Как пишется гомер симпсон на английском

Homer Simpson
The Simpsons character
Homer eating a classic strawberry sprinkled donut
First appearance	«Good Night» The Tracey Ullman Show (1987)
Created by	Matt Groening
Designed by	Matt Groening
Voiced by	Dan Castellaneta
In-universe information
Full name	Homer Jay Simpson
Occupation	Chemist and safety inspector Nuclear power plant operator
Affiliation	Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Family	Abraham Simpson (father) Mona Simpson (mother) Herbert Powell (half-brother) Abbey (half-sister)
Spouse	Marge Bouvier
Children	Bart Lisa Maggie
Relatives	Orville Simpson (grandfather) Yuma Simpson (grandmother) Cyrus Simpson (uncle)
Home	742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, United States
Nationality	American

Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.^[1] He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short «Good Night» on April 19, 1987. Homer was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of producer James L. Brooks’s 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. He named the character after his father, Homer Groening. After appearing for three seasons on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpson family got their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989. The show was later acquired by Disney in 2019.

As the nominal foreman of the paternally eponymous family, Homer and his wife Marge have three children: Bart, Lisa and Maggie. As the family’s provider, he works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as safety inspector. Homer embodies many American working class stereotypes: he is obese, immature, outspoken, aggressive, balding, lazy, ignorant, unprofessional, and fond of beer, junk food and watching television. However, he is fundamentally a good man and is staunchly protective of his family, especially when they need him the most. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of his life, he has had a number of remarkable experiences, including going to space, climbing the tallest mountain in Springfield by himself, fighting former President George H. W. Bush, and winning a Grammy Award as a member of a barbershop quartet.

In the shorts and earlier episodes, Castellaneta voiced Homer with a loose impression of Walter Matthau; however, during the second and third seasons of the half-hour show, Homer’s voice evolved to become more robust, to allow the expression of a fuller range of emotions. He 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. His signature catchphrase, the annoyed grunt «D’oh!», has been included in The New Oxford Dictionary of English since 1998 and the Oxford English Dictionary since 2001.

Homer is one of the most influential characters in the history of television, and is widely considered to be an American cultural icon. The British newspaper The Sunday Times described him as «The greatest comic creation of [modern] time». He was named the greatest character «of the last 20 years» in 2010 by Entertainment Weekly, was ranked the second-greatest cartoon character by TV Guide, behind Bugs Bunny, and was voted the greatest television character of all time by Channel 4 viewers. For voicing Homer, Castellaneta has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and a special-achievement Annie Award. In 2000, Homer and his family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Role in The Simpsons

Homer Jay Simpson is the bumbling husband of Marge, and father to Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson.^[2] He is the son of Mona and Abraham «Grampa» Simpson. Homer held over 188 different jobs in the first 400 episodes of The Simpsons.^[3] In most episodes, he works as the nuclear safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant (in Sector 7-G), a position which he has held since «Homer’s Odyssey», the third episode of the series, despite the fact that he is totally unsuitable for it.^[4] At the nuclear plant, Homer is often ignored and completely forgotten by his boss Mr. Burns, and he constantly falls asleep and neglects his duties. Matt Groening has stated that he decided to have Homer work at the power plant because of the potential for Homer to wreak severe havoc.^[5] Each of his other jobs has lasted only one episode. In the first half of the series, the writers developed an explanation about how he got fired from the plant and was then rehired in every episode. In later episodes, he often began a new job on impulse, without any mention of his regular employment.^[6]

The Simpsons uses a floating timeline in which the characters never physically age, and, as such, the show is generally assumed to be always set in the current year. Nevertheless, in several episodes, events in Homer’s life have been linked to specific time periods.^[2] «Mother Simpson» (season seven, 1995) depicts Homer’s mother, Mona, as a radical who went into hiding in 1969 following a run-in with the law;^[7] «The Way We Was» (season two, 1991) shows Homer falling in love with Marge Bouvier as a senior at Springfield High School in 1974;^[8] and «I Married Marge» (season three, 1991) implies that Marge became pregnant with Bart in 1980.^[9] However, the episode «That ’90s Show» (season 19, 2008) contradicted much of this backstory, portraying Homer and Marge as a twentysomething childless couple in the early 1990s.^[10] The episode «Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars» (season 32, 2021) further contradicts this backstory, putting Homer’s adolescence in the 1990s. Showrunner Matt Selman has explained that no version was the «official continuity.» and that «they all kind of happened in their imaginary world, you know, and people can choose to love whichever version they love.»^[11]

Due to the floating timeline, Homer’s age has changed occasionally as the series developed; he was 34 in the early episodes,^[8] 36 in season four,^[12] 38 and 39 in season eight,^[13] and 40 in the eighteenth season,^[14] although even in those seasons his age is inconsistent.^[2] In the fourth season episode «Duffless», Homer’s drivers license shows his birthdate of being May 12, 1956,^[15] which would have made him 36 years old at the time of the episode. During Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein’s period as showrunners, they found that as they aged, Homer seemed to become older too, so they increased his age to 38. His height is 6′ (1.83 m).^[16]

Character

Creation

Naming the characters after members of his own family, Groening named Homer after his father, who himself had been named after the ancient Greek poet of the same name.^[17][18][19] Very little else of Homer’s character was based on him, and to prove that the meaning behind Homer’s name was not significant, Groening later named his own son Homer.^[20][21] According to Groening, «Homer originated with my goal to both amuse my real father, and just annoy him a little bit. My father was an athletic, creative, intelligent filmmaker and writer, and the only thing he had in common with Homer was a love of donuts.»^[22] Although Groening has stated in several interviews that Homer was named after his father, he also claimed in several 1990 interviews that a character called precisely Homer Simpson in the 1939 Nathanael West novel The Day of the Locust as well as in the eponymous 1975 movie, was the inspiration.^[2][23][24] In 2012 he clarified, «I took that name from a minor character in the novel The Day of the Locust… Since Homer was my father’s name, and I thought Simpson was a funny name in that it had the word “simp” in it, which is short for “simpleton”—I just went with it.»^[25] Homer’s middle initial «J», which stands for «Jay»,^[26] is a «tribute» to animated characters such as Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, who got their middle initial from Jay Ward.^[27]

Homer made his debut with the rest of the Simpson family on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short «Good Night».^[28] In 1989, the shorts were adapted into The Simpsons, a half-hour series airing on the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer and the Simpson family remained the main characters on this new show.^[29]

Design

As currently depicted in the series, Homer’s everyday clothing consists of a white shirt with short sleeves and open collar, blue pants, and gray shoes. He is overweight and bald, except for a fringe of hair around the back and sides of his head and two curling hairs on top, and his face always sports a growth of beard stubble that instantly regrows whenever he shaves.

The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.^[30] 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.^[17] By coincidence or not, Homer’s look bears a resemblance to the cartoon character Adamsson, created by Swedish cartoonist Oscar Jacobsson in 1920.^[31] Homer’s physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no characters other than Homer, Grampa Simpson, Lenny Leonard, and Krusty the Clown have a similar beard line.^[32] When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his initials into the character’s hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an ‘M’, and the right ear resembled a ‘G’. Groening decided that this would be too distracting and redesigned the ear to look normal. However, he still draws the ear as a ‘G’ when he draws pictures of Homer for fans.^[33] The basic shape of Homer’s head is described by director Mark Kirkland as a tube-shaped coffee can with a salad bowl on top.^[34] During the shorts, the animators experimented with the way Homer would move his mouth when talking. At one point, his mouth would stretch out back «beyond his beardline»; but this was dropped when it got «out of control.»^[35] In some early episodes, Homer’s hair was rounded rather than sharply pointed because animation director Wes Archer felt it should look disheveled. Homer’s hair evolved to be consistently pointed.^[36] During the first three seasons, Homer’s design for some close-up shots included small lines which were meant to be eyebrows. Groening strongly disliked them and they were eventually dropped.^[36]

In the season seven (1995) episode «Treehouse of Horror VI», Homer was computer animated into a three-dimensional character for the first time for the «Homer³» segment of the episode. The computer animation directors at Pacific Data Images worked hard not to «reinvent the character».^[37] In the final minute of the segment, the 3D Homer ends up in a real world, live-action Los Angeles. The scene was directed by David Mirkin and was the first time a Simpsons character had been in the real world in the series.^[37] Because «Lisa’s Wedding» (season six, 1995) is set fifteen years in the future, Homer’s design was altered to make him older in the episode. He is heavier; one of the hairs on top of his head was removed; and an extra line was placed under the eye. A similar design has been used in subsequent flashforwards.^[38]

Voice

Homer’s voice is performed by Dan Castellaneta, who voices numerous other characters, including Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Barney Gumble, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby and Hans Moleman. Castellaneta had been part of the regular cast of The Tracey Ullman Show and had previously done some voice-over work in Chicago alongside his wife Deb Lacusta. Voices were needed for the Simpsons shorts, so the producers decided to ask Castellaneta and fellow cast member Julie Kavner to voice Homer and Marge rather than hire more actors.^[39][40] In the shorts and first season of the half-hour show, Homer’s voice is different from the majority of the series. The voice began as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but Castellaneta could not «get enough power behind that voice»,^[40] or sustain his Matthau impression for the nine- to ten-hour-long recording sessions, and had to find something easier.^[3] During the second and third seasons of the half-hour show, Castellaneta «dropped the voice down»^[39] and developed it as more versatile and humorous, allowing Homer a fuller range of emotions.^[41]

Castellaneta’s normal speaking voice does not bear any resemblance to Homer’s.^[42] To perform Homer’s voice, Castellaneta lowers his chin to his chest^[40] and is said to «let his I.Q. go».^[43] While in this state, he has ad-libbed several of Homer’s least intelligent comments,^[43] such as the line «S-M-R-T; I mean, S-M-A-R-T!» from «Homer Goes to College» (season five, 1993) which was a genuine mistake made by Castellaneta during recording.^[44] Castellaneta likes to stay in character during recording sessions,^[45] and he tries to visualize a scene so that he can give the proper voice to it.^[46] Despite Homer’s fame, Castellaneta claims he is rarely recognized in public, «except, maybe, by a die-hard fan».^[45]

«Homer’s Barbershop Quartet» (season five, 1993) is the only episode where Homer’s voice was provided by someone other than Castellaneta. The episode features Homer forming a barbershop quartet called The Be Sharps; and, at some points, his singing voice is provided by a member of The Dapper Dans.^[47] The Dapper Dans had recorded the singing parts for all four members of The Be Sharps. Their singing was intermixed with the normal voice actors’ voices, often with a regular voice actor singing the melody and the Dapper Dans providing backup.^[48]

Until 1998, Castellaneta 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 for casting of new voices.^[49] However, the dispute was soon resolved and he received $125,000 per episode until 2004 when the voice actors demanded that they be paid $360,000 an episode.^[49] The issue was resolved a month later,^[50] and Castellaneta earned $250,000 per episode.^[51] After salary re-negotiations in 2008, the voice actors receive approximately $400,000 per episode.^[52] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Castellaneta and the other cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.^[53]

Character development

Executive producer Al Jean notes that in The Simpsons‘ writing room, «everyone loves writing for Homer», and many of his adventures are based on experiences of the writers.^[54] In the early seasons of the show, Bart was the main focus. But, around the fourth season, Homer became more of the focus. According to Matt Groening, this was because «With Homer, there’s just a wider range of jokes you can do. And there are far more drastic consequences to Homer’s stupidity. There’s only so far you can go with a juvenile delinquent. We wanted Bart to do anything up to the point of him being tried in court as a dad. But Homer is a dad, and his boneheaded-ness is funnier. […] Homer is launching himself headfirst into every single impulsive thought that occurs to him.»^[22]

Homer’s behavior has changed a number of times through the run of the series. He was originally «very angry» and oppressive toward Bart, but these characteristics were toned down somewhat as his persona was further explored.^[55] In early seasons, Homer appeared concerned that his family was going to make him look bad; however, in later episodes he was less anxious about how he was perceived by others.^[56] In the first several years, Homer was often portrayed as dumb yet well-meaning, but during Mike Scully’s tenure as executive producer (seasons nine, 1997 to twelve, 2001), he became more of «a boorish, self-aggrandizing oaf».^[57] Chris Suellentrop of Slate wrote, «under Scully’s tenure, The Simpsons became, well, a cartoon. … Episodes that once would have ended with Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset… now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge’s neck.»^[58] Fans have dubbed this incarnation of the character «Jerkass Homer».^[59][60][61] At voice recording sessions, Castellaneta has rejected material written in the script that portrayed Homer as being too mean. He believes that Homer is «boorish and unthinking, but he’d never be mean on purpose.»^[62] When editing The Simpsons Movie, several scenes were changed to make Homer more sympathetic.^[63]

The writers have depicted Homer with a declining intelligence over the years; they explain this was not done intentionally, but it was necessary to top previous jokes.^[64] For example, in «When You Dish Upon a Star», (season 10, 1998) the writers included a scene where Homer admits that he cannot read. The writers debated including this plot twist because it would contradict previous scenes in which Homer does read, but eventually they decided to keep the joke because they found it humorous. The writers often debate how far to go in portraying Homer’s stupidity; one suggested rule is that «he can never forget his own name».^[65]

Personality

The comic efficacy of Homer’s personality lies in his frequent bouts of bumbling stupidity, laziness and his explosive anger. He has a low intelligence level and is described by director David Silverman as «creatively brilliant in his stupidity».^[66] Homer also shows immense apathy towards work, is overweight, and «is devoted to his stomach».^[66] His short attention span is evidenced by his impulsive decisions to engage in various hobbies and enterprises, only to «change … his mind when things go badly».^[66] Homer often spends his evenings drinking Duff Beer at Moe’s Tavern, and was shown in the episode «Duffless» (season four, 1993) as a full-blown alcoholic.^[67] He is very envious of his neighbors, Ned Flanders and his family, and is easily enraged by Bart. Homer will often strangle Bart on impulse upon Bart angering him (and can also be seen saying one of his catchphrases, «Why you little—!») in a cartoonish manner. The first instance of Homer strangling Bart was in the short «Family Portrait». According to Groening, the rule was that Homer could only strangle Bart impulsively, never with premeditation,^[68] because doing so «seems sadistic. If we keep it that he’s ruled by his impulses, then he can easily switch impulses. So, even though he impulsively wants to strangle Bart, he also gives up fairly easily.»^[22] Another of the original ideas entertained by Groening was that Homer would «always get his comeuppance or Bart had to strangle him back», but this was dropped.^[69] Homer shows no compunction about expressing his rage, and does not attempt to hide his actions from people outside the family.^[66]

Homer has complex relationships with his family. As previously noted, he and Bart are the most at odds; but the two commonly share adventures and are sometimes allies, with some episodes (particularly in later seasons) showing that the pair have a strange respect for each other’s cunning. Homer and Lisa have opposite personalities and he usually overlooks Lisa’s talents, but when made aware of his neglect, does everything he can to help her. The show also occasionally implies Homer forgets he has a third child, Maggie; while the episode «And Maggie Makes Three» suggests she is the chief reason Homer took and remains at his regular job (season six, 1995). While Homer’s thoughtless antics often upset his family, he on many occasions has also revealed himself to be a caring and loving father and husband: in «Lisa the Beauty Queen», (season four, 1992) he sold his cherished ride on the Duff blimp and used the money to enter Lisa in a beauty pageant so she could feel better about herself;^[12] in «Rosebud», (season five, 1993) he gave up his chance at wealth to allow Maggie to keep a cherished teddy bear;^[70] in «Radio Bart», (season three, 1992) he spearheads an attempt to dig Bart out after he had fallen down a well;^[71] in «A Milhouse Divided», (season eight, 1996) he arranges a surprise second wedding with Marge to make up for their unsatisfactory first ceremony;^[72] and despite a poor relationship with his father Abraham «Grampa» Simpson, whom he placed in a nursing home as soon as he could^[73] while the Simpson family often do their best to avoid unnecessary contact with Grampa, Homer has shown feelings of love for his father from time to time.^[74]

Homer is «a (happy) slave to his various appetites».^[75] He has an apparently vacuous mind, but occasionally exhibits a surprising depth of knowledge about various subjects, such as the composition of the Supreme Court of the United States,^[76] Inca mythology,^[77] bankruptcy law,^[78] and cell biology.^[79] Homer’s brief periods of intelligence are overshadowed, however, by much longer and consistent periods of ignorance, forgetfulness, and stupidity. Homer has a low IQ of 55, which would actually make him unable to speak or perform basic tasks, and has variously been attributed to the hereditary «Simpson Gene» (which eventually causes every male member of the family to become incredibly stupid),^[80] his alcohol problem, exposure to radioactive waste, repetitive cranial trauma,^[81] and a crayon lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain.^[82] In the 2001 episode «HOMR», Homer has the crayon removed, boosting his IQ to 105; although he bonds with Lisa, his newfound capacity for understanding and reason makes him unhappy, and he has the crayon reinserted.^[82] Homer often debates with his own mind, expressed in voiceover. His mind has a tendency to offer dubious advice, which occasionally helps him make the right decision, but often fails spectacularly. His mind has even become completely frustrated and, through sound effects, walked out on Homer.^[83] These exchanges were often introduced because they filled time and were easy for the animators to work on.^[84] They were phased out after the producers «used every possible permutation».^[84]

Producer Mike Reiss said Homer was his favorite Simpsons character to write: «Homer’s just a comedy writer’s dream. He has everything wrong with him, every comedy trope. He’s fat and bald and stupid and lazy and angry and an alcoholic. I’m pretty sure he embodies all seven deadly sins.» John Swartzwelder, who wrote 60 episodes, said he wrote Homer as if he were «a big talking dog … One moment he’s the saddest man in the world, because he’s just lost his job, or dropped his sandwich, or accidentally killed his family. Then, the next moment, he’s the happiest man in the world, because he’s just found a penny — maybe under one of his dead family members … If you write him as a dog you’ll never go wrong.»^[85] Reiss felt this was insightful, saying: «Homer is just pure emotion, no long-term memory, everything is instant gratification. And, you know, has good dog qualities, too. I think, loyalty, friendliness, and just kind of continuous optimism.»^[86]

Reception

Commendations

Homer’s influence on comedy and culture has been significant. In 2010, Entertainment Weekly named Homer «the greatest character of the last 20 years».^[87] He was placed second on TV Guide‘s 2002 Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters, behind Bugs Bunny;^[88] fifth on Bravo’s 100 Greatest TV Characters, one of only four cartoon characters on that list;^[89] and first in a Channel 4 poll of the greatest television characters of all time.^[90] In 2007, Entertainment Weekly placed Homer ninth on their list of the «50 Greatest TV icons» and first on their 2010 list of the «Top 100 Characters of the Past Twenty Years».^[91][22][92] Homer was also the runaway winner in British polls that determined who viewers thought was the «greatest American»^[93] and which fictional character people would like to see become the President of the United States.^[94] His relationship with Marge was included in TV Guide‘s list of «The Best TV Couples of All Time».^[95] In 2022, Paste writers claimed that Homer is the second best cartoon character of all time.^[96]

Dan Castellaneta has won several awards for voicing Homer, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for «Outstanding Voice-Over Performance» in 1992 for «Lisa’s Pony», 1993 for «Mr. Plow»,^[97] in 2004 for «Today I Am a Clown»,^[98] and in 2009 for «Father Knows Worst».^[99] However, in the case of «Today I Am a Clown», it was for voicing «various characters» and not solely for Homer.^[98] In 2010, Castellaneta received a fifth Emmy nomination for voicing Homer and Grampa in the episode «Thursdays with Abie».^[100] In 1993, Castellaneta was given a special Annie Award, «Outstanding Individual Achievement in the Field of Animation», for his work as Homer on The Simpsons.^[101][102] In 2004, Castellaneta and Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge) won a Young Artist Award for «Most Popular Mom & Dad in a TV Series».^[103] In 2005, Homer and Marge were nominated for a Teen Choice Award for «Choice TV Parental Units».^[104] Various episodes in which Homer is strongly featured have won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program, including «Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment» in 1991, «Lisa’s Wedding» in 1995, «Homer’s Phobia» in 1997, «Trash of the Titans» in 1998, «HOMR» in 2001, «Three Gays of the Condo» in 2003 and «Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind» in 2008.^[97] In 2000, Homer and the rest of the Simpson family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.^[105] In 2017, Homer Simpson was celebrated by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, to honor the 25th anniversary of the episode «Homer at the Bat».^[106]

Analysis

Homer is an «everyman» and embodies several American stereotypes of working class blue-collar men: he is crude, overweight, incompetent, dim-witted, childish, clumsy and a borderline alcoholic.^[2] Matt Groening describes him as «completely ruled by his impulses».^[107] Dan Castellaneta calls him «a dog trapped in a man’s body», adding, «He’s incredibly loyal – not entirely clean – but you gotta love him.»^[40] In his book Planet Simpson, author Chris Turner describes Homer as «the most American of the Simpsons» and believes that while the other Simpson family members could be changed to other nationalities, Homer is «pure American».^[108] In the book God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture, the authors comment that «Homer’s progress (or lack thereof) reveals a character who can do the right thing, if accidentally or begrudgingly.»^[109] The book The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer includes a chapter analyzing Homer’s character from the perspective of Aristotelian virtue ethics. Raja Halwani writes that Homer’s «love of life» is an admirable character trait, «for many people are tempted to see in Homer nothing but buffoonery and immorality. … He is not politically correct, he is more than happy to judge others, and he certainly does not seem to be obsessed with his health. These qualities might not make Homer an admirable person, but they do make him admirable in some ways, and, more importantly, makes us crave him and the Homer Simpsons of this world.»^[110] In 2008, Entertainment Weekly justified designating The Simpsons as a television classic by stating, «we all hail Simpson patriarch Homer because his joy is as palpable as his stupidity is stunning».^[111]

In the season eight episode «Homer’s Enemy» the writers decided to examine «what it would be like to actually work alongside Homer Simpson».^[112] The episode explores the possibilities of a realistic character with a strong work ethic named Frank Grimes placed alongside Homer in a work environment. In the episode, Homer is portrayed as an everyman and the embodiment of the American spirit; however, in some scenes his negative characteristics and silliness are prominently highlighted.^[113][114] By the end of the episode, Grimes, a hard working and persevering «real American hero», has become the villain; the viewer is intended to be pleased that Homer has emerged victorious.^[113]

In Gilligan Unbound, author Paul Arthur Cantor states that he believes Homer’s devotion to his family has added to the popularity of the character. He writes, «Homer is the distillation of pure fatherhood. … This is why, for all his stupidity, bigotry and self-centered quality, we cannot hate Homer. He continually fails at being a good father, but he never gives up trying, and in some basic and important sense that makes him a good father.»^[115] The Sunday Times remarked «Homer is good because, above all, he is capable of great love. When the chips are down, he always does the right thing by his children—he is never unfaithful in spite of several opportunities.»^[62]

Cultural influence

Homer Simpson is one of the most popular and influential television characters by a variety of standards. USA Today cited the character as being one of the «top 25 most influential people of the past 25 years» in 2007, adding that Homer «epitomized the irony and irreverence at the core of American humor».^[116] Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Center for the Study of Popular Television, believes that «three centuries from now, English professors are going to be regarding Homer Simpson as one of the greatest creations in human storytelling.»^[117] Animation historian Jerry Beck described Homer as one of the best animated characters, saying, «you know someone like it, or you identify with (it). That’s really the key to a classic character.»^[88] Homer has been described by The Sunday Times as «the greatest comic creation of [modern] time». The article remarked, «every age needs its great, consoling failure, its lovable, pretension-free mediocrity. And we have ours in Homer Simpson.»^[62]

Despite Homer’s partial embodiment of American culture, his influence has spread to other parts of the world. In 2003, Matt Groening revealed that his father, after whom Homer was named, was Canadian, and said that this made Homer himself a Canadian.^[118] The character was later made an honorary citizen of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, because Homer Groening was believed to be from there, although sources say the senior Groening was actually born in the province of Saskatchewan.^[119] In 2007, an image of Homer was painted next to the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, England as part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie. This caused outrage among local neopagans who performed «rain magic» to try to get it washed away.^[120] In 2008, a defaced Spanish euro coin was found in Avilés, Spain with the face of Homer replacing the effigy of King Juan Carlos I.^[121]

On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44-cent stamps featuring Homer 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.^[122] The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.^[123][124]

Homer has appeared, voiced by Castellaneta, in several other television shows, including the sixth season of American Idol where he opened the show;^[125] The Tonight Show with Jay Leno where he performed a special animated opening monologue for the July 24, 2007, edition;^[126] and the 2008 fundraising television special Stand Up to Cancer where he was shown having a colonoscopy.^[127]

On February 28, 1999, Homer Simpson was made an honorary member of the Junior Common Room of Worcester College, Oxford. Homer was granted the membership by the college’s undergraduate body in the belief that ″he would benefit greatly from an Oxford education″.^[128]

Homer has also been cited in the scientific literature, in relation to low intelligence or cognitive abilities. A 2010 study from Emory University showed that the RGS14 gene appeared to be impairing the development of cognitive abilities in mice (or, rather, that mice with a disabled RGS14 gene improved their cognitive abilities), prompting the authors to dub it the «Homer Simpson gene».^[129]

D’oh!

