Bart Simpson

Bartholomew "Bart" Jo-Jo Simpson (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) is a fictional character featured in the television animated 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 Simpsons Uncensored Family Album book (ISBN 0-06-096582-7), his "birthday" is April 1 or April Fool's Day.

Bart is a self-proclaimed underachiever who begins each show in detention writing lines on the blackboard (see list of Bart Simpson's blackboard sentences). His interests include skateboarding, comic books (esp. Radioactive Man), terrorizing his sisters, helping Lisa solve various problems(e.g, re-uniting Krusty the Klown with his estranged father), Dickensian chimney sweeps, and prank calling Moe Szyslak at his tavern. Bart is distracted by pretty much anything; even, strangely enough, algebraic equations. While Bart is considerably undermotivated and takes great joy in disrupting the routine at Springfield Elementary, his actions and speech frequently show considerable mental agility and understanding, and so he cannot be called "stupid" per se. Principal Skinner has attributed Bart's underachievement to ADHD, which seems like the most accurate explanation.

Bart caused a 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.

Many times, when Homer finds out that Bart has said or done something stupid, he yells out, "Why you little...!" and chokes Bart in anger.

Bart has appeared in television commercials for Butterfinger candy bars, with the catch phrase "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.

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 Spanish way of saying "Bart". However, no one in Springfield has made the connection and Bart still vandalizes property without getting caught.

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 a'la The Defiant Ones.

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.
• Nephew to Herbert Powell, Abbie, Patty Bouvier and Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure.

His former uncles-by-marriage include Robert Underdunk "Sideshow Bob" Terwilliger, Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure, and Disco Stu.

See also

• Characters from The Simpsons.