Everything about Mr Burns totally explained
Charles Montgomery Burns, normally referred to as
Mr. Burns or
"Monty" Burns is a recurring
fictional character and
antagonist in the
animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by
Harry Shearer and previously
Christopher Collins. He is the owner of the
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and
Homer Simpson's boss (and often his arch-nemesis). He is attended to at almost all times by
Waylon Smithers, his loyal and
sycophantic aide, advisor, confidant and secret admirer.
Mr. Burns is
Springfield's richest and most powerful citizen;
Forbes estimates his
net worth at $16.8 billion. The town routinely is subject to Burns' abuse, such as Burns' stealing of
Christmas from
1981 to
1985 and there's a general dislike of him throughout the town.
Burns resides in a vast, ornate
mansion on an immense estate called
Burns Manor, located at 1000 Mammon Street, on the corner of
Croesus and
Mammon streets in the 'Springfield Heights' district. It is protected by a high wall, an electrified fence, and a pack of vicious attack dogs known as "The Hounds," one of whom is named "Winston." In addition he's at least one 30+ -year-old-dog named "Crippler." Crippler is known for bagging hippies -- something they don't find too groovy at all. At times he's employed for protection a force of
Wizard of Oz-style guards, a personal paramilitary force, a riot police squad, and a
robotic
Richard Simmons.
The inside of the mansion includes a room containing
a thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters, a bottomless pit, a human
chess board, the largest
television in the
free world, a 'Hall of Patriots' commemorating his ancestors, a laboratory, a botanical garden of vultures bearing his likeness, a safe containing a
Beefeater guard, and a theater showing round-the-clock plays regardless of whether there's an audience.
The mansion is also home to many rare historical artifacts including the only existing nude photo of
Mark Twain, the suit
Charlie Chaplin was buried in,
King Arthur's mythical sword
Excalibur, and a rare first draft of the
Constitution with the word "suckers" in it.
Burns has been engaged at least three times: a woman named Gertrude who died of loneliness and
rabies, to
Jacqueline Bouvier, and to a policewoman named Gloria. He once had an affair with Countess von Zeppelin.
Organizations
Mr. Burns is a member of various organizations. In his younger years, while a student at Yale University, he was a member of
Skull and Bones. During
World War II, Burns became a member of the Flying Hellfish squad, a group of soldiers who entered into a
tontine regarding the ownership of German artwork. Burns was member twenty-nine of the
Stonecutters until it disbanded, at which time he joined the secret society that succeeded it: the Ancient Mystic Order of No-Homers. (One source of dislike of Burns for the "Stonecutters' is that despite his wealth and greed, he's outranked by Lenny). He is currently the head of the Springfield
Republican Party and the
Burns Religion. He is also a member of the "Excluders Club", the Springfield
Golf and
Country Club, and the
National Rifle Association. He holds a chair (a demonic
throne with snarling dogs chained to it) at Springfield University and controls an anti-democratic paramilitary force in
Latin America. In a spoof of
Citizen Kane, he once tried to run for
Governor - until
Marge Simpson forever ruined his chances with a three-eyed fish. At the end he echoes Kane by crying out his name in rage--and vows for the rest of his life to make
Homer Simpson's life miserable.
State of Mind
Burns' state of mind is the subject of frequent jokes on the show. At times, he appears to be completely removed from modern conventions and, sometimes, reality. He continually fails to recognize Homer Simpson or remember his name, despite many of the major events in Burns' life having involved Homer in some way. Burns is also for the most part unaware of the townspeople's general dislike of him.
Mr. Burns uses archaic phrases and
old time expressions that have either changed meanings or fallen out of common usage in
American English, including
score (meaning 20),
twain (two),
post-haste (quickly),
petroleum distillate (
gasoline),
gay (jolly),
dean (principal),
velocitator and
deceleratrix (a car's accelerator and brake),
aeromail (post by air or airmail),
lollygagger (slacker),
fourth form (tenth grade),
jumping box and
picto-cube (television),
Autogyro (
helicopter),
DictaBelt (
dictation machine), the
New York Nine (
New York Yankees),
horseless sleigh (snowmobile, although it could just mean that he was trying to be a mysterious character),
crackleberries (peanuts),
talkie (movies with sound),
thrice (three times),
Bolshevism (a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ) and
mater (mother). He also answers the telephone in the same way that the man widely credited for the
Invention of the Telephone,
Alexander Graham Bell, is purported to have answered it ("Ahoy, Hoy?"). In one episode he also rings Smithers and says "Smithers, come here, I want you.", a take on what are reputedly the first words spoken by
Alexander Graham Bell on his telephone ("Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you").
He also displays mannerisms which are considered outdated, such as practicing
phrenology, writing with a
quill pen, driving a
Stutz Bearcat while wearing an
Edwardian motorist's outfit which includes hat, driving gloves, and
goggles, carrying a
mace for self defense (though the weapon actually shown was a
flail), driving without regard to traffic laws in the manner of early 20th century motorists, and using an antique
view camera to take photographs.
In
Homer at the Bat, to secure victory in the game, Mr. Burns decides to hire major league stars and assembles a team that includes
Honus Wagner,
Cap Anson,
Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, and a
right fielder who has been dead for 130 years.
Burns appears unaware of 20th century political and social developments, such as Fidel Castro replacing
Fulgencio Batista as the President of
Cuba,
Siam changing its name to
Thailand,
Persia changing its name to
Iran and no longer being a monarchy, the
Belgian Congo changing its name to the
Congo-Kinshasa,
Prussia being absorbed into the
German Empire,
India gaining its independence from the
British Empire,
New Mexico entering the
United States, the
Wall Street Crash of 1929,
Idlewild Airport changing its name to
JFK Airport, the disbanding of the
Negro Leagues, the desegregation of the
Major Leagues,
Joe DiMaggio no longer being a
rookie,
Robert Mugabe replacing
Ian Smith as Prime Minister (later President) of Zimbabwe and
Rhodesia changing it name to
Zimbabwe, the extinction of the
dodo, the demolition of the
Polo Grounds, the ceasing of publication of
Collier's Weekly, the abolition of
Apartheid in
South Africa, the demise of the
DuMont Television Network, believing
tires need to be
revulcanized, confusing
The Ramones with
The Rolling Stones ("have the Rolling Stones killed"), thinking cars are still operated by levers, believing mail may still be delivered by
autogyro (once asking for a package to be delivered by autogyro to the
Prussian consolate in Siam), and the occurrence of the
1939 World's Fair.
Mr. Burns' investment portfolio includes long-defunct shares in "Confederated Slaveholdings, Transatlantic Zeppelin, Amalgamated Spats, Congreve's Inflammable Powder, U.S. Hay", and an "up-and-coming Baltimore Opera Hat Company".
Burns commonly refers to deceased persons as if they were alive, including
Al Jolson,
Tallulah Bankhead,
Louise Brooks,
Honus Wagner,
Cap Anson, and
Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown.
He also believes some social institutions and inventions are novel or nonexistent, such as
musicals about "
the common cat" and "
the King of Siam", the
Packard automobile, the
Fire Department,
ice cream (or "iced cream"),
vending machines,
recycling,
strip clubs, the
DuMont, the word "
into", silent films like the 1929
Lulu, and the synonymity of
ketchup and
catsup. While trying to chat up a young woman, Burns offers to play the
clavichord and show
stereopticon images of the
Crimean War.
Nonetheless, there are many instances where Burns also displays a clear knowledge of recent events: Citing the films
Bugsy and
Working Girl as examples when making a