Maggie Simpson | |
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The Simpsons character | |
First appearance |
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Created by | Matt Groening |
Designed by | Matt Groening |
Voiced by | Nancy Cartwright (later seasons–present) Yeardley Smith (earlier seasons) Matt Groening (sucking pacifier noise in earlier seasons) Carol Kane ("Bart vs. Thanksgiving") Elizabeth Taylor ("Lisa's First Word") James Earl Jones (alternate timeline; "Treehouse of Horror V") Harry Shearer (half-alien; "Treehouse of Horror IX") Jodie Foster ("Four Great Women and a Manicure") Amy Sedaris ("Bart's Birthday") |
In-universe information | |
Full name | Margaret Lenny Simpson |
Family |
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Relatives |
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Home | 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, United States |
Nationality | American |
Margaret Lenny "Maggie" Simpson [1] [2] is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the youngest member of the Simpson family. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. She received her first name from Groening's youngest sister. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three years, the Simpson family was given their own series on the Fox Broadcasting Company which debuted December 17, 1989.
Maggie is the youngest child of Homer and Marge, and the younger sister to Bart and Lisa. She is often seen sucking on her red pacifier and, when she walks, she trips over her clothing and falls on her face (this running gag is used much more in earlier seasons). Being an infant, she has not yet learned how to talk. However, she did appear to talk in the first Tracey Ullman Show short.
Though she rarely talks, she frequently makes a characteristic sucking noise with her pacifier, which has become synonymous with the character. Her pacifier sucking noises are provided by the show's creator, Matt Groening, and early producer Gábor Csupó. Maggie's occasional speaking parts and other vocalizations are currently provided by Nancy Cartwright, but she has also been voiced by guest stars Carol Kane, James Earl Jones, Elizabeth Taylor and Jodie Foster, and by series regulars Yeardley Smith and Harry Shearer. Maggie has appeared in various media relating to The Simpsons, including video games, The Simpsons Movie , The Simpsons Ride, commercials and comic books.
The Simpsons uses a floating timeline in which the characters do not physically age (or if they do, then very slowly), and as such the show is assumed to be set in the current year. In several episodes, events have been linked to specific times, though sometimes this timeline has been contradicted in subsequent episodes. [3] Maggie is the youngest child of Marge and Homer, and sister to Bart and Lisa. When Marge became pregnant with Bart, she and Homer got married at a chapel in Las Vegas. To support his impending family, Homer all but demanded a job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, impressing its owner, Mr. Burns with his aggressive submissiveness. [4] When Marge became pregnant with Lisa, two years later, she and Homer bought their first house. Another six years later, Homer felt financially secure enough to finally quit his job at the Power Plant and take his dream job at Barney's Bowlarama. However, Marge became pregnant with Maggie, so Homer, once again unable to support his family, was forced to reapply for his old job. By the time Maggie was born, Homer had shown great signs of distress, but he managed to find motivation in the form of his newborn baby girl. [5]
During the earlier seasons of the show, Maggie's equivalent of a hallmark was to trip over her clothing and fall on her face while trying to walk, causing a loud thud on the floor, [6] but this was toned down in the later seasons. She has a penchant for her pacifier, on which she is always seen sucking. [6]
Maggie has performed a number of feats that for her age suggest she is highly intelligent, akin to her sister, and possibly a genius. She has spelled out E=MC² with her baby blocks, driven Homer's car, escaped from the Springfield daycare center, [7] written her name on an Etch A Sketch, [6] played Internet poker, [8] spelled words with her baby blocks, shot Mr. Burns, played Lisa's saxophone, and treated her pacifier like a cigarette. However, the rest of the Simpsons family are unaware of Maggie's maturity and Marge carries Maggie wherever they go rather than letting her walk by herself. Maggie is keenly aware of her surroundings, and can usually be seen imitating the flow of action around her. She shows a high degree of dexterity, and she once hit Homer on the head with a mallet and shot a dart at a photograph of him in imitation of Itchy and Scratchy . [9] Despite her age, Maggie is a formidable marksman, as seen in "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" where she shoots Mr. Burns with a handgun that falls into her hands, [10] though whether or not it was intentional is not clear, and in a deliberate manner during "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" where she is able to non-fatally shoot a group of mobsters in rapid succession with a rifle that she apparently hides in her crib. [11]
Maggie is usually frightened and exasperated by Homer's attempts to bond with her, but has on several occasions stepped in to save Homer's life: once from drowning, [12] once from being shot by mobsters, [7] once from being kidnapped by a tow truck driver, [13] and once from being shot by Russ Cargill, head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. [14]
