Mr. Burns

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This article is about the Simpsons character. For the play featuring the character, see Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play. For people with the surname, see Burns (surname). For other uses, see Burns (disambiguation).
Mr. Burns
The Simpsons character
First appearance
Created byMatt Groening
David Silverman
George Meyer
Based on
Designed byMatt Groening
Voiced by
In-universe information
Full nameCharles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber Burns
GenderMale
OccupationOwner of the
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Family
  • Clifford Burns (father)
  • Daphne Charles (mother)
  • George Burns (brother)
  • Colonel Wainwright Montgomery Burns (grandfather/adoptive father)
SpousePersephone Odair (Divorced)
ChildrenLarry Burns (son)
NationalityAmerican
Age81–120[1][2]

Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber "Monty" Burns,

sycophantic aide, adviser, confidant, and secret admirer. He is between 81 and 120 years old, though sometimes it's implied he's much older.[1][2]

Although originally conceived as a one-dimensional, recurring dastardly villain who might occasionally enter the Simpsons' lives and wreak some sort of havoc, Mr. Burns's popularity has led to his repeated inclusion in episodes. He is a stereotype of corporate America in his unquenchable desire to increase his own wealth and power, inability to remember his employees' names (including Homer's, despite frequent interactions—which has become a recurrent joke) and lack of concern for their safety and well-being. Reflecting on his advanced age, Mr. Burns is given to expressing dated humor, making references to Jazz Age popular culture, and aspiring to apply obsolete technology to everyday life. Conan O'Brien has called Mr. Burns his favorite character to write for, due to his arbitrarily old age and extreme wealth.

Mr. Burns's

Springfield's richest and most-powerful citizen (and also the richest person in Springfield's state; his current net worth has been given as $1.3 billion[5] by Forbes, though it fluctuates wildly depending on the episode). He uses his power and wealth to do whatever he wants, usually without regard for consequences and without interference from the authorities. These qualities led Wizard magazine to rate him the 45th-greatest villain of all time. TV Guide named him #2 in their 2013 list of the 60 nastiest villains of all time.[6] In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked him #8 of their "40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time".[7]

Role in The Simpsons

Mr. Burns spends his time in his office at the nuclear plant, monitoring his workers via

immigrant laborers.[10] Mr. Burns later attended Yale University, where he studied science and business, joined Skull and Bones, competed in the "etherweight" wrestling class, and graduated in the class of 1914. At his 25-year college reunion, he became romantically involved with the daughter of an old flame. She would later bear his child, Larry Burns, who was placed for adoption and would later enter Mr. Burns's life briefly.[11] Mr. Burns has been engaged at least three times: to a woman named Gertrude who died of loneliness and rabies,[12] to Marge Simpson's mother Jacqueline Bouvier,[13] and to a meter maid named Gloria.[14]

He later enlisted in the

Abraham Simpson and saw action in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge.[15] During the war, Mr. Burns, Abraham Simpson (father of Homer Simpson and grandparent to Lisa, Bart, and Maggie Simpson) and some of the soldiers found an expensive portrait in a manor in Germany. They locked it in a case and stated the last surviving member would get the painting (he and Abraham tied when the owner's descendant came back for the painting). Later on, he was shipped to the Pacific Theater and was a co-pilot along with Abe Simpson and his brother, Cyrus. Mr. Burns and Abe were shot down by a kamikaze and stuck on an island. At the end of World War II, he was personally hired by President Harry S. Truman to transport a specially printed trillion-dollar bill to Europe as the United States' contribution to the reconstruction of Europe. As the United States' richest citizen, Mr. Burns was thought to be the most trustworthy. Mr. Burns absconded with the bill and kept it in his possession for many years until it was lost to Fidel Castro in "The Trouble with Trillions". In "Homer the Smithers", it is revealed that Mr. Burns's mother is still alive aged 122 years, although Mr. Burns dislikes speaking to her because she had an affair with President William Howard Taft
and she refers to him as an "improvident lackwit". Furthermore, because she is so old, the only things she can do (according to Smithers) are pick up the phone, dial, and yell.

