600-5. 
• Gimple, Scott M.; Matt Groening (1999-12-01). The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Continued. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-098763-3. 
• Groening, Matt (1991). The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-096582-7. 
• McCann, Jesse L.; Matt Groening (2005). The Simpsons One Step Beyond Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Continued Yet Again. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-081754-2. 
• Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family. New York City: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-638898-1. 
• Turner, Chris (2004). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 0-679-31318-4. 

Marjorie "Marge" Simpson (née Bouvier) is a fictional main character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Marge was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He named the character after his mother Margaret Groening. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, the Simpson family received their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989.

Marge is the well-meaning and extremely patient matriach of the Simpson family. With her husband Homer, she has three children: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Marge is the moralistic force in her family and often provides a grounding voice in the midst of her family's antics by trying to maintain order in the Simpson household. She is often portrayed as a stereotypical television mother and is often included on lists of top "TV moms". She has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons—including video games, The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Ride, commercials, and comic books—and inspired an entire line of merchandise.

Marge's distinctive blue beehive hairstyle was inspired by a combination of The Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore in the 1960s. Julie Kavner, who was a member of the original cast of The Tracey Ullman Show, was asked to voice Marge so that more voice actors would not be needed. Kavner has won several awards for voicing Marge, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992. She was also nominated for an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature for her performance in The Simpsons Movie. In 2000, Marge, along with the rest of her family, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[edit] Role in The Simpsons

The Simpsons uses a floating timeline in which the characters do not physically age, and as such the show is generally assumed to be set in the current year. In several episodes, events have been linked to specific time periods, although this timeline has been contradicted in subsequent episodes.^[1] Marge Simpson is the wife of Homer and mother of Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson.^[2] She was raised by her parents, Jacqueline and Clancy Bouvier.^[3] She has a pair of sisters, the joyless Patty and Selma, both of whom vocally disapprove of Homer. In "The Way We Was" (season two, 1991), it is revealed via flashback that Marge attended Springfield High School, and in her final year met Homer Simpson. She was at first wary of Homer, but agreed to go to the prom with him, although she ended up going with Artie Ziff. However, she regretted going with Artie and ended up with Homer.^[3] After the two started dating for several years, Marge discovered she was pregnant with Bart, and she and Homer were married in a small wedding chapel across the state line.^[4] Bart was born soon after, and the couple bought their first house. The episode "That '90s Show" (season 19, 2008) contradicted much of the established back-story; for example, it was revealed that Marge and Homer were childless in the early 1990s although past episodes had suggested Bart and Lisa were born in the 1980s.^[5]

As with many Simpsons characters, Marge's age changes to serve the story. In season one (1990) episodes "Life on the Fast Lane" and "Some Enchanted Evening", Marge was said to be 34.^[6][7] In "Regarding Margie" (season 17, 2006), Homer mentioned that Marge was his age, meaning she could have been anywhere between 36 and 40.^[8]

Marge has been unemployed for most of the series, choosing to be a homemaker and take care of her family.^[9] However, she has held several one-episode jobs in the course of the series. These include working as a nuclear technician alongside Homer at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in "Marge Gets a Job" (season four, 1992);^[9] selling houses in "Realty Bites" (season nine, 1997);^[10] owning her own pretzel business in "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson" (season eight, 1997),^[11] and working at an erotic bakery in "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes" (season 20, 2008).^[12] While Marge has never expressed discontent with her role as a homemaker, she has become bored with it. In "The Springfield Connection" (season six, 1995), Marge decided that she needed more excitement in her life and became a police officer. However, by the end of the episode, she became upset with the corruption in the force and quit.^[13]

Character[link]

Creation[link]

Matt Groening created Marge while waiting in James L. Brooks' office.