Homer’s main and most famous catchphrase, the annoyed grunt «D’oh!», is typically uttered when he injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him. During the voice recording session for a Tracey Ullman Show short, Homer was required to utter what was written in the script as an «annoyed grunt».^[130] Dan Castellaneta rendered it as a drawn out «d’ooooooh». This was inspired by Jimmy Finlayson, the mustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films.^[130] Finlayson had used the term as a minced oath to stand in for the word «Damn!» Matt Groening felt that it would better suit the timing of animation if it were spoken faster. Castellaneta then shortened it to a quickly uttered «D’oh!»^[131] The first intentional use of D’oh! occurred in the Ullman short «The Krusty the Clown Show»^[131] (1989), and its first usage in the series was in the series premiere, «Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire».^[132]

«D’oh!» was first added to The New Oxford Dictionary of English in 1998.^[130] It is defined as an interjection «used to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid».^[133] In 2001, «D’oh!» was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, without the apostrophe («Doh!»).^[134] The definition of the word is «expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish».^[135] In 2006, «D’oh!» was placed in sixth position on TV Land’s list of the 100 greatest television catchphrases.^[136][137] «D’oh!» is also included in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.^[138] The book includes several other quotations from Homer, including «Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try», from «Burns’ Heir» (season five, 1994) as well as «Kids are the best, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the Internet and all», from «Eight Misbehavin’« (season 11, 1999). Both quotes entered the dictionary in August 2007.^[139]

Merchandising

Homer’s inclusion in many Simpsons publications, toys, and other merchandise is evidence of his enduring popularity. The Homer Book, about Homer’s personality and attributes, was released in 2004 and is commercially available.^[140][141] It has been described as «an entertaining little book for occasional reading»^[142] and was listed as one of «the most interesting books of 2004» by The Chattanoogan.^[143] Other merchandise includes dolls, posters, figurines, bobblehead dolls, mugs, alarm clocks, jigsaw puzzles, Chia Pets, and clothing such as slippers, T-shirts, baseball caps, and boxer shorts.^[144] Homer has appeared in commercials for Coke, 1-800-COLLECT, Burger King, Butterfinger, C.C. Lemon, Church’s Chicken, Domino’s Pizza, Intel, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ramada Inn, Subway and T.G.I. Friday’s. In 2004, Homer starred in a MasterCard Priceless commercial that aired during Super Bowl XXXVIII.^[145] In 2001, Kelloggs launched a brand of cereal called «Homer’s Cinnamon Donut Cereal», which was available for a limited time.^[141][146] In June 2009, Dutch automotive navigation systems manufacturer TomTom announced that Homer would be added to its downloadable GPS voice lineup. Homer’s voice, recorded by Dan Castellaneta, features several in-character comments such as «Take the third right. We might find an ice cream truck! Mmm… ice cream.»^[147]

Homer has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons. He has appeared in every one of The Simpsons video games, including the most recent, The Simpsons Game.^[148] Homer appears as a playable character in the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, released via a «Level Pack» packaged with Homer’s Car and «Taunt-o-Vision» accessories in September 2015; the pack also adds an additional level based on the episode «The Mysterious Voyage of Homer».^[149] Alongside the television series, Homer regularly appeared in issues of Simpsons Comics, which were published from November 29, 1993, until October 17, 2018.^[150][151] Homer also plays a role in The Simpsons Ride, launched in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.^[152]

References

Citations

Sources

• Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M.
• Halwani, Raja (1999). «Homer and Aristotle». In Irwin, William; Conrad, Mark T.; Skoble, Aeon (eds.). The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer. Chicago, Illinois: Open Court. ISBN 978-0-8126-9433-8.
• Reiss, Mike; Klickstein, Mathew (2018). Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons. New York City: Dey Street Books. ISBN 978-0062748034.
• Turner, Chris (2004). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Foreword by Douglas Coupland. (1st ed.). Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 978-0-679-31318-2. OCLC 55682258.

Further reading

• Alberti, John, ed. (2003). Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-2849-1.
• Brown, Alan; Logan, Chris (2006). The Psychology of The Simpsons. BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-932100-70-9.
• Fink, Moritz (2019). The Simpsons: A Cultural History. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1616-6.
• Groening, Matt (2005). The Homer Book. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-111661-2.
• Groening, Matt (1991). The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-096582-2.
• Pinsky, Mark I (2004). The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World’s Most Animated Family. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22419-6.

External links

• Media related to Homer Simpson at Wikimedia Commons
• Homer Simpson on IMDb

Homer Simpson
The Simpsons character
Homer eating a classic strawberry sprinkled donut
First appearance	«Good Night» The Tracey Ullman Show (1987)
Created by	Matt Groening
Designed by	Matt Groening
Voiced by	Dan Castellaneta
In-universe information
Full name	Homer Jay Simpson
Occupation	Chemist and safety inspector Nuclear power plant operator
Affiliation	Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Family	Abraham Simpson (father) Mona Simpson (mother) Herbert Powell (half-brother) Abbey (half-sister)
Spouse	Marge Bouvier
Children	Bart Lisa Maggie
Relatives	Orville Simpson (grandfather) Yuma Simpson (grandmother) Cyrus Simpson (uncle)
Home	742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, United States
Nationality	American

Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.^[1] He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short «Good Night» on April 19, 1987. Homer was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of producer James L. Brooks’s 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. He named the character after his father, Homer Groening. After appearing for three seasons on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpson family got their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989. The show was later acquired by Disney in 2019.

As the nominal foreman of the paternally eponymous family, Homer and his wife Marge have three children: Bart, Lisa and Maggie. As the family’s provider, he works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as safety inspector. Homer embodies many American working class stereotypes: he is obese, immature, outspoken, aggressive, balding, lazy, ignorant, unprofessional, and fond of beer, junk food and watching television. However, he is fundamentally a good man and is staunchly protective of his family, especially when they need him the most. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of his life, he has had a number of remarkable experiences, including going to space, climbing the tallest mountain in Springfield by himself, fighting former President George H. W. Bush, and winning a Grammy Award as a member of a barbershop quartet.

In the shorts and earlier episodes, Castellaneta voiced Homer with a loose impression of Walter Matthau; however, during the second and third seasons of the half-hour show, Homer’s voice evolved to become more robust, to allow the expression of a fuller range of emotions. He 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. His signature catchphrase, the annoyed grunt «D’oh!», has been included in The New Oxford Dictionary of English since 1998 and the Oxford English Dictionary since 2001.

Homer is one of the most influential characters in the history of television, and is widely considered to be an American cultural icon. The British newspaper The Sunday Times described him as «The greatest comic creation of [modern] time». He was named the greatest character «of the last 20 years» in 2010 by Entertainment Weekly, was ranked the second-greatest cartoon character by TV Guide, behind Bugs Bunny, and was voted the greatest television character of all time by Channel 4 viewers. For voicing Homer, Castellaneta has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and a special-achievement Annie Award. In 2000, Homer and his family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Role in The Simpsons

Homer Jay Simpson is the bumbling husband of Marge, and father to Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson.^[2] He is the son of Mona and Abraham «Grampa» Simpson. Homer held over 188 different jobs in the first 400 episodes of The Simpsons.^[3] In most episodes, he works as the nuclear safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant (in Sector 7-G), a position which he has held since «Homer’s Odyssey», the third episode of the series, despite the fact that he is totally unsuitable for it.^[4] At the nuclear plant, Homer is often ignored and completely forgotten by his boss Mr. Burns, and he constantly falls asleep and neglects his duties. Matt Groening has stated that he decided to have Homer work at the power plant because of the potential for Homer to wreak severe havoc.^[5] Each of his other jobs has lasted only one episode. In the first half of the series, the writers developed an explanation about how he got fired from the plant and was then rehired in every episode. In later episodes, he often began a new job on impulse, without any mention of his regular employment.^[6]

The Simpsons uses a floating timeline in which the characters never physically age, and, as such, the show is generally assumed to be always set in the current year. Nevertheless, in several episodes, events in Homer’s life have been linked to specific time periods.^[2] «Mother Simpson» (season seven, 1995) depicts Homer’s mother, Mona, as a radical who went into hiding in 1969 following a run-in with the law;^[7] «The Way We Was» (season two, 1991) shows Homer falling in love with Marge Bouvier as a senior at Springfield High School in 1974;^[8] and «I Married Marge» (season three, 1991) implies that Marge became pregnant with Bart in 1980.^[9] However, the episode «That ’90s Show» (season 19, 2008) contradicted much of this backstory, portraying Homer and Marge as a twentysomething childless couple in the early 1990s.^[10] The episode «Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars» (season 32, 2021) further contradicts this backstory, putting Homer’s adolescence in the 1990s. Showrunner Matt Selman has explained that no version was the «official continuity.» and that «they all kind of happened in their imaginary world, you know, and people can choose to love whichever version they love.»^[11]

Due to the floating timeline, Homer’s age has changed occasionally as the series developed; he was 34 in the early episodes,^[8] 36 in season four,^[12] 38 and 39 in season eight,^[13] and 40 in the eighteenth season,^[14] although even in those seasons his age is inconsistent.^[2] In the fourth season episode «Duffless», Homer’s drivers license shows his birthdate of being May 12, 1956,^[15] which would have made him 36 years old at the time of the episode. During Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein’s period as showrunners, they found that as they aged, Homer seemed to become older too, so they increased his age to 38. His height is 6′ (1.83 m).^[16]

Character

Creation

Naming the characters after members of his own family, Groening named Homer after his father, who himself had been named after the ancient Greek poet of the same name.^[17][18][19] Very little else of Homer’s character was based on him, and to prove that the meaning behind Homer’s name was not significant, Groening later named his own son Homer.^[20][21] According to Groening, «Homer originated with my goal to both amuse my real father, and just annoy him a little bit. My father was an athletic, creative, intelligent filmmaker and writer, and the only thing he had in common with Homer was a love of donuts.»^[22] Although Groening has stated in several interviews that Homer was named after his father, he also claimed in several 1990 interviews that a character called precisely Homer Simpson in the 1939 Nathanael West novel The Day of the Locust as well as in the eponymous 1975 movie, was the inspiration.^[2][23][24] In 2012 he clarified, «I took that name from a minor character in the novel The Day of the Locust… Since Homer was my father’s name, and I thought Simpson was a funny name in that it had the word “simp” in it, which is short for “simpleton”—I just went with it.»^[25] Homer’s middle initial «J», which stands for «Jay»,^[26] is a «tribute» to animated characters such as Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, who got their middle initial from Jay Ward.^[27]

Homer made his debut with the rest of the Simpson family on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short «Good Night».^[28] In 1989, the shorts were adapted into The Simpsons, a half-hour series airing on the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer and the Simpson family remained the main characters on this new show.^[29]

Design

As currently depicted in the series, Homer’s everyday clothing consists of a white shirt with short sleeves and open collar, blue pants, and gray shoes. He is overweight and bald, except for a fringe of hair around the back and sides of his head and two curling hairs on top, and his face always sports a growth of beard stubble that instantly regrows whenever he shaves.

The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.^[30] 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.^[17] By coincidence or not, Homer’s look bears a resemblance to the cartoon character Adamsson, created by Swedish cartoonist Oscar Jacobsson in 1920.^[31] Homer’s physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no characters other than Homer, Grampa Simpson, Lenny Leonard, and Krusty the Clown have a similar beard line.^[32] When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his initials into the character’s hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an ‘M’, and the right ear resembled a ‘G’. Groening decided that this would be too distracting and redesigned the ear to look normal. However, he still draws the ear as a ‘G’ when he draws pictures of Homer for fans.^[33] The basic shape of Homer’s head is described by director Mark Kirkland as a tube-shaped coffee can with a salad bowl on top.^[34] During the shorts, the animators experimented with the way Homer would move his mouth when talking. At one point, his mouth would stretch out back «beyond his beardline»; but this was dropped when it got «out of control.»^[35] In some early episodes, Homer’s hair was rounded rather than sharply pointed because animation director Wes Archer felt it should look disheveled. Homer’s hair evolved to be consistently pointed.^[36] During the first three seasons, Homer’s design for some close-up shots included small lines which were meant to be eyebrows. Groening strongly disliked them and they were eventually dropped.^[36]

In the season seven (1995) episode «Treehouse of Horror VI», Homer was computer animated into a three-dimensional character for the first time for the «Homer³» segment of the episode. The computer animation directors at Pacific Data Images worked hard not to «reinvent the character».^[37] In the final minute of the segment, the 3D Homer ends up in a real world, live-action Los Angeles. The scene was directed by David Mirkin and was the first time a Simpsons character had been in the real world in the series.^[37] Because «Lisa’s Wedding» (season six, 1995) is set fifteen years in the future, Homer’s design was altered to make him older in the episode. He is heavier; one of the hairs on top of his head was removed; and an extra line was placed under the eye. A similar design has been used in subsequent flashforwards.^[38]

Voice

Homer’s voice is performed by Dan Castellaneta, who voices numerous other characters, including Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Barney Gumble, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby and Hans Moleman. Castellaneta had been part of the regular cast of The Tracey Ullman Show and had previously done some voice-over work in Chicago alongside his wife Deb Lacusta. Voices were needed for the Simpsons shorts, so the producers decided to ask Castellaneta and fellow cast member Julie Kavner to voice Homer and Marge rather than hire more actors.^[39][40] In the shorts and first season of the half-hour show, Homer’s voice is different from the majority of the series. The voice began as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but Castellaneta could not «get enough power behind that voice»,^[40] or sustain his Matthau impression for the nine- to ten-hour-long recording sessions, and had to find something easier.^[3] During the second and third seasons of the half-hour show, Castellaneta «dropped the voice down»^[39] and developed it as more versatile and humorous, allowing Homer a fuller range of emotions.^[41]

Castellaneta’s normal speaking voice does not bear any resemblance to Homer’s.^[42] To perform Homer’s voice, Castellaneta lowers his chin to his chest^[40] and is said to «let his I.Q. go».^[43] While in this state, he has ad-libbed several of Homer’s least intelligent comments,^[43] such as the line «S-M-R-T; I mean, S-M-A-R-T!» from «Homer Goes to College» (season five, 1993) which was a genuine mistake made by Castellaneta during recording.^[44] Castellaneta likes to stay in character during recording sessions,^[45] and he tries to visualize a scene so that he can give the proper voice to it.^[46] Despite Homer’s fame, Castellaneta claims he is rarely recognized in public, «except, maybe, by a die-hard fan».^[45]

«Homer’s Barbershop Quartet» (season five, 1993) is the only episode where Homer’s voice was provided by someone other than Castellaneta. The episode features Homer forming a barbershop quartet called The Be Sharps; and, at some points, his singing voice is provided by a member of The Dapper Dans.^[47] The Dapper Dans had recorded the singing parts for all four members of The Be Sharps. Their singing was intermixed with the normal voice actors’ voices, often with a regular voice actor singing the melody and the Dapper Dans providing backup.^[48]

Until 1998, Castellaneta 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 for casting of new voices.^[49] However, the dispute was soon resolved and he received $125,000 per episode until 2004 when the voice actors demanded that they be paid $360,000 an episode.^[49] The issue was resolved a month later,^[50] and Castellaneta earned $250,000 per episode.^[51] After salary re-negotiations in 2008, the voice actors receive approximately $400,000 per episode.^[52] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Castellaneta and the other cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.^[53]

Character development

Executive producer Al Jean notes that in The Simpsons‘ writing room, «everyone loves writing for Homer», and many of his adventures are based on experiences of the writers.^[54] In the early seasons of the show, Bart was the main focus. But, around the fourth season, Homer became more of the focus. According to Matt Groening, this was because «With Homer, there’s just a wider range of jokes you can do. And there are far more drastic consequences to Homer’s stupidity. There’s only so far you can go with a juvenile delinquent. We wanted Bart to do anything up to the point of him being tried in court as a dad. But Homer is a dad, and his boneheaded-ness is funnier. […] Homer is launching himself headfirst into every single impulsive thought that occurs to him.»^[22]

Homer’s behavior has changed a number of times through the run of the series. He was originally «very angry» and oppressive toward Bart, but these characteristics were toned down somewhat as his persona was further explored.^[55] In early seasons, Homer appeared concerned that his family was going to make him look bad; however, in later episodes he was less anxious about how he was perceived by others.^[56] In the first several years, Homer was often portrayed as dumb yet well-meaning, but during Mike Scully’s tenure as executive producer (seasons nine, 1997 to twelve, 2001), he became more of «a boorish, self-aggrandizing oaf».^[57] Chris Suellentrop of Slate wrote, «under Scully’s tenure, The Simpsons became, well, a cartoon. … Episodes that once would have ended with Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset… now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge’s neck.»^[58] Fans have dubbed this incarnation of the character «Jerkass Homer».^[59][60][61] At voice recording sessions, Castellaneta has rejected material written in the script that portrayed Homer as being too mean. He believes that Homer is «boorish and unthinking, but he’d never be mean on purpose.»^[62] When editing The Simpsons Movie, several scenes were changed to make Homer more sympathetic.^[63]

The writers have depicted Homer with a declining intelligence over the years; they explain this was not done intentionally, but it was necessary to top previous jokes.^[64] For example, in «When You Dish Upon a Star», (season 10, 1998) the writers included a scene where Homer admits that he cannot read. The writers debated including this plot twist because it would contradict previous scenes in which Homer does read, but eventually they decided to keep the joke because they found it humorous. The writers often debate how far to go in portraying Homer’s stupidity; one suggested rule is that «he can never forget his own name».^[65]

Personality

The comic efficacy of Homer’s personality lies in his frequent bouts of bumbling stupidity, laziness and his explosive anger. He has a low intelligence level and is described by director David Silverman as «creatively brilliant in his stupidity».^[66] Homer also shows immense apathy towards work, is overweight, and «is devoted to his stomach».^[66] His short attention span is evidenced by his impulsive decisions to engage in various hobbies and enterprises, only to «change … his mind when things go badly».^[66] Homer often spends his evenings drinking Duff Beer at Moe’s Tavern, and was shown in the episode «Duffless» (season four, 1993) as a full-blown alcoholic.^[67] He is very envious of his neighbors, Ned Flanders and his family, and is easily enraged by Bart. Homer will often strangle Bart on impulse upon Bart angering him (and can also be seen saying one of his catchphrases, «Why you little—!») in a cartoonish manner. The first instance of Homer strangling Bart was in the short «Family Portrait». According to Groening, the rule was that Homer could only strangle Bart impulsively, never with premeditation,^[68] because doing so «seems sadistic. If we keep it that he’s ruled by his impulses, then he can easily switch impulses. So, even though he impulsively wants to strangle Bart, he also gives up fairly easily.»^[22] Another of the original ideas entertained by Groening was that Homer would «always get his comeuppance or Bart had to strangle him back», but this was dropped.^[69] Homer shows no compunction about expressing his rage, and does not attempt to hide his actions from people outside the family.^[66]

Homer has complex relationships with his family. As previously noted, he and Bart are the most at odds; but the two commonly share adventures and are sometimes allies, with some episodes (particularly in later seasons) showing that the pair have a strange respect for each other’s cunning. Homer and Lisa have opposite personalities and he usually overlooks Lisa’s talents, but when made aware of his neglect, does everything he can to help her. The show also occasionally implies Homer forgets he has a third child, Maggie; while the episode «And Maggie Makes Three» suggests she is the chief reason Homer took and remains at his regular job (season six, 1995). While Homer’s thoughtless antics often upset his family, he on many occasions has also revealed himself to be a caring and loving father and husband: in «Lisa the Beauty Queen», (season four, 1992) he sold his cherished ride on the Duff blimp and used the money to enter Lisa in a beauty pageant so she could feel better about herself;^[12] in «Rosebud», (season five, 1993) he gave up his chance at wealth to allow Maggie to keep a cherished teddy bear;^[70] in «Radio Bart», (season three, 1992) he spearheads an attempt to dig Bart out after he had fallen down a well;^[71] in «A Milhouse Divided», (season eight, 1996) he arranges a surprise second wedding with Marge to make up for their unsatisfactory first ceremony;^[72] and despite a poor relationship with his father Abraham «Grampa» Simpson, whom he placed in a nursing home as soon as he could^[73] while the Simpson family often do their best to avoid unnecessary contact with Grampa, Homer has shown feelings of love for his father from time to time.^[74]

Homer is «a (happy) slave to his various appetites».^[75] He has an apparently vacuous mind, but occasionally exhibits a surprising depth of knowledge about various subjects, such as the composition of the Supreme Court of the United States,^[76] Inca mythology,^[77] bankruptcy law,^[78] and cell biology.^[79] Homer’s brief periods of intelligence are overshadowed, however, by much longer and consistent periods of ignorance, forgetfulness, and stupidity. Homer has a low IQ of 55, which would actually make him unable to speak or perform basic tasks, and has variously been attributed to the hereditary «Simpson Gene» (which eventually causes every male member of the family to become incredibly stupid),^[80] his alcohol problem, exposure to radioactive waste, repetitive cranial trauma,^[81] and a crayon lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain.^[82] In the 2001 episode «HOMR», Homer has the crayon removed, boosting his IQ to 105; although he bonds with Lisa, his newfound capacity for understanding and reason makes him unhappy, and he has the crayon reinserted.^[82] Homer often debates with his own mind, expressed in voiceover. His mind has a tendency to offer dubious advice, which occasionally helps him make the right decision, but often fails spectacularly. His mind has even become completely frustrated and, through sound effects, walked out on Homer.^[83] These exchanges were often introduced because they filled time and were easy for the animators to work on.^[84] They were phased out after the producers «used every possible permutation».^[84]

Producer Mike Reiss said Homer was his favorite Simpsons character to write: «Homer’s just a comedy writer’s dream. He has everything wrong with him, every comedy trope. He’s fat and bald and stupid and lazy and angry and an alcoholic. I’m pretty sure he embodies all seven deadly sins.» John Swartzwelder, who wrote 60 episodes, said he wrote Homer as if he were «a big talking dog … One moment he’s the saddest man in the world, because he’s just lost his job, or dropped his sandwich, or accidentally killed his family. Then, the next moment, he’s the happiest man in the world, because he’s just found a penny — maybe under one of his dead family members … If you write him as a dog you’ll never go wrong.»^[85] Reiss felt this was insightful, saying: «Homer is just pure emotion, no long-term memory, everything is instant gratification. And, you know, has good dog qualities, too. I think, loyalty, friendliness, and just kind of continuous optimism.»^[86]

Reception

Commendations

Homer’s influence on comedy and culture has been significant. In 2010, Entertainment Weekly named Homer «the greatest character of the last 20 years».^[87] He was placed second on TV Guide‘s 2002 Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters, behind Bugs Bunny;^[88] fifth on Bravo’s 100 Greatest TV Characters, one of only four cartoon characters on that list;^[89] and first in a Channel 4 poll of the greatest television characters of all time.^[90] In 2007, Entertainment Weekly placed Homer ninth on their list of the «50 Greatest TV icons» and first on their 2010 list of the «Top 100 Characters of the Past Twenty Years».^[91][22][92] Homer was also the runaway winner in British polls that determined who viewers thought was the «greatest American»^[93] and which fictional character people would like to see become the President of the United States.^[94] His relationship with Marge was included in TV Guide‘s list of «The Best TV Couples of All Time».^[95] In 2022, Paste writers claimed that Homer is the second best cartoon character of all time.^[96]

Dan Castellaneta has won several awards for voicing Homer, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for «Outstanding Voice-Over Performance» in 1992 for «Lisa’s Pony», 1993 for «Mr. Plow»,^[97] in 2004 for «Today I Am a Clown»,^[98] and in 2009 for «Father Knows Worst».^[99] However, in the case of «Today I Am a Clown», it was for voicing «various characters» and not solely for Homer.^[98] In 2010, Castellaneta received a fifth Emmy nomination for voicing Homer and Grampa in the episode «Thursdays with Abie».^[100] In 1993, Castellaneta was given a special Annie Award, «Outstanding Individual Achievement in the Field of Animation», for his work as Homer on The Simpsons.^[101][102] In 2004, Castellaneta and Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge) won a Young Artist Award for «Most Popular Mom & Dad in a TV Series».^[103] In 2005, Homer and Marge were nominated for a Teen Choice Award for «Choice TV Parental Units».^[104] Various episodes in which Homer is strongly featured have won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program, including «Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment» in 1991, «Lisa’s Wedding» in 1995, «Homer’s Phobia» in 1997, «Trash of the Titans» in 1998, «HOMR» in 2001, «Three Gays of the Condo» in 2003 and «Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind» in 2008.^[97] In 2000, Homer and the rest of the Simpson family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.^[105] In 2017, Homer Simpson was celebrated by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, to honor the 25th anniversary of the episode «Homer at the Bat».^[106]

Analysis

Homer is an «everyman» and embodies several American stereotypes of working class blue-collar men: he is crude, overweight, incompetent, dim-witted, childish, clumsy and a borderline alcoholic.^[2] Matt Groening describes him as «completely ruled by his impulses».^[107] Dan Castellaneta calls him «a dog trapped in a man’s body», adding, «He’s incredibly loyal – not entirely clean – but you gotta love him.»^[40] In his book Planet Simpson, author Chris Turner describes Homer as «the most American of the Simpsons» and believes that while the other Simpson family members could be changed to other nationalities, Homer is «pure American».^[108] In the book God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture, the authors comment that «Homer’s progress (or lack thereof) reveals a character who can do the right thing, if accidentally or begrudgingly.»^[109] The book The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer includes a chapter analyzing Homer’s character from the perspective of Aristotelian virtue ethics. Raja Halwani writes that Homer’s «love of life» is an admirable character trait, «for many people are tempted to see in Homer nothing but buffoonery and immorality. … He is not politically correct, he is more than happy to judge others, and he certainly does not seem to be obsessed with his health. These qualities might not make Homer an admirable person, but they do make him admirable in some ways, and, more importantly, makes us crave him and the Homer Simpsons of this world.»^[110] In 2008, Entertainment Weekly justified designating The Simpsons as a television classic by stating, «we all hail Simpson patriarch Homer because his joy is as palpable as his stupidity is stunning».^[111]

In the season eight episode «Homer’s Enemy» the writers decided to examine «what it would be like to actually work alongside Homer Simpson».^[112] The episode explores the possibilities of a realistic character with a strong work ethic named Frank Grimes placed alongside Homer in a work environment. In the episode, Homer is portrayed as an everyman and the embodiment of the American spirit; however, in some scenes his negative characteristics and silliness are prominently highlighted.^[113][114] By the end of the episode, Grimes, a hard working and persevering «real American hero», has become the villain; the viewer is intended to be pleased that Homer has emerged victorious.^[113]

In Gilligan Unbound, author Paul Arthur Cantor states that he believes Homer’s devotion to his family has added to the popularity of the character. He writes, «Homer is the distillation of pure fatherhood. … This is why, for all his stupidity, bigotry and self-centered quality, we cannot hate Homer. He continually fails at being a good father, but he never gives up trying, and in some basic and important sense that makes him a good father.»^[115] The Sunday Times remarked «Homer is good because, above all, he is capable of great love. When the chips are down, he always does the right thing by his children—he is never unfaithful in spite of several opportunities.»^[62]

Cultural influence

Homer Simpson is one of the most popular and influential television characters by a variety of standards. USA Today cited the character as being one of the «top 25 most influential people of the past 25 years» in 2007, adding that Homer «epitomized the irony and irreverence at the core of American humor».^[116] Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Center for the Study of Popular Television, believes that «three centuries from now, English professors are going to be regarding Homer Simpson as one of the greatest creations in human storytelling.»^[117] Animation historian Jerry Beck described Homer as one of the best animated characters, saying, «you know someone like it, or you identify with (it). That’s really the key to a classic character.»^[88] Homer has been described by The Sunday Times as «the greatest comic creation of [modern] time». The article remarked, «every age needs its great, consoling failure, its lovable, pretension-free mediocrity. And we have ours in Homer Simpson.»^[62]

Despite Homer’s partial embodiment of American culture, his influence has spread to other parts of the world. In 2003, Matt Groening revealed that his father, after whom Homer was named, was Canadian, and said that this made Homer himself a Canadian.^[118] The character was later made an honorary citizen of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, because Homer Groening was believed to be from there, although sources say the senior Groening was actually born in the province of Saskatchewan.^[119] In 2007, an image of Homer was painted next to the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, England as part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie. This caused outrage among local neopagans who performed «rain magic» to try to get it washed away.^[120] In 2008, a defaced Spanish euro coin was found in Avilés, Spain with the face of Homer replacing the effigy of King Juan Carlos I.^[121]

On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44-cent stamps featuring Homer 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.^[122] The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.^[123][124]

Homer has appeared, voiced by Castellaneta, in several other television shows, including the sixth season of American Idol where he opened the show;^[125] The Tonight Show with Jay Leno where he performed a special animated opening monologue for the July 24, 2007, edition;^[126] and the 2008 fundraising television special Stand Up to Cancer where he was shown having a colonoscopy.^[127]

On February 28, 1999, Homer Simpson was made an honorary member of the Junior Common Room of Worcester College, Oxford. Homer was granted the membership by the college’s undergraduate body in the belief that ″he would benefit greatly from an Oxford education″.^[128]

Homer has also been cited in the scientific literature, in relation to low intelligence or cognitive abilities. A 2010 study from Emory University showed that the RGS14 gene appeared to be impairing the development of cognitive abilities in mice (or, rather, that mice with a disabled RGS14 gene improved their cognitive abilities), prompting the authors to dub it the «Homer Simpson gene».^[129]

D’oh!