Matt Groening conceived Maggie and the rest of the Simpson family in 1986 in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Groening had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show , and had intended to present an adaptation of his Life in Hell comic strip. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life's work, Groening decided to go in another direction, [15] and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family. The baby of the family was named Maggie after Groening's youngest sister. [16] [17] Maggie then made her debut with the rest of the Simpsons family on April 19, 1987, in the short "Good Night". [18] In 1989, the shorts were adapted into The Simpsons, a half-hour series that would air on the Fox Broadcasting Company. Maggie and the rest of the family remained the main characters on this new show. [19]
The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette. [20] 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] Maggie's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Lisa shares her hairline. [21] While designing Maggie and Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles". [22] At the time, Groening was primarily drawing in black and white and when designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color". [23]
Groening thought that it would be funny to have a baby character that did not talk and never grew up, but was scripted to show any emotions that the scene required. [24] Maggie's comedic hallmarks include her tendency to stumble and land on her face while attempting to walk, and a penchant for sucking on her pacifier, the sound of which has become the equivalent of her catchphrase and was originally created by Groening during the Tracey Ullman period. In the early seasons of the show, Maggie would suck her pacifier over other characters' dialogue, but this was discontinued because the producers found it too distracting. [25]
With few exceptions, Maggie never speaks but participates in the events around her, emoting with subtle gestures and facial expressions. Maggie's first lines were spoken in "Good Night", the first short to air on The Tracey Ullman Show , after the family falls asleep. On this occasion, Liz Georges provided the voice of Maggie. [26]
Rather than talking, Maggie is well known for producing a characteristic "sucking" sound from her pacifier. This sound effect was originally provided by the show's creator Matt Groening, [27] for early episodes of The Tracey Ullman Show , and also by Gabor Csupo [28] (who was also the animation executive producer, for the first 60 episodes). The sucking noise is heard in all of Maggie's appearances to date, and is usually archive audio from either of Groening or Csupo's initial recordings (from the show's early episodes). Other than her sucking noise, Maggie has been known to make other noises, such as occasional squeals and babbling. In most instances, these vocalisations are provided by either Nancy Cartwright or Yeardley Smith. [29]
Although she had previously spoken in fantasies and dream sequences, such as in "Bart vs. Thanksgiving", in which she was voiced by an uncredited Carol Kane, [30] [31] Maggie's first word spoken in the normal continuity of the series occurred in "Lisa's First Word", when she was voiced by Elizabeth Taylor. [32] [33] Although it was only one word ("Daddy"), Taylor had to record the part numerous times before the producers were satisfied. [34] James Earl Jones voiced Maggie in "Treehouse of Horror V". [35] Maggie would later have brief dialogue in "Treehouse of Horror IX", voiced by Harry Shearer, who used his Kang voice. [36] In earlier episodes, Yeardley Smith did many of Maggie's squeaks, cries, laughs and occasional speaking parts, [37] although in the later seasons her parts are done by Nancy Cartwright [38] (including a single word spoken during the end credits of The Simpsons Movie). Jodie Foster voiced a Howard Roark-inspired Maggie in the season 20 episode "Four Great Women and a Manicure". [39] Amy Sedaris voiced Maggie in the season 36 episode "Bart's Birthday", voicing a line that was originally done by Cartwright before being re-cast and re-recorded at the last minute. [40]
Maggie has received both popular and critical acclaim. Nancy Basile at About.com said her favorite Maggie scenes on The Simpsons are the ones that show her acting more like an adult than a one-year-old. Some of her favorite Maggie scenes include scenes from "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" and "Lady Bouvier's Lover" where Maggie meets her unibrowed archenemy, Baby Gerald, and the one scene from "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" in which Bart is supposed to babysit Maggie, but she escapes and takes Homer's car for a ride. [41] Basile also added that "whether watching 'The Happy Elves' or falling down, Maggie is the cutest baby in the Simpson family". [41] Comedian Ricky Gervais named "And Maggie Makes Three" his second favorite episode of the show and said that the scene in the end where Homer puts up pictures of Maggie over his desk gave him "a lump in the throat thinking about it". [42] Todd Everett at Variety called the scene in "Lisa's First Word" where Maggie speaks her first word "quite a heart-melter". [43]
In 2006, Elizabeth Taylor was named thirteenth on IGN's "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances" list for her performance as Maggie in "Lisa's First Word". [44] James Earl Jones, voice of Maggie in "Treehouse of Horror V", was named the seventh greatest guest star on the show in the same list. [44] In 2000, Maggie and the rest of the Simpson family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard. [45]
Four children's books, written by Maggie Groening (after whom Maggie was named) and illustrated by Matt Groening, entitled Maggie Simpson's Book of Animals, Maggie Simpson's Counting Book, Maggie Simpson's Book of Colors and Shapes and Maggie Simpson's Alphabet Book were released on September 12, 1991. [46] [ additional citation(s) needed ] Other merchandise includes dolls, posters, figurines, jigsaw puzzles, and T-shirts. [47] Maggie was made into an action figure as part of the World of Springfield toy line, and was released in the wave one playset "Living Room", featuring her and Marge in the living room of the Simpsons house. [48] Maggie has appeared in commercials for Burger King, Butterfinger, C.C. Lemon, Domino's Pizza, Ramada Inn and Subway. [49]
