16 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets About The Voices On “The Simpsons” That Most Fans Never Figured Out
The longest running cartoon in American history belongs to a family of yellow people. Ever since The Simpsons premiered in 1989, the adventures of Homer Simpson and rest of Springfield made millions of people tune in to watch. There's hardly a soul on Earth who has not seen or heard of the series. While the series has experienced plenty of ups and downs in terms of quality, its status as a modern TV icon will never find itself in question, and the voices behind the characters are iconic.
Any fan of the show will be surprised what abilities the actors have given us.
Ricky Gervais Became the First Ever Guest Star To Also Receive A Writing Credit
The British comedian co-wrote and guest starred in a 2006 episode. In "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife," the former star of The Office UK became the first ever guest start to earn a writing credit for the show.
However, Gervais often downplays the notion of his contributions to the episode.
Yeardley Smith Is the Only Member of the Principal Cast Who Does Just One Voice Regularly
Usually, most of the cast double up when voicing the characters. But, for one particular cast member, she's only done one voice.
That's right, Yeardley Smith is the only current cast member who only does one voice of a character on a regular basis. The Paris-born actress has voiced Lisa Simpson since day one.
Michael Jackson Voiced A Character But Had An Impressionist Do The Singing
The show landed the King of Pop as a guest in "Stark Raving Dad", playing a mental patient who believes he's Michael Jackson. The musician refused to sing on the show when it came time for the episode's musical number.
Don't go looking for Jackson’s name in the show’s closing credits — he appeared under the pseudonym John Jay Smith.
Michael Jackson Co-Wrote And Co-Produced Bart Simpsons' Pop-Rap Single
"Do the Bartman" is a song from the Simpsons album The Simpsons Sing the Blues. Despite receiving airplay on the radio, the song never became a single in the United States.
He had called the producers one night offering to write Bart a number one single and do a guest spot on the show, which is how "Do the Bartman" came about.
Dan Castellaneta Voiced the Genie from Aladdin During Robin Williams's Absence
The actor is well-known for voicing Homer Simpson. What's even more interesting is that Castellaneta's resume includes the voice of Genie from Aladdin. This only happened for a brief time following Robin William's short absence from the part.
Once Williams came back to make peace, Disney gave him the role back.
The Frasier Connection
Every Simpsons fan knows that Sideshow Bob is Bart's archnemesis. Frasier star Kelsey Grammer lends his voice for the antagonist. Meanwhile, his brother Cecil was voiced by David Hyde Pearce, Grammer's co-star on the hit series.
If you haven't clued in already, they played brothers Fraiser and Niles on the series.
Marge And Homer's French Love Affair
For over 20 years, the voice actors who dubbed Marge and Homer in French fell in love while playing their characters. Veronique Augereau and Philippe Peythieu even voiced the character's for the feature-length movie too. The couple were married in 2001 and said their home-life helped their work-life.
"We know each other so well that in 30 seconds we can produce a good scene," said Veronique.
Harry Shearer Voices The Most Characters In The Series
With over 20 characters under his belt, Harry Shearer does the most voices. Out of all crazy characters on the show, some of his famous include Mr. Burns, Mr. Smithers, Principal Skinner, and the happy-go-lucky Ned Flanders.
Before doing the voices, the actor appeared in and wrote the movie This Is Spinal Tap.
All Four Members of The Beatles Have Been Featured On The Series
Well, kind of. Ringo, Paul, and George have all been featured in at least one episode. Ringo appeared in the second season, George appeared in the fifth season, and Paul was the last to lend his voice.
But, the show didn't forget about John Lennon, especially since his music has been featured on the series.
The Inspiration for Homer Simpson's Voice Was Actor Walter Matthau
Dan Castellaneta has stated before that the inspiration behind the legendary voice was the late actor Walter Matthau, who was best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Castellaneta explained, "My jaw would go out, my neck would go in, and then my I.Q. would drop about 70 points."
Only Homer Has Had Dialogue in Every Episode
That's right — Homer's the only character to have spoken in every single episode. Despite Marge and Lisa appearing in every episode, both characters did not have any discussion in the fourth season episode "Krusty Gets Canceled" and "Chief of Hearts."
As for Bart, the only episode he didn't appear in was the episode "Four Great Woman and a Manicure."
Matt Groening Will Not Sit With Dan Castellaneta While He Records Homer's Lines
The creator has come clean about why he doesn't sit in. With Homer, there's just a wider range of jokes you can do. The things that come out of the character's mouth and the decisions Dan makes are fascinating.
Apparently, it's Catellaneta's sense of humor that makes Groening's laugher ruin takes.
Albert Brooks Has Voiced No Less Than Six Characters
Since the premiere of the show, the actor has voiced no less than six separate characters at a time. Brooks provided the voices of Hank Scorpio, Jacques the Bowler, Cowboy Bob, Tap Spangler, and Brad Goodman.
He even voiced Russ Cargill in The Simpsons Movie. Cargill was the businessman who lowers a giant dome over Springfield.
The Principal Cast Makes About $360,000 An Episode
When the show began in 1989, the unknown cast were all under contract for $30,000 per episode. In 1998, the cast got bumped up to $125,000 an episode. Once they entered one of the most contentious battles with Fox, their wages increased once again.
This time, the cast saw their wages bump to approximately $360,000 an episode.
Moe Szyslak's Voice Is Based on Pacino's Michael Corleone
Voice actor Hank Azaria openly stated one thing about his unlucky bartender character. Moe Szyslak's voice is slightly based on Al Pacino's Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy.
What makes this a major coincidence is something else entirely.The Godfather has been revealed to be one of Moe's favorite movies ever.
Yeardley Smith and Nancy Cartwright Auditioned for Each Other's Current Roles
When the show was auditioning people for the show, Yeardley Smith originally went for the role of Bart Simpson. But, she would be cast as Lisa Simpson due to her high pitch voice. Meanwhile, Nancy Cartwright originally read for Lisa.
However, when she asked to try out for Bart, she was immediately offered the role.
