Bart Simpson
Bartholomew Jojo "Bart" Simpson[1][2] is a fictional character in the American animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening created and designed Bart while waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic strip, Life in Hell, but instead decided to create a new set of characters. While the rest of the characters were named after Groening's family members, Bart's name is an anagram of the word brat. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for two years, the Simpson family received its own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989. Bart has appeared in every Simpsons episode except "Four Great Women and a Manicure".
This article is about the cartoon character. For the filmmaker, see Bart Simpson (filmmaker). For the sailor nicknamed "Bart Simpson", see Andrew Simpson (sailor).Bart Simpson
- "Good Night"
- The Tracey Ullman Show
- April 19, 1987
Matt Groening
Bartholomew JoJo Simpson
4th grade student at Springfield Elementary School
- Homer Simpson (father)
- Marge Simpson (mother)
- Lisa Simpson (younger sister)
- Maggie Simpson (younger sister)
- Abe Simpson (paternal grandfather)
- Mona Simpson (paternal grandmother; deceased)
- Clancy Bouvier (maternal grandfather; deceased)
- Jacqueline Bouvier (maternal grandmother)
- Patty Bouvier (maternal aunt)
- Selma Bouvier (maternal aunt)
- Herbert Powell (paternal half-uncle)
- Abbey (paternal half-aunt)
742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, United States
American
At ten years old, Bart is the eldest child and only son of Homer and Marge, and the brother of Lisa and Maggie. Bart's most prominent and popular character traits are his mischievousness, rebelliousness and disrespect for authority. Hallmarks of the character include his chalkboard gags in the opening sequence; his prank calls to Moe; and his catchphrases "Eat my shorts", "¡Ay, caramba!", "Don't have a cow, man!", and "I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?". However, with the exception of "¡Ay, caramba!", these hallmarks have been retired or are not often used. Bart 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.
In casting, Cartwright originally planned to audition for the role of Lisa, while Yeardley Smith tried out for Bart. Smith's voice was considered too high for a boy, so she was given the role of Lisa. Likewise, Cartwright found Lisa uninteresting, so she instead auditioned for Bart, which she thought was a better role.[3]
During the first two seasons of The Simpsons, Bart was the show's protagonist and "Bartmania" ensued, spawning Bart Simpson-themed merchandise touting his rebellious attitude and pride at underachieving, which caused many parents and educators to cast him as a bad role model for children.[4] Around the third season, the role of the protagonist was taken over by his father, and series started to focus more on the family as a whole, though Bart still remains a prominent breakout character. Time named Bart one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century, and he was named "entertainer of the year" in 1990 by Entertainment Weekly. Cartwright has won several awards for voicing Bart, including a Primetime Emmy Award in 1992 and an Annie Award in 1995. In 2000, Bart, along with the rest of his family, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Role in The Simpsons
The Simpsons uses a floating timeline in which the characters do not age or age very little, and as such, the show is always assumed to be set in the current year. In several episodes, events have been linked to specific times, though sometimes this timeline has been contradicted in subsequent episodes. Bart's year of birth was stated in "I Married Marge" (season three, 1991) as being in the early 1980s.[5] In "Simpsorama" (season 26, 2014) Bart states his birthday as February 23.[6] In The Bart Book, a book by Simpsons' creator Matt Groening, Bart's birthday is said to be April 1.[2] He lived with his parents in the Lower East Side of Springfield until the Simpsons bought their first house. When Lisa was born, Bart was at first jealous of the attention she received, but he soon warmed to her when he discovered that "Bart" was her first word.[7] Bart's first day of school was in the early 1990s. His initial enthusiasm was crushed by an uncaring teacher and Marge became worried that something was truly wrong with Bart. One day during recess, Bart met Milhouse and started entertaining him and other students with various gestures and rude words. Principal Skinner told him "you've just started school, and the path you choose now may be the one you follow for the rest of your life! Now, what do you say?" In his moment of truth, Bart responded, "eat my shorts".[8] The episode "That '90s Show" (season nineteen, 2008) contradicted much of the backstory's time frame; for example, it was revealed that Homer and Marge were childless in the early 1990s.[9]
Bart's hobbies include skateboarding, watching television (especially The Krusty the Clown Show which includes The Itchy & Scratchy Show), reading comic books (especially Radioactive Man), playing video games and generally causing mischief.[10] His favorite movies are Jaws and the Star Wars Trilogy. For the duration of the series, Bart has attended Springfield Elementary School and has been in Edna Krabappel's fourth grade class. He is 10 years old.[11] While he is too young to hold a full-time job, he has had occasional part-time jobs. He works as a bartender at Fat Tony's social club in "Bart the Murderer" (season three, 1991);[12] as Krusty the Clown's assistant in "Bart Gets Famous" (season five, 1994);[13] as a doorman in Springfield's burlesque house, the Maison Derrière, in "Bart After Dark" (season eight, 1996);[14] and briefly owns his own factory in "Homer's Enemy" (season eight, 1997).[15]
Reception and cultural influence
Bartmania
In 1990, Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television in what was termed "Bartmania".[102][103][104][105] He became the most prevalent Simpsons character on memorabilia, such as T-shirts. In the early 1990s, millions of T-shirts featuring Bart were sold;[106] as many as one million were sold on some days.[107] Believing Bart to be a bad role model, several American public schools banned T-shirts featuring Bart next to captions such as "I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?" and "Underachiever ('And proud of it, man!')".[108][109][110] The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated $2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales.[108] The success of Bart Simpson merchandise inspired an entire line of black market counterfeit items, especially T-shirts. Some featured Bart announcing various slogans, others depicted redesigns of the character, including "Teenage Mutant Ninja Bart, Air Simpson Bart, [and] RastaBart".[111] Matt Groening generally did not object to bootleg merchandise, but took exception to a series of "Nazi Bart" shirts which depicted Bart in Nazi uniform or as a white power skinhead.[112] 20th Century Fox sued the creator of the shirts, who eventually agreed to stop making them.[113]