Mr. Burns resides in a vast, ornate

bribed various officials in Springfield, including Mayor Quimby and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He employed his wealth to make an ultimately unsuccessful run for governor to prevent his plant from being closed for safety violations, only to be denied his chance to be Governor by Marge Simpson. He once blocked out the sun to force Springfield residents to increase their use of electricity produced by his nuclear plant and was subsequently shot by Maggie when he tried to steal candy from her.[16]

In "

Siam via autogyro, and believes a nickel will buy "a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride the trolley from Battery Park to the Polo Grounds.”[18] Mr. Burns frequently answers the telephone with the archaic salutation "Ahoy-hoy", which was proposed by Alexander Graham Bell, but has long since been superseded by "Hello".[19] In "The Old Man and the Lisa", Mr. Burns's investment portfolio is revealed to consist of long-defunct and obsolete companies such as "Confederated Slave Holdings", and he learns about the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression for the first time after checking a very old stock-ticker
.

Mr. Burns's state of mind is the subject of frequent jokes on the show. At times, he appears to be completely removed from reality and modern conventions. He continually fails to recognize

Moe's Tavern
.

Mr. Burns is physically weak and is often shown to have little more strength than an infant. In "

power lines, and is electrified. He pitched the opening baseball at a game in "Dancin' Homer", but was only able to throw it a small distance, which drew mocking laughter from the crowd. When Mr. Burns joined Homer's bowling team in "Team Homer", he was barely able to roll the ball down the lane. In season five's "Burns' Heir", Smithers puts a sponge on Mr. Burns's head before leaving the bathroom, causing him to nearly drown in the tub from its weight. In "Lady Bouvier's Lover
", however, he shows himself as a lively, excellent dancer.

Mr. Burns also had a

Nazis
, but mine worked, damn it!"

Character

Creation

David Silverman based the appearance of Mr. Burns on Fox founder Barry Diller (pictured).[20]

Mr. Burns's character, appearance, and mannerisms are based on several different people. The show's creator Matt Groening principally based Mr. Burns on his high school teacher Mr. Bailey.[21] Drawing further inspiration from oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and his grandson David Rockefeller, Groening made Mr. Burns the "embodiment of corporate greed".[20] Animator David Silverman modeled Mr. Burns's appearance on Fox founder Barry Diller, and modeled his body on a praying mantis.[20] The idea of Mr. Burns reading employee names off cards in "There's No Disgrace Like Home" came from an article about Ronald Reagan that writer Al Jean had read.[22] In some episodes, parallels have been drawn between Mr. Burns and moguls such as Howard Hughes and, more frequently, fictional character Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane.[23] Writer George Meyer lifted Mr. Burns's "Excellent!" hand gesture from his former Saturday Night Live colleague Jim Downey.[24] While perhaps not intentional, Mr. Burns's physical characteristics and mannerisms are cited as a modern example of the commedia dell'arte character Pantalone.[25][26]

Matt Groening got Mr. Burns's middle name from a

Alois Schickelgruber, the father of Adolf Hitler. In the script for "There's No Disgrace Like Home", Al Jean and Mike Reiss referred to him as "Mr. Meanie".[22] In the second season, the writers started to enjoy writing about Smithers and Mr. Burns's relationship, and they often pitched episodes with them as the focus, but many never came to fruition.[28]

Voice

Harry Shearer (pictured) modeled his voice for Mr. Burns on Lionel Barrymore and Ronald Reagan.[29]

Mr. Burns was originally voiced by actor Christopher Collins in the episodes "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", "Homer's Odyssey", "There's No Disgrace Like Home", and "The Telltale Head".[30] He was soon replaced by Harry Shearer because Sam Simon found Collins "difficult to work with". Shearer has voiced the character ever since. He modeled the voice on Lionel Barrymore and Ronald Reagan.[29] Shearer is also the voice of Smithers and is able to perform dialogue between the two characters in one take.[31] Shearer said that Mr. Burns is the most difficult character for him to voice because it is rough on his vocal cords and he often needs to drink tea and honey to soothe his voice.[32] He describes Mr. Burns as his favorite character, saying he "like[s] Mr. Burns because he is pure evil. A lot of evil people make the mistake of diluting it. Never adulterate your evil."[33]