Maggie has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons. She is a character in every one of The Simpsons video games, including the most recent, The Simpsons Game . [50] Alongside the television series, Maggie regularly appeared in issues of Simpsons comics, which were published from 1993 until 2018. [51] [52] Maggie also plays a role in The Simpsons Ride, launched in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood. [53] On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44-cent stamps featuring Maggie 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. [54] The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009. [55] [56] In a USPS poll, Maggie's stamp was voted the most popular of the five. [57]
Maggie Simpson in… is a series of animated short-films. It currently consists of four films. The movies put Maggie at the center of the story, unlike most episodes of the show itself. All the films retain the theme of the first film – Maggie's journey to day care (or in the case of Playdate with Destiny , the playground).
Maggie starred in the 3D short-film The Longest Daycare , which was shown in theaters before Ice Age: Continental Drift in 2012. [58]
Maggie also starred in the 3D short-film Playdate with Destiny , which was shown in theaters before Onward in 2020. [59] [60]
In 2021, a short film called The Force Awakens from Its Nap was released to celebrate Star Wars Day. [61]
Two years later (in 2023), another short film celebrating Star Wars was released, titled Rogue Not Quite One . [62]
Matthew Abram Groening is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series The Simpsons (1989–present), Futurama, and Disenchantment (2018–2023), and the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012). The Simpsons is the longest-running American primetime television series in history and the longest-running American animated series and sitcom.
Marjorie Jacqueline "Marge" Simpson (née Bouvier) is a character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. Voiced by Julie Kavner, she first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Marge was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He based the character on his mother Margaret Groening. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, the Simpson family received their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989.
Homer Jay Simpson is the protagonist of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of the Simpsons, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Homer was created by the 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 created 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 Simpsons received their own series on Fox, which debuted on December 17, 1989.
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television sitcom series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening created and designed her while waiting to meet James L. Brooks. Groening had been invited to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic Life in Hell, but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He named the older Simpson daughter after his younger sister Lisa Groening Bartlett. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three years, the Simpson family were moved to their own series on Fox, which debuted on December 17, 1989.
Abraham Jay "Abe" Simpson II, better known as Grampa Simpson, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He made his first appearance in the episode entitled "Grandpa and the Kids", a one-minute Simpsons short on The Tracey Ullman Show, before the debut of the television show in 1989.
Bartholomew Jojo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional character from the American animated television series The Simpsons who is part of the Simpson family. Bart made his television debut in the short "Good Night" on The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening created and designed Bart while waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Initially called to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic strip Life in Hell, Groening instead developed a new set of characters. Unlike the other Simpson family members, who were named after Groening's relatives, Bart's name is an anagram of brat. After two years on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpson family received their own series, which premiered on Fox on December 17, 1989. Bart has appeared in every episode of The Simpsons except "Four Great Women and a Manicure".
"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" is the series premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons. A Christmas special, the show had a very long delayed release. It first aired on Fox in the United States on December 17, 1989. Introducing the Simpson family into half-hour television in this episode, Bart Simpson disobediently gets a tattoo without the permission of his parents. After Marge spends all the family's holiday budget on having it removed, Homer learns that his boss is not giving employees Christmas bonuses, and takes a job as a shopping mall Santa in order to pay for his children's Christmas presents.
"The Call of the Simpsons" is the seventh episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 18, 1990. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Wesley Archer. Albert Brooks made his first of ten guest appearances on The Simpsons franchise in this episode as the voice of Cowboy Bob.
"Homer's Night Out" is the tenth episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 25, 1990. It was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Rich Moore. In the episode, Bart orders a mail-order spy camera, which he uses to secretly photograph Homer dancing with an exotic belly dancer. Marge makes Homer apologize to the exotic dancer to teach Bart that women are not objects. Sam McMurray guest stars in the episode as Gulliver Dark, the man who introduces Homer to the crowd at the burlesque show.
