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Mona Simpson (The Simpsons)

Mona J. Simpson[1] is a fictional guest character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is voiced most prominently by Glenn Close, but has also been voiced by Maggie Roswell, Tress MacNeille, and Pamela Hayden. Close's performances as Mona have been well received by critics and she was named one of the top 25 guest stars on the show by IGN.

For the novelist after whom the character was named, see Mona Simpson.

Mona Simpson

Jeff Martin
Richard Appel
Matt Groening

Mona Simpson (namesake)

Matt Groening

Mona J. Simpson (née Olsen)

Activist

Abe Simpson (ex-husband)

Homer Simpson

Mona was the estranged wife of Abe Simpson, the mother of Homer Simpson, and the mother-in-law of Marge Simpson. The character appeared briefly in flashbacks in the early seasons of the show and was absent from Homer's life but no reason was given. The season seven episode "Mother Simpson" was the first to focus on the character. It was established that Homer believed that his mother was dead, a lie his father, Abe, told him when in reality she was on the run from the law after she sabotaged Mr. Burns's biological warfare laboratory. She also had a large role in "My Mother the Carjacker". The character appeared again in season 19's "Mona Leaves-a", and dies during the episode. An Inception-inspired dream version of her appears in season 23's "How I Wet Your Mother". In the episode "Let's Go Fly a Coot", a flashback reveals she met Abe when she was a waitress in a cantina and he broke the sound barrier to impress her.


The character is named after writer Richard Appel's ex-wife, the American novelist (and Steve Jobs's biological sister) Mona Simpson. The inspiration for the character is Bernardine Dohrn of the Weather Underground.

Character[edit]

Creation[edit]

Mona Simpson is first mentioned in season one's "There's No Disgrace Like Home", where Homer recalls his mother telling him that he's a "big disappointment". She later 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 cases she was voiced by Maggie Roswell.[2]


Mona's first major appearance was in the seventh season episode "Mother Simpson". The episode was pitched by Richard Appel, who had been desperately trying to think of a story idea and decided to do something about Homer's mother.[7]


Many of the writers were surprised that an episode about Homer's mother had not previously been produced.[8] The writers used the episode as an opportunity to solve several puzzles about the show, such as where Lisa's intelligence came from.[7]


The character is named after Richard Appel's then wife, the novelist Mona Simpson who is Steve Jobs's biological sister.[7] The inspiration for the character comes from Bernardine Dohrn of the Weather Underground, although the writers acknowledge that several people fit her description. Her crime was intentionally the least violent crime the writers could think of, as she did not harm anyone and was only caught because she came back to help Mr. Burns.[8]


Mona Simpson was drawn in a way so that she has a little bit of Homer in her face, such as the shape of her upper lip and her nose. There were several design changes because the directors were trying to make her an attractive older and younger woman, but still be "Simpson-esque".[9]

Reception[edit]

Glenn Close has been well received as the voice of Mona. IGN ranked Close as the 25th-best guest star in the show's history for her first two performances as Mona.[2] In 2007, Entertainment Weekly called Close one of "fourteen guest stars whose standout performances on TV make us wish they'd turn up in a Simpsons Movie 2".[13] In 2008, Entertainment Weekly also named Close one of the 16 best Simpsons guest stars.[14] The Phoenix.com placed Close in the second position on their list of the best 20 Simpsons guest stars.[15] Star News Online listed Close as one of the four hundred reasons why they love The Simpsons.[16] Close appeared on AOL's list of their favorite 25 Simpsons guest stars.[17] Robert Canning of IGN wrote that Close "gave us the sweet voice of Mona Simpson. She's a perfect fit, able to convey a loving, motherly tone, while still convincing the audience she's a headstrong hippie activist."[18]


"Mother Simpson" is one of Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein's favorite episodes as a perfect combination of real emotion, good jokes and an interesting story[19] and they have expressed regret about not submitting it for the Emmy Award in the Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour) category.[8] "My Mother the Carjacker" received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination in 2004 in the animation category.[20] "Mona Leaves-a" received mixed reviews from critics. Robert Canning described it as "clunky and forced and wasn't all that funny" but still gave it a 7/10.[18] Richard Keller called it a decent episode, but despised Mona's brief appearance.[21]