Homer’s main and most famous catchphrase, the annoyed grunt «D’oh!», is typically uttered when he injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him. During the voice recording session for a Tracey Ullman Show short, Homer was required to utter what was written in the script as an «annoyed grunt».^[130] Dan Castellaneta rendered it as a drawn out «d’ooooooh». This was inspired by Jimmy Finlayson, the mustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films.^[130] Finlayson had used the term as a minced oath to stand in for the word «Damn!» Matt Groening felt that it would better suit the timing of animation if it were spoken faster. Castellaneta then shortened it to a quickly uttered «D’oh!»^[131] The first intentional use of D’oh! occurred in the Ullman short «The Krusty the Clown Show»^[131] (1989), and its first usage in the series was in the series premiere, «Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire».^[132]

«D’oh!» was first added to The New Oxford Dictionary of English in 1998.^[130] It is defined as an interjection «used to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid».^[133] In 2001, «D’oh!» was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, without the apostrophe («Doh!»).^[134] The definition of the word is «expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish».^[135] In 2006, «D’oh!» was placed in sixth position on TV Land’s list of the 100 greatest television catchphrases.^[136][137] «D’oh!» is also included in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.^[138] The book includes several other quotations from Homer, including «Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try», from «Burns’ Heir» (season five, 1994) as well as «Kids are the best, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the Internet and all», from «Eight Misbehavin’« (season 11, 1999). Both quotes entered the dictionary in August 2007.^[139]

Merchandising

Homer’s inclusion in many Simpsons publications, toys, and other merchandise is evidence of his enduring popularity. The Homer Book, about Homer’s personality and attributes, was released in 2004 and is commercially available.^[140][141] It has been described as «an entertaining little book for occasional reading»^[142] and was listed as one of «the most interesting books of 2004» by The Chattanoogan.^[143] Other merchandise includes dolls, posters, figurines, bobblehead dolls, mugs, alarm clocks, jigsaw puzzles, Chia Pets, and clothing such as slippers, T-shirts, baseball caps, and boxer shorts.^[144] Homer has appeared in commercials for Coke, 1-800-COLLECT, Burger King, Butterfinger, C.C. Lemon, Church’s Chicken, Domino’s Pizza, Intel, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ramada Inn, Subway and T.G.I. Friday’s. In 2004, Homer starred in a MasterCard Priceless commercial that aired during Super Bowl XXXVIII.^[145] In 2001, Kelloggs launched a brand of cereal called «Homer’s Cinnamon Donut Cereal», which was available for a limited time.^[141][146] In June 2009, Dutch automotive navigation systems manufacturer TomTom announced that Homer would be added to its downloadable GPS voice lineup. Homer’s voice, recorded by Dan Castellaneta, features several in-character comments such as «Take the third right. We might find an ice cream truck! Mmm… ice cream.»^[147]

Homer has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons. He has appeared in every one of The Simpsons video games, including the most recent, The Simpsons Game.^[148] Homer appears as a playable character in the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, released via a «Level Pack» packaged with Homer’s Car and «Taunt-o-Vision» accessories in September 2015; the pack also adds an additional level based on the episode «The Mysterious Voyage of Homer».^[149] Alongside the television series, Homer regularly appeared in issues of Simpsons Comics, which were published from November 29, 1993, until October 17, 2018.^[150][151] Homer also plays a role in The Simpsons Ride, launched in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.^[152]

References

Citations

Sources

• Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M.
• Halwani, Raja (1999). «Homer and Aristotle». In Irwin, William; Conrad, Mark T.; Skoble, Aeon (eds.). The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer. Chicago, Illinois: Open Court. ISBN 978-0-8126-9433-8.
• Reiss, Mike; Klickstein, Mathew (2018). Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons. New York City: Dey Street Books. ISBN 978-0062748034.
• Turner, Chris (2004). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Foreword by Douglas Coupland. (1st ed.). Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 978-0-679-31318-2. OCLC 55682258.

Further reading

• Alberti, John, ed. (2003). Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-2849-1.
• Brown, Alan; Logan, Chris (2006). The Psychology of The Simpsons. BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-932100-70-9.
• Fink, Moritz (2019). The Simpsons: A Cultural History. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1616-6.
• Groening, Matt (2005). The Homer Book. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-111661-2.
• Groening, Matt (1991). The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-096582-2.
• Pinsky, Mark I (2004). The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World’s Most Animated Family. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22419-6.

External links

• Media related to Homer Simpson at Wikimedia Commons
• Homer Simpson on IMDb

Homer Simpson
The Simpsons character
Homer eating a classic strawberry sprinkled donut
First appearance	«Good Night» The Tracey Ullman Show (1987)
Created by	Matt Groening
Designed by	Matt Groening
Voiced by	Dan Castellaneta
In-universe information
Full name	Homer Jay Simpson
Occupation	Chemist and safety inspector Nuclear power plant operator
Affiliation	Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Family	Abraham Simpson (father) Mona Simpson (mother) Herbert Powell (half-brother) Abbey (half-sister)
Spouse	Marge Bouvier
Children	Bart Lisa Maggie
Relatives	Orville Simpson (grandfather) Yuma Simpson (grandmother) Cyrus Simpson (uncle)
Home	742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, United States
Nationality	American

Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.^[1] He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short «Good Night» on April 19, 1987. Homer was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of producer James L. Brooks’s 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. He named the character after his father, Homer Groening. After appearing for three seasons on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpson family got their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989. The show was later acquired by Disney in 2019.

As the nominal foreman of the paternally eponymous family, Homer and his wife Marge have three children: Bart, Lisa and Maggie. As the family’s provider, he works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as safety inspector. Homer embodies many American working class stereotypes: he is obese, immature, outspoken, aggressive, balding, lazy, ignorant, unprofessional, and fond of beer, junk food and watching television. However, he is fundamentally a good man and is staunchly protective of his family, especially when they need him the most. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of his life, he has had a number of remarkable experiences, including going to space, climbing the tallest mountain in Springfield by himself, fighting former President George H. W. Bush, and winning a Grammy Award as a member of a barbershop quartet.

In the shorts and earlier episodes, Castellaneta voiced Homer with a loose impression of Walter Matthau; however, during the second and third seasons of the half-hour show, Homer’s voice evolved to become more robust, to allow the expression of a fuller range of emotions. He 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. His signature catchphrase, the annoyed grunt «D’oh!», has been included in The New Oxford Dictionary of English since 1998 and the Oxford English Dictionary since 2001.

Homer is one of the most influential characters in the history of television, and is widely considered to be an American cultural icon. The British newspaper The Sunday Times described him as «The greatest comic creation of [modern] time». He was named the greatest character «of the last 20 years» in 2010 by Entertainment Weekly, was ranked the second-greatest cartoon character by TV Guide, behind Bugs Bunny, and was voted the greatest television character of all time by Channel 4 viewers. For voicing Homer, Castellaneta has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and a special-achievement Annie Award. In 2000, Homer and his family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Role in The Simpsons

Homer Jay Simpson is the bumbling husband of Marge, and father to Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson.^[2] He is the son of Mona and Abraham «Grampa» Simpson. Homer held over 188 different jobs in the first 400 episodes of The Simpsons.^[3] In most episodes, he works as the nuclear safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant (in Sector 7-G), a position which he has held since «Homer’s Odyssey», the third episode of the series, despite the fact that he is totally unsuitable for it.^[4] At the nuclear plant, Homer is often ignored and completely forgotten by his boss Mr. Burns, and he constantly falls asleep and neglects his duties. Matt Groening has stated that he decided to have Homer work at the power plant because of the potential for Homer to wreak severe havoc.^[5] Each of his other jobs has lasted only one episode. In the first half of the series, the writers developed an explanation about how he got fired from the plant and was then rehired in every episode. In later episodes, he often began a new job on impulse, without any mention of his regular employment.^[6]

The Simpsons uses a floating timeline in which the characters never physically age, and, as such, the show is generally assumed to be always set in the current year. Nevertheless, in several episodes, events in Homer’s life have been linked to specific time periods.^[2] «Mother Simpson» (season seven, 1995) depicts Homer’s mother, Mona, as a radical who went into hiding in 1969 following a run-in with the law;^[7] «The Way We Was» (season two, 1991) shows Homer falling in love with Marge Bouvier as a senior at Springfield High School in 1974;^[8] and «I Married Marge» (season three, 1991) implies that Marge became pregnant with Bart in 1980.^[9] However, the episode «That ’90s Show» (season 19, 2008) contradicted much of this backstory, portraying Homer and Marge as a twentysomething childless couple in the early 1990s.^[10] The episode «Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars» (season 32, 2021) further contradicts this backstory, putting Homer’s adolescence in the 1990s. Showrunner Matt Selman has explained that no version was the «official continuity.» and that «they all kind of happened in their imaginary world, you know, and people can choose to love whichever version they love.»^[11]

Due to the floating timeline, Homer’s age has changed occasionally as the series developed; he was 34 in the early episodes,^[8] 36 in season four,^[12] 38 and 39 in season eight,^[13] and 40 in the eighteenth season,^[14] although even in those seasons his age is inconsistent.^[2] In the fourth season episode «Duffless», Homer’s drivers license shows his birthdate of being May 12, 1956,^[15] which would have made him 36 years old at the time of the episode. During Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein’s period as showrunners, they found that as they aged, Homer seemed to become older too, so they increased his age to 38. His height is 6′ (1.83 m).^[16]

Character

Creation

Naming the characters after members of his own family, Groening named Homer after his father, who himself had been named after the ancient Greek poet of the same name.^[17][18][19] Very little else of Homer’s character was based on him, and to prove that the meaning behind Homer’s name was not significant, Groening later named his own son Homer.^[20][21] According to Groening, «Homer originated with my goal to both amuse my real father, and just annoy him a little bit. My father was an athletic, creative, intelligent filmmaker and writer, and the only thing he had in common with Homer was a love of donuts.»^[22] Although Groening has stated in several interviews that Homer was named after his father, he also claimed in several 1990 interviews that a character called precisely Homer Simpson in the 1939 Nathanael West novel The Day of the Locust as well as in the eponymous 1975 movie, was the inspiration.^[2][23][24] In 2012 he clarified, «I took that name from a minor character in the novel The Day of the Locust… Since Homer was my father’s name, and I thought Simpson was a funny name in that it had the word “simp” in it, which is short for “simpleton”—I just went with it.»^[25] Homer’s middle initial «J», which stands for «Jay»,^[26] is a «tribute» to animated characters such as Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, who got their middle initial from Jay Ward.^[27]

Homer made his debut with the rest of the Simpson family on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short «Good Night».^[28] In 1989, the shorts were adapted into The Simpsons, a half-hour series airing on the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer and the Simpson family remained the main characters on this new show.^[29]

Design

As currently depicted in the series, Homer’s everyday clothing consists of a white shirt with short sleeves and open collar, blue pants, and gray shoes. He is overweight and bald, except for a fringe of hair around the back and sides of his head and two curling hairs on top, and his face always sports a growth of beard stubble that instantly regrows whenever he shaves.

The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.^[30] 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.^[17] By coincidence or not, Homer’s look bears a resemblance to the cartoon character Adamsson, created by Swedish cartoonist Oscar Jacobsson in 1920.^[31] Homer’s physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no characters other than Homer, Grampa Simpson, Lenny Leonard, and Krusty the Clown have a similar beard line.^[32] When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his initials into the character’s hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an ‘M’, and the right ear resembled a ‘G’. Groening decided that this would be too distracting and redesigned the ear to look normal. However, he still draws the ear as a ‘G’ when he draws pictures of Homer for fans.^[33] The basic shape of Homer’s head is described by director Mark Kirkland as a tube-shaped coffee can with a salad bowl on top.^[34] During the shorts, the animators experimented with the way Homer would move his mouth when talking. At one point, his mouth would stretch out back «beyond his beardline»; but this was dropped when it got «out of control.»^[35] In some early episodes, Homer’s hair was rounded rather than sharply pointed because animation director Wes Archer felt it should look disheveled. Homer’s hair evolved to be consistently pointed.^[36] During the first three seasons, Homer’s design for some close-up shots included small lines which were meant to be eyebrows. Groening strongly disliked them and they were eventually dropped.^[36]

In the season seven (1995) episode «Treehouse of Horror VI», Homer was computer animated into a three-dimensional character for the first time for the «Homer³» segment of the episode. The computer animation directors at Pacific Data Images worked hard not to «reinvent the character».^[37] In the final minute of the segment, the 3D Homer ends up in a real world, live-action Los Angeles. The scene was directed by David Mirkin and was the first time a Simpsons character had been in the real world in the series.^[37] Because «Lisa’s Wedding» (season six, 1995) is set fifteen years in the future, Homer’s design was altered to make him older in the episode. He is heavier; one of the hairs on top of his head was removed; and an extra line was placed under the eye. A similar design has been used in subsequent flashforwards.^[38]

Voice

Homer’s voice is performed by Dan Castellaneta, who voices numerous other characters, including Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Barney Gumble, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby and Hans Moleman. Castellaneta had been part of the regular cast of The Tracey Ullman Show and had previously done some voice-over work in Chicago alongside his wife Deb Lacusta. Voices were needed for the Simpsons shorts, so the producers decided to ask Castellaneta and fellow cast member Julie Kavner to voice Homer and Marge rather than hire more actors.^[39][40] In the shorts and first season of the half-hour show, Homer’s voice is different from the majority of the series. The voice began as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but Castellaneta could not «get enough power behind that voice»,^[40] or sustain his Matthau impression for the nine- to ten-hour-long recording sessions, and had to find something easier.^[3] During the second and third seasons of the half-hour show, Castellaneta «dropped the voice down»^[39] and developed it as more versatile and humorous, allowing Homer a fuller range of emotions.^[41]

Castellaneta’s normal speaking voice does not bear any resemblance to Homer’s.^[42] To perform Homer’s voice, Castellaneta lowers his chin to his chest^[40] and is said to «let his I.Q. go».^[43] While in this state, he has ad-libbed several of Homer’s least intelligent comments,^[43] such as the line «S-M-R-T; I mean, S-M-A-R-T!» from «Homer Goes to College» (season five, 1993) which was a genuine mistake made by Castellaneta during recording.^[44] Castellaneta likes to stay in character during recording sessions,^[45] and he tries to visualize a scene so that he can give the proper voice to it.^[46] Despite Homer’s fame, Castellaneta claims he is rarely recognized in public, «except, maybe, by a die-hard fan».^[45]

«Homer’s Barbershop Quartet» (season five, 1993) is the only episode where Homer’s voice was provided by someone other than Castellaneta. The episode features Homer forming a barbershop quartet called The Be Sharps; and, at some points, his singing voice is provided by a member of The Dapper Dans.^[47] The Dapper Dans had recorded the singing parts for all four members of The Be Sharps. Their singing was intermixed with the normal voice actors’ voices, often with a regular voice actor singing the melody and the Dapper Dans providing backup.^[48]

Until 1998, Castellaneta 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 for casting of new voices.^[49] However, the dispute was soon resolved and he received $125,000 per episode until 2004 when the voice actors demanded that they be paid $360,000 an episode.^[49] The issue was resolved a month later,^[50] and Castellaneta earned $250,000 per episode.^[51] After salary re-negotiations in 2008, the voice actors receive approximately $400,000 per episode.^[52] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Castellaneta and the other cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.^[53]

Character development

Executive producer Al Jean notes that in The Simpsons‘ writing room, «everyone loves writing for Homer», and many of his adventures are based on experiences of the writers.^[54] In the early seasons of the show, Bart was the main focus. But, around the fourth season, Homer became more of the focus. According to Matt Groening, this was because «With Homer, there’s just a wider range of jokes you can do. And there are far more drastic consequences to Homer’s stupidity. There’s only so far you can go with a juvenile delinquent. We wanted Bart to do anything up to the point of him being tried in court as a dad. But Homer is a dad, and his boneheaded-ness is funnier. […] Homer is launching himself headfirst into every single impulsive thought that occurs to him.»^[22]

Homer’s behavior has changed a number of times through the run of the series. He was originally «very angry» and oppressive toward Bart, but these characteristics were toned down somewhat as his persona was further explored.^[55] In early seasons, Homer appeared concerned that his family was going to make him look bad; however, in later episodes he was less anxious about how he was perceived by others.^[56] In the first several years, Homer was often portrayed as dumb yet well-meaning, but during Mike Scully’s tenure as executive producer (seasons nine, 1997 to twelve, 2001), he became more of «a boorish, self-aggrandizing oaf».^[57] Chris Suellentrop of Slate wrote, «under Scully’s tenure, The Simpsons became, well, a cartoon. … Episodes that once would have ended with Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset… now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge’s neck.»^[58] Fans have dubbed this incarnation of the character «Jerkass Homer».^[59][60][61] At voice recording sessions, Castellaneta has rejected material written in the script that portrayed Homer as being too mean. He believes that Homer is «boorish and unthinking, but he’d never be mean on purpose.»^[62] When editing The Simpsons Movie, several scenes were changed to make Homer more sympathetic.^[63]

The writers have depicted Homer with a declining intelligence over the years; they explain this was not done intentionally, but it was necessary to top previous jokes.^[64] For example, in «When You Dish Upon a Star», (season 10, 1998) the writers included a scene where Homer admits that he cannot read. The writers debated including this plot twist because it would contradict previous scenes in which Homer does read, but eventually they decided to keep the joke because they found it humorous. The writers often debate how far to go in portraying Homer’s stupidity; one suggested rule is that «he can never forget his own name».^[65]

Personality

The comic efficacy of Homer’s personality lies in his frequent bouts of bumbling stupidity, laziness and his explosive anger. He has a low intelligence level and is described by director David Silverman as «creatively brilliant in his stupidity».^[66] Homer also shows immense apathy towards work, is overweight, and «is devoted to his stomach».^[66] His short attention span is evidenced by his impulsive decisions to engage in various hobbies and enterprises, only to «change … his mind when things go badly».^[66] Homer often spends his evenings drinking Duff Beer at Moe’s Tavern, and was shown in the episode «Duffless» (season four, 1993) as a full-blown alcoholic.^[67] He is very envious of his neighbors, Ned Flanders and his family, and is easily enraged by Bart. Homer will often strangle Bart on impulse upon Bart angering him (and can also be seen saying one of his catchphrases, «Why you little—!») in a cartoonish manner. The first instance of Homer strangling Bart was in the short «Family Portrait». According to Groening, the rule was that Homer could only strangle Bart impulsively, never with premeditation,^[68] because doing so «seems sadistic. If we keep it that he’s ruled by his impulses, then he can easily switch impulses. So, even though he impulsively wants to strangle Bart, he also gives up fairly easily.»^[22] Another of the original ideas entertained by Groening was that Homer would «always get his comeuppance or Bart had to strangle him back», but this was dropped.^[69] Homer shows no compunction about expressing his rage, and does not attempt to hide his actions from people outside the family.^[66]

Homer has complex relationships with his family. As previously noted, he and Bart are the most at odds; but the two commonly share adventures and are sometimes allies, with some episodes (particularly in later seasons) showing that the pair have a strange respect for each other’s cunning. Homer and Lisa have opposite personalities and he usually overlooks Lisa’s talents, but when made aware of his neglect, does everything he can to help her. The show also occasionally implies Homer forgets he has a third child, Maggie; while the episode «And Maggie Makes Three» suggests she is the chief reason Homer took and remains at his regular job (season six, 1995). While Homer’s thoughtless antics often upset his family, he on many occasions has also revealed himself to be a caring and loving father and husband: in «Lisa the Beauty Queen», (season four, 1992) he sold his cherished ride on the Duff blimp and used the money to enter Lisa in a beauty pageant so she could feel better about herself;^[12] in «Rosebud», (season five, 1993) he gave up his chance at wealth to allow Maggie to keep a cherished teddy bear;^[70] in «Radio Bart», (season three, 1992) he spearheads an attempt to dig Bart out after he had fallen down a well;^[71] in «A Milhouse Divided», (season eight, 1996) he arranges a surprise second wedding with Marge to make up for their unsatisfactory first ceremony;^[72] and despite a poor relationship with his father Abraham «Grampa» Simpson, whom he placed in a nursing home as soon as he could^[73] while the Simpson family often do their best to avoid unnecessary contact with Grampa, Homer has shown feelings of love for his father from time to time.^[74]

Homer is «a (happy) slave to his various appetites».^[75] He has an apparently vacuous mind, but occasionally exhibits a surprising depth of knowledge about various subjects, such as the composition of the Supreme Court of the United States,^[76] Inca mythology,^[77] bankruptcy law,^[78] and cell biology.^[79] Homer’s brief periods of intelligence are overshadowed, however, by much longer and consistent periods of ignorance, forgetfulness, and stupidity. Homer has a low IQ of 55, which would actually make him unable to speak or perform basic tasks, and has variously been attributed to the hereditary «Simpson Gene» (which eventually causes every male member of the family to become incredibly stupid),^[80] his alcohol problem, exposure to radioactive waste, repetitive cranial trauma,^[81] and a crayon lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain.^[82] In the 2001 episode «HOMR», Homer has the crayon removed, boosting his IQ to 105; although he bonds with Lisa, his newfound capacity for understanding and reason makes him unhappy, and he has the crayon reinserted.^[82] Homer often debates with his own mind, expressed in voiceover. His mind has a tendency to offer dubious advice, which occasionally helps him make the right decision, but often fails spectacularly. His mind has even become completely frustrated and, through sound effects, walked out on Homer.^[83] These exchanges were often introduced because they filled time and were easy for the animators to work on.^[84] They were phased out after the producers «used every possible permutation».^[84]

Producer Mike Reiss said Homer was his favorite Simpsons character to write: «Homer’s just a comedy writer’s dream. He has everything wrong with him, every comedy trope. He’s fat and bald and stupid and lazy and angry and an alcoholic. I’m pretty sure he embodies all seven deadly sins.» John Swartzwelder, who wrote 60 episodes, said he wrote Homer as if he were «a big talking dog … One moment he’s the saddest man in the world, because he’s just lost his job, or dropped his sandwich, or accidentally killed his family. Then, the next moment, he’s the happiest man in the world, because he’s just found a penny — maybe under one of his dead family members … If you write him as a dog you’ll never go wrong.»^[85] Reiss felt this was insightful, saying: «Homer is just pure emotion, no long-term memory, everything is instant gratification. And, you know, has good dog qualities, too. I think, loyalty, friendliness, and just kind of continuous optimism.»^[86]

Reception

Commendations

Homer’s influence on comedy and culture has been significant. In 2010, Entertainment Weekly named Homer «the greatest character of the last 20 years».^[87] He was placed second on TV Guide‘s 2002 Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters, behind Bugs Bunny;^[88] fifth on Bravo’s 100 Greatest TV Characters, one of only four cartoon characters on that list;^[89] and first in a Channel 4 poll of the greatest television characters of all time.^[90] In 2007, Entertainment Weekly placed Homer ninth on their list of the «50 Greatest TV icons» and first on their 2010 list of the «Top 100 Characters of the Past Twenty Years».^[91][22][92] Homer was also the runaway winner in British polls that determined who viewers thought was the «greatest American»^[93] and which fictional character people would like to see become the President of the United States.^[94] His relationship with Marge was included in TV Guide‘s list of «The Best TV Couples of All Time».^[95] In 2022, Paste writers claimed that Homer is the second best cartoon character of all time.^[96]

Dan Castellaneta has won several awards for voicing Homer, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for «Outstanding Voice-Over Performance» in 1992 for «Lisa’s Pony», 1993 for «Mr. Plow»,^[97] in 2004 for «Today I Am a Clown»,^[98] and in 2009 for «Father Knows Worst».^[99] However, in the case of «Today I Am a Clown», it was for voicing «various characters» and not solely for Homer.^[98] In 2010, Castellaneta received a fifth Emmy nomination for voicing Homer and Grampa in the episode «Thursdays with Abie».^[100] In 1993, Castellaneta was given a special Annie Award, «Outstanding Individual Achievement in the Field of Animation», for his work as Homer on The Simpsons.^[101][102] In 2004, Castellaneta and Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge) won a Young Artist Award for «Most Popular Mom & Dad in a TV Series».^[103] In 2005, Homer and Marge were nominated for a Teen Choice Award for «Choice TV Parental Units».^[104] Various episodes in which Homer is strongly featured have won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program, including «Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment» in 1991, «Lisa’s Wedding» in 1995, «Homer’s Phobia» in 1997, «Trash of the Titans» in 1998, «HOMR» in 2001, «Three Gays of the Condo» in 2003 and «Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind» in 2008.^[97] In 2000, Homer and the rest of the Simpson family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.^[105] In 2017, Homer Simpson was celebrated by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, to honor the 25th anniversary of the episode «Homer at the Bat».^[106]

