- "Bartman" redirects here; for the article on the infamous baseball fan, see Steve Bartman.Vorlage:Simpsons character
Bartholomew Jo-Jo ("Bart") Simpson (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is the 10-year-old son of Homer and Marge Simpson and older brother of Lisa and Maggie.
According to the book The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album, his "birthday" is April 1 or April Fool's Day. According to the show's chronology Bart was born in 1982 as he is two years and 38 days older than Lisa, who was born during the 1984 Summer Olympics. However, in the episode "I Married Marge", it was revealed that Bart was conceived in June 1980 (Homer and Marge had just seen The Empire Strikes Back), which would make his birthday April 1, 1981. The year is probably not consistent as Bart is always described as being 10 years old.
Bart's interests include skateboarding, comic books (especially Radioactive Man), terrorizing his sisters, helping Lisa solve various problems (e.g, reuniting Krusty the Clown with his estranged father), Dickensian chimney sweeps, mooning unsuspecting victims, and prank calling Moe Szyslak at his tavern. Like many other characters on the show, Bart is also left-handed.
He is a self-proclaimed underachiever who begins each show in detention writing lines on the blackboard (see list of Bart Simpson's blackboard sentences), and pretty much distracted by anything; even, strangely enough, algebraic equations. While Bart is considerably undermotivated and takes great joy in disrupting the routine at Springfield Elementary, his pranks are often very elaborately complex, while his actions and speech frequently show considerable mental agility and understanding, and so he cannot be called "stupid" per se. Various explanations for his behavior include genetics; he is the son of Homer, they share many of the same mannerism and behaviors. Homer even described Bart as "a cooler, in-your-face version" of himself.
Bart caused a fictional diplomatic incident between the United States and Australia in "Bart vs. Australia" when he placed a very long collect call to an Australian boy to find out in which direction toilets flush in the southern hemisphere. (This is an oversimplification of that phenomenon, which amusingly popularized the legend even more.)
Many times, when Homer finds out that Bart has said or done something stupid or bad, he yells out, "Why you little—!" and strangles Bart in anger.
Bart Simpson and other characters from The Simpsons appeared in numerous television commercials for Nestlé's Butterfinger candy bars from 1990 to 2001, with his and its slogan "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger!". This was parodied when in an episode, Bart says that he doesn't remember being in a commercial, then he holds up a Butterfinger and eats it.
Bart speaks French fluently. He also was able to speak Spanish briefly on a trip to Brazil; however, he forced himself to forget when he discovered that they speak Portuguese in Brazil. He also once made an exchange with Homer in Japanese. Also in "Bart on the Road," he makes a delivery to Hong Kong where he hauls a cooler labeled "HUMAN EYES" off the plane, and brings it to a man in a white lab coat where they converse in Chinese (specifically, the variety of Cantonese spoken in the city). This may be inherited from Homer, who has also demonstrated advanced language abilities, including penguin.
Bart is allergic to butterscotch, imitation butterscotch, cauliflower, and glow-in-the-dark monster makeup.
In a short scene set in the future Bart is shown to become Chief Justice of the United States. In another episode set entirely in the future he's a blue-collar worker like his father. Yet another episode finds him living as an unemployed surfer bum with Ralph Wiggum.
In an interview, Simpsons creator Matt Groening stated he chose the name as an anagram of brat.
In 1998, Time magazine selected Bart as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century—the only fictional character to make the list.
When he vandalizes property, Bart uses the alias El Barto, which is a Spanglish way of saying "Bart." However, no one in Springfield has made the connection and Bart still vandalizes property without getting caught. He is also known as Bartman.
Bart's dress sense is fairly standard. His normal attire is an orange t-shirt, blue shorts, white socks and blue training shoes, although on most pieces of Simpsons-related merchandise, his shirt is light-blue (this is done to differentiate between counterfeit merchandise and official merchandise). His churchgoing outfit consists of a blue two-piece suit (with shorts rather than long pants), white shirt, blue tie, blue shoes and white socks (episode: 'Two Dozen and One Greyhounds'). The only other clothing "scenario" that comes up regularly is his "bed outfit", which consists of a green pyjama set (although he has been known to wear white socks on his feet to bed, he more regularly goes barefoot to bed). Bart's underwear style is of white "underpants". The use of underpants over boxer shorts is commented on by the show's creators on the Series 4 DVD, where he says they were trying to be different as boxer shorts were the least taboo form of underwear on TV as they showed "less of a bulge".
According to Marge in the episode "The Father, The Son and the Holy Guest Star", Bart wore diapers until the age of 5, because he thought there was a monster in the potty.