Matt Groening first conceived Marge and the rest of the Simpson family in 1986 in the lobby of producer James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show, and had intended to present an adaptation of his Life in Hell comic strip. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights, Groening decided to go in another direction^[14] and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family, naming the characters after members of his own family. Marge was named after Groening's mother Margaret "Marge" Groening, who has said she bears little similarity to the character, stating, "It's really weird to have people think you're a cartoon."^[14][15][16] Marge's beehive hairstyle was inspired by The Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue.^[17][18]

Marge debuted with the rest of the Simpson family on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night".^[19] In 1989, the shorts were adapted into The Simpsons, a half-hour series airing on the Fox Network. Marge and the Simpson family remained the main characters on this new show.^[20]

Matt Groening believes that episodes featuring Marge are among the most difficult episodes to write. Bill Oakley believes that the "junior" writers are usually given Marge episodes because he and writing partner Josh Weinstein were given several to write during their first season.^[21] During the third season of the show, most of the writers focused on Bart and Homer, so David M. Stern decided to write a Marge episode, which became "Homer Alone" (season three, 1992). He felt that they could achieve a "deeper vein" of comedy in an episode where Marge has a nervous breakdown, and James L. Brooks quickly approved.^[22]

Design[link]

The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.^[23] The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings.^[14] To draw Marge, the animators generally start off with a sphere, similar to the way Lisa and Maggie are drawn. The eyes are then drawn, with one roughly in the middle of the sphere, and the other to the front side of the head. Then, the nose and lip are drawn. Her hair is then drawn on top as a long tube coming out of the sphere. An original idea the animators had for when Marge walked through doorways was that her hair would be forced down as she walked through, then once clear of the door, it would spring back and forth. This was never used.^[24] Groening's original plan for Marge's hair was that it would conceal large, Life in Hell-esque rabbit ears. The gag was intended to be revealed in the final episode of the series, but was scrapped early on due to inconsistencies, and also to the fact that rabbit ears would be too fictitious even for The Simpsons.^[25]

Voice[link]

Julie Kavner.

Marge's voice is performed by Julie Kavner, who also does the voices of Marge's mother Jacqueline and sisters Patty and Selma. Kavner had been part of the regular cast of The Tracey Ullman Show. Voices were needed for the shorts, so the producers decided to ask Kavner and fellow cast member Dan Castellaneta to voice Marge and Homer rather than hire more actors.^[26][27] Part of Kavner's contract says that she will never have to promote The Simpsons on video and she rarely performs Marge's voice in public because she believes it "destroys the illusion. People feel these are real people."^[28][29] Kavner takes recording sessions seriously and feels that voice acting is "a little more limiting than live acting. And I have nothing to do with my character's movement."^[30]

Marge's raspy voice is only slightly different from Kavner's, who has a "honeyed gravel voice"^[31] which she says is due to "a bump on [her] vocal cords."^[32] While Marge is her most famous character, Kavner's favorite characters to voice are Patty and Selma because "they're really funny and sad at the same time."^[29] In The Simpsons Movie, some scenes, such as Marge's video message to Homer, were recorded over one hundred times, leaving Kavner exhausted.^[33]

Until 1998, Kavner was paid $30,000 per episode. During a pay dispute in 1998, Fox threatened to replace the six main voice actors with new actors, going as far as preparing to cast new voices.^[34] However, the dispute was soon resolved and she received $125,000 per episode until 2004 when the voice actors demanded that they be paid $360,000 an episode.^[34] The issue was resolved a month later,^[35] and Kavner earned $250,000 per episode.^[28] After salary re-negotiations in 2008, the voice actors receive approximately $400,000 per episode.^[36]

Personality[link]

Marge is generally a stereotypical sitcom mother, and she also plays the "long-suffering wife" who puts up with the antics of her children and her oafish husband.^[2] While she usually takes her family's problems with good humor, in "Homer Alone" (season three, 1992), her workload and resultant stress caused her to have a mental breakdown. After spending time at "Rancho Relaxo", during which her family barely coped with her absence, she returned refreshed and everyone promised to help out more often.^[37] Marge often provides a grounding opinion for Homer and their marriage has often been shaky. Marge admits that she "put[s] up with a lot in [their] marriage," and has left Homer or thrown him out of the house on several occasions.^[38][39][40] One of the first such episodes to depict this is "Secrets of a Successful Marriage" (season five, 1994), where Homer starts teaching an adult education class on how to build a successful marriage. He is at first unsuccessful, but gains the interest of the class when he starts giving away family secrets, many of which concern Marge. Upon finding this out, Marge is incensed and throws him out of the house. The next day, Homer is dirty and disheveled, and begs Marge to take him back, saying the one thing he can offer her that nobody else can is "complete and utter dependence." At first, Marge does not see that as a benefit, but eventually admits that he "really [does] make a gal feel needed."^[38] Episodes that depict marital problems have become more frequent in recent seasons of the show. Through it all, Marge has remained faithful to Homer, despite temptations to the contrary such as the one in "Life on the Fast Lane" (season one, 1990), where she resists the charming Frenchman Jacques and instead chooses to remain with Homer.^[7]