Analysis

Homer is an «everyman» and embodies several American stereotypes of working class blue-collar men: he is crude, overweight, incompetent, dim-witted, childish, clumsy and a borderline alcoholic.^[2] Matt Groening describes him as «completely ruled by his impulses».^[107] Dan Castellaneta calls him «a dog trapped in a man’s body», adding, «He’s incredibly loyal – not entirely clean – but you gotta love him.»^[40] In his book Planet Simpson, author Chris Turner describes Homer as «the most American of the Simpsons» and believes that while the other Simpson family members could be changed to other nationalities, Homer is «pure American».^[108] In the book God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture, the authors comment that «Homer’s progress (or lack thereof) reveals a character who can do the right thing, if accidentally or begrudgingly.»^[109] The book The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer includes a chapter analyzing Homer’s character from the perspective of Aristotelian virtue ethics. Raja Halwani writes that Homer’s «love of life» is an admirable character trait, «for many people are tempted to see in Homer nothing but buffoonery and immorality. … He is not politically correct, he is more than happy to judge others, and he certainly does not seem to be obsessed with his health. These qualities might not make Homer an admirable person, but they do make him admirable in some ways, and, more importantly, makes us crave him and the Homer Simpsons of this world.»^[110] In 2008, Entertainment Weekly justified designating The Simpsons as a television classic by stating, «we all hail Simpson patriarch Homer because his joy is as palpable as his stupidity is stunning».^[111]

In the season eight episode «Homer’s Enemy» the writers decided to examine «what it would be like to actually work alongside Homer Simpson».^[112] The episode explores the possibilities of a realistic character with a strong work ethic named Frank Grimes placed alongside Homer in a work environment. In the episode, Homer is portrayed as an everyman and the embodiment of the American spirit; however, in some scenes his negative characteristics and silliness are prominently highlighted.^[113][114] By the end of the episode, Grimes, a hard working and persevering «real American hero», has become the villain; the viewer is intended to be pleased that Homer has emerged victorious.^[113]

In Gilligan Unbound, author Paul Arthur Cantor states that he believes Homer’s devotion to his family has added to the popularity of the character. He writes, «Homer is the distillation of pure fatherhood. … This is why, for all his stupidity, bigotry and self-centered quality, we cannot hate Homer. He continually fails at being a good father, but he never gives up trying, and in some basic and important sense that makes him a good father.»^[115] The Sunday Times remarked «Homer is good because, above all, he is capable of great love. When the chips are down, he always does the right thing by his children—he is never unfaithful in spite of several opportunities.»^[62]

Cultural influence

Homer Simpson is one of the most popular and influential television characters by a variety of standards. USA Today cited the character as being one of the «top 25 most influential people of the past 25 years» in 2007, adding that Homer «epitomized the irony and irreverence at the core of American humor».^[116] Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Center for the Study of Popular Television, believes that «three centuries from now, English professors are going to be regarding Homer Simpson as one of the greatest creations in human storytelling.»^[117] Animation historian Jerry Beck described Homer as one of the best animated characters, saying, «you know someone like it, or you identify with (it). That’s really the key to a classic character.»^[88] Homer has been described by The Sunday Times as «the greatest comic creation of [modern] time». The article remarked, «every age needs its great, consoling failure, its lovable, pretension-free mediocrity. And we have ours in Homer Simpson.»^[62]

Despite Homer’s partial embodiment of American culture, his influence has spread to other parts of the world. In 2003, Matt Groening revealed that his father, after whom Homer was named, was Canadian, and said that this made Homer himself a Canadian.^[118] The character was later made an honorary citizen of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, because Homer Groening was believed to be from there, although sources say the senior Groening was actually born in the province of Saskatchewan.^[119] In 2007, an image of Homer was painted next to the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, England as part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie. This caused outrage among local neopagans who performed «rain magic» to try to get it washed away.^[120] In 2008, a defaced Spanish euro coin was found in Avilés, Spain with the face of Homer replacing the effigy of King Juan Carlos I.^[121]

On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44-cent stamps featuring Homer 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.^[122] The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.^[123][124]

Homer has appeared, voiced by Castellaneta, in several other television shows, including the sixth season of American Idol where he opened the show;^[125] The Tonight Show with Jay Leno where he performed a special animated opening monologue for the July 24, 2007, edition;^[126] and the 2008 fundraising television special Stand Up to Cancer where he was shown having a colonoscopy.^[127]

On February 28, 1999, Homer Simpson was made an honorary member of the Junior Common Room of Worcester College, Oxford. Homer was granted the membership by the college’s undergraduate body in the belief that ″he would benefit greatly from an Oxford education″.^[128]

Homer has also been cited in the scientific literature, in relation to low intelligence or cognitive abilities. A 2010 study from Emory University showed that the RGS14 gene appeared to be impairing the development of cognitive abilities in mice (or, rather, that mice with a disabled RGS14 gene improved their cognitive abilities), prompting the authors to dub it the «Homer Simpson gene».^[129]

D’oh!

Homer’s main and most famous catchphrase, the annoyed grunt «D’oh!», is typically uttered when he injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him. During the voice recording session for a Tracey Ullman Show short, Homer was required to utter what was written in the script as an «annoyed grunt».^[130] Dan Castellaneta rendered it as a drawn out «d’ooooooh». This was inspired by Jimmy Finlayson, the mustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films.^[130] Finlayson had used the term as a minced oath to stand in for the word «Damn!» Matt Groening felt that it would better suit the timing of animation if it were spoken faster. Castellaneta then shortened it to a quickly uttered «D’oh!»^[131] The first intentional use of D’oh! occurred in the Ullman short «The Krusty the Clown Show»^[131] (1989), and its first usage in the series was in the series premiere, «Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire».^[132]

«D’oh!» was first added to The New Oxford Dictionary of English in 1998.^[130] It is defined as an interjection «used to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid».^[133] In 2001, «D’oh!» was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, without the apostrophe («Doh!»).^[134] The definition of the word is «expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish».^[135] In 2006, «D’oh!» was placed in sixth position on TV Land’s list of the 100 greatest television catchphrases.^[136][137] «D’oh!» is also included in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.^[138] The book includes several other quotations from Homer, including «Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try», from «Burns’ Heir» (season five, 1994) as well as «Kids are the best, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the Internet and all», from «Eight Misbehavin’« (season 11, 1999). Both quotes entered the dictionary in August 2007.^[139]

Merchandising

Homer’s inclusion in many Simpsons publications, toys, and other merchandise is evidence of his enduring popularity. The Homer Book, about Homer’s personality and attributes, was released in 2004 and is commercially available.^[140][141] It has been described as «an entertaining little book for occasional reading»^[142] and was listed as one of «the most interesting books of 2004» by The Chattanoogan.^[143] Other merchandise includes dolls, posters, figurines, bobblehead dolls, mugs, alarm clocks, jigsaw puzzles, Chia Pets, and clothing such as slippers, T-shirts, baseball caps, and boxer shorts.^[144] Homer has appeared in commercials for Coke, 1-800-COLLECT, Burger King, Butterfinger, C.C. Lemon, Church’s Chicken, Domino’s Pizza, Intel, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ramada Inn, Subway and T.G.I. Friday’s. In 2004, Homer starred in a MasterCard Priceless commercial that aired during Super Bowl XXXVIII.^[145] In 2001, Kelloggs launched a brand of cereal called «Homer’s Cinnamon Donut Cereal», which was available for a limited time.^[141][146] In June 2009, Dutch automotive navigation systems manufacturer TomTom announced that Homer would be added to its downloadable GPS voice lineup. Homer’s voice, recorded by Dan Castellaneta, features several in-character comments such as «Take the third right. We might find an ice cream truck! Mmm… ice cream.»^[147]

Homer has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons. He has appeared in every one of The Simpsons video games, including the most recent, The Simpsons Game.^[148] Homer appears as a playable character in the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, released via a «Level Pack» packaged with Homer’s Car and «Taunt-o-Vision» accessories in September 2015; the pack also adds an additional level based on the episode «The Mysterious Voyage of Homer».^[149] Alongside the television series, Homer regularly appeared in issues of Simpsons Comics, which were published from November 29, 1993, until October 17, 2018.^[150][151] Homer also plays a role in The Simpsons Ride, launched in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.^[152]

References

Citations

Sources

• Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M.
• Halwani, Raja (1999). «Homer and Aristotle». In Irwin, William; Conrad, Mark T.; Skoble, Aeon (eds.). The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer. Chicago, Illinois: Open Court. ISBN 978-0-8126-9433-8.
• Reiss, Mike; Klickstein, Mathew (2018). Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons. New York City: Dey Street Books. ISBN 978-0062748034.
• Turner, Chris (2004). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Foreword by Douglas Coupland. (1st ed.). Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 978-0-679-31318-2. OCLC 55682258.

Further reading

• Alberti, John, ed. (2003). Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-2849-1.
• Brown, Alan; Logan, Chris (2006). The Psychology of The Simpsons. BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-932100-70-9.
• Fink, Moritz (2019). The Simpsons: A Cultural History. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1616-6.
• Groening, Matt (2005). The Homer Book. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-111661-2.
• Groening, Matt (1991). The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-096582-2.
• Pinsky, Mark I (2004). The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World’s Most Animated Family. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22419-6.

External links

• Media related to Homer Simpson at Wikimedia Commons
• Homer Simpson on IMDb

Homer Jay Simpson (born May 12, 1950)^[40] is a man from Springfield. He is the spouse of Marge Simpson and father of Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson. Homer is overweight (said to be 313.1 pounds)^[41], lazy, and often ignorant to the world around him. Although he has many flaws, he has shown to have great caring, love, and even bravery to those he cares about and, sometimes, even others he doesn’t.

His favorite color is blue, and he enjoys dancing, eating donuts, drinking, hugging, driving a sit-down arcade racer, playing the piano and horse riding. His favorite kiddie rides are «Stuart Little», «Barney Train» and «Ride the Champion Mechanical Horse».

Homer works as a low-level safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in Sector 7G, although he is often incompetent and negligent towards his duties. He spends a great deal of his time at Moe’s Tavern with his friends Barney Gumble, Carl Carlson, Lenny Leonard, and Moe Szyslak. At home, he can often be found sitting on the couch mindlessly watching TV while snacking on food and drinking Duff. Homer is also the only son of Abraham Simpson II and Mona Simpson. When provoked, he often strangles Bart for pressuring him. Even though he mutually hates his wife’s sisters Patty and Selma Bouvier, he played Selma’s husband for her to adopt Ling and agreed to be the minister for Patty’s intended homosexual marriage. As a result of this, Homer is her legal adoptive father.^[42]

Homer may just be a normal man, but he has had many great achievements and experiences in his life. He has won a Grammy, an Academy Award, a Pulitzer Prize, been to space and saved Springfield many times.

Biography

Homer Jay Simpson was born on May 12, 1956, to Abraham Simpson II and Mona Olsen. He was raised on the Simpson family farm until they were forced to move out due to Homer jumping out of a hay bale and scaring the cows into giving sour milk, causing the bank to foreclose it. At some point in his childhood, Homer began drinking alcohol like his father and accidentally caused a traffic jam in a Playskool car. According to a family tree designed by the creator of the show, Matt Groening, Mr. Burns, his boss, is a distant relative of him.

His father forced him to attend Camp See-A-Tree, where he went on a date with Marge Bouvier from Camp Land-A-Man; unfortunately, he lied about his name and sustained an injury while Marge changed her appearance. Homer then accidentally stumbled into Camp Flab-Away and escaped too late to meet with her again, something that left him as heartbroken as Marge.^[43]

When Homer was around twelve, his mother went into hiding following a run-in with the law and Abe faked her death^[44]; before that, she took Homer and Abe to Woodstock, where he ended up briefly adopting the hippie lifestyle, much to Abe’s disapproval. Homer, along with Lenny, Carl, and Moe, went to a deep gorge to swim but the water was drained. When investigating why the lake was reduced to a muddy pit, he stumbled upon a decomposing corpse inside a nearby pipe, greatly traumatizing him.

When he was 15, Homer participated in a drinking contest by lying that he was 22. However, he became so intoxicated he ended up drinking a whole beer keg used to fill the other contestants’ cups. Eventually he was so hungover he missed almost an entire month of school.

Before beginning high school, Homer convinced Barney to have a beer can while his father was asleep. Barney, an aspiring student preparing for Harvard, was annoyed and reluctantly drank it. However, he took to alcohol so quickly he nigh-permanently became a worse drunken wreck than Homer and presumably failed his SAT tests.^[45]

Homer attended Springfield High School, falling in love with an older and unrecognizable Marge after she ultimately rejected Artie Ziff.^[46] After finishing (but not graduating from) high school, Marge and Homer bought an apartment at Springfield Place together. During this time, Marge got a letter accepting her into a college. To pay for her tuition, Abe gave his son a job at Simpson Laser Tag. The couple broke up for some time after Homer started a grunge band called Sadgasm. Marge later realized that she really loved Homer and went back to him.^[47] At some point between finishing high school and marrying Marge, Homer briefly served in the U.S. Army but never saw combat. Due to a clerical error, he was discharged early, and years later, after a disastrous dinner party with his old sergeant, Homer was forced to complete his tour of duty.

In his early 20s, Homer was working at Sir Putt-A-Lot’s Merrie Olde Fun Centre, turning the crank that spun the windmill. After a night out with Marge, he learned that he’d prematurely impregnated her with their first child, who they decided to name «Bart» if it was a boy. He got married with Marge at Shotgun Pete’s, a small wedding chapel across the state line. They spent their wedding reception alone at a truck stop before ending up at the Bouvier house.

After failing to get a job at the power plant, Homer eventually left Marge to support his family. He went to work at the restaurant Gulp ‘n’ Blow until Marge convinced him to return home with her. As a result, Homer confronted Charles Montgomery Burns and secured a job at the plant.^[48] Two years after Bart was born, Marge became pregnant again with Lisa shortly before they bought their first house.^[49] Homer’s second leap to stardom was his success as the lead singer and songwriter for the barbershop quartet The Be Sharps, even winning a Grammy. During his time with the group, Homer was frequently absent which put stress on his marriage. After the group broke up due to creative differences, Homer went back to Springfield.^[50]

When in his 30s, Homer prepared a budget so that he could work at his dream job, a pin monkey at the Bowlarama Bowling Alley, owned by Barney’s uncle Al Gumble. The budget included buying regular toilet paper and that only one of the kids could go to college. Unfortunately for Homer, Marge became pregnant once more with Maggie around this time, and he reluctantly went back to the nuclear plant in order to support his family.^[51] Since then, Homer has started many jobs, but in the end, he always comes back to his job at the Nuclear Plant.

Childhood Summary

Homer’s childhood was a tragic one. His mother had to exile at a young age and his father never took notice to Homer. This caused Homer to be very insecure about himself and underachieving things, thinking he lacked the skills to do so, which left him behind in almost everything and likely caused him to be what he is today.

Jobs

“(To his safety rally) Friends, you have come to depend on me as your safety watchdog so you won’t scrape yourself or stub your toes or blow yourselves up. But you can’t depend on me all your life. You have to learn that there’s a little Homer Simpson in all of us, and I’m going to have to live without your respect and awe. The only reason I’m telling you this is I’m going to be leaving you, but don’t worry. I have just been appointed the new safety inspector at this very plant with a big, fat raise!”

―Homer Simpson^[src]

In «Homer Scissorhands», he worked as a hairdresser, but then he got tired of it and returned to his old job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.^[52]

In «Homer’s Odyssey», he worked at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as a technical supervisor. He was fired by Barry Mackleberry (right in front of Bart), who was his supervisor, for creating a deadly gas leak. He was later rehired to safety inspector for Sector 7G, after complaining about the safety of the plant itself. Ironically, the accidents that occur at the plant have doubled every year since Homer was made safety inspector.^[53]

Homer rarely attends his job, and yet seldom gets fired (and when he does get fired, he always ends up rehired somehow) and always has his job waiting when he plans to get rehired and has impulsively quit occasionally to pursue other careers, although he always ends up losing or quitting these jobs. On one occasion, Homer has misinterpreted a threat about losing his job as a hint that he can take the following day off.

Homer also applied for a job as Santa, to make up for his missed Christmas bonus at the power plant.^[54]

Criminal Record

This article or section is incomplete. Please improve the article, or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Homer has committed a wide range of crimes and infractions, from ticket-worthy offenses to felonies. He’s spent little time in jail for his actions, but if he were to be found guilty of all the counts detailed below, he could find himself sentenced to life in jail plus 350 years and fined somewhere in the range of $120 million (and lose custody of his children, in the child abuse/neglect case). Here’s a run-down of Homer’s crimes, along with some prime examples:

• Animal cruelty: In «Homer Goes to College», Homer steals mascot Sir Oinks-A-Lot and makes it drink malt liquor. In «Girly Edition», he allows a helper monkey to eat to exhaustion. In «Marge Simpson in: «Screaming Yellow Honkers»», he hits a lemur at the zoo with a slingshot, triggering rhinos to escape. In «Kill the Alligator and Run», he runs over and injures an alligator with an airboat. In «She of Little Faith», he shoots a hamster into the air in a model rocket. In «The Frying Game», he injures an endangered species, the Screamapillar. In «Bonfire of the Manatees», he sends a manatee to work as his replacement, causing it to dehydrate. In «We’re on the Road to D’oh-where», he runs over a horse on the way to pick up Bart from camp; asks Bart to wipe the blood off the car before getting in. In «Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)», he drives off-road to get to Marge’s art show, running over an owl, a bear, and a boy scout. In «Homerazzi», he has a photo of him strangling a deer. In Goo Goo Gai Pan, he strangles a baby panda after he gets bitten by him.
• Enforced murder: In Treehouse of Horror XXII, in the story «Dial ‘D’ for Diddily», Homer impersonates God and, by using a voice-changer and a speaker, gets Ned Flanders to murder his enemies including Snake Jailbird, Charles Montgomery Burns, Robert Terwilliger, Patty Bouvier and Selma Bouvier. However, the cover is blown when he greets Bart.
• Fraud in «The Great Money Caper» Homer and Bart scam people using guilt.
• Bail jumping: In «Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes», Homer jumps bail on fighting charges; pursued by Flanders.
• Blast fishing: In The Simpsons Movie, Homer uses a bug zapper to electrocute the fish in a lake.
• Burglary (Unarmed): In «Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo», Homer tries to rob Flanders’ house. In «Insane Clown Poppy», he steals a violin from Fat Tony. In «‘Tis the Fifteenth Season», he steals the town’s Christmas presents, a la the Grinch. In «Fat Man and Little Boy», he steals plutonium from the power plant.
• Buying illegal fireworks: In «Summer of 4 Ft. 2», Homer buys illegal fireworks from a convenience store at the beach.
• Telemarketing
• Destruction of Property: In the episode «Homer Badman», Homer opens a can of Buzz Cola and pop rocks and puts the cola in the pop rocks, then shaking it up to agitate the contents. He then throws it at the angry mob in the candy convention and the mixture explodes, causing the windows to shatter as Homer exits flying out of the building.
• Grifting: Homer and Bart swindle people out of their money in «The Great Money Caper».
• Endangerment
• Extreme pollution: The events of the Simpsons Movie revolve around the family saving Springfield after Homer Simpson dumps a silo of pig poo into Lake Springfield, severely polluting it.
• Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol
• Theft: Just a single example would be «King-Size Homer», where an obese Homer tried to get a ride, but then stole an ice cream truck.
• Trespassing
• Panhandling
• Child neglect/abuse: Homer often strangles Bart and has also choked others. In «Like Father, Like Clown», when he tells Bart he doesn’t have to follow in his footsteps, Bart says he won’t even use the bathroom after him, and Homer strangles him. In «Lisa’s Pony», a home video of him being too busy strangling Bart to notice Lisa saying «Dada». In «Radio Bart», he strangles Bart after he realizes Bart fooled him with a fake radio announcement. In «Lisa’s First Word», he strangles baby Bart for calling him «Domer» and for flushing his wallet down the toilet. In «So It’s Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show», he strangles Bart after he admits to shaking up the beer can. In «Secrets of a Successful Marriage», while teaching a class on building a successful marriage, Homer strangles Bart when he says that Homer dared him to steal mail and throw it down a sewer. In «Lisa the Tree Hugger», while protesting in a tree, Lisa looks at the house through binoculars and sees Homer strangling Bart. In «Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala-D’oh-cious», just when magical nanny Shary Bobbins thinks she’s cured the family’s problems, she sees Homer strangling Bart. In «Children of a Lesser Clod», he strangles Bart after he shows video of Homer’s bad behavior as he’s receiving a citizenship award. In «Brawl in the Family», he strangles Bart after he discovers that he’s been cheating at Monopoly by using Lego blocks as hotels. In «Mayored to the Mob», he knocks Bart and Lisa unconscious with a Vulcan death grip maneuver.
• Defying a court order: In «The Parent Rap», Homer escapes with Marge from a tether and stocks.
• Driving without a license: In «Homer vs. Patty and Selma», Homer drives a limousine without a chauffeur’s license.
• Manslaughter: Homer had inadvertently killed Maude Flanders.
• Hit & Run: In «Dogtown», Homer hit Gil Gunderson with his car, breaking his neck.
• Attempted Hate Crime: Probably Homer’s worst crime in «Mypods and Boomsticks». He tried to kill a Muslim family using an American flag cake that had poison in it.
• Discrimination: In «Homer’s Phobia», he made various homophobic comments. In «Wild Barts Can’t Be Broken», he made ageist comments against children and the elderly. In «Mypods and Boomsticks», he made Islamophobic comments against Bashir bin Laden’s family.
• Cannibalism: In «Treehouse of Horror XXVIII», he ate himself and he also ate several people as a blob in «Treehouse of Horror XVII».
• Attempting to smuggle a panda: In «Goo Goo Gai Pan», Homer attempted to smuggle a giant panda cub from Beijing, China.
• Drink Driving: Homer has drove drunk numerous times, usually after visiting Moe’s Tavern.
• Piracy: In «Steal This Episode», Homer started an outdoor cinema screening pirated movie, with no ads. The FBI arrested him after Marge told them about Homer’s illegal cinema, however he escaped them. The Simpson family then sought asylum at the Consulate of Sweden in Springfield.

Appearance

Homer’s appearance is that of an overweight balding man. Despite his overweight status, and hate for exercise, he has on occasion shown surprising physical prowess and agility for a man of his body type, such as when training for Whacking Day and he hits several pop-up Snakes with kicks and even back-flipping. His baldness is contributed by several factors, such as upon finding out whenever Marge was pregnant, he would tear out a substantial amount of his hair. Another contribution is working at the nuclear plant for so many years that the exposure to radioactivity has caused most of his hair to fall out. Another frequent topic on Homer’s obesity is his large posterior which is often joked about by Bart. His eyes are blue, and he is 6 feet tall (183 cm).^[55] While his weight is debatable, the most common weight given is 239 pounds (though many jokes about his weight would suggest he is much heavier). He wears a white polo shirt, blue jeans, white underpants, and gray loafers.

Personality

“(To Lisa) Now, you lost someone special and it hurt. I never lost anyone special to me. Everyone special to me is under this roof. It’s true. Now, you’ll have lots of special people in your life. There’s probably a place they hang out and the food is good, and guys like me are serving drinks. Maybe I can’t explain all this, but I can fix your dollhouse. At least I’m good at monkey work. You know, monkey? You know what I mean? I can hold these nails in place with my tail.”

―Homer Simpson^[src]

“Marge, I have always carried myself with a certain quiet dignity. Tonight, you robbed me of it.”

―Homer Simpson^[src]

“Look, Marge. You don’t know what it’s like. I’m the one out there putting his ass on the line. And I’m not out of order. You’re out of order! The whole freakin’ system is out of order. You want the truth? You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth! ‘Cause when you reach over and put your hand into a pile of goo that was your best friend’s face, you’ll know what to do! Forget it, Marge. It’s Chinatown!”

―Homer Simpson^[src]

“How dare you talk about Ned Flanders like that. He’s a wonderful, kind, caring man. Maybe even more so than me. There have been times when I lost patience with him, even lashed out at him, but this man has turned every cheek on his body. If everyone here were like Ned Flanders, there’d be no need for Heaven. We’d already be there.”

―Homer Simpson^[src]

Homer is a pure moron who can go back and forth from being downright horrible to an extremely caring and loving man. Homer’s personality is one of frequent immaturity, frequent stupidity, selfishness, laziness, and explosive anger; one might say it’s that of the «Average Joe». He also suffers from a short attention span, which complements his intense but short-lived passion for hobbies, enterprises, and various causes. Despite his family flaws, he is a loving father and husband, even if he can be ignorant or oblivious to his family’s feelings and ideas. When he thinks he’s let anyone he loves down, it really does affect him, and in the end, will do anything for them. Another contribute to his «Working Joe» persona is that he has also shown to be sensitive about his masculinity; being initially upset over Marge becoming a police officer as he thought it made her «the man of the house», as well as refusing to call a contractor when Marge wanted her kitchen remodeled as to not emasculate his pride.

Homer is prone to emotional outbursts; he gets very envious of his neighbors, the Flanders family, and is easily enraged at his son, Bart, and strangles the boy in an exaggerated manner. His trademark phrase to strangling Bart, «Why you little…!» and on one occasion, «Why you little bastard!» ^[56] He also spanks Bart sometimes and, in one case, Lisa. One time, he was too busy to spank them, so he told them to go to their rooms and spank themselves. He does not show compunction about this, and is not attempting to hide his actions from people outside the family, even showing disregard for his son’s well-being in other ways, such as leaving Bart alone at a port,^[57] or allowing Bart to go court for skateboarding naked on his dare when all he would have to do is attend a one-hour parenting class signifying not only his disregard for Bart but his extreme laziness.^[58]

Homer also possesses an extreme dislike for his sisters-in-law, Patty and Selma Bouvier. This is because they often talk down on him for the kind of man he is, selfish and dimwitted. He also openly calls them ugly. He uses labels such as «The Gruesome Twosome»,^[59] «Fatty and Smellma»^[60] and «Two Sobbing Trolls». He also gave his children the impression that Patty and Selma are horrible and nasty witches, which is the reason why the kids don’t like spending time with their aunts. The sisters in turn, hate Homer as much he hates them. Patty and Homer have a very vile, antagonistic relationship but his relationship with Selma has rarely softened up over the years.