In 2014, Shearer won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his performance on "Four Regrettings and a Funeral" for voicing Mr. Burns.[34]

Reception

In 2006, Wizard magazine rated Mr. Burns the 45th-greatest villain of all time.[35] They also described Smithers and Mr. Burns as being "TV's most functional dysfunctional couple".[36] In a 2003 article, EW also named "Last Exit to Springfield" the greatest episode of The Simpsons. Other episodes which feature Mr. Burns placed on the list, including "Rosebud", at number two, and the two-part episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", at number 25.[36] Vanity Fair placed "Rosebud" first on their list of the top 25 Simpsons episodes.[37]

Forbes estimates Mr. Burns's net worth at $1.3 billion, placing 12th on the 2008 Forbes Fictional 15 list.[38] Mr. Burns has been on the list since 1989 and has previously placed fifth in 2005,[39] second in 2006[40] and sixth in 2007 when he was estimated to be worth $16.8 billion.[41] Mr. Burns's evil has made him a popular example of terrible television bosses. In 2006, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas released a report saying that Mr. Burns was one of the eight worst bosses on television.[42] The News & Observer named Mr. Burns the third worst boss, calling him "heartless, greedy and exceptionally ugly, Mr. Burns makes Ebenezer Scrooge seem downright lovely."[43]

In the run-up to the New York City's 2009 mayoral election, several posters appeared throughout the city, showing Mr. Burns and accompanied by the words "No Third Terms, Vote for Burns"—a reference to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's run for a third term that year—in the style of Shepard Fairey's Obama poster. The city's Board of Elections announced that December that Mr. Burns had received 27 write-in votes out of 299 write-in votes cast.[44] As the chief of "Springfield Republican Party" Mr. Burns endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 US presidential election.[45] The IG Group, a financial corporation in the City of London, use a recording of Mr. Burns's catchphrase "Excellent" as an alert that an order has been completed.[46]

