Chief Wiggum

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Clancy Wiggum
The Simpsons character
First appearance
Created byMatt Groening
Designed byMatt Groening
Voiced byHank Azaria[1]
In-universe information
GenderMale
OccupationPolice Chief of Springfield
FamilyIggy Wiggum (father)
Mark (cousin)[2]
Unnamed brother[3]
SpouseSarah Wiggum
ChildrenRalph Wiggum (son)

Chief Clancy Wiggum[4] is a fictional character from the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the chief of police in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of Ralph Wiggum and the husband of Sarah Wiggum.

Gluttonous, irresponsible, and immature, Wiggum is often too lazy, cowardly, and corrupt to bother fighting crime. His more responsible subordinate officers Eddie and Lou play the straight men to his shenanigans.

Character development

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Hank Azaria

His surname "Wiggum" is Matt Groening's mother's maiden name.[5] As "a conscious pun", Wiggum was designed to look like a pig.[6][7] Hank Azaria first based his voice for Wiggum on David Brinkley, but it was too slow and he switched it to an Edward G. Robinson impression.[6][7]

Biography

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Chief Wiggum is of Irish descent.[8] Per the episode "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish'", it is revealed that Wiggum's father Iggy served in Abe Simpson's infantry squad. In the episode "Mother Simpson", a teenaged Wiggum was a trainee security guard at Springfield University when Homer's mother Mona sabotaged the University's laboratory, which Mr. Burns was using for biological weapons. Antibiotics used to kill the weapons cured Wiggum's asthma, allowing him to join the police force.

Many episodes have dealt with the back story of how Wiggum, despite his incompetence, occupies such a high rank in the Springfield Police Department; However, these jokes tend to contradict one another, as is the usual with side characters on The Simpsons.[9] Wiggum was temporarily promoted to Commissioner of Police for the state in which Springfield resides during the 2005 episode "Pranksta Rap".[10] He also appeared on a Halloween novel depicting Netflix's Stranger Things Chief Jim Hopper.[11]

Positive qualities

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Despite his severe incompetence at his occupation, Wiggum on occasion has helped numerous other characters, such as helping Homer find his wife in "Marge on the Lam". He rescued Maggie Simpson when she ran away from home to look for Marge in "Homer Alone", by helping Lisa Simpson find Mr. Burns's assailant in "Who Shot Mr. Burns?"[12][13] as well as helping backing her up in a school protest on one occasion in "The President Wore Pearls". In the episode "Pranksta Rap" he manages to find the presumed kidnapped Bart Simpson in Kirk Van Houten's apartment. He also arrived just in time during crucial moments such as the myriad of times Sideshow Bob has attempted to kill Bart Simpson. Wiggum is also shown to be a loving father of his son Ralph. Perhaps the best example of this is in the episode "Mother Simpson", where he leads the FBI astray in their search for Mona Simpson; Wiggum allowed her to escape due to his gratitude towards her for curing his previously mentioned asthma.

He is often shown to be ambivalent towards the residents of Springfield; It's heavily implied that he doesn't act this way out of malice. This is because he is either doing his job, or is simply ignorant of the situation. He also showed a great deal of insight during the episode "Chief of Hearts", where he and Homer become friends; when Homer asks him why he's willing to show Homer his favorite parts of Springfield, Wiggum tells him "Cops don't have many friends. Civilians are afraid of us, and other cops...they just remind us of things we want to forget."

References

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  1. ^ "Sam Simon's Iconic 'Simpsons' Characters". The Hollywood Reporter. March 9, 2015. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "The Italian Bob"
  3. ^ The Secret War of Lisa Simpson - Wiggum: "What about military school? It set my brother straight. Now he owns and operates a famous cave."
  4. ^ Groening 2010, pp. 189, 1199.
  5. ^ Rose, Joseph (August 1, 2007). "The real people behind Homer Simpson and family". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on June 9, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  6. ^ a b Rhodes, Joe (October 21, 2000). "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves". TV Guide. Archived from the original on September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Reiss, Mike; Klickstein, Mathew (2018). Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons. New York City: Dey Street Books. p. 101. ISBN 978-0062748034.
  8. ^ See "In the Name of the Grandfather"
  9. ^ Whiton, Christian (September 30, 2018). "'The Simpsons' turns 30 -- a big milestone for Gen X and America". Fox News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  10. ^ Sokol, Tony (March 25, 2019). "The Simpsons Season 30 Episode 18 Review: Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on July 23, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  11. ^ Yeates, Cydney (July 15, 2019). "The Simpsons to spoof Stranger Things in Treehouse Of Horror XXX this Halloween". Metro. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  12. ^ Nawara, Jason (March 11, 2018). "The Original 'Simpsons' 'Who Shot Mr. Burns' Culprit Was Way Different". Uproxx. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  13. ^ Miller, Matt (May 15, 2017). "'Twin Peaks' Helped Solve the Greatest Mystery on 'The Simpsons'". Esquire. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.

Bibliography

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