While Homer has repeatedly upset people and caused all sorts of mayhem in Springfield, these events are usually caused by either his explosive temper or lack of foresight. Except for expressing annoyance at Ned Flanders, Homer’s actions are usually unintentional. Most of his explosive anger is targeted on Bart, because of something stupid or bad he says or does. Despite their disadvantages, these common outbursts saved Homer from dying of a pent-up, rage-induced heart attack.^[61] Although he usually has an explosive temper, there are a few instances, usually in very serious situations, where Homer’s anger was so subdued yet so immense that he outwardly appeared calm and spoke in an even-handed tone despite very clearly being outraged. Notable examples of this include when he learned that Bart had gone on a road trip via a fake license and are stuck in Tennessee doing odd jobs: He outwardly acted as if he was calm, and had to obscure his face to vent his anger enough to fog up his visor before adopting his calm exterior and vowed to send him money to get home before darkly stating that he’ll murder him as soon as he gets home before Lisa talks him out of it.^[62] Another instance of this was when learning that Mr. Burns didn’t address him in his thank you card, where, after lowering the letter in an angry manner, he calmly requests that Bart and Lisa step outside for a second, with Bart and Lisa doing so without question and immediately due to being very scared at Homer’s evidently furious appearance (although he then promptly manages to scream what is heavily implied to be the f-bomb after they’ve left in a loud enough volume that all of Springfield stopped what they were doing in shock).^[63] He also reacted like this to his father after the latter revealed that not only was Homer’s own conception an accident, but implied that he would have been happier if he had never been born: After learning this, Homer gasped and braked to a stop immediately, before twice sternly telling Abraham Simpson to step out of the car in a calm yet clearly infuriated tone while scowling and not even looking at him, and then promptly driving away fast.^[64] He also initially acted like this when forced to adopt a swear jar and having to put coins in the swear jar to curb his swearing habits. When getting himself injured twice by accidentally breaking his thumb by whacking his thumb as well as impaling his foot with a nail deep enough as to require a tetanus shot, he initially robotically stated his first injury and then talking in a pseudo-kindly manner the second time while twitching with rage, before stating that, while he won’t swear, he will kick the doghouse down, the last part he states by screaming it out in clear rage.^[65]

While Homer’s stupid antics often upset his family, he has also performed acts that reveal him to be a surprisingly loving father and husband, such as selling his cherished ride on the Duff Blimp and using the money to enter Lisa in a beauty pageant so she could feel better about herself,^[66] giving up his chance at wealth to allow Maggie to keep a cherished teddy bear;^[67] spearheading an attempt to dig Bart out after he had fallen down a well, even though he hates doing physical labor^[68] and arranging a surprise second wedding with Marge to make up for their lousy first ceremony, even going so far as to hire one of The Doobie Brothers as part of the wedding band and getting a divorce from Marge, essentially making their second wedding a «real» one.^[69]

Despite his hatred of manual labor, Homer does a surprising amount of DIY work around his home. He built a jungle gym, a costume of Florida for Lisa, a birdhouse and spice rack for Marge (however, these are shabby at best and two of them actually fell apart). He also remodeled his kitchen when Marge felt insecure about hers after meeting the neighbor’s deluxe one, however, this was more because he felt emasculated when Marge tried to phone a contractor.^[70]

Homer’s stupidity and ignorance make him clueless to sensitive matters as well as when he is being insulted or his life is in danger. An example is when he came close to drinking a beaker of sulfuric acid but was spared after his colleague, Frank Grimes knocked the acid out of his hand. Instead of being shocked, Homer only responded with jovial delight and laughter. He was also completely oblivious to Grimes’ hostility towards him, only being aware that the two of them were enemies after the latter made it painstakingly clear. Homer was an atheist and anti-gay. He adheres to no religion and only goes to church because Marge constantly forces him to. However, he was once referenced to be Muslim in «Peeping Mom». In «Homer the Heretic», he quits church altogether but later chooses to go as he was saved from an inferno, which is in his eyes a miracle. In the climax of the same episode, he is seen falling asleep during Reverend Lovejoy’s sermon. He also paid no respect to Jesus’ resting place after being granted a trip to Bethlehem by Ned Flanders; however, he did come to believe himself a messiah after suffering a hallucination from days in the desert while searching for Ned (who actually just got a glass of tepid water).

Homer tends to derive amusement from the misfortune of others. One time, he was even amused by a documentary about car crashes which result from alcoholism.^[40] He is a chronic thief and borderline kleptomaniac which ranges from petty to grand theft, stealing everything from TV trays to power tools and air conditioners, even an entire room of the Flanders House from Ned Flanders. He has also stolen golf balls from the local driving range, office supplies (including computers) from work, and beer mugs from Moe’s Tavern.

Homer has a vacuous mind, but he is still able to retain a great amount of knowledge about very specific subjects. He often shows short bursts of astonishing insight, memory, creativity, and fluency with many languages! Homer is also extremely confident; no matter how little skill or knowledge he has about anything he tries to do; he has no doubt that he will be successful. However, his brief periods of intelligence are overshadowed by much longer and more consistent periods of ignorance, forgetfulness, and stupidity. Homer has a low IQ due to many factors. Some of which include: his alcohol problem, exposure to radioactive waste, repetitive cranial trauma, and the crayon lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain. He also implied that he would have been at least a bit smarter and more athletic, if not by a substantial amount, if his father had tried to give him encouragement rather than beat him down.^[64] Another large factor of Homer’s unintelligent is his inheritance of the «Simpson Gene» which causes all male members of the Simpson family to become more and more unintelligent as they grow older. It is also implied Homer repeated second grade,^[71] most probably due to the Simpson Gene kicking in.

But what is probably the biggest cause of his simple-mindedness was an incident that happened when he was six years old and goofing around by shoving a 16 pack of crayons up his nose. When he had shoved all of them up his nasal passage, he sneezed the crayons out. Not all of them, however. Unbeknownst to him, one of the crayons got lodged in the right lobe of his brain. Homer would not learn this fact until adulthood when he was forced to take a job as a human guinea pig to support his family where the crayon was found in a 3D x-ray of his brain (shortly after Dr. Hibbert admits that every time he ever viewed an x-ray of his brain, he would always unknowingly block the crayon with his thumb which is why it was never found before). The doctors tell Homer that they could possibly try to remove the crayon via surgery, and it would either greatly increase his intelligence or kill him. After a slight consideration, Homer chooses to take the risk. The operation ended up being a great success and with the increased blood flow in his brain, Homer’s intelligence skyrocketed.

His intelligence was said to jump up fifty points when he had the crayon removed, bringing him to an IQ of 105, slightly above that of an average person (though he showed far above average intelligence), but he went back to his old self when he had it reinserted, presumably lowering his IQ back down to its original 55.^[72] This IQ score is, however, likely a joke or oversight on the producers’ part, as someone with an IQ of 55 would be unable to look after themselves and would be classified as severely mentally handicapped. Also, from the level of intelligence, he showed it’s much more likely that his IQ was boosted to 135-155. Despite his handicap, Homer does have a degree of long-term, calculated planning of what might happen, such as when, shortly before taking his «forget-me-shot» from Moe Szyslak, requested for their anniversary party to have a Moon Jump, due to realizing exactly what will happen afterwards.^[71]

While Homer’s lack of intelligence and short attention span normally just results in him looking like a fool, it also sometimes causes him to unintentionally bring harm to the people around him. One example is when he dumps a piece of industrial garbage in the garbage can at Krusty Burger, followed by a lit match which he used to light a victory cigar. The combination of the two caused a fire on the supply lines for the fast-food chains of spring field and caused chain reaction destroying all the restaurants in the process.^[73]

Also, it also makes him less aware of how what he says might affect people emotionally, like for a note quiz where he asked Ned Flanders about his sexual life, forgetting that his wife had passed away six months prior.^[74] His ignorance at one point even cost his family their home since he didn’t understand how a home equity loan worked, putting them massively in debt and making it so they could no longer afford their mortgage. Though luckily, the house was purchased by Ned, who allowed them to rent the living space.^[75]

Homer has at times debated against his brain. Occasionally, a specific body part such as his face, stomach or liver is also shown debating with his brain. In one notable scene, Homer’s mind actually leaves his body out of boredom, causing him to collapse.^[76] Homer is also inclined to retreat into fantasy, such as daydreaming of Germany as «the land of chocolate».^[77][78]

Homer’s attitudes toward women, romance, and sex are occasionally shown. While Homer’s marriage with Marge is occasionally strained, it seems generally happy. Despite this, Homer is often tempted with other women, and usually shows no qualms with gawking at (and drooling over) attractive women. Homer almost had an affair with Mindy Simmons,^[79] but ended up not wanting to. He has made the occasional remark denoting his attraction to other women (including his neighbor’s wife), even in front of Marge on an occasion, but always shows his devotion to Marge in the end.

In earlier seasons (such as Season 1), Homer’s personality was different. Homer was an angry, grumpy, ignorant man who got embarrassed by his family (instead of the other way around) but generally loved them. He also was prone to angry outbursts, such as yelling at Bart and Lisa, strangling Bart (which has continued in later seasons), and giving Krusty the Clown the middle finger in court after Homer had assumed it was him who robbed the Kwik-E-Mart.

Homer has since developed into a less intelligent and meaner person in later seasons. Homer’s «angry personality» still sometimes surfaces up, usually whenever getting pressured by Bart. One of the more notable examples of this is when Bart published a series of Angry Dad animated cartoons which made fun of Homer’s anger and stupidity. Ironically, Homer responded by only reinforcing his angry personality, which culminated in him spilling green paint on himself and making noises similar to those of The Incredible Hulk.^[61]

Based on the «Disco Sucks» bumper sticker he removed from his old car when about to sell it before leaving Marge, he was not fond of the Disco genre.^[48]

Religious Beliefs

“God I gotta ask you something; what’s the meaning of life?
Homer I can’t tell you that…
Come on…
You’ll find out when you die!
I can’t wait that long…
You can’t wait six months?..”

―Homer asking God about a point of following his religion Despite attending church every Sunday, Homer is not very religious, and it is likely that he only attends church because he knows that Marge would be hurt and shocked if he did not. He does not seem to practice Christian morals and frequently sleeps in church, much to the annoyance of Reverend Lovejoy. He also admitted that in addition to sleeping in church, he also mentally undresses the female churchgoers.^[80] He often mispronounces the name of the Christ, calling Him «Jebus». In «The Simpsons Movie», before entering church, he says, «Relax, those pious morons are too busy talking to their phony-baloney God.»

When asked by Bart what religion Homer belongs to, he replies, «You know, the one with all the well-meaning rules that don’t work out in real life. Uh… Christianity».^[81]

Despite this, he is a Christian and willingly attends church after Ned, Apu, and Krusty saved him from a house fire. He was also inadvertently baptized by Ned, initially reacting violently before speaking in a religious manner, and returning to his normal self thereafter when questioned by Ned. Homer also tried to become a good Christian in «Tis the Fifteenth Season».

However, in «The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed», Homer thinks that he is the Messiah due to Jerusalem syndrome.

Homer had actually met God face to face several times and has even gotten permission from him in a dream to skip church.^[82][83]

Alter-Egos

Homer became a superhero named Pie Man when the Rich Texan offends Lisa. He chucks pies in the faces of evildoers or people who deserve to be pied, uses the basement as a Pie Cave and his car as the Piemobile. Bart is his sidekick as Cupcake Kid. He also tried to don a graffiti alias as «El Homo«, which was meant to be a Mexican take on his name but erased it when he realized the alias was Spanish for homosexual.^[84]

Bullies

• Abraham Simpson II (sometimes)
• Bart Simpson (sometimes)
• Jimbo Jones
• Krusty The Clown (formerly)
• Mr. Starbeam (Mr. Shapiro)
• Nelson Muntz

Enemies

• Abraham Simpson II (his father but on occasions)
• Artie Ziff
• Ashley Grant
• B.F. Sherwood
• Bart Simpson (sometimes)
• Beatrice (Dangerous Curves)
• Billy (flashback)
• Blue-Haired Lawyer
• Bobo (dog)
• Burglar 1 (couch gag)
• Burglar 2 (couch gag)
• Cesar
• City inspector
• Cleatus the Football Robot (sometimes)
• Coach Clay Roberts
• Cooder
• Daphne Beaumont
• Devil Flanders (non-canon)
• Devil
• Dexter Colt
• Donald Trump and his wife
• El Divo
• Francesca Terwilliger
• Frank Grimes, Jr.
• Frank Grimes (deceased)
• Fred Rogers
• George Bush
• Gil Gunderson
• Grand Pumpkin
• Gypsy
• Harlan Dondelinger
• Hell’s Satans (Bakersfield)
• Herman Hermann
• Homer Glumplich
• Homer’s Demons
• Homer’s Guilt
• Howard K. Duff VIII
• Inanimate carbon rod
• Jeremy Freedman
• Jeremy’s Girlfriend (couch gag)
• Joey (flashback)
• Joey Crusher
• Judge Constance Harm
• Julia
• Just Stamp the Ticket Man
• Kang
• Kearney’s unnamed son
• Killer Krusty Doll
• Kodos
• Lard Lad (non-canon)
• Late shift worker 1
• Legs
• Louie (Midnight Towboy)
• Man with Whip
• Margebot
• Mario
• Marshall Goldman
• Mav
• Meathook
• Meth Guy
• Ned Flanders (sometimes)
• Number 2
• Number One
• Officer Krackney
• Paddington Bear
• Patty and Selma Dragon (non-canon)
• Patty Bouvier
• Peter Griffin (formerly; non-canon)
• Portia
• Queen Elizabeth II
• Rachel (Treehouse of Horror XXVII)
• Ray Patterson
• Red-haired kid
• Rex Banner
• Roger (Candace’s father)
• Roger (non-canon)
• Roz Davis
• Russ Cargill
• Selma Bouvier (usually)
• Shelby’s Father
• Sideshow Bob (Mostly)
• Smokey the Bear
• Snake Jailbird (sometimes)
• Southern Sheriff
• Suzanne
• Ted Flanders
• The Southern Colonel
• Thomas Edison (deceased)
• Tom
• Tour Guide (Fland Canyon)
• Trucker 1
• Ugolin
• Ultrahouse 3000 (non-canon)
• Vance Connor
• Verity Heathbar
• Viktor
• White Chocolate Rabbit
• Winnie the Pooh

Friends

• Andy (Moms I’d Like to Forget)
• Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
• Barney Gumble
• Bart Simpson
• Bender (non-canon)
• Buck Mitchell
• Carl Carlson
• Charles Montgomery Burns (sometimes)
• Charlie (SNPP)
• Chris
• Clancy Wiggum
• Cleatus the Football Robot
• Cletus Spuckler
• Coach Clay Roberts (formerly)
• Eduardo Barcelona
• Elon Musk
• Fat Tony (deceased)
• Fit-Fat Tony
• Gerald Ford
• Giuseppe Granfinali
• Gretchen
• Hank Scorpio
• Homer Jr.
• Horatio McCallister
• J. Loren Pryor
• Jimbo Jones (sometimes)
• Julia (Friends and Family)
• Julius Hibbert
• Krusty The Clown
• Karl
• Keggy
• Kirk Van Houten
• Kitenge
• Larry (barfly)
• Larry (SNPP)
• Larry Burns
• Lenny Leonard
• Leon Kompowsky
• Lionel Hutz
• Lou
• Louie (Midnight Towboy) (formerly)
• Lucky Jim
• Lurleen Lumpkin
• Max (Deceased)
• Medicine Woman
• Mel Gibson
• Mike (Moms I’d Like to Forget)
• Mike Jambowski
• Mindy Simmons
• Moe Szyslak
• Ned Flanders
• Peter Griffin (non-canon)
• Princess Kashmir
• Raphael
• Ray Magini
• Roz Davis (Formerly)
• Sam (barfly)
• Sexy Assistant
• Snake Jailbird
• Stephen Hawking
• Tabitha Vixx
• Terrence
• The Rich Texan
• Timothy Lovejoy, Jr.
• Tour Guide (Fland Canyon) (formerly)
• Wolf the Bounty Hunter

The Guys

Homer is one of the four best friends (Lenny, Carl, Moe), who call themselves «The Guys».

Skills and Abilities

Criminal Record

• Being sent to jail seven times, as seen in «This Little Wiggy».
• Attempting to smuggle a baby panda from China.
• Piracy, as seen in «Steal This Episode».
• Graffiti, with his graffiti name being El Homo, in reference to El Barto, not realizing ‘homo’ is a slur used against gay men, in reference to ‘homosexual’.
• Shooting ‘DO NOT SHOOT’ signs, as seen in «Blazed and Confused».
• Attempting to poison Bashir bin Laden and his family due to their religion.
• Homophobia (this is illegal in most Western countries, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada, almost all of South America, most of the European Union and many American states, as well as in some other countries, such as Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Israel and Turkey, as well as partly in Fiji and Lebanon).
• Smuggling Ned Flanders’ property, such as magnets, toasters and other common household items. He has also smuggled tickets.
• Dumping a silo full of pig feces (labeled «Pig crap»), with some human feces, into Lake Springfield (this may be non-canon as it was in The Simpsons Movie.
• Participating in Springfield’s St. Patrick’s Day riots.
• Ruining the Conflict of Enemies tournament in Seoul, South Korea, as seen in E My Sports.
• Child abuse, when Homer strangles Bart Simpson. This is done as a recurring joke on the show.
• Trashing Springfield Elementary School, by driving his car into the school at night, whilst drunk, with Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson and Moe Szyslak, after the Springfield Isotopes won the baseball game.
• Numerous instances of drink driving.

Physical Prowess

Homer’s skills seem to vary greatly. Sometimes, Homer can find it difficult to run to the smallest distances before passing out from exhaustion, and other times, he has exceeded the prowess of gold medal Olympians. He can have trouble understanding the simplest of concepts to being able to build a functional robot with a working A.I.^[85] His physical strength is just as random: At times, he is too weak to even kill a fly by punching it,^[86] while at other times, he is able to lift a motorbike above his head, and use it as a sword effortlessly and throw punches that send people flying with ease.^[87]

Additionally, in his youth, Homer was once a very talented gymnast, even catching high school Marge’s eye with his ability. Unfortunately, his father’s lack of faith in him caused him to blunder in front of the entire school, which promptly led to the end of his career.

Homer also is a proficient bowler. He once bowled a perfect game, leading to short-term fame for him.

Endurance

Homer has shown to have near-superhuman endurance and durability, repeatedly surviving accidents that could easily kill other people. His well-padded stomach allowed him to survive direct cannon fire to the stomach with no immediate injuries, although later it was found that repeated fire had destroyed his stomach which could have killed him.

Homer’s skull is a quarter-inch thicker than the average skull (dubbed «Homer Simpson Syndrome») that protects him completely from cranial injury up to a certain point allowing him to be beaten by normal folk with no effect but can be hurt by significant force such as getting punched in the face by the world heavyweight boxing champion or falling repeatedly down Springfield Gorge. At one point, Homer even survived having every bone in his body broken from a fall that would have liquefied a regular person. Another time, he managed to get back up and walk around from being mauled by a badger in a failed and foolish attempt to get it out of Santa’s Little Helper’s doghouse despite having his entire gut torn out and exposing his intestines (which the badger somehow accomplished without ripping his shirt. This could have been accomplished by the badger going under Homer’s shirt instead of attacking him through it).

Homer is constantly ending up in sticky situations, such as being caught in a fire on at least four occasions, almost drowning, animal attacks and more. In some episodes, he «almost dies» twice, and in one episode, Frank Grimes’ son was trying to murder Homer, and all through the episode Homer ended up in situations that would normally kill a person. In Homer Scissorhands, he tries to commit suicide by drinking a container of disinfectant. Once realizing it did nothing to him, he questions why nothing ever seems to kill him, even several simultaneous heart attacks.

Homer is not a stranger to pain. He gets hurt in one form or another in almost every episode and frequently breaks bones and ends up in the hospital. He has also needed several life-saving operations, such as a triple bypass and suffering four simultaneous heart attacks. In one episode, Marge gets concerned at how much Homer almost dies as a result of sticky situations and begs him to get life insurance where we find out that he has also had three strokes and is, therefore, not insurable.

In an interview with Matt Groening, he jokingly states that Homer is unable to die due to God finding him far too entertaining to kill off and enjoys his pain-induced suffering.

Music

One skill that remains somewhat consistent throughout the series is his musical talent. Homer can play the guitar amazingly well, play the piano like a natural, and is an accomplished singer and songwriter. He has been part of several bands which were all extremely popular. He won a Grammy for barbershop,^[50] numerous golden records for his grunge band, which is also a music style he claimed to have invented,^[47] and was able to help Lisa win a music contest using songs he wrote for her.^[88] While lying on his back, Homer possesses a powerful operatic voice that while at hospital stops crying babies and even revives a flat-lined patient, leading him to become a wildly popular opera star.^[89]He is even a great conductor, being able to lead the untrained kids of Springfield Elementary into playing a flawless rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever. ^[90]He also been shown to play the bass.

Fighting and Strength

Homer is a talented fighter, fighting with great prowess in his duel with Peter Griffin. Homer’s physical strength often varies for comedic purposes, though he is portrayed as being considerably strong, able to lift a motorbike above his head, and use it as a sword effortlessly.

Language

Like Bart, Homer is a polyglot, someone with the ability to pick up languages fairly quickly, perhaps even a hyper polyglot (a polyglot fluent in more than six languages). He has been shown to speak Spanish, Chinese, Penguin^[91] and Drunk^[92] and when he and Bart were imprisoned in Japan for a seemingly short amount of time due to unknowingly assaulting Emperor Akihito, he was able to speak the language fluently by the time he left.^[93] He was also able to pick up a few Indian words by watching Apu and Manjula argue (though it is highly likely that he wrongly interpreted some part of their argument, as Homer claimed he thinks «Manjula» is some kind of spaceship, though the other word interpreted by Homer, Saala, does mean «jerk» in some sense in Hindi^[94]).^[95] He was also shown to mimic people’s voices especially well. This was evidenced in a flashback in Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy, where Homer, after watching a televised speech made by then-President John F. Kennedy, proceeded to flawlessly mimic Kennedy’s speech pattern and mannerisms.

Defying the Laws of Science

In addition to being able to accomplish what no man of his health and standing could, Homer has been able to accomplish things that defy all logic and reason whatsoever, such as causing cornflakes and milk to burst into flames and cause a nuclear meltdown in a testing van, despite no fissionable materials being present in it at the time.

Leadership

Even though Homer is consistently depicted as being unpopular his entire life, he has been able to incite a mob on multiple occasions. He has incredible sway over crowds and is able to motivate people for just causes, such as shutting down the nuclear plant, and also to calm down an angry mob- something very difficult to do- such as when he prevented the destruction of Springfield’s burlesque house. Like Bart, he is almost always made leader in whatever bizarre situation he comes across, although, unlike Bart, that leadership isn’t always appreciated, such as when Homer becomes the leader of the Stonecutters, which shortly afterwards causes all of the members to quit.

Appetite

Homer’s appetite is so insatiable, Captain McCallister remarked him as a «Remorseless Eating Machine» . He once cleaned out The Frying Dutchman, and effectively sued the place for running out of food, thus not being able for him to eat «All He Can Eat», because he was still not full.

Songs

99 Luftballons 1000 Springs to Flush Down A Boozehound Named Barney A Chorus Line A Father’s Born A Million Girls A Singing, Dancing Machine Adequate Adults/Kids Al Capone’s Box Al Capone’s Vault All Right, Marge Allouete Aloha ‘Oe Aloha Moe Alpha Tau America Rules Amore And Onion And Peanuts Animal House Any Minute Now Apologize Apu’s Western Song Baby on Board Back Rub Bad Moon Rising Bart’s Moon Party Bawitdaba Beautiful Eyes Because He Was Singing Big Spender Blimpy Boy Boil Them Cabbage Down/Take It, Tom Bongo (song) Born Under a Bad Sign Bullangers Burns and Homer’s Boos Changes Cheech and Chong (song) Cherish That Family Smile (Reprise) Chicken Tonight Christmas with Grumple Chubby Dude in a Tiny Car Cleaning Col. C. Everett Coop Come Josephine in My Flying Machine Convoy Cool Cut Every Corner Daddy’s Back Deacon Deck the Halls Deep, Deep Trouble Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead Dirty Deeds Driver of a loaner car Drop Da Bomb El Sol Escape (The Piña Colada Song) Every Summer With You Everybody Hates Ned Flanders Evil Homer Family Ties Theme Song Flanders is His Name Football Rap For a Son Four Best Friends Funny How Time Slips Away Gelatine Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Glove Slap Glowing Rods Good King Wenceslas Good Morning Starshine (African Remix) Good Morning Starshine Goodbye, My Coney Island Baby Grade School Hero Great School Hero H-O-M-E-R Happy Birthday to You Happy Just The Way We Are Hark the Herald Angels Sing Hello, My Baby Here Comes Santa Claus Hey Diddly, Hell Diddly Homer Face Homer Shake Homer’s Jungle Song Homer’s Lullaby Homer’s Puppet Song Homer’s Radio Rhytms Homer’s Selling Song Homer’s Teeth Cleaning Song Homer’s Winter Olimpics Song Hot Dogs (song) I Am the Champions I Believe in You I Feel for You I Just Can’t Help Myself I Love to See You Smile I Love to Walk I Offered a Kiss I Press the Play I Was Made For Lovin’ You I Was Made for Loving You I Work Hard for the Money I’m a Hero I’m an Idiot I’m Chong I’m Gonna Fly I’m Gonna Make It After All I’m Henry VIII, I Am I’m in Rio I’m So Thirsty I’ve Got You Under My Skin If Ever I Would Leave You If You’re Happy and You Know It In the Jungle In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida It Was a Very Good Beer It’s a Desperate Criminal It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Breakfast It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) It’s Time Joy to the World La Bamba La Macarena Lean on Me Let Them Play Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off Letters I Know Limbo Look at the Pants Love Will Keep Us Together Lucky Man MacArthur Park Mama Took Those Batteries Mandy Manjula (song) Margerine Margie Marjorie Max Power (Song) Mayonnaise and Mermelade Meet the Flintstones Mellow Yellow Meow Mix Jingle Mindy Minimum Wage Nanny Mona’s Lullaby Mr. Bojangles Mr. Grinch Mr. Plow Mr. Sandman My Angel My Name is Luca Nacho Man Ned Flanders’ Rap New Year Song No Fears Not On My Clothes Number XX O Tannenbaum Ode to Apologize Off to Work Oh Canada Oh Holy Night Only Springfield Owner of a Lonely Heart Pagan Song 2 Pagan Song Pas de Dude Pokémon Theme Song Politically Incorrect Poochie Rap Song Prawn Song Protect Babies Put on a Happy Face Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head Rock Around the Clock Rock Hero Rock N Roll, Part II Roll Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer S-M-R-T Sassy Madison Train Tag Say Your Prayers School Song (Mathlete’s Feat) Screw Flanders Se II Mio Nome Saper Voi Bramate Sexual Congress Shave Me Shout Simpsons Boogie Sing to God Singing in the Rain Sleep Smoke on the Water Sneaking in at Noon So Dumb (Homer’s Lament) Spanish Eyes Spanish Flea Spider-Pig Springfield Anthem Steal Moe’s Car Sugar, Sugar Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows Swag Sweet Adelaine Sweet Home Alabama (Song) Take Me Out to the Ball Game Tell Me That Was Pretty Bad The Calendar The End The Garbage Man The Gay Song The Girl I Love The Joker (Song) The Lion Sleeps Tonight The Mexican Hat The Nutcracker Sweet (Medley) The Odd Couple Theme Song The Original, Unabridged 39 Days of Christmas The Safety Dance The Simpsons Family Smile-Time Variety Hour The Streets of Cairo The Twelve Days of Christmas The Words That Do Me Right This Is the Life in Ireland This is the Life Those Were The Days Three Little Maids From School Are We Time to Say Goodbye To Moe’s Tonight Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That’s an Irish Lullaby) Tubthumping Turn Around Twelve Days of Christmas Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Two Tickets to Paradise Underwater Wonderland Walking Down a Corridor Wannabe Washing Out the Dog Poo We Are a Family We Are the Champions We Do (The Stonecutters’ Song) We Put the Spring in Springfield We Will Rock You We’re Going to a Restaurant Weddings are Wonderful What Do I Think of the Pie Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) When the Fire Starts to Burn When the Saints Go Marching In When the Saints Go Over There Where Is My Rent Who Let Her Jugs Out? Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart? Who’s on Shorts Wichita Lineman Wicked Witch Winter Wonderland Working on the Railroad Writhing Funzos You Are So Beautiful You Could Do Worse You Don’t Win Friends with Salad You Light Up My Life You Make Me Feel Like Dancing You Only Live Once You’re a Bunch of Stuff You’re a Hero, Homer J You’re a Mean One Homer Simpson Your Wife Don’t Understand You

Health

Homer while varying in physical ability from episode to episode has been consistently portrayed as a binge drinking, overeating, accident-prone daredevil who puts absolutely no thought into what his actions will cost him, all of which has made it impossible to get any form of insurance which concerns his health. A magazine health test calculated Homer’s lifestyle would lead him to pass on at 42.

