Moe Szyslak

Template:Simpsons character Moe Szyslak (Template:PronEng) is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, born in Indiana. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Moe is the proprietor and bartender of Moe's Tavern, a Springfield bar frequented by Homer Simpson, Barney Gumble, Carl Carlson, Lenny Leonard, and others.

Role in The Simpsons

Moe is the owner and operator of his bar, called "Moe's Tavern". His most loyal customer is Barney Gumble. Other regulars include Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson, Sam, and Larry.

Moe usually serves Duff beer on tap. 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 was a forgery that expired in 1973 is only good in Rhode Island as well as being signed by Moe himself), running a speakeasy during Springfield's brief flirtation with prohibition, performing unlicensed surgery, and housing africanized bees.

Moe's temperament is characterized by a short, violent temper, coupled with homicidal and suicidal tendencies. He frequently threatens various people with a shotgun and attempts suicide (including an annual attempt on Christmas and in the episode "Mommie Beerest;" after his bar is closed by the health department, Moe calls the suicide hotline only to discover that they’ve blocked his number). He assumes a leading role in many of Springfield's angry mobs (such as a soccer riot in the episode The Cartridge Family), and kidnapping Talking Heads vocalist David Byrne. He has also 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"), shot Sam in the back for trying to pay in Sacagawea dollars, and stalked various townspeople. His sociopathic tendencies are made the subject of humour in Burns' Heir, where he can be seen in his own home preparing a dialogue for some kind of confrontation in front of a mirror, and using a home-made sliding action pistol holster (which comically smashes the mirror,) in a parody of the character Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. This behavior is further exhibited in The Simpsons Movie when he becomes the self-proclaimed "Emperor of Springfield" when the town is ruined. His leadership is challenged by Barney Gumble, who throws a Molotov Cocktail at him, which Moe successfully throws back.

Moe has an almost nonexistent 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, dating a woman named Renee, and enjoying the company of many women after he had plastic surgery. He has long been infatuated with Marge Simpson, whom he affectionatly calls 'Midge', and has on occasion tried to win her away from Homer. He has been romantically involved with Edna Krabappel as well as Marge's sister Selma. Moe's romantic attractions have resulted in run-ins with the law; he has stalked Maude Flanders and other townspeople, he must register as a sex offender, and he has a restraining order placed upon him. At one point he is seen on his way to a "V.D. clinic". Moe has also proposed marriage to a WNBA mascot, even knowing that the character inside the mascot is Gil Gunderson. Despite his creepy approach, Moe has showed to be a caring and devoted lover. While dating Renee (and previously Edna), he wholeheartedly spoiled them with whatever they wanted and vowed to give up his bar and take them away from Springfield forever, even if it means losing his own money and doing illegal acts to make more money. When he thought he finally won Marge's heart, he promised to be a better lover than Homer.

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 Mrs. 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. He and Lisa are friends. He saves the owner of King Toot's music store and his wife from a flaming car. He saves Maggie Simpson's life and takes efforts to protect her. Moe has demonstrated knowledge of automobiles and dancing.

Moe either emigrated to the United States from Holland or was born in Indiana. As a child, he played the part of "Smelly", a tough kid, on The Little Rascals until he killed Alfalfa for stealing his bit (looking into a car's exhaust pipe just in time to get a face full of exhaust). At some unspecified time during his childhood, his parents dropped him off at summer camp, never to return. In a flashback, he is revealed to have spoken with an Italian accent as a child, but this is contradicted by other accounts of his childhood. In that same episode, it shows the beginning of Moe becoming a victim of prank calls when young Marge calls the boys' camp and 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." Moe was thought to be allergic to pollen; years later, when he found out he wasn't, he made up for lost time by jumping rope. As a young man, Moe became a semi-professional boxer, his ring name constantly changing to suit his deteriorating physical appearance. He started as "Kid Gorgeous" and slowly morphed into "Kid Presentable", "Kid Gruesome", and finally "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, revealed in "Pygmoelian". His current appearance has been described as consisting of "cauliflower ear, lizard lips, little rat eyes, caveman brow and fish snout" in the same episode. Moe's ugliness has since become a recurring source of humor on the show. For example, in "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind", Moe pauses a video of himself and every frame that is shown reveals a hideous expression on his face (even though he appears normal when the video is playing).

After attending bartending school at Swigmore University (a play on Swarthmore College), Moe opened up his own drinking establishment, "Moe's Tavern."

Character

Creation

The creator of The Simpsons Matt Groening based Moe on Louis "Red" Deutsch who was made famous when he was repeatedly prank called by two Jersey City residents. These prank calls were the inspiration for Bart Simpson's repeated prank calls to Moe, and Deutsch's often profane responses inspired Moe's violent temper. Further inspiration was drawn from comedian Rich Hall, an acquaintance of The Simpsons writer George Meyer. Hall considers being the basis for Moe "an honor." Moe's surname "Szyslak" was revealed in "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)". Writers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein found in a phonebook and gave it to Moe so that he would have the initials M.S., and hence be a suspect in the Burns shooting. Moe was designed by animator Dan Haskett and his facial appearance was modeled after a gorilla. Animator Mark Kirkland said that he usually lets pass through production off-model drawings of Moe because the character is so ugly that no one will notice.

Voice

Hank Azaria

Moe was the first voice Hank Azaria performed for the show. During the time of his audition, Azaria was doing a play in which he had the part of a drug dealer, basing his voice on actor Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. He used the same voice in the audition, and was told by Matt Groening and Sam Simon, who were directing him, to make it more gravelly like Deutsch's voice. Groening and Simon thought that it was perfect and took Azaria over to the Fox network recording studio. Before he had even seen a script, Azaria recorded several lines of dialogue as Moe for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening". Moe was originally voiced by actor Christopher Collins. Collins recorded several lines as Moe which never aired.

Reception

In 2001 and 2003, Hank Azaria won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for voicing Moe and various other characters.

See also

• Moe's Tavern

External links

• The Moe Szyslak File at The Simpsons Archive
• Template:Imdb character