Episodes that feature Bart extensively include:
- "Bart the Genius" - Bart is mistaken for a genius.
- "Bart the General" - Bart takes on the class bully in a parody of Patton.
- "The Wandering Juvie" - Bart gets sent to juvenile detention and escapes á la The Defiant Ones.
- "The Heartbroke Kid" - Bart puts on weight after gorging on junk food at school and suffers a heart attack.
Signature quotes
- "¡Ay, caramba!"
- "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger!" – Butterfinger commercials.
- "Don't have a cow, man."
- "I didn't do it, no one saw me do it, you can't prove anything!"
- "Eat my shorts!"
- "I'm Bart Simpson—who the hell are you?"
- "Do the Bartman."
Antics
- Prank-calling (usually Moe's Tavern, but sometimes other countries)
- Stealing a policeman's car
- Painting the parking lines two inches narrower than normal
- Mooning
- Vandalizing (cars, public property, etc.)
- Shooting a stink bomb at an entertainer
- Pantsing a robotic version of George Washington
- Robbing a bakery, then melting the plastic couple from a wedding cake on an electric chair
- Strangling his father
- Shaking Homer's beer until it exploded
- Spraying the tag 'El Barto' in a variety of places in many episodes
Relations
Bart is:
- Grandson to Abraham Simpson, Mona Simpson, Clancy Bouvier, and Jacqueline Bouvier.
- Son to Homer Jay Simpson and Marjorie Bouvier Simpson.
- Older brother to Lisa Marie Simpson and Margaret Simpson.
- the twin brother of Hugo (who appears in a Halloween-Special episode)
- Nephew to Herbert Powell, Abbie, Patty Bouvier and Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure Stu.
- His former uncles-by-marriage include Robert Underdunk "Sideshow Bob" Terwilliger, Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure, and Disco Stu.
- Former heir to C. Montgomery Burns.
- His cousin by adoption is Ling Bouvier.
- In the comics, it is revealed that the Simpsons and the Delroys are related, which means Cletus, Brandine, and their numerous children are Bart's cousins. However, this has never been mentioned in the series.
Future
- 2013 (eight years from "now"): On night of senior prom, asks girlfriend Jenda to marry him (she does not accept). Graduates high school. (Depicted in "Future-Drama")
- 2010 (fifteen years from "now"): Is a demolition contractor. He "can't believe he's getting paid to do this" and mentions that he's "just getting all his aggression out before I go to law school." Has a receding hairline and stubble, just like Homer. Has been married twice, and considering getting married again. (Depicted in "Lisa's Wedding")
- 2030 (thirty years from "now"): Bart lives with Ralph Wiggum and they have an unsuccessful band, the Tequilla Mockingbirds. Dropped out of the Devry Institute. Mooches off of Lisa, now the President of the United States, and criticizes her for no longer being cool and promotes his band during her address to the nation. (Depicted in "Bart to the Future")
- Forty years from "now": Is now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Finally sees "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" with Homer. (Depicted in "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie")
- One minute before death: Finds a girl who loves him for himself, according to Professor Frink. (Mentioned in "Future-Drama")
- 1000 years later: Is considered a Prophet of God, and two large armies, one with Bart wigs, the other with 'Bartman' masks. They are at Holy War, involving robots, arguing over whether Bart preached tolerance and love, or peace and understanding. At the end of the scene before Bart tells Catholics and Protestants, "It's all Christianity," as they are about to go to war, with paintball guns readied. (Depicted in "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star")
Bartman
Bartman is a comic book title and an alter ego of Bart Simpson. Essentially, in addition to his usual t-shirt, shorts and shoes, Bart wears a purple mask and cape to become Bartman. The name, when written, bears a striking resemblance to the name Batman, and Bartman is indeed supposed to be a superhero of some sort. Bartman makes a short appearance in the Simpsons episode "Three Men and a Comic Book."
This alter ego is the basis for the short-lived Bongo Comics series (1993-1995), which saw the young Bart adopt the mantle of crimefighting. He was aided by Milhouse, as the Robin-like Houseboy. Like Bart's costume, Milhouse's was simplistic, involving only a green mask and cape in addition to his ordinary clothing. The series only lasted 6 issues.
Bartman and Houseboy make a brief appearance in the Simpsons book The Simpsons Holiday Humdinger, published in 2004 by HarperCollins. In a parody of the story How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Bartman takes on Gil, who is stealing Christmas presents in hopes of destroying the holiday.
Bartman is also featured in the video game Bartman Meets Radioactive Man (1992-1993).