Homer is in the hospital in at least one episode every season and has had several life-saving operations, not including the one for his triple heart bypass which he needed after his arteries were clogged with cholesterol. He also had at least two separate series of stress-induced heart attacks from learning of how much money Mr. Burns offered Lisa to repay her for her «help» in restoring his fortune and especially her refusal of said money: The first, upon witnessing Lisa tear up the check, was severe enough that he promptly collapsed and, according to Dr. Hibbert, underwent four simultaneous heart attacks. The second, which was after Lisa corrected him regarding just how much she actually refused, was severe enough that it caused a Code Blue alert at the Hospital.^[96]

Years of working in a substandard nuclear facility have left his blood irradiated to show up on an x-ray without the dye that is normally required to make the blood visible having to be administered, as well as having rendered him sterile.

Homer loves food, he can almost always be seen eating far more than any one man could possibly eat alone. His favorites are foods which he knows are bad for him and will blatantly refuse healthy food such as oatmeal and fruit in favor of fatty meals. He particularly enjoys donuts. Though he has tried multiple times to switch to a healthier diet, he has always ended up reverting to his unhealthy eating habits after a relatively short amount of time. He was once willing to die upon eating a poisoned éclair despite knowing it would kill him, only to throw it away in horror when Lisa claimed it was low fat. There was only one known time where he DIDN’T engage in gluttonous eating patterns, or indeed, ANY eating at all, which was when Kent Brockman was breaking down on the air when attempting to apologize for commiting fraud regarding news stories, with his admitting he was too shocked and mesmerized by Kent Brockman having a visible breakdown on the air to even attempt to eat.

Homer once grew to 300 pounds so that he could go on disability for work.

Homer also seems to have a problem with his sense of hearing, as the result of both attending and putting on loud rock concerts regularly in his youth.^[97] In addition, an incident with Bart shown in the episode «Barthood» in which Bart blasted an airhorn into his ear until it began bleeding may have further compounded this. This may explain why he can so easily phase out what people are saying to him, intentionally or otherwise.

Homer has been shown as having concentration problems.^[98]

Age

Throughout his appearances, Homer’s age has notably increased at a steady rate:

34 (debut and Treehouse of Horror comics)
36 (formerly)
38 (formerly)
39 (formerly)
40 (current)
50 (later on in the future)

Hair Loss

There are multiple theories on how Homer lost his hair. Earlier episodes suggested that he was simply a victim of male pattern baldness (A problem he told Bart was «Hereditary»). One theory suggests that Homer ripped out some of his hair when he realized Marge was pregnant with Bart, then more when he found out she was pregnant with Lisa, and tearing out a single hair when he found out she was pregnant with Maggie (this couldn’t be possible as he is shown having different reactions to the realization that his wife was pregnant^[48][49]). It is also very possible he lost his hair from the radiation at the nuclear plant.

«Marge on the Lam» was the closest to the truth, and possibly the truth, as it is (almost) explained visually: Homer also volunteered for an army experiment because he didn’t want to have dinner with Marge’s sisters. The army doctor attempted to warn him that the side effects of the experiment were «hair loss, giddiness and the loss of equilibrium», but Homer ignored him.

Another theory is that Homer’s hair was once squirted with some kind of acid, thus causing permanent hair loss.^[99]

Relationships

Romantic

Despite being married to Marge throughout the entire show, Homer has had a number of romantic encounters.

Marge Simpson

Homer is the husband of Marge Simpson. They met when they were younger without learning who each other was before meeting again properly in high school. They have had three weddings.^[56][69] The pair have a very strong marriage which has survived cheating, amnesia and many arguments. They have been in love since their high school senior year.^[46]

Other Love Interests/Wife:

Mindy Simmons

Mindy Simmons was an attractive employee at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant who has nearly everything in common with Homer. They attended a convention together and nearly had an affair.^[79] After Homer turned her down, he later says that she «hit the bottle pretty hard and got fired.»

Lurleen Lumpkin

Lurleen is a waitress who Homer helped in launching a successful singing career. She attempted to seduce him without any success. She has been married multiple times to men that all look like Homer.^[100]

Amber

Amber was a waitress at a casino in Las Vegas and was Homer’s Vegas wife. Homer accidentally married her when he and Ned Flanders got drunk. Ned married the other waitress at the casino named Ginger. Doing the only decent thing they could, they ran from them.^[101]However, after a long time, the waitresses managed to track them to Springfield, and Amber went to live to the Simpsons house and revealed to Marge and the children about her marriage to Homer, which infuriated Marge to the point to she threw Homer out of the house, and later the family managed to get her drunk and made her marry Abe, which made her run back to Vegas. Amber died from a drug overdose.^[102]

Julia

When Homer becomes a famous Opera singer, he attracts the attention of horde of fans including a stalker by the name of Julia. She confesses to Homer that she is his to do with as he wants, becoming his personal assistant and attempting to seduce him at every turn. When he proclaims that his heart belongs to Marge, she attempts to kill him with no success.^[89]

Wasted potential love interests

Annie Crawford

Annie was an FBI agent who was investigating Homer after Lisa said he could be a terrorist. What makes this interesting is that we know Homer does consider her attractive, and he even called her beautiful in her debut episode. It’s implied in «Homerland» that she has romantic feelings for him, but nothing came from it since it was her first and so far, only appearance.

Friendships

Moe Szyslak

“I could never stay mad at you, Moe. After all, you get me drunk.”

―Homer, on Moe^[src]

Moe is the owner of Moe’s Tavern and is Homer’s main supply of beer, making him a very important person in Homer’s life. Homer spends a lot of his time talking to Moe in his tavern and seems to go to him whenever he has a problem. Homer has also helped Moe with his love life. Moe has told Homer before that he is his best friend and they both seem to be in understanding that the two are «life partners.» Despite this, Moe once risked Homer’s life in exchange for a shot at being a notable name in the boxing community again, but in the end, his friendship for Homer proved stronger than his dream and he literally flew in and saved Homer from getting beaten during a match. Even so, Moe has been known to point a shotgun at Homer for various reasons (see «Pygmoelian» and «The Parent Rap»).

Barney Gumble

Barney Gumble is one of Homer’s best friends. They were both born in 1956, making Homer the same age as Barney. They have been friends since childhood (one time getting drunk from Abe Simpson II’s beer and «wrapping Homer’s wagon around a tree») but have been best friends since high school. Homer was the one who first convinced Barney to try beer and inadvertently caused him to throw away a potential life at Harvard and instead become an alcoholic.^[45]

Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson

Lenny and Carl are Homer’s co-workers at the Nuclear Power Plant, and they were familiar with Homer in their childhood days.^[43] They are Homer’s most frequent companions at Moe’s Tavern, after Barney. Abe Simpson claimed to have bribed Lenny and Carl to be his friends at a young age. Even though both Lenny and Carl have wives, they seem to be attracted to each other.

Charles Montgomery Burns

Homer has been depicted as friends with Monty Burns on many occasions, such as when they got drunk together at a baseball game or were on a bowling team together. On the other hand, Burns has also sworn eternal vengeance against Homer on just as many occasions, and even more so than that Burns seems to be unable to remember who Homer Simpson is (a running gag on the series) despite the fact that almost all of his major life events are related in some way to Homer. Usually, Homer is afraid of Burns and acknowledges his presence with a scream, but it has been shown that once the two warm up to each other, they get along famously until Homer inadvertently does something to end the friendship.

In addition, although Homer usually takes Mr. Burns’ failure to remember his name in stride, there has been one instance where this caused a lot of anger from Homer, which was during the Sun Blocker incident. Homer attempted to get Mr. Burns to remember his name, with his eventually sending a chocolate box with a photo of the family stuck in. However, he didn’t get thanked for this (although in that case, it’s because Mr. Burns ended up throwing away the box while one candy was left, with the last candy obscuring Homer’s face), causing him to be infuriated enough to give a horrendous swear in a loud enough volume that all of Springfield stopped in shock. He eventually resorted to vandalizing Mr. Burns’ office to spray-paint his name and even physically assault his boss to force him to remember his name, although this ended up failing with Mr. Burns referring to him as an «unidentified assailant». Ironically, the one time he DOES remember Homer’s name actually nearly got Homer into deep trouble when he was considered the suspect for the shooting against Mr. Burns, which had him assaulting Mr. Burns at the hospital to stop him from claiming that he shot him (unaware that Mr. Burns was simply parroting Homer Simpson’s name in a half-lucid state due to regaining consciousness). Because of this, Homer was notably one of two characters whose grudge against Mr. Burns during that time had absolutely nothing to do with either Burns Slant Drilling Co. or the Sun Blocker, the only other being his daughter Maggie Simpson, the actual culprit.

Ned Flanders

Ned Flanders is Homer’s perfect neighbor whose belongings are usually «borrowed» by Homer and never given back. Homer takes obvious advantage of his push-over neighbor and is usually an avid participant in the one-sided rivalry the two have going on, although Ned sometimes gets caught up in Homer’s taunts (such as when the two pit their sons against each other in a putt-putt tournament). It has also been hinted that Homer lusts after Flanders’ wife, Maude (now deceased). Homer enjoys insulting Flanders and making his life more difficult, which Flanders all takes in stride. Even so, Homer has genuine feelings for his neighbor; he feels truly guilty when he causes Flanders’ business to sink and takes it upon himself to save the Leftorium, he makes it his personal duty to revive Flanders’ love life after Maude passes, and he also invites Flanders to his barbecues and other events with genuine enthusiasm. He has also acknowledged that Ned is his best friend, referring to him once as «Stupid Best Friend Flanders». Homer loves to see Flanders struggle because he perceives the Flanders’ lives to be the unobtainable perfection that he will never have, and he especially loves beating Flanders, but he hates when Flanders is totally crushed. There are also incidents where Homer inadvertently causes harm to Flanders. A notable example of this is when Homer ends up unwittingly releasing a radioactive ape into Flanders’ house after the ape in question tricked Homer, resulting in it occupying the attic. This incident also resulted in Flanders having to report it to Chief Wiggum at the Police Station, a report caught on CCTV camera, and eventually acquired illegally by Comic Book Guy.

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

Apu and Homer are good friends; their families get together for dinners and they regularly have conversations when Homer is purchasing some confection at Apu’s Kwik-E-Mart. When Apu lost his job at the Kwik-E-Mart, he stayed with the Simpsons, Apu’s wedding was also held at the Simpsons, and when Apu needs help with some problem the wacky solution and implementation usually include Homer (stealing Apu’s children from the zoo, letting Apu use Homer’s family as his own when his mother visits to dodge having to go through with an arranged marriage).

Clancy Wiggum

Clancy Wiggum is a friend of Homer and he and Homer have shown their relationship in «Chief of Hearts», when Homer gave sandwiches to him. They have been friends since. Even before then, they also were at the very least acquaintances, notably being invited to barbecues by Homer, as well as Homer and Wiggum, alongside the other townspeople, often plotting to do activities when they are annoyed at recent events (such as their wives pushing them away because of Apu overindulging his wife for Valentine’s Day, and the events of the Presidential Election in Springfield).

Children

Homer’s relationship with his children fluctuates greatly from episode to episode.

Bart

Homer’s relationship with Bart is a strange one; indeed, Homer has threatened Bart with murder before, yet at other times, the two get along better than anyone else. Homer usually refers to Bart as «the boy» and has mentioned spanking and beating Bart before. All that is ever shown, however, is either Homer growling and lunging for Bart, chasing him, or else strangling him. Homer was held in a mental hospital once due to his aggression with Bart, although, once the doctors realized that Bart was, in fact, real, they released him. It is implied that Bart is the reason that Homer is bald. Homer blames most of his misfortunes on Bart and is the strict abuser of Bart in the strict abusive family. As a result, Bart usually takes advantage of his father’s stupidity to humiliate him (as he does with most authority figures). Because of their often-turbulent relationship, Bart commonly refers to Homer as Homer instead of Dad, especially when Bart is humiliating him. Homer has also implied that he wouldn’t mind if Bart changed 100% and that he isn’t very attached to him as he is.

Homer and Bart share the same sense of humor and adventure and therefore are almost always partners during wild escapades, such as when Homer became a truck driver or when they were arrested together in Japan. They spend a lot of time together watching TV, and although they spend a lot of time together, Homer doesn’t take much of an interest in his life while Bart mostly ignores Homer. Whenever Homer does partake in a father-son activity with Bart, it is usually to beat Flanders at something, although, interestingly, Homer is truly offended when Bart gets a «big brother» to spend time with. Although Bart oftentimes acts resentful of Homer, he really loves when his father shows an interest in him, in fact, when he cheated on an IQ test and was labeled a genius, consequently winning Homer’s affection, he was reluctant to admit he had cheated (even though he was miserable at school) simply because he didn’t want matters to go back to how they had been with Homer and his greatest fear is Bart becoming a homosexual.

A possible explanation for Homer’s frequent mistreatment or neglecting of Bart was provided in «Barthood». There, Homer states that the day he found out about Bart was the day his life of youthful independence was over, which frightened him as it meant he had to become a breadwinning patriarch despite his unreadiness. Truth be told, Homer admits to being just as insecure and misunderstood as his son and also like him, only wants to be accepted by his loved ones.

However, Homer also frequently shows genuine care for Bart and has expressed that he loves him, in spite of their differences and treatment of one another. He truly is ashamed whenever he embarrasses Bart and he tries to be a better father to Bart than Abe was to him, for example, he overly supports Bart when he is on the football team because his father never once supported him. Homer has even risked his life to impress Bart, such as taking a cannonball to the stomach because he realized that doing so caused Bart to idolize him. He was even willing to jump across Springfield Gorge to help Bart understand the stupidity of risking one’s life for short-lived thrills and glory. At times, Homer can also be protective of Bart. As when George Bush spanked him, Homer, in a rage, started a pranking war that led to a brutal fight against the former president. When Bart was trapped down a well, his father stopped at nothing to dig a hole to find and save him. He was even enraged that Bart’s former therapist strangled him and sued the man. In addition, Homer has also «protected» Bart from the horrible sight of a nude Patty by bleaching his son’s eyes, something that his son appreciated. Also, when he took note of Bart’s rather merciless mimicking of Abe’s «Gorgeous Godfrey» persona on other children, Homer berated his father for this.

Lisa

Homer is very protective of Lisa and shows a soft side to her that Bart has never seen. She is his little girl and when Homer disappoints her or makes her sad, he will often times go to the end of the earth to make things right. Homer sometimes does activities with Lisa which he doesn’t enjoy simply to make her happy, such as attending the ballet. That being said, Lisa and Homer do not get along very well. When Homer does accompany Lisa on such intellectual trips, he oftentimes embarrasses her, usually by either falling asleep, saying something rude or unintellectual, or else displaying disgusting habits (scratching his butt, burping, etc.). When Lisa becomes upset, Homer can’t usually figure out what it is he did wrong. They have little to talk about because of their differences in interests and intellectual caliber, so Homer far prefers to do tasks with Bart and leave Lisa alone.

He is often annoyed by her love of her saxophone and constantly yells at her to tell her to stop making a racket. Lisa is also the moral center of the family, which leads to further clashes between her and Homer, who doesn’t really care about the ethics of the various situations he has been involved in. Lisa’s intelligence is likely the largest cause that Homer and she do not get along better. Whenever Lisa does make an attempt to protest or explain something to her father, she usually uses such advanced vocabulary that Homer simply nods and replies, «Yes, sweetie,» even though it makes no sense whatsoever in the context of the conversation.

However, Homer is very proud of Lisa’s intelligence and will brag about it to friends and co-workers. Lisa acknowledges her father’s shortcomings but does love him and appreciates when he puts in the effort to better himself for her sake. Although he is often insensitive to her and her needs (once turning her room into a cellular tower without a second thought and then forcing her to bunk with Bart- also without a second thought), Homer does try to be a good father and puts her happiness above anything else. For example, when he was first told that she was gifted and that she should find a mental stimulation to help with her gift, he gave up the $200 dollars the family had saved for a new air conditioner to buy her saxophone instead and earned gratitude from her. In Homer Is Where the Art Isn’t, Lisa secretly got an art painting out while switching the painting with a bag, and Lisa wanted to be closer with Homer.

Maggie

Homer forgets Maggie exists—frequently. Once, when talking about their «two» children, Marge interrupted and told Homer that they had three children, to which he replied that the dog didn’t count as a child before recalling Maggie. Similar dialogue is recurrent throughout the series. Also, whenever Maggie is referred to by her full name, Margaret, Homer has no clue as to who is being referenced. When Homer does try to interact with Maggie, he oftentimes frightens her unintentionally.

Homer is highly irresponsible with Maggie, often giving her dangerous objects to play with and once completely losing her because she crawled out of her crib. Maggie was an accident baby (as was Bart and Lisa) and having her meant that Homer had to quit his dream job at the bowling alley and instead take his job back at the nuclear power plant so that he would make enough money to support a third child. This was not ideal for Homer because he had only recently quit from the power plant in a very rude and flamboyant fashion. When he returned, Smithers and Burns had a good gloat that he was crawling back and, to further depress him, installed a plaque dead center in front of his desk that read, «don’t forget, you’re here forever.»

Because of all this, Homer fiercely resented the prenatal Maggie, but, as soon as he first laid eyes on her, he immediately fell in love. There are no baby pictures of Maggie in the Simpson household because Homer hangs them «where he needs the most cheering up»— at work. In his office, he has created a mural of Maggie’s baby pictures which strategically cover up one half of the N and the entire T of don’t, the GET of forget, the YOU’RE, the E of here, and the FOREVER on his plaque with pictures of Maggie, so that it reads «do it for her.» It can be argued from this that Maggie cheers up Homer more than his other two children.

Although they don’t communicate well, Homer and Maggie share a special bond and he loves her deeply. Maggie’s first word was «daddy», which he couldn’t hear (due to being out of Maggie’s room and shutting the door as he exited). Maggie once saved a captive Homer, who was impressed and grateful to his daughter. He has shown love for Maggie as he protected her from bullying babies in Eeny Teeny Maya, Moe and earned a hug from his daughter who punched out a baby that knocked him down. Homer later saved her from being carried off by a bald eagle and made sure to hold her close, while punching the bird so it wouldn’t try to take her again.

Hugo Simpson II

In Treehouse of Horror VII, Hugo lives in the attic and lives off fish heads. He is said to be Bart’s conjoined twin, but this is non-canon.

Non-Canon Appearances

The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened/existed.

Future

One morning Homer gorged himself on pizza and afterwards is on top of the kitchen table in nothing but his underwear. Marge finds him and tells Homer she wishes he would take his health seriously. Just when Homer seems to be taking Marge’s words to heart, he marches upstairs to tell his wife that he will start taking care of himself, only to have a heart attack and fall down the stairs, because he is out of shape. Not long later, the church has a funeral for Homer, where everyone in town grieves for the Simpson patriarch. Suddenly, Jonathan Frink, Jr interrupts the proceedings to announce that he has made a clone of Homer. Marge warns Homer to take this second chance seriously, to which Homer asks her if she made potato salad for the wake.

Homer 2.0 dies of Potato Salad poisoning the next day.

Homer 3.0 arrives at the funeral of Homer 2.0. Homer 3.0 dies three years later.

Homer 4.0 dies by falling into the open grave of Homer 3.0 at his funeral.

A year later Homer 5.0 electrocutes himself with a toaster.

Homer 6.0 arrives just after Homer 5.0 dies, to eat the toast. Homer 6.0 and Marge walk through a hall dedicated to her political career. Marge suggests skipping one exhibit that they come near, but Homer points out they have to pass through it to get to the building’s cafeteria. How Homer 6.0 dies is unknown.

While having dinner, Homer 7.0 drinks beer in front of the kids irritating Marge so she tells him to go to Moe’s Tavern to drink. Three years after Homer 5.0 died Homer 7.0 lands in the hospital before pulling the plug on himself when he hears that he can’t eat solid foods for two weeks.

One year later Homer 8.0’s and Marge’s relationship has finally ended after Homer blew the family savings on an underwater house. She started dating Krusty the Clown, and eventually, Homer fought him to win her back. Homer was beaten, but Marge still chose to go back to him. Three years later Homer 8.0 is still working at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in sector 7G with Milhouse Van Houten as his supervisor. Homer 8.0 dies at the age 59 after being shot by the police after leaving the food bank with a sub sandwich.

At some point Homer 9.0 went to Musicville and met his tuba counterpart: Hoba. At one point Homer 9.0 gets a prostetic leg. When Homer 9.0 was age 61, Lisa ran for president against Isabel Gutiérrez. Homer 9.0 watched their presidential debate of which was hosted by Anderson Cooper, with Hoba. In response to a question of how to end America’s war in Afghanistan, Lisa suggests throwing in the towel and make them a state. Homer 9.0 proudly exclaims, «That’s my girl!» Hoba agrees with a toot. Later, Homer 9.0 died while trying to reach something on a tall shelf.

Homer 10.0 all the way through to Homer 72.0 sacrificed themselves in order to reach an object on a high shelf, only for Homer 73.0 to fall and die meaning that all the clones have run out.

Homer 74.0 killed himself with beer to avoid having to take an exam.

Homer 75.0, who is now a senior citizen and Bart, who by now is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, walk down a street, and see that a the Aztec Theater has re-released «The Itchy & Scratchy Movie.» Homer believes that Bart has learned his lesson, and the two enter the theater and watch the movie happily together as Homer gets confused about Itchy.

At some point all the clones were killed again, and Homer went to Protestant Heaven. In Heaven, Homer tells a dead Bart that Jesus wants to meet him. After that, Homer goes to Hindu Heaven, where he gets transformed to a turtle and sent back to Earth. Once again cheating death.

«Treehouse of Horror VI»

In this episode, Homer goes to the third dimension, but accidentally ends up in the real world.

Treehouse of Horror deaths

1. Treehouse of Horror VI Intro: Hanged along with Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.
2. Treehouse of Horror VII Intro: Killed by the Grim Reaper while trying to get to the couch along with Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.
3. Treehouse of Horror VIII Intro: Electrocuted on the couch along with Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.
4. Treehouse of Horror IX Intro: Hit by Marge’s car.
5. I Know What You Diddly-Iddly Did: Mauled by the werewolf Ned Flanders.
6. Life’s A Glitch, Then You Die: Dies after escaping the ship going towards the sun because of no oxygen in space.
7. Treehouse of Horror XI Intro: Killed by an angry mob along with Marge, Bart and Abraham.
8. G-G-Ghost D-Dad: Chokes to death on a piece of broccoli.
9. Send in the Clones: The original fell off the cliff with the clones chasing the giant donuts as one of the clones without a belly button replaced him.
10. The Fright To Creep And Scare Harms: Shot by Moe, who took the time machine immediately afterward.
11. Treehouse of Horror XIV Intro: Shot by Marge twice.
12. Treehouse of Horror XV Intro: Cooked by Kang and Kodos and eaten by their boss, along with Marge, Lisa, and Maggie.
13. The Ned Zone: Shot by Ned twice and killed in a nuclear explosion.
14. The Day The Earth Looked Stupid: Killed in Kang and Kodos’s invasion.
15. Heck House: Cut to pieces by his own hammock.
16. Treehouse of Horror XIX Intro: Sucked into a voting booth and shot out of it.
17. How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising: Head blasted off by the deceased Krusty the Clown.
18. Treehouse of Horror XX Intro: Decapitated by monsters at a Halloween party.
19. War and Pieces: Possibly dies from sliding down in the Drops and Rises game, he is presumably resurrected after Bart finishes the game
20. Tweenlight: Falls from a great height when not able to fly back home as a vampire bat.
21. Dial D For Diddly: Choked to death by God.
22. Treehouse of Horror XXIII Intro: Crushed by a giant foot.
23. Oh, The Places You’ll D’oh!: Impaled with an umbrella by Maggie.
24. Freaks No Geeks: Announced to have died in a newspaper, along with Babe Ruth and Stalin.
25. The Others: Beaten to death with a toaster by 1987 Homer.
26. Treehouse of Horror XXV Intro: eaten the small intestine himself.
27. Moefinger: stabbed in the back by Bart.
28. Mmm… Homer: Ate himself.
29. Treehouse of Horror XXX Intro: Impaled by a monument along with Marge and Ned.
30. Heaven Swipes Right: Choked to death on a Hot Dog.
31. Into The HomerVerse: Zapped with a taser by Mr. Burns.