References

  1. ^ a b c Tyler, Adrieene (March 27, 2020). "The Simpsons: How Old Is Mr. Burns? Every Change To His Age Explained". Screen Rant. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Chesley Adams (August 27, 2022). "The Simpsons: Every Main Character & How Old They'd Be If They Aged In Real Time". CBR.com. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  3. ^ "Flaming Moe". The Simpsons. Season 22. Episode 11. January 16, 2011. Event occurs at 1:09. Fox. Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber Burns.
  4. ^ "Burns, Baby Burns". The Simpsons. Season 8. Episode 4. November 17, 1996. Event occurs at 10:21. Fox. Oh, Monty, this must be the son I've heard so much about.
  5. ^ "In Pictures: The Forbes Fictional 15". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010.
  6. ^ Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; (March 25, 2013). "Baddies to the Bone: The 60 nastiest villains of all time". TV Guide. pp. 14 – 15.
  7. ^ Collins, Sean T. (February 9, 2016). "40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 22, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  8. ^ Swartzwelder, John; Archer, Wes (October 21, 1993). "Rosebud". The Simpsons. Season 05. Episode 04. Fox.
  9. ^ Last Exit to Springfield
  10. $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)
    ". The Simpsons. Season 05. Episode 10. Fox.
  11. ^ Maxtone-Graham, Ian; Reardon, Jim (November 17, 1996). "Burns, Baby Burns". The Simpsons. Season 08. Episode 04. Fox.
  12. C.E. D'oh
    ". The Simpsons. Season 14. Episode 15. Fox.
  13. ^ Oakley, Bill; Weinstein, Josh; Archer, Wes (May 12, 1994). "Lady Bouvier's Lover". The Simpsons. Season 05. Episode 21. Fox.
  14. ^ Swartzwelder, John; Kramer, Lance (December 2, 2001). "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love". The Simpsons. Season 09. Episode 08. Fox.
  15. Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish'
    ". The Simpsons. Season 07. Episode 22. Fox.
  16. ^ Oakley, Bill; Weinstein, Josh (May 21, 1995). "Who Shot Mr. Burns?". The Simpsons. Season 06. Episode 25. Fox.
  17. ^ Swartzwelder, John; Polcino, Michael (January 23, 2000). "The Mansion Family". The Simpsons. Season 11. Episode 12. Fox.
  18. ^ Swartzwelder, John; Kirkland, Mark (April 20, 1997). "The Old Man and the Lisa". The Simpsons. Season 08. Episode 21. Fox.
  19. ^ Beasley, Tom (February 27, 2020). "'The Simpsons' writer reveals Mr Burns gag is his proudest moment". Yahoo Movies. Yahoo. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c d e Rhodes, Joe (October 21, 2000). "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves". TV Guide.
  21. ^ Paterson, Billy (August 20, 2006). "Exclusive: I Was Monty's Double". The Sunday Mail. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
  22. ^ a b Reiss, Mike (2001). Commentary for "There's No Disgrace Like Home", in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  23. ^ Turner 2004, pp. 160–164.
  24. ^ Meyer, George (2001). Commentary for "The Crepes of Wrath", in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  25. ^ "transienttheatre.com - Creating a Touring Commedia dell arte production for high schools". Archived from the original on October 9, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  26. ^ "Teacher's Commedia Dell'Arte Workshop Guide". Archived from the original on April 10, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  27. The Portland Tribune. July 19, 2002. Archived from the original
    on March 4, 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
  28. ^ Vitti, Jon (2002). Commentary for "Simpson and Delilah", in The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  29. ^ a b Marder, Keith (April 28, 1994). "Real People are Models for 'Simpsons' Voices". Times Union. p. C4.
  30. ^ "Chris Latta". IMDb. Retrieved November 19, 2007.
  31. ^ Jean, Al (2002). Commentary for "Blood Feud", in The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th century Fox.
  32. ^ Dittman, Earl (July 2007). "Burns, Baby, Burns". Cineplex. Archived from the original on May 7, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  33. ^ Round, Simon (October 10, 2008). "Interview: Harry Shearer". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  34. ^ Day, Patrick Kevin, "Harry Shearer becomes final 'Simpsons' main cast member to win Emmy", Los Angeles Times, August 18, 2014.
  35. ^ McCallum, Pat (July 2006). "100 Greatest Villains Ever". Wizard (177).
  36. ^ a b "The Family Dynamic". Entertainment Weekly. January 29, 2003. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
  37. ^ Orvted, John (July 5, 2007). "Springfield's Best". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
  38. ^ Noer, Michael; Ewalt, David M. (December 18, 2008). "No. 13 Burns, C. Montgomery". Forbes Fictional 15. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  39. ^ Ewalt, David M. (2005). "The Forbes Fictional 15". Forbes. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  40. ^ Ewalt, David M. (November 20, 2006). "The Forbes Fictional 15". Forbes. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  41. ^ Ewalt, David M.; Noer, Michael (November 12, 2007). "The Forbes Fictional 15". Forbes. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  42. ^ "Worst bosses ever ... on TV". CNN. August 21, 2006. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  43. ^ "Worst bosses ever ... on TV". The News & Observer. McClatchy Newspapers. October 12, 2008. Archived from the original on October 17, 2008. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  44. ^ de Sola, David (December 5, 2009). "Simpsons billionaire gets most write-in votes in NYC mayor race". CNN. Archived from the original on December 6, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
  45. ^ Day, Patrick Kevin (November 1, 2012). ""The Simpsons" Mr. Burns endorses Mitt Romney". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  46. ^ "City firm follows Budget with a little help from The Simpsons". BBC. March 19, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2015.

Bibliography

External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to Montgomery Burns.
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