Marge is a caring, understanding, and nurturing parent to Bart, but she refers to him as "a handful" and is often embarrassed by his antics.^[41] In "Marge Be Not Proud" (season seven, 1995), she felt she was mothering Bart too much and started acting more distant towards him after he was caught shoplifting. In the beginning of the episode, Bart protested her "over-mothering", but as she started acting more distant towards him, he felt guilty about it and made up with her.^[42] Marge has expressed understanding for her "special little guy" and has defended him on many occasions. She once said "I know Bart can be a handful, but I also know what he's like inside. He's got a spark. It's not a bad thing... Of course, it makes him do bad things."^[41] Marge has a good relationship with Lisa and the two are shown to get along quite well. Marge over-mothers Maggie, which causes her to become too clingy and dependent on Marge. In "Midnight Towboy" (season 19, 2007), Marge hires an expert to help make Maggie more independent. However, Maggie becomes so independent that she rarely needs Marge. Marge begins to miss Maggie, but at the end of the episode, Maggie starts to need her again.^[43] Marge maintains a good relationship with her mother Jacqueline and her sisters Patty and Selma, though they disapprove of Homer and are vocal about it. Marge has tolerated their criticism, but has occasionally lost patience with them, once referring to them as "ghouls."^[44] Marge's father Clancy is rarely referred to in the series and has had speaking parts in only two episodes.^[3] It was revealed in "Fear of Flying" (season six, 1994) that Clancy told Marge that he was a pilot, but in reality, he was a flight attendant. Marge discovered this one day and developed aerophobia.^[45] In "Jazzy and the Pussycats" (season 18, 2006), Homer casually mentions that they once attended his funeral.^[46]

Marge has higher morals than most other characters, once leading a family values crusade against the violent Itchy & Scratchy Show^[47] and being a prominent member of the "Citizens' Committee on Moral Hygiene."^[48] She often provides a voice of reason for the town itself, but many of the townspeople are frustrated or contemptuous of her frequent failure to recognize or react correctly to breaches of social norms.^[49] Marge is the only member of the family who encourages church attendance. In "Homer the Heretic" (season four, 1992), Homer starts skipping church and Marge tells him "don't make me choose between my man and my God, because you just can't win."^[50] In "Lisa the Skeptic" (season nine, 1997), an "angel skeleton" is discovered, much to the skepticism of Lisa. As Lisa rants about the people who believe it is an angel, Marge informs her that she also believes it is an angel. She tells Lisa, "There has to be more life than just what we see, everyone needs something to believe in."^[51] In spite of her morals, Marge struggles with vices, such as a gambling addiction.^[49] While Marge has learned to cope with her addiction, it has never completely disappeared and remains an underlying problem that is referenced occasionally on the show.^[52]

Politically, Marge generally aligns with the Democratic Party, having supported the candidacy of her state's progressive governor Mary Bailey,^[53] and voting for Jimmy Carter in both of his presidential elections.^[9]

Reception[link]

In 2000, Marge, along with the rest of the Simpson family, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

At the 44th Primetime Emmy Awards, Kavner received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for voicing Marge in the season three episode "I Married Marge".^[54] In 2004, Kavner and Dan Castellaneta (the voice of Homer) won a Young Artist Award for "Most Popular Mom & Dad in a TV Series".^[55] For her performance in The Simpsons Movie, Kavner was nominated for "Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature" at the 2007 Annie Awards, but lost to Ian Holm from Ratatouille.^[56][57] Kavner's emotional performance in the movie got positive reviews and one critic said she "gave what must be the most heartfelt performance ever."^[58] Various episodes in which Marge is prominently featured have been nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program, including "The Way We Weren't" in 2004 and "Life on the Fast Lane", which won the award in 1990.^[54] In 2000, Marge and the rest of the Simpson family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.^[59]