Role in Video Games

The Simpsons Arcade Game

Homer is one of the playable characters along with Bart, Lisa, and Marge in The Simpsons Arcade Game. When Maggie is kidnapped by Mr. Burns and Smithers, Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Marge go on an adventure to save her.

The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants

Homer only makes small cameos in The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants.

The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World

Homer only makes a cameo in The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World.

Bart’s House of Weirdness

Homer plays a small role in Bart’s House of Weirdness. After Bart pranks Homer and Marge too much, they ground him.

The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Juggernauts

Homer has a cameo in The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Juggernauts.

Krusty’s Fun House

Homer has his somewhat first major role since The Simpsons Arcade Game in Krusty’s Fun House. Homer is the runner of one of the extermination devices that exterminate the rats.

The Simpsons: Bartman Meets Radioactive Man

Homer has a minor appearance in The Simpsons: Bartman Meets Radioactive Man.

Bart’s Nightmare

Homer has a minor appearance in Bart’s Nightmare. In the second half of the «Bartzilla» stage, Homer plays the role of a «King Kong» type ape monster on the top of the building Bart is climbing. After Bart completes the game, his role changes depending on how well Bart does in the game. In the worst ending, Homer and the rest of the family are disappointed in Bart. If Bart’s grade is slightly higher, Homer is proud of him while Lisa is still disappointed. If Bart gets an outstanding grade, Homer and the whole family is all proud of Bart.

The Simpsons: Bart and the Beanstalk

Homer has a somewhat major role once again. After Bart sells the family cow for some beans, Homer sends Bart to his room after mistaking the beans for food and spitting them out into the ground. Once Bart goes up the beanstalk from the beans, he is locked in a war with a giant who looks just like Homer. Once Bart defeats the Homer giant, the family uses the earned gold to buy a new cow and plenty of doughnuts for Homer.

Virtual Bart

Homer has an antagonist role (although not directly) in Virtual Bart. Homer appears as a caveman and is the main antagonist of the «Dinosaur» section along with Moe.

The Simpsons Cartoon Studio

Homer has a big role in The Simpsons Cartoon Studio. Homer is one of the things the player can manipulate to create cartoons in the game.

The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield

Homer is one of the things the player can interact within The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield.

The Simpsons Bowling

Homer is one of the playable characters in The Simpsons Bowling, along with Marge, Bart, Lisa, Mr. Burns, Apu, Krusty, Groundskeeper Willie, and Abe (Grandpa) Simpson. Homer has the most accuracy (along with Willie) of any bowler in the game.

The Simpsons Wrestling

Homer is one of the playable characters in The Simpsons Wrestling, along with Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson, Marge Simpson (and Maggie Simpson), Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Groundskeeper Willie, Bumblebee Man, Itchy, Scratchy, Moe Szyslak, Ned Flanders, Professor Frink, Mr. Burns (and Waylon Smithers), and Kang (and Kodos). Like every one of the characters, Homer has his own original moves and fighting style.

The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror

Homer is one of the main protagonists of The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie (only in certain segments) are playable.

The Simpsons Road Rage

Homer is (arguably) the main protagonist of The Simpsons Road Rage. Homer has a major role in the story. Mr. Burns has converted the Springfield buses into nuclear-powered ones and now, they’re wreaking havoc on the streets of Springfield. Homer leads a taxi service with the residents of Springfield to put the Nuclear Buses out of business. Homer has the most cars out of any playable character in the game.

The Simpsons Skateboarding

Homer is one of the main characters of The Simpsons Skateboarding. He is playable along with Marge Simpson, Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Otto Mann, Professor Frink, Krusty the Clown, and Chief Wiggum.

The Simpsons: Hit and Run

Homer (along with Bart) is the main protagonist of The Simpsons: Hit and Run. He is playable in level 1 and level 7. He is playable, along with Bart, Lisa, Marge, and Apu. He starts with running errands for the family but then starts investigating the wasp cameras. After falsely accusing Mr. Burns and failing, Homer is reduced to shopkeeper/minor character for most of the rest of the game. In the final level though, he returns. Homer is set off the get supplies for the apocalypse for his family. Homer finds the UFOs, so he steals cars, puts radioactive waste in the cars, and makes the UFOs abduct the cars, causing the UFO to explode. Homer is considered a hero by the town, and a comedy King by the aliens.

The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown

Homer is the main protagonist of The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown, and the only playable character. After a nuclear meltdown will occur due to Homer’s incompetence (and Plopper), Homer must prevent a nuclear meltdown.

The Simpsons Game

Homer is one of the main protagonists of The Simpsons Game. He is playable, along with Bart, Lisa, Marge, and Maggie (only on certain parts). Once Homer and his family find out they are in a video game, they must go on a quest to find the creator of the game.

Homer has powers in the game (see Homer’s Powers)

The Simpsons: Tapped Out

Homer is a major character in The Simpsons: Tapped Out. After accidentally destroying Springfield, Homer must get the town back, and rebuild it with the help of the player.

Family Guy

«PTV»

In the opening sequence in «PTV», Homer is being chased into his garage a la the opening sequence to The Simpsons, with Homer being flattened by Stewie’s tricycle. Peter then opens the garage door, notices Homer unconscious, and asks Stewie who the man is.

«Movin’ Out (Brian’s Song)»

Homer is also heard from in «Movin’ Out (Brian’s Song)». He walks in on his wife Marge cheating on him with Glenn Quagmire. Panicked, Quagmire pulls out a gun, killing Homer and Marge. Their kids, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, witness the murders, thus, they are killed as well. It has been debated whether Maggie was killed in the segment, as Maggie appears to have lots of experience with guns.

«The Juice Is Loose»

He briefly appears in «The Juice Is Loose» and was voiced by impressionist Jeff Bergman. He was the Simpson whose presence Mayor Adam West did not want in Quahog.

«Cool Hand Peter»

In «Cool Hand Peter», the jury of the trial of Peter, Joe, Quagmire, and Cleveland consisted of Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Comic Book Guy, Groundskeeper Willie, Edna Krabappel, Ned Flanders, Otto Mann, Moe Szyslak, and Mr. Burns. Peter is at first relieved to find that it’s a jury of their peers, but Joe points out that they don’t see it that way.

«Ratings Guy»

In «Ratings Guy», Homer rushes to report having broken television only to have Peter brag that they beat them to it. Here, he is voiced by his regular voice actor Dan Castellaneta.

«The Simpsons Guy»

Main article: The Simpsons Guy.

Lego Dimensions (The Simpsons)

Homer is also in Lego Dimensions, but you can also play as Bart Simpson and Krusty. Homer is one of the level pack characters in the game. The story level is called The Mysterious Voyage of Homer. Homer’s ability in the game is super strength and Big Transform Sonar Smash. Homer’s dialogue in the game is recycled from past episodes, including «The Mysterious Voyage of Homer», «Treehouse of Horror VII», etc.

Foreign dubs

Homer’s name is rarely translated, though exceptions occur. In the Arabic version, Homer becomes Omar, and it was heavily modified, with alcohol and pork being removed. The Latin American version translates Homer to Homero.

Czech

• Vlastimil Bedrna (Seasons 1-12, passed away)
• Vlastimil Zavřel (Season 13-present)

Danish

• Niels Ellegaard (The Simpsons Movie)

Deutsch/German

• Norbert Gastell (1991–2015)
• Christoph Jablonka (2015–present)

Dutch

• Reinder van der Naalt (The Simpsons Movie)

Finnish

• Markku Toikka (The Simpsons Movie)

Flemish

• Chris Van den Durpel (The Simpsons Movie)

French (France)

• Philippe Peythieu

French (Canada)

• Hubert Gagnon (Season 1-27)
• Thiéry Dubé (Season 28-present)

Hebrew

• Eyal Nachmias (The Simpsons Movie)

Hungarian

• József Székhelyi (Season 1-29, passed away)
• Imre Csuja («My Big Fat Geek Wedding»)

Italian/Italiano

• Tonino Accolla (Seasons 1-23, passed away)
• Massimo Lopez (Season 24-present)

Japanese

• Tooru Oohira (Season 1-14)
• Jouji Tokoro (The Simpsons Movie)

Polish

• Andrzej Snarski (Season 1)
• Paweł Burczyk (Season 2)
• Mikołaj Klimek (Season 3)
• Miłogost Reczek (The Simpsons Movie)

Portuguese (Brazil)

• Waldyr Sant’anna (Seasons 1-8; Seasons 15-18)
• Julio Cesar (Seasons 8-14)
• Carlos Alberto (Season 18-present)

Portuguese (Portugal)

• José Jorge Duarte (The Simpsons Movie)

Russian

• Boris Bystrov (Seasons 1-16; Season 19-present)
• Oleg Forostenko (Season 16-17)
• Alexander Kotov (Season 18)

Spanish/Español

• Carlos Revilla (Seasons 1-11; Spain)
• Carlos Ysbert (Season 12-present; Spain)
• Humberto Vélez (Seasons 1-15, 32-present; Latin America)
• Víctor Manuel Espinoza (Season 16-31; Latin America)

Svenska

• Per Sandborgh (Short lived Swedish dub of the Simpsons)
• Anders Byström (The Simpsons Movie)

Ukrainian

• Yevhen Malukha (Season 1-present)
• Mykola Lutsenko (The Simpsons Movie)

Behind the Laughter

Creation

Matt Groening first conceived the Simpson family in the lobby of James L. Brooks’ office. He had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended to present his Life in Hell series. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life’s work, Groening chose to go in another direction. He hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, with Homer being named after his father. Homer then made his debut with the rest of the Simpsons clan on April 19, 1987, in the Tracey Ullman short «Good Night». He was the first character to speak in the series. Homer’s middle initial «J», which was revealed to stand for «Jay»,^[103] was a «tribute» to Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose from Rocky and Bullwinkle, a show Matt Groening loved as a child.^[104] According to Matt Groening, the whole family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.^[105][106]

Homer is named after Matt Groening’s late father Homer Groening. In a series of interviews in 1990, Groening reportedly stated that he named the character after the Homer Simpson in The Day of the Locust, a 1939 novel by Nathanael West according to Planet Simpson, but neither explanation is considered definitive.

Voice

Homer’s voice sounds different on the shorts and Season 1 to early/mid-Season 2 of the half-hour show than the seasons that followed. Dan Castellaneta’s earliest portrayal began as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but developed into a more robust and humorous voice during late-Season 2 and Season 3, allowing Homer to convey a wider range of emotions.^[107] Castellaneta changed the voice, as he could not sustain his Matthau impression for the 9-10 hour long recording sessions and had to find something easier.^[108] During an interview with the cast of the show on Inside the Actors Studio, Castellaneta stated that Homer’s voice was based in part on his own father who often spoke with an exuberant tone.

Catchphrase

• Homer popularized the annoyed grunt «D’oh!» (made memorable through Dan Castellaneta’s distinctive voice work), which began as an abbreviated form of James Finlayson’s annoyed «Dooooh» in Laurel and Hardy films and other comedy shorts. This modern interjection has found enough popular acceptance to be included in the Oxford English Dictionary.

He also popularized the catchphrase «Mmm…». Many examples of other «Mmm…»s are «Mmm… candy», «Mmm… pointy», or «Mmm… hug». He has used it less lately.

He also has another catchphrase: «Woo Hoo!» He says this when something goes right for him. When something goes wrong for him, he says, «D’oh!».

Reception

On May 30, 2003, Homer was made an honorary citizen of Winnipeg, Canada, in recognition of Matt Groening’s father Homer Groening, who is believed to be from the Manitoba capital.^[109]

Homer placed second on TV Guide’s 2015 Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters, behind Bugs Bunny.^[110] In 2005, Homer was listed fifth on Bravo’s 100 Greatest TV Characters, one of only four cartoon characters on that list.^[111] British TV viewers voted him as the greatest TV character of all time.^[112] In 2007, Entertainment Weekly placed Homer ninth on their list of the «50 Greatest TV icons».^[113]

The Simpsons has been recommended for use in the teaching of sociology to modern-day college students. The journal Teaching Sociology appraised it as «particularly effective for illustrating sociological themes and encouraging critical thinking among today’s undergraduates».^[114] The non-academic book, The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer, includes a chapter analyzing Homer’s character from the perspective of Aristotelian virtue ethics, whatever that is.

Homer was voted the greatest television character of all time by Channel 4 viewers. For voicing Homer, Castellaneta has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and a special-achievement Annie Award. In 2000, Homer and his family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Homer Simpson syndrome

A 5-year study of more than 2,000 middle-aged people in France found a possible link between weight and brain function, dubbed the «Homer Simpson syndrome».^[115] Results from a word memory test showed that people with a BMI of 20 (considered to be a healthy level) remembered an average of nine out of sixteen words. Meanwhile, people with a BMI of 30 (inside the obese range) remembered an average of just seven out of sixteen words^[115]

Merchandising

Homer’s inclusion in many Simpsons publications, toys, and other merchandise is evidence of his enduring popularity. He has played central roles in the Simpsons Comics series. The Homer Book, written about Homer’s personality and attributes has been published and is commercially available. Numerous other items such as bottle openers, alarm clocks, and other merchandise are widely available for purchase.

Quotes

1. «I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean, S-M-A-R-T!» (SMRT means death in Czech)^[116]
2. «I promised I wouldn’t eat? Never! You lie!»^[117]
3. «Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try!»^[118]
4. «In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!»^[119]
5. «To alcohol… the cause of and solution to all life’s problems.»^[120]
6. «Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do?»^[121]
7. «The Internet? Is that thing still around?»^[93]
8. «I never apologize, Lisa. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way I am.»^[122]
9. «I hope I didn’t brain my damage.»^[123]
10. «I won’t sleep in the same bed with a woman who thinks I’m lazy! I’m going right downstairs, unfold the couch, unroll the sleeping ba—uh, goodnight.»^[124]
11. «Hello, operator? Give me the number for 911.»^[125]
12. «Hey! Just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I don’t understand.»^[126]
13. «In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women.»^[127]
14. «You had me at ‘five-course’, you lost me at ‘romantic’, and you got me back at ‘dinner’.»^[128]
15. «I have three kids and no money. Why can’t I have no kids and three money?»^[129]

Trivia

• A character named Homer Simpson in The Day of the Locust, a 1939 novel by Nathanael West, may have been another inspiration for Homer’s name.
• His Social Security number is 568-47-0008.
• Originally, Bart was the character the show focused on, but by Season 3 they focused more on Homer instead of him. Additionally, Homer is the star of The Simpsons Movie.
• It is indicated that he is farsighted given that he wears reading glasses.
• In «Today, I Am a Clown», it reveals that Homer is an animal whisperer.
• Homer has an email address on AOL called Chunkylover53, and this email belongs in fact to Simpsons writer Matt Selman, and can be emailed to receive Homer-style replies from Matt Selman himself (However, Matt Selman may not respond to emails that were sent to him, mainly because he’s doing work for the show). As it was hacked, Matt Selman made a new AOL email for Homer called Homer_Simpson@AOL.com. If you receive an email from this email address, it is simply a reply for an email, if you sent one.
• His blood type is either A positive^[130] or AB, as displayed on his sperm donor profile, Thad Supersperm.^[131]
• In «Homer’s Triple Bypass», it is implied that Homer’s bloodstream has a continuous regulation of radioactivity, as Dr. Hibbert was explaining to Marge Simpson that they injected Homer with a radioactive dye to see his circulatory system from an X-ray until he learns that the nurse hadn’t even injected the dye yet (resulting in Hibbert saying «Good Lord» in a shocked manner).
  • In the same episode, it was also revealed that his fat can jiggle upwards to at least an hour, as when Dr. Hibbert did a fat analysis test to see how long it would go, it became apparent that it was going for long enough to force Hibbert to cancel an upcoming 1:00 medical appointment he was supposed to attend.
• His personality is very similar to that of Peter Griffin from Family Guy, which premiered ten years after The Simpsons began. In «Treehouse of Horror XIII», Peter Griffin appeared as one of Homer’s clones. But Homer may be smarter than Peter, since in Family Guy, it is revealed that Peter is actually below mentally retarded, which of that, being below, is worse than actual mental retardation.
• He has met Peter Griffin in «The Simpsons Guy», where he and Peter fought, where it seemed that Peter won in that same episode, but in the end, either of them did and they called it to just to be equal and agreed that they would be happy to coexist, as long as it was miles away from each other.
• Homer owns the Denver Broncos, despite wanting to own the Dallas Cowboys.
• It is believed that Homer is diabetic as mentioned in «That ’90s Show». However, if this was true, Homer would most likely be dead because he has never been seen taking insulin and the amount of food that Homer eats would just ensure that he would already be dead by the point the episode was shown.
• In «Fear of Flying», it is shown his favorite song (at the time) was «It’s Raining Men».
• Homer has temporarily died twice outside of Treehouse of Horror episodes. As shown in «Homer’s Triple Bypass», when he died of a heart attack, but was revived when Mr. Burns mentioned a ham. And again in «Million Dollar Maybe», when he was trying to calm himself down after stressing about being rich and not being able to tell Marge, but was revived when he realized he was dead and made a desperate attempt to return to his body. He dies the most times (now 20) in the Treehouse of Horror segments, but they are non-canon.
• According to «The Blunder Years», his constant eating was a direct result of his trauma from finding Waylon Smithers, Sr.’s corpse.
• Homer was originally supposed to have an illegitimate, long-lost daughter in the episode that would have become Insane Clown Poppy, but the writers decided to change it to having Krusty have the long-lost illegitimate daughter instead of in order to not make the plot too far-fetched for it to be canon.
• He looks like his father when he is dehydrated.^[132]
• On one episode of Jeopardy!, there was a category called «Readings From Homer» in which Homer’s voice provided the clues.
• Homer weighs 313.1 lbs.
• In all Simpsons video games where you can play as multiple characters, Homer is always the first unlocked character.
• In «Trilogy of Error», Homer had his thumb cut off. However, it was sutured by one of Fat Tony’s helpers as Lisa’s Science Fair Project.
• Homer’s sideburns and ear used to say M and G, respectively, for Matt Groening. They decided to keep the «M», but Groening wanted Homer’s ear to look like a real ear.
• Homer only has an IQ of 55. It was revealed in «HOMЯ» that the reason Homer’s IQ is so low is because he had a crayon lodged in his brain since he was six. Upon removal of the crayon, his IQ jumped from 55 to 105.
  • In «Frink Gets Testy», everyone thought Homer’s IQ is 265, but that was due to a test mix-up between his IQ test and Bart’s because Homer has terrible handwriting.
• Homer shares his middle initial J with Philip J. Fry from Futurama, Matt Groening’s second successful show, but unlike Homer, whose initial actually means Jay, Fry’s was never defined. Homer only found out what his middle name was when he went to his mother’s old gypsy camp, and found a mural/ painting of him as a boy, and above it was his full name.
• He is one of the three Simpson family members to break a leg in the series and have the injury last through the majority of the episode,^[133] the others being Marge^[134] and Bart^[135].
• Throughout the series, Homer has shown to be highly patriotic. He has also displayed a small form of nationalism by insulting other countries, making fun of their culture and its people, as well as putting his country ahead of all others.
• In «Rednecks and Broomsticks», Homer has shown to have a strong sense of taste by being able to taste moonshine inside the town’s water reservoir. His taste buds could, to some extent, be compared to that of a wine taster.
  • Earlier, in Season 20, his old taste buds got burned off exposing new ones in «Father Knows Worst» when he ate a fire kabob.
• Homer starts out as an anti-hero in The Simpsons Movie when he makes Springfield the most polluted city in the history of the planet. However, he later has an epiphany when he realizes that other people are just as important as him and saves everyone from being blown up by Russ Cargill.
  • Also in The Simpsons Movie, Homer is hinted to be an atheist when he complains while going into church saying «Everyone’s busy talking to their phony-baloney God!». However, in other episodes, he shows belief in God.
• In «Marge vs. the Monorail», the news shows a picture of Homer with what appears to be a mouthful of unlit cigarettes. This joke was recreated several years later as a meme for the game Team Fortress 2 with the Spy class doing the same thing, only the cigarettes are lit.
• There was a temporary belief among fans that Homer has a disorder called Intermittent Explosive Disorder where the sufferer overreacts when angered resulting in violent outbursts and property damage.
• According to «Super Franchise Me», Homer calls Ned’s quotes, such as «diddly», «Flanderisms».
• Despite his low intelligence, there have been a few times where he is able to show higher intelligence. These include accurately predicting the outcome of the comet in «Bart’s Comet», accurately assuming the cause of the smoke inside a fireproof safe then guessing its eventual explosion in «Homerazzi», and being capable of describing the difference between envy and jealousy which caused Lisa to look in a dictionary and confirm his description in «Covercraft». He also, when hearing of the term «think tank», imagines think tank as the word was intended rather than a literal and inaccurate definition in E. Pluribus Wiggum, with him also telling his shocked family «Hey, I can’t get one right?» afterwards to highlight it.
• Homer is unintentionally responsible for Maude Flanders’ death.
• He is the only main Simpson family member who doesn’t have anything colored red in his everyday clothes, unlike Marge (her pearls), Bart (his t-shirt), Lisa (her dress and sandals), and Maggie (her pacifier).

• Details from Homer’s license indicate that he holds a class C license and has no hair.
• It is also true that he has a tattoo on his back which says «Marge madness», as seen in «Waiting for Duffman».
• Homer was IGN’s number one 90s cartoon character.
• It has been shown multiple times that Homer has Arachnophobia, which is a fear of arachnids (mainly spiders). This is considered true in «Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily», where he panics when a spider appears next to his keys. It also happened in «Treehouse of Horror XXII», where he panics when he realizes that the spider Halloween decoration was a real black widow spider, and panics again when a second spider appears later, and in «Mobile Homer» where he becomes unsettled by the sight of a spider when he was asked by Marge to kill the spiders in the garage and gets into a frenzy when more spiders attack him. This has happened in more episodes than the mentioned three.
• Homer is right-handed, unlike most other characters, such as Bart and Ned.
• According to his driver’s license, Homer’s birthday is May 12, 1956. Without the floating timeline, Homer would’ve been 65.
• He has a subscription for Mad Magazine^[136], and considers it to be «our nation’s largest mental illness-themed humor magazine».^[132]
• He is of Scandinavian descent on his mother’s side and Native American descent on his father’s side (although the exact tribe is unknown). Since he, Abe, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie all appear Caucasian, this is a more distant gene, whereas his mother Mona Simpson’s maiden name was Olsen (a Scandinavian name) which suggests that his Scandinavian ancestry is more recent. Since his half-brother Herb Powell only shares the Native American gene, it is unknown what ancestry Herb’s mother had.
• Homer has had multiple tattoos in the show but these are mostly shown as gags.
  • In «Cape Feare», Bart somehow managed to tattoo the words «Wide Load» above his buttocks.
  • In «‘Round Springfield», he revealed to Lisa that he has a tattoo on his arm, but is dismayed when he realized that the tattoo was of «Starland Vocal Band».
  • In «The Ten-Per-Cent Solution», he starts panicking when his pants start tearing because he fears people will see his tattoo of «Donald Duck smoking a doob».
  • In «Waiting for Duffman», he is shown to have a tattoo on his back which says «Marge madness».
• Homer is the only member of the main Simpsons family (excluding Grandpa and Santa’s Little Helper) to have a male voice actor: Dan Castellaneta.
• Homer’s tattoo reading «Marge madness» is a reference to the phrase «March Madness». Which was a brand name for the «NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament». The term «March Madness» came from the idiomatic phrase «(As) mad as a March hare», which was based on the amorousness of male hares during mating season.
• Homer is unable to pronounce ‘Oprah’.
• Homer is the only member of the Simpson family to both appear and have a speaking role in every episode. Marge has no lines in «Krusty Gets Kancelled», Lisa has no lines in «Chief of Hearts» and «Moho House», Bart has no lines in «My Fare Lady» and «The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby» and is completely absent in «Four Great Women and a Manicure», and Maggie is absent from multiple episodes. «The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular» is the only episode that Homer does not physically appear in.
  • He also had a minor role in the episode «22 Short Films About Springfield», along with Maggie, as they only appeared in one clip and were never seen again for the rest of the episode.

Gallery

The full image gallery for Homer Simpson may be viewed at Homer Simpson/Gallery.

See also

• Simpson family: more info on Homer’s family.
• 742 Evergreen Terrace: more info on Homer’s house.
• Marge Simpson: more info on Homer’s wife.
• Bart Simpson: more info on Homer’s oldest child.
• Lisa Simpson: more info on Homer’s middle child.
• Maggie Simpson: more info on Homer’s youngest child.
• Abraham Simpson: more info on Homer’s father.
• Mona Simpson: more info on Homer’s mother.

Citations

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Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short «Good Night» on April 19, 1987. Homer 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 his comic strip Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He named the character after his father, Homer Groening. After appearing for three seasons on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpson family got their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989.

As patriarch of the eponymous family, Homer and his wife Marge have three children: Bart, Lisa and Maggie. As the family’s provider, he works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as safety inspector. Homer embodies many American working class stereotypes: he is obese, immature, outspoken, aggressive, balding, lazy, ignorant, unprofessional, arrogant, and addicted to beer, junk food and watching television. However, he often tries to be a good man and is staunchly protective of his family, especially when they need him the most. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of his life, he has had a number of remarkable experiences, including going to space, climbing the tallest mountain in Springfield by himself, fighting former President George H. W. Bush and winning a Grammy Award as a member of a barbershop quartet.

In the shorts and earlier episodes, Castellaneta voiced Homer with a loose impression of Walter Matthau; however, during the second and third seasons of the half-hour show, Homer’s voice evolved to become more robust, to allow the expression of a fuller range of emotions. He 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. His signature catchphrase, the annoyed grunt «D’oh!«, has been included in The New Oxford Dictionary of English since 1998 and the Oxford English Dictionary since 2001.