The Simpsonsshorts are a series of animated short films that aired as a recurring segment on Fox variety television series The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, before the characters spun off into The Simpsons, their own half-hour prime-time show. They feature Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, and a few secondary characters. The series was created by Matt Groening, who designed the Simpson family and wrote many of the shorts. The shorts first aired on April 19, 1987, starting with "Good Night". The final short to air was "TV Simpsons", originally airing on May 14, 1989. The Simpsons later debuted on December 17, 1989, as an independent series with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
"Life on the Fast Lane", known as "Jacques to Be Wild" in the United Kingdom, is the ninth episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 18, 1990. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by David Silverman. Albert Brooks guest starred as Jacques, a French bowling instructor, with him being credited as "A. Brooks".
"Lisa's First Word" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It was first broadcast on Fox in the United States on December 3, 1992. In the episode, as the Simpson family gathers around Maggie and tries to encourage her to say her first word, Marge reminisces and tells the story of Lisa's first word. Maggie's first word is voiced by Elizabeth Taylor.
"Some Enchanted Evening" is the thirteenth and final episode of the first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It was originally broadcast on Fox in the United States on May 13, 1990. A family drama, it had a very long delayed release. Written by Matt Groening and Sam Simon and directed by David Silverman and Kent Butterworth, "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first episode produced for season one and was intended to air as the series premiere in fall 1989, but aired as the season one finale due to animation problems. The Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" premiered in its place on December 17, 1989. It is the last episode to feature the original opening sequence starting from "Bart the Genius". In the episode, Homer and Marge go on a night out while leaving the children under the care of a diabolical babysitter named Ms. Lucille "Botz" Botzcowski, who is found to be a wanted criminal.
"Treehouse of Horror IX" is the fourth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 25, 1998. This is the ninth Treehouse of Horror episode, and, like the other "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, contains three self-contained segments: In "Hell Toupée", Homer gets a hair transplant and is possessed by the spirit of an executed criminal; in "Terror of Tiny Toon", Bart and Lisa are trapped in a special, extremely violent episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show; and in "Starship Poopers", Marge reveals that Maggie is the product of a one-night stand with the alien Kang.
The Simpson family are the main fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of married couple Homer and Marge and their three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town of Springfield, United States, and they were created by cartoonist Matt Groening, who conceived the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name. The family debuted on Fox on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" and were later spun off into their own series, which debuted on Fox in the U.S. on December 17, 1989, and started airing in Winter 1990.
"A Streetcar Named Marge" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 1, 1992. In the episode, Marge wins the role of Blanche DuBois in a community theatre musical version of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. Homer offers little support for his wife's acting pursuits, and Marge begins to see parallels between him and Stanley Kowalski, the play's boorish lead male character. The episode contains a subplot in which Maggie Simpson attempts to retrieve her pacifier from a strict daycare owner.
"Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" is the third episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 1, 1995. In the episode, following a series of misunderstandings, the Simpson children are put in foster care at Ned and Maude Flanders' house. Homer and Marge are forced to attend a parenting class to get their children back.
"Bart's Dog Gets an 'F'" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 7, 1991. In the episode, the Simpson family's dog, Santa's Little Helper, infuriates Homer and Marge by destroying a family heirloom and an expensive pair of shoes. When Marge and Homer want to get rid of the dog, Bart enrolls him at an obedience school to curb his bad behavior.
"Good Night" is the first of the forty-eight Simpsons shorts and the second segment of the third episode of The Tracey Ullman Show's first season. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 19, 1987 and marks the first ever appearance of the Simpson family – Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie – on television. After three seasons on Tracey Ullman's show, the shorts would be adapted into the animated show The Simpsons. "Good Night" has since been aired on the show in the episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", along with several other Ullman shorts, and is one of the few shorts to ever be released on DVD, being included in the Season 1 DVD set.
The Simpsons is an American animated comedy franchise whose eponymous family consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The Simpsons were created by cartoonist Matt Groening for a series of animated shorts that debuted on The Tracey Ullman Show on Fox on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into The Simpsons, a half-hour prime time show that was an early hit for Fox, becoming the first Fox series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990). The popularity of The Simpsons has made it a billion-dollar merchandising and media franchise. Alongside the television series, the characters of the show have been featured in a variety of media, including books, comic books, a magazine, musical releases, and video games.
- Homer: 'Who the heck is Margaret Simpson?'
- Springfield Hall of Records Worker: 'Uh, your youngest daughter.'
Yep. And for similar reasons, Maggie's middle name is Lenny.
Bibliography