Difference between revisions of "Bumblebee Man"

Revision as of 12:48, September 18, 2008

The Bumblebee Man, voiced by Hank Azaria, is a character in The Simpsons who appears on a television show on "Channel Ocho" dressed in a bumblebee costume. In the episode "Team Homer," his bowling shirt bears the name "Pedro". He works at the same studio as Kent Brockman.

Character Origins

Bumblebee is a caricature of "El Chapulín Colorado" ("The Red Grasshopper"), a character created and portrayed by Mexican television comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños (aka "Chespirito"), and his show consists of simple skits, often involving heavy slapstick. In several DVD commentaries, the shows producers say that whenever they watched Telemundo, this character was always "on", and then they created Bumblebee Man, who is also always "on".

Personal Life

Costume

Bumblebee Man never takes off his costume, even when by himself; the sole exception is the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield", in which his private life is shown. In this short segment, he is portrayed as innately clumsy rather than simply acting as such. In the end, his house is destroyed and his wife leaves him.

Language and Nationality

In "Bart Gets Famous", he speaks with an articulate British accent, but this was mentioned in an episode commentary as a mistake. In general, Bumblebee Man only speaks in simple, over-enunciated (and inaccurate) Spanish sentences. His catchphrases of choice are typically “¡Ay, ay, ay, no me gusta!” (“I don’t like it!”), “¡Ay, ay, ay, no es bueno!” (“That’s not good!”) and “¡Ay, Dios no me ama!” (“God doesn’t love me!”) Quite commonly, his phrases will be intentionally sloppy Spanish. For example, in the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield", there are several words used that are not real (woodpecker in Spanish is not "wudpequero"; it is "pájaro carpintero"). The crude Spanish was used so that American viewers would still understand what was being said^[1]

Other Versions

In the Spanish-language version of the show, the humour of Bumblebee Man (known in this version as hombre abejorro in the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, or el hombre abeja in Spain) relies on the fact that he wears a gigantic bee costume and frequently engages in physical comedy; there has been no effort made to translate his speech to another language. However, in the Spanish-language version, he speaks with an over-the-top Mexican accent. The Japanese version leaves Hank Azaria's performance untouched.

Appearances

• Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie
• Mr. Plow
• Last Exit to Springfield
• Bart Gets Famous
• Team Homer
• 22 Short Films About Springfield
• The Frying Game

References