Homer is one of the most influential characters in the history of television, and is widely considered to be an American cultural icon. The British newspaper The Sunday Times described him as «The greatest comic creation of [modern] time». He was named the greatest character «of the last 20 years» in 2010 by Entertainment Weekly, was ranked the second-greatest cartoon character by TV Guide, behind Bugs Bunny, and was voted the greatest television character of all time by Channel 4 viewers. For voicing Homer, Castellaneta has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and a special-achievement Annie Award. In 2000, Homer and his family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Role in The Simpsons

Homer Jay Simpson is the bumbling husband of Marge, and father to Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson.Template:Sfn He is the son of Mona and Abraham «Grampa» Simpson. Homer held over 188 different jobs in the first 400 episodes of The Simpsons.^[1] In most episodes, he works as the nuclear safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position which, whilst being wholly unsuitable for, he has held since «Homer’s Odyssey», the third episode of the series.^[2] At the nuclear plant, Homer is often ignored and completely forgotten by his boss Mr. Burns, and he constantly falls asleep and neglects his duties. Matt Groening has stated that he decided to have Homer work at the power plant because of the potential for Homer to wreak severe havoc.^[3] Each of his other jobs has lasted only one episode. In the first half of the series, the writers developed an explanation about how he got fired from the plant and was then rehired in every episode. In later episodes, he often began a new job on impulse, without any mention of his regular employment.^[4]

The Simpsons uses a floating timeline in which the characters never physically age, and, as such, the show is generally assumed to be always set in the current year. Nevertheless, in several episodes, events in Homer’s life have been linked to specific time periods.Template:Sfn «Mother Simpson» (season seven, 1995) depicts Homer’s mother, Mona, as a radical who went into hiding in 1969 following a run-in with the law;^[5] «The Way We Was» (season two, 1991) shows Homer falling in love with Marge Bouvier as a senior at Springfield High School in 1974;^[6] and «I Married Marge» (season three, 1991) implies that Marge became pregnant with Bart in 1980.^[7] However, the episode «That ’90s Show» (season 19, 2008) contradicted much of this backstory, portraying Homer and Marge as a twentysomething childless couple in the early 1990s.^[8]

Due to the floating timeline, Homer’s age has changed occasionally as the series developed; he was 34 in the early episodes,^[6] 36 in season four,^[9] 38 and 39 in season eight,^[10] and 40 in the eighteenth season,^[11] although even in those seasons his age is inconsistent.Template:Sfn During Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein’s period as showrunners, they found that as they aged, Homer seemed to become older too, so they increased his age to 38. His height is 6′ (1.83 m).^[12]

Other television appearances

2019 Emmy Awards

During the opening of the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast on Fox on September 22, 2019, Homer Simpson was introduced as the host of the show. Unfortunately, after some brief opening comments, a piano fell on him – D’oh!^[13] The remainder of the award show was then broadcast without a host.^[14]

Character

Creation

Naming the characters after members of his own family, Groening named Homer after his father, who himself had been named after the ancient Greek poet of the same name.^[15][16][17] Very little else of Homer’s character was based on him, and to prove that the meaning behind Homer’s name was not significant, Groening later named his own son Homer.^[18][19] According to Groening, «Homer originated with my goal to both amuse my real father, and just annoy him a little bit. My father was an athletic, creative, intelligent filmmaker and writer, and the only thing he had in common with Homer was a love of donuts.»^[20] Although Groening has stated in several interviews that Homer was named after his father, he also claimed in several 1990 interviews that a character in the 1939 Nathanael West novel The Day of the Locust was the inspiration for naming Homer.Template:Sfn^[21][22] Homer’s middle initial «J», which stands for «Jay»,^[23] is a «tribute» to animated characters such as Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, who got their middle initial from Jay Ward.^[24]

Homer made his debut with the rest of the Simpson family on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short «Good Night«.Template:Sfn In 1989, the shorts were adapted into The Simpsons, a half-hour series airing on the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer and the Simpson family remained the main characters on this new show.^[25]

Design

As currently depicted in the series, Homer’s everyday clothing consists of a white shirt with short sleeves and open collar, blue pants, and gray shoes. He is overweight and bald, except for a fringe of hair around the back and sides of his head and two curling hairs on top, and his face always sports a growth of beard stubble that instantly regrows whenever he shaves.

File:Evolution of Homer.jpg

The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.^[26] 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.^[15] By coincidence or not, Homer’s look bears a resemblance to the cartoon character Adamsson, created by Swedish cartoonist Oscar Jacobsson in 1920.^[27] Homer’s physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no characters other than Homer, Grampa Simpson, Lenny Leonard, and Krusty the Clown have a similar beard line.^[28] When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his initials into the character’s hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an ‘M’, and the right ear resembled a ‘G’. Groening decided that this would be too distracting and redesigned the ear to look normal. However, he still draws the ear as a ‘G’ when he draws pictures of Homer for fans.^[29] The basic shape of Homer’s head is described by director Mark Kirkland as a tube-shaped coffee can with a salad bowl on top.^[30] During the shorts, the animators experimented with the way Homer would move his mouth when talking. At one point, his mouth would stretch out back «beyond his beardline»; but this was dropped when it got «out of control.»^[31] In some early episodes, Homer’s hair was rounded rather than sharply pointed because animation director Wes Archer felt it should look disheveled. Homer’s hair evolved to be consistently pointed.^[32] During the first three seasons, Homer’s design for some close-up shots included small lines which were meant to be eyebrows. Groening strongly disliked them and they were eventually dropped.^[32]

In the season seven (1995) episode «Treehouse of Horror VI», Homer was computer animated into a three-dimensional character for the first time for the «Homer³» segment of the episode. The computer animation directors at Pacific Data Images worked hard not to «reinvent the character».^[33] In the final minute of the segment, the 3D Homer ends up in a real world, live-action Los Angeles. The scene was directed by David Mirkin and was the first time a Simpsons character had been in the real world in the series.^[33] Because «Lisa’s Wedding» (season six, 1995) is set fifteen years in the future, Homer’s design was altered to make him older in the episode. He is heavier; one of the hairs on top of his head was removed; and an extra line was placed under the eye. A similar design has been used in subsequent flashforwards.^[34]

Voice

File:Dan Castellaneta 2.jpg

Homer’s voice is performed by Dan Castellaneta, who voices numerous other characters, including Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Barney Gumble, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby and Hans Moleman. Castellaneta had been part of the regular cast of The Tracey Ullman Show and had previously done some voice-over work in Chicago alongside his wife Deb Lacusta. Voices were needed for the Simpsons shorts, so the producers decided to ask Castellaneta and fellow cast member Julie Kavner to voice Homer and Marge rather than hire more actors.^[35][36] In the shorts and first few seasons of the half-hour show, Homer’s voice is different from the majority of the series. The voice began as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but Castellaneta could not «get enough power behind that voice»,^[36] or sustain his Matthau impression for the nine- to ten-hour-long recording sessions, and had to find something easier.^[1] During the second and third seasons of the half-hour show, Castellaneta «dropped the voice down»^[35] and developed it as more versatile and humorous, allowing Homer a fuller range of emotions.^[37]

Castellaneta’s normal speaking voice does not bear any resemblance to Homer’s.^[38] To perform Homer’s voice, Castellaneta lowers his chin to his chest^[36] and is said to «let his I.Q. go».^[39] While in this state, he has ad-libbed several of Homer’s least intelligent comments,^[39] such as the line «S-M-R-T; I mean, S-M-A-R-T!» from «Homer Goes to College» (season five, 1993) which was a genuine mistake made by Castellaneta during recording.^[40] Castellaneta likes to stay in character during recording sessions,^[41] and he tries to visualize a scene so that he can give the proper voice to it.^[42] Despite Homer’s fame, Castellaneta claims he is rarely recognized in public, «except, maybe, by a die-hard fan».^[41]

«Homer’s Barbershop Quartet» (season five, 1993) is the only episode where Homer’s voice was provided by someone other than Castellaneta. The episode features Homer forming a barbershop quartet called The Be Sharps; and, at some points, his singing voice is provided by a member of The Dapper Dans.Template:Sfn The Dapper Dans had recorded the singing parts for all four members of The Be Sharps. Their singing was intermixed with the normal voice actors’ voices, often with a regular voice actor singing the melody and the Dapper Dans providing backup.^[43]

Until 1998, Castellaneta 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 for casting of new voices.^[44] However, the dispute was soon resolved and he received $125,000 per episode until 2004 when the voice actors demanded that they be paid $360,000 an episode.^[44] The issue was resolved a month later,^[45] and Castellaneta earned $250,000 per episode.^[46] After salary re-negotiations in 2008, the voice actors receive approximately $400,000 per episode.^[47] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Castellaneta and the other cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.^[48]

Character development

Executive producer Al Jean notes that in The Simpsons‘ writing room, «everyone loves writing for Homer», and many of his adventures are based on experiences of the writers.^[49] In the early seasons of the show, Bart was the main focus. But, around the fourth season, Homer became more of the focus. According to Matt Groening, this was because «With Homer, there’s just a wider range of jokes you can do. And there are far more drastic consequences to Homer’s stupidity. There’s only so far you can go with a juvenile delinquent. We wanted Bart to do anything up to the point of him being tried in court as a dad. But Homer is a dad, and his boneheaded-ness is funnier. […] Homer is launching himself headfirst into every single impulsive thought that occurs to him.»^[20]

Homer’s behavior has changed a number of times through the run of the series. He was originally «very angry» and oppressive toward Bart, but these characteristics were toned down somewhat as his persona was further explored.^[50] In early seasons, Homer appeared concerned that his family was going to make him look bad; however, in later episodes he was less anxious about how he was perceived by others.^[51] In the first several years, Homer was often portrayed as sweet and sincere, but during Mike Scully’s tenure as executive producer (seasons nine, 1997 to twelve, 2001), he became more of «a boorish, self-aggrandizing oaf».^[52] Chris Suellentrop of Slate wrote, «under Scully’s tenure, The Simpsons became, well, a cartoon. … Episodes that once would have ended with Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset … now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge’s neck.»^[53] Fans have dubbed this incarnation of the character «Jerkass Homer».^[54][55][56] At voice recording sessions, Castellaneta has rejected material written in the script that portrayed Homer as being too mean. He believes that Homer is «boorish and unthinking, but he’d never be mean on purpose.»^[57] When editing The Simpsons Movie, several scenes were changed to make Homer more sympathetic.^[58]

The writers have made Homer’s intelligence appear to decline over the years; they explain this was not done intentionally, but it was necessary to top previous jokes.^[59] For example, in «When You Dish Upon a Star», (season 10, 1998) the writers included a scene where Homer admits that he cannot read. The writers debated including this plot twist because it would contradict previous scenes in which Homer does read, but eventually they decided to keep the joke because they found it humorous. The writers often debate how far to go in portraying Homer’s stupidity; one suggested rule is that «he can never forget his own name».^[60]

Personality

The comic efficacy of Homer’s personality lies in his frequent bouts of bumbling stupidity, laziness and his explosive anger that leads to cowardice. He has a low intelligence level and is described by director David Silverman as «creatively brilliant in his stupidity».^[61] Homer also shows immense apathy towards work, is overweight, and «is devoted to his stomach».^[61] His short attention span is evidenced by his impulsive decisions to engage in various hobbies and enterprises, only to «change … his mind when things go badly».^[61] Homer often spends his evenings drinking Duff Beer at Moe’s Tavern, and was shown in the episode «Duffless» (season four, 1993) as a full-blown alcoholic.^[62] He is very envious of his neighbors, Ned Flanders and his family, and is easily enraged by Bart. Homer will often strangle Bart on impulse upon Bart angering him (and can also be seen saying one of his catchphrases, «Why you little!») in a cartoonish manner. The first instance of Homer strangling Bart was in the short «Family Portrait». According to Groening, the rule was that Homer could only strangle Bart impulsively, never with premeditation,^[63] because doing so «seems sadistic. If we keep it that he’s ruled by his impulses, then he can easily switch impulses. So, even though he impulsively wants to strangle Bart, he also gives up fairly easily.»^[20] Another of the original ideas entertained by Groening was that Homer would «always get his comeuppance or Bart had to strangle him back», but this was dropped.^[64] Homer shows no compunction about expressing his rage, and does not attempt to hide his actions from people outside the family.^[61]

File:HomerStranglesBart.jpg

Homer has complex relationships with his family. As previously noted, he and Bart are the most at odds; but the two commonly share adventures and are sometimes allies, with some episodes (particularly in later seasons) showing that the pair have a strange respect for each other’s cunning. Homer and Lisa have opposite personalities and he usually overlooks Lisa’s talents, but when made aware of his neglect, does everything he can to help her. The show also occasionally implies Homer forgets he has a third child, Maggie; while the episode «And Maggie Makes Three» suggests she is the chief reason Homer took and remains at his regular job (season six, 1995). While Homer’s thoughtless antics often upset his family, he on many occasions has also revealed himself to be a caring and loving father and husband: in «Lisa the Beauty Queen», (season four, 1992) he sold his cherished ride on the Duff blimp and used the money to enter Lisa in a beauty pageant so she could feel better about herself;^[9] in «Rosebud», (season five, 1993) he gave up his chance at wealth to allow Maggie to keep a cherished teddy bear;^[65] in «Radio Bart», (season three, 1992) he spearheads an attempt to dig Bart out after he had fallen down a well;^[66] in «A Milhouse Divided», (season eight, 1996) he arranges a surprise second wedding with Marge to make up for their unsatisfactory first ceremony;^[67] and despite a poor relationship with his father Abraham «Grampa» Simpson, whom he placed in a nursing home as soon as he could^[68] while the Simpson family often do their best to avoid unnecessary contact with Grampa, Homer has shown feelings of love for his father from time to time.^[69]

Homer is «a (happy) slave to his various appetites».Template:Sfn He has an apparently vacuous mind, but occasionally exhibits a surprising depth of knowledge about various subjects, such as the composition of the Supreme Court of the United States,^[70] Inca mythology,^[71] bankruptcy law,^[72] and cell biology.^[73] Homer’s brief periods of intelligence are overshadowed, however, by much longer and consistent periods of ignorance, forgetfulness, and stupidity. Homer has a low IQ of 55, which has variously been attributed to the hereditary «Simpson Gene» (which eventually causes every male member of the family to become incredibly stupid),^[74] his alcohol problem, exposure to radioactive waste, repetitive cranial trauma,^[75] and a crayon lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain.^[76] In the 2001 episode «HOMR», Homer has the crayon removed, boosting his IQ to 105; although he bonds with Lisa, his newfound capacity for understanding and reason makes him unhappy, and he has the crayon reinserted.^[76] Homer often debates with his own mind, expressed in voiceover. His mind has a tendency to offer dubious advice, which occasionally helps him make the right decision, but often fails spectacularly. His mind has even become completely frustrated and, through sound effects, walked out on Homer.^[77] These exchanges were often introduced because they filled time and were easy for the animators to work on.^[78] They were phased out after the producers «used every possible permutation».^[78]

Producer Mike Reiss said Homer was his favorite Simpsons character to write: «Homer’s just a comedy writer’s dream. He has everything wrong with him, every comedy trope. He’s fat and bald and stupid and lazy and angry and an alcoholic. I’m pretty sure he embodies all seven deadly sins.» John Swartzwelder, who wrote 60 episodes, said he wrote for Homer as if he were «a big dog». Reiss felt this was insightful, saying: «Homer is just pure emotion, no long-term memory, everything is instant gratification. And, you know, has good dog qualities, too. I think, loyalty, friendliness, and just kind of continuous optimism.»^[79]

Reception

Commendations

File:The Simpsons star.jpg

See also: List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons

Homer’s influence on comedy and culture has been significant. In 2010, Entertainment Weekly named Homer «the greatest character of the last 20 years».^[80] He was placed second on TV Guide‘s 2002 Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters, behind Bugs Bunny;^[81] fifth on Bravo’s 100 Greatest TV Characters, one of only four cartoon characters on that list;^[82] and first in a Channel 4 poll of the greatest television characters of all time.^[83] In 2007, Entertainment Weekly placed Homer ninth on their list of the «50 Greatest TV icons» and first on their 2010 list of the «Top 100 Characters of the Past Twenty Years».^[84][20][85] Homer was also the runaway winner in British polls that determined who viewers thought was the «greatest American»^[86] and which fictional character people would like to see become the President of the United States.^[87] His relationship with Marge was included in TV Guide‘s list of «The Best TV Couples of All Time».^[88]

Dan Castellaneta has won several awards for voicing Homer, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for «Outstanding Voice-Over Performance» in 1992 for «Lisa’s Pony», 1993 for «Mr. Plow»,^[89] in 2004 for «Today I Am a Clown«,^[90] and in 2009 for «Father Knows Worst«.^[91] Although in the case of «Today I Am a Clown», it was for voicing «various characters» and not solely for Homer.^[90] In 2010, Castellaneta received a fifth Emmy nomination for voicing Homer and Grampa in the episode «Thursdays with Abie«.^[92] In 1993, Castellaneta was given a special Annie Award, «Outstanding Individual Achievement in the Field of Animation», for his work as Homer on The Simpsons.^[93][94] In 2004, Castellaneta and Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge) won a Young Artist Award for «Most Popular Mom & Dad in a TV Series».^[95] In 2005, Homer and Marge were nominated for a Teen Choice Award for «Choice TV Parental Units».^[96] Various episodes in which Homer is strongly featured have won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program, including «Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment» in 1991, «Lisa’s Wedding» in 1995, «Homer’s Phobia» in 1997, «Trash of the Titans» in 1998, «HOMR» in 2001, «Three Gays of the Condo» in 2003 and «Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind» in 2008.^[89] In 2000, Homer and the rest of the Simpson family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.^[97] In 2017, Homer Simpson was celebrated by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, to honor the 25th anniversary of the episode «Homer at the Bat».^[98]

Analysis

Homer is an «everyman» and embodies several American stereotypes of working class blue-collar men: he is crude, overweight, incompetent, dim-witted, childish, clumsy and a borderline alcoholic.Template:Sfn Matt Groening describes him as «completely ruled by his impulses».^[99] Dan Castellaneta calls him «a dog trapped in a man’s body», adding, «He’s incredibly loyal – not entirely clean – but you gotta love him.»^[36] In his book Planet Simpson, author Chris Turner describes Homer as «the most American of the Simpsons» and believes that while the other Simpson family members could be changed to other nationalities, Homer is «pure American».Template:Sfn In the book God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture, the authors comment that «Homer’s progress (or lack thereof) reveals a character who can do the right thing, if accidentally or begrudgingly.»^[100] The book The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer includes a chapter analyzing Homer’s character from the perspective of Aristotelian virtue ethics. Raja Halwani writes that Homer’s «love of life» is an admirable character trait, «for many people are tempted to see in Homer nothing but buffoonery and immorality. … He is not politically correct, he is more than happy to judge others, and he certainly does not seem to be obsessed with his health. These qualities might not make Homer an admirable person, but they do make him admirable in some ways, and, more importantly, makes us crave him and the Homer Simpsons of this world.»^[101] In 2008, Entertainment Weekly justified designating The Simpsons as a television classic by stating, «we all hail Simpson patriarch Homer because his joy is as palpable as his stupidity is stunning».^[102]

In the season eight episode «Homer’s Enemy» the writers decided to examine «what it would be like to actually work alongside Homer Simpson».^[103] The episode explores the possibilities of a realistic character with a strong work ethic named Frank Grimes placed alongside Homer in a work environment. In the episode, Homer is portrayed as an everyman and the embodiment of the American spirit; however, in some scenes his negative characteristics and silliness are prominently highlighted.Template:Sfn^[104] By the end of the episode, Grimes, a hard working and persevering «real American hero», has become the villain; the viewer is intended to be pleased that Homer has emerged victorious.Template:Sfn

In Gilligan Unbound, author Paul Arthur Cantor states that he believes Homer’s devotion to his family has added to the popularity of the character. He writes, «Homer is the distillation of pure fatherhood. … This is why, for all his stupidity, bigotry and self-centered quality, we cannot hate Homer. He continually fails at being a good father, but he never gives up trying, and in some basic and important sense that makes him a good father.»^[105] The Sunday Times remarked «Homer is good because, above all, he is capable of great love. When the chips are down, he always does the right thing by his children—he is never unfaithful in spite of several opportunities.»^[57]

Cultural influence

Homer Simpson is one of the most popular and influential television characters by a variety of standards. USA Today cited the character as being one of the «top 25 most influential people of the past 25 years» in 2007, adding that Homer «epitomized the irony and irreverence at the core of American humor».^[106] Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University‘s Center for the Study of Popular Television, believes that «three centuries from now, English professors are going to be regarding Homer Simpson as one of the greatest creations in human storytelling.»^[107] Animation historian Jerry Beck described Homer as one of the best animated characters, saying, «you know someone like it, or you identify with (it). That’s really the key to a classic character.»^[81] Homer has been described by The Sunday Times as «the greatest comic creation of [modern] time». The article remarked, «every age needs its great, consoling failure, its lovable, pretension-free mediocrity. And we have ours in Homer Simpson.»^[57]

Homer has been cited as a bad influence on children; for example, a five-year study of more than 2,000 middle-aged people in France found a possible link between weight and brain function, the findings of which were dubbed the «Homer Simpson syndrome».^[108] Results from a word memory test showed that people with a body mass index (BMI) of 20 (considered to be a healthy level) remembered an average of nine out of 16 words. Meanwhile, people with a BMI of 30 (inside the obese range) remembered an average of just seven out of 16 words.^[108]

Despite Homer’s partial embodiment of American culture, his influence has spread to other parts of the world. In 2003, Matt Groening revealed that his father, after whom Homer was named, was Canadian, and said that this made Homer himself a Canadian.^[109] The character was later made an honorary citizen of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, because Homer Groening was believed to be from there, although sources say the senior Groening was actually born in the province of Saskatchewan.^[110] In 2007, an image of Homer was painted next to the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, England as part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie. This caused outrage among local neopagans who performed «rain magic» to try to get it washed away.^[111] In 2008, a defaced Spanish euro coin was found in Avilés, Spain with the face of Homer replacing the effigy of King Juan Carlos I.^[112]

On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44-cent stamps featuring Homer 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.^[113] The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.^[114][115]

Homer has appeared, voiced by Castellaneta, in several other television shows, including the sixth season of American Idol where he opened the show;^[116] The Tonight Show with Jay Leno where he performed a special animated opening monologue for the July 24, 2007, edition;^[117] and the 2008 fundraising television special Stand Up to Cancer where he was shown having a colonoscopy.^[118]

On February 28, 1999, Homer Simpson was made an honorary member of the Junior Common Room of Worcester College, Oxford. Homer was granted the membership by the college’s undergraduate body in the belief that ″he would benefit greatly from an Oxford education″.^[119]

D’oh!

Main article(s): D’oh!

Homer’s main and most famous catchphrase, the annoyed grunt «D’oh!», is typically uttered when he injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him. During the voice recording session for a Tracey Ullman Show short, Homer was required to utter what was written in the script as an «annoyed grunt».Template:Sfn Dan Castellaneta rendered it as a drawn out «d’ooooooh». This was inspired by Jimmy Finlayson, the mustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films.Template:Sfn Finlayson had used the term as a minced oath to stand in for the word «Damn!» Matt Groening felt that it would better suit the timing of animation if it were spoken faster. Castellaneta then shortened it to a quickly uttered «D’oh!»^[120] The first intentional use of D’oh! occurred in the Ullman short «The Krusty the Clown Show»^[120] (1989), and its first usage in the series was in the series premiere, «Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire».^[121]

«D’oh!» was first added to The New Oxford Dictionary of English in 1998.Template:Sfn It is defined as an interjection «used to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid».^[122] In 2001, «D’oh!» was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, without the apostrophe («Doh!»).^[123] The definition of the word is «expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned, or that one has just said or done something foolish».^[124] In 2006, «D’oh!» was placed in sixth position on TV Land’s list of the 100 greatest television catchphrases.^[125][126] «D’oh!» is also included in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.^[127] The book includes several other quotations from Homer, including «Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try», from «Burns’ Heir» (season five, 1994) as well as «Kids are the best, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the Internet and all», from «Eight Misbehavin'» (season 11, 1999). Both quotes entered the dictionary in August 2007.^[128]

Merchandising

Homer’s inclusion in many Simpsons publications, toys, and other merchandise is evidence of his enduring popularity. The Homer Book, about Homer’s personality and attributes, was released in 2004 and is commercially available.^[129][130] It has been described as «an entertaining little book for occasional reading»^[131] and was listed as one of «the most interesting books of 2004» by The Chattanoogan.^[132] Other merchandise includes dolls, posters, figurines, bobblehead dolls, mugs, alarm clocks, jigsaw puzzles, Chia Pets, and clothing such as slippers, T-shirts, baseball caps, and boxer shorts.^[133] Homer has appeared in commercials for Coke, 1-800-COLLECT, Burger King, Butterfinger, C.C. Lemon, Church’s Chicken, Domino’s Pizza, Intel, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ramada Inn, Subway and T.G.I. Friday’s. In 2004, Homer starred in a MasterCard Priceless commercial that aired during Super Bowl XXXVIII.^[134] In 2001, Kelloggs launched a brand of cereal called «Homer’s Cinnamon Donut Cereal», which was available for a limited time.^[130][135] In June 2009, Dutch automotive navigation systems manufacturer TomTom announced that Homer would be added to its downloadable GPS voice lineup. Homer’s voice, recorded by Dan Castellaneta, features several in-character comments such as «Take the third right. We might find an ice cream truck! Mmm… ice cream.»^[136]

Homer has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons. He has appeared in every one of The Simpsons video games, including the most recent, The Simpsons Game.^[137] Homer appears as a playable character in the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, released via a «Level Pack» packaged with Homer’s Car and «Taunt-o-Vision» accessories in September 2015; the pack also adds an additional level based on the episode «The Mysterious Voyage of Homer».^[138] Alongside the television series, Homer regularly appears in issues of Simpsons Comics, which were first published on November 29, 1993, and are still issued monthly.^[139][140] Homer also plays a role in The Simpsons Ride, launched in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.^[141]

References

Citations

Sources

• Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M.
• Halwani, Raja (1999). «Homer and Aristotle». In Irwin, William; Conrad, Mark T.; Skoble, Aeon (eds.). The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer. Chicago, Illinois: Open Court. ISBN 978-0-8126-9433-8.
• Reiss, Mike; Klickstein, Mathew (2018). Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons. New York City: Dey Street Books. ISBN 978-0062748034.
• Turner, Chris (2004). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Foreword by Douglas Coupland. (1st ed.). Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 978-0-679-31318-2. OCLC 55682258.

Further reading

• Alberti, John, ed. (2003). Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-2849-1.
• Brown, Alan; Logan, Chris (2006). The Psychology of The Simpsons. BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-932100-70-9.
• Fink, Moritz (2019). The Simpsons: A Cultural History. Rowman & Littlefield. Script error: No such module «Catalog lookup link»..
• Groening, Matt (2005). The Homer Book. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-111661-2.
• Groening, Matt (1991). The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-096582-2.
• Pinsky, Mark I (2004). The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World’s Most Animated Family. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22419-6.

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Homer Simpson on IMDb

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