Difference between revisions of "Moe Szyslak"

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Morris "Moe" Szyslak (pronounced /'sɪz.læk/) is a fictional character on the animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Hank Azaria. Moe is the proprietor and bartender of "Moe's Tavern", a Springfield bar frequented by Barney Gumble, Homer Simpson, Carl Carlson, Lenny Leonard and others.

Role in The Simpsons

Moe is the owner, and except for a few instances where temporary help is hired, the only employee of Moe's Tavern. His most loyal customer is Barney Gumble, with other regulars including Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson, Sam and Larry. Moe is notoriously cheap with his customers, refusing to give them free drinks, or throwing them out when they are out of money. He also wants his customers to drink as much as possible, as then their tab will grow larger. Once, when Homer asked Moe where the dart board was, Moe said, "we're phasing out the games, people drink less when they're having fun."

Moe generally serves Duff beer on tap, having little knowledge of liquors or wines; the liquor bottles visible behind the bar are said to be "painted on," and in one instance, he unknowingly sells an 1888 bottle of Château Latour for a few dollars. In "Flaming Moe's", he wonders if gin and tonic mix. He enthusiastically abandons his bar, its regular customers, and his friends when a better opportunity comes along, such as the drink "The Flaming Moe", the opening of his postmodern bar "M", and the conversion of his bar into a family-themed restaurant called Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag. Moe is often engaged in shady or illegal activities at his tavern, including smuggling pandas and orcas, hosting Russian roulette games, operating an unlicensed casino, serving liquor without a license (his expired in 1973 and it's only good in Rhode Island as well as being signed by Moe himself), running a speakeasy during Springfield's brief flirtation with Prohibition, and performing unlicensed surgery in his bar.

Moe's temperament is characterized by a short, violent temper, coupled with homicidal and suicidal tendencies and a proclivity towards obsessive behaviors. These traits are exhibited in his behavior, including frequently attempting suicide (including an annual attempt on Christmas and in the episode "Mommie Beerest;" after his bar was closed by the health department, Moe calls the suicide hotline and discovers that they’ve blocked his number), keeping an enemies list nearly identical to that of Richard Nixon, assuming a leading role in many of Springfield's angry mobs, and kidnapping Talking Heads vocalist David Byrne. He has also used his b-boy skills for self-defense, shot at Carl Carlson, robbed Homer of expensive pants, kept Hans Moleman under his bar's floorboards in a subterranean torture chamber, perpetrated insurance fraud ("Dumbbell Indemnity"), and stalking various townspeople. This behavior is further exhibited in The Simpsons Movie when he becomes the self-proclaimed "Emperor of Springfield" when the town is destroyed. His leadership is challenged by Barney Gumble who throws a Molotov Cocktail at him, which Moe successfully throws back.

Moe has a strained love life due to his vulgarity towards women and his ugly appearance. Despite this, Moe has had a number of romantic experiences, including sleeping with his bartender Collette, ^[1] dating a woman named Renee, ^[2] and enjoying the company of many women after he had plastic surgery to correct his ugly appearance.^[3] He has long been infatuated with Marge Simpson (whom he often refers to as Midge) and has on occasion professed his love for her and tried to win her away from Homer.^[4][5] Moe's romantic attractions have resulted in criminal behavior and run-ins with the law; he has stalked Maude Flanders and other townspeople, he must register as a sex offender, and he had a restraining order placed upon him. At one point he is seen on his way to a "V.D. clinic".^[6]Moe has also proposed marriage to a WNBA mascot, even knowing that the character inside the mascot is Gil Gunderson.

Despite his faults, Moe has been shown to express genuine love and sentimentality, which suggests that he may not be as gruff as he appears. He has a cat named Mr. Snookums, of whom he is very fond. Moe is also kind towards the rats that live in his bar. On Wednesday nights, he reads to the homeless in a local soup kitchen and he also reads to sick children at the hospital. Until it was destroyed, Moe had a fondness for a jar of pickled eggs. He saved the owner of King Toot's music store and his wife from a flaming car. He saved the life of Maggie Simpson and took efforts to protect her. Moe engaged in charity work in South America or Africa, using a flying fan to fight forest fires and deliver medical supplies to people devastated by floods. Moe has demonstrated knowledge of automobiles and dancing.^[7]

Moe either immigrated to the United States from Holland^[8] or was born in Indiana.^[9] As a child, he played the part of "Smelly", a tough kid, on The Little Rascals until he killed Alfalfa for stealing his bit and was fired. At some unspecified time during his childhood, his parents dropped him off at summer camp, never to return and pick him up. In that same episode, it shows the beginning of Moe becoming a victim of prank calls when young Marge calls the boys' camp and young Moe answers it. Marge asks to talk to Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabbar, which is what Homer introduced himself as to her. Moe, thinking that she is trying to trick him, becomes angry and hangs up. Then he turns to the camera and says, "And, uh, that's the origin of that."^[10] As a young man, Moe became a professional boxer, going by the names "Kid Gorgeous", "Kid Presentable", "Kid Gruesome", and "Kid Moe." Moe blames his boxing career for making him ugly. According to Moe, his boxing career ended because of politics, and because he was knocked out 40 times in a row. Moe's ugliness caused him to audition unsuccessfully for a part in "It Never Ends", a soap opera. His current appearance has been described as consisting of "cauliflower ear, lizard lips, little rat eyes, caveman brow and fish snout" in the episode "Pygmoelian". After attending bartending school at Swigmore University (a play on Swarthmore College), Moe opened up his own drinking establishment, "Moe's Tavern."^[11]

Bart's prank calls

In the early years of The Simpsons, Moe was the frequent target of Bart Simpson's prank phone calls. Bart would call Moe's Tavern and ask for an individual by his or her name. Unbeknownst to Moe, the name was a double entendre. When Moe would call aloud the individual's name (always in the context that makes the double entendre funny -- for example, "Hey, fellas, I need Amanda Hugginkiss!" or "Big guy in the back, Heywood U. Cuddleme"), the bar's patrons would laugh and Moe, realizing he had been had, would utter a series of threats into the phone. Some examples of the names and their hidden meanings include: Amanda Hugginkiss (a man to hug and kiss), Anita Bath (I need a bath), and Hugh Jass (huge ass). The latter name actually backfired on Bart, as there was someone with that name who answered the phone.

Character

Creation

Moe's character was based partly on Tube Bar owner Louis "Red" Deutsch, who was made famous in the popular "Tube Bar" recordings when he was repeatedly prank called by two Jersey City residents. These calls were the inspiration for Bart's repeated prank calls to Moe, and Deutch's often profane responses made Moe's violent side.^[12] Further inspiration was drawn from comedian Rich Hall, an acquaintance of The Simpsons writer George Meyer. Hall considered being the basis for Moe "an honour."^[13] Moe's surname "Szyslak" was revealed in "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)", the writers found the name in a phonebook and gave it to Moe so that he would have the initials M.S., and hence could be a suspect in the Burns shooting.^[14] He was designed by Dan Haskett.^[15]

Moe was the first voice Hank Azaria performed for the show, replacing Christopher Collins who had voiced the character in several previous episodes. At the time of his audition, Azaria was doing a play in which he had the part of a drug dealer, basing his voice on Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. He used the same voice in the audition, and was told by Matt Groening and Sam Simon to make it more gravelly, with it becoming the voice of Moe. Groening and Simon thought it was perfect and took Azaria over to the Fox recording studio. Before he had even seen a script, he recorded several lines of dialogue as Moe for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening".^[16][17]

External links

• The Moe Szyslak File at The Simpsons Archive