Marge has been ranked highly in lists of the top television mothers of all time. She was ranked first on Entertainment Weekly's list in 1994;^[60] first on Fox News' list in 2005;^[61] eighth on CityNews' list in 2008;^[62] and was included in Time's list of the "10 Best Moms Ever".^[63] In a 2004 poll in the United Kingdom, Marge was named the "most respected mother" by respondents.^[64]

Religious writer Kenneth Briggs wrote that "Marge is my candidate for sainthood [...] She lives in the real world, she lives with crises, with flawed people. She forgives and she makes her own mistakes. She is a forgiving, loving person [...] absolutely saintly."^[65]

Cultural influence[link]

The October 1, 1990 edition of People included an interview with then-First Lady of the United States Barbara Bush. The article included the following passage: "She loves America's Funniest Home Videos but remains baffled after sampling The Simpsons. "It was the dumbest thing I had ever seen," she says, "but it's a family thing, and I guess it's clean."^[67] The writers decided to respond by privately sending a polite letter on September 28 to Bush where they posed as Marge Simpson. On October 9, Bush sent a reply: "Dear Marge, How kind of you to write. I'm glad you spoke your mind ... I foolishly didn't know you had one. I am looking at a picture of you... depicted on a plastic cup... with your blue hair filled with pink birds peeking out all over. Evidently, you and your charming family — Lisa, Homer, Bart and Maggie — are camping out. It's a nice family scene. Clearly you are setting a good example for the rest of the country. Please forgive a loose tongue."^[66][68]

In 2002, opponents of the Seattle Monorail Project planned on showing the episode "Marge vs. the Monorail" at a protest event. Following complaints, 20th Century Fox sent a letter to the event organizers ordering that the episode not be shown due to copyright laws.^[69] In 2004, Marge appeared on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom for the Alternative Christmas message, which is annually broadcast at the same time that Queen Elizabeth gives her Christmas message.^[70]

On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44 cent stamps featuring Marge and the four other members of the Simpson family. They are the first characters from a television series to receive this recognition while the show is still in production.^[71] The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.^[72][73]

Merchandising[link]

Marge is depicted in much The Simpsons-related merchandise, including T-shirts, baseball caps, bumper stickers, cardboard stand-ups, refrigerator magnets, key rings, buttons, dolls, posters and figurines.^[74] She has appeared in each of The Simpsons video games, including The Simpsons Game, released in 2007.^[75] Besides the television series, Marge regularly appears in issues of Simpsons Comics, which were first published on November 29, 1993, and are issued monthly.^[76][77] Marge also plays a role in The Simpsons Ride, launched in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.^[78]

Marge appeared in a 2005 advertisement for Dove Styling, where her normal beehive hair was exchanged for a more stylish look for a series of ads featuring several popular cartoon women.^[79]

In October 2009,^[80] it was announced that Marge would be featured on the front cover of the November issue of Playboy becoming the first cartoon character to appear on the cover of the magazine. The edition was first published on October 16, 2009. The cover and a three-page picture spread, as well as a story inside entitled The Devil in Marge Simpson, is a celebration of the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons,^[80] but is also part of a plan to appeal to younger readers. Chief executive of Playboy Enterprises, Scott Flanders, has said that the cover and centerfold were "somewhat tongue-in-cheek".^[81] Darine Stern's picture on the October 1971 cover served as the inspiration for Playboy's November 2009 cover.^[82]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family. New York City: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-638898-1. 
• Turner, Chris (2004). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 0-679-31318-4. 

External links[link]

	The Simpsons portal
	Fictional characters portal

• Marge Simpson at TheSimpsons.com
• Marge Simpson at the Internet Movie Database

Cody Simpson
Simpson on Radio Disney in August 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Cody Robert Simpson
Born	(1997-01-11) 11 January 1997 (age 15) Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Origin	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Genres	Pop, R&B[1]
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician and dancer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar and piano
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Warner Bros. Records/Atlantic (2010–present)
Website	codysimpson.com

Cody Robert Simpson (born 11 January 1997) is an Australian pop singer from Gold Coast, Queensland, who is currently signed to US record label Atlantic Records.^[2]

Early life[link]

Simpson was born to Brad and Angie Simpson. He has two younger siblings, Tom and Alli.^[3] He is also a talented swimmer, winning two gold medals at the Queensland Swimming Championships.^[4] Simpson trained at the Miami Swimming Club under coach Ken Nixon.^[5] Simpson's mother Angie works as a volunteer at the club.^[6]

Simpson began to record songs in his bedroom during the summer of 2009 on YouTube, performing "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz,^[7] "Cry Me a River"^[8] and "Señorita"^[9] by Justin Timberlake, "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5,^[10] and his own songs, "One"^[11] and "Perfect".^[12] He was subsequently discovered on YouTube by Shawn Campbell,^[13] a Grammy-nominated record producer who has produced for Jay-Z and other artists.

Career[link]

Simpson's rise to recognition was featured on The 7.30 Report in December 2009.^[14] He released his debut single, "iYiYi" (which features American rapper Flo Rida), on 15 May 2010. It was digitally released on 30 May 2010.^[15] The music video for "iYiYi" was released on 30 June 2010.

^[16] The music video for Simpson's second single, "Summertime", was released on 20 September 2010.^[17]

Simpson relocated to Los Angeles in June 2010 with his family to record his songs with Atlantic Records and his producer Shawn Campbell.^[18] His manager is Michael 'Blue' Williams. ^[19] That same month, Simpson appeared on Sunrise.^[20] On 22 June 2010, it was announced that Simpson would participate in the Camplified 2010 Tour, along with other artists, touring across the United States. The tour began on 5 July 2010 and ended on 14 August 2010. It was also Simpson's first public tour.^[21] While on tour, Simpson performed a song called "Love So Strong". In an interview with Popstar Magazine, Simpson stated that his inspiration for the song was "A girl, back home. That's all I can say."^[22]

On 4 December 2010, it was announced on Simpson's official website that an EP entitled 4 U would be released through iTunes on 21 December 2010. The EP includes five tracks in total, four of them being previously unreleased.^[23]

Simpson recorded a remake of the song "I Want Candy" by The Strangeloves as the main theme song for the Easter-themed live-action/CGI-animated film Hop.

On 23 April 2011, Simpson released the single "On My Mind" through his website. It was released on iTunes on 23 May 2011 and the music video was released on 17 June 2011.

Simpson is currently working on tracks for an upcoming EP on Atlantic Records. It will be released on 20 September 2011. Simpson's best friend, Campbell Carsley announced the release date on twitter on 18 July 2011. It will be called Coast To Coast, the same name as his current mall tour. On 22 September, it was announced that Cody Simpson hired Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun as his manager.^[24][25]

In December 2011 The Wish Factory released a Cody Simpson doll in two formats.^[26]

Touring[link]

Simpson in concert at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell, Connecticut on 5 June 2011

Simpson has been on tour recently promoting his new EP, making stops at various locations in the United States. Most notably, Simpson participated in the "Camplified 2010" tour in June.^[27] Other tours include a middle school tour that took place from October–November 2010 and covered 9 U.S states.^[28]

In May 2011, Simpson was "egged" during a live performance at Miranda Fair in Sydney. Simpson told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show that he wasn't in fact hit by the eggs and that he was upset on behalf of his fans because the remainder of his show was cancelled because of security concerns.^[29][30]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Paradise (2012)

Extended plays

• 4 U (2010)
• Coast to Coast (2011)

Tours[link]

• Waiting 4U Tour
• Coast to Coast Mall Tour
• Welcome to Paradise

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cody Simpson

• Official website
• Cody Simpson at the Internet Movie Database
• Cody Simpson on Twitter
• Cody Simpson's's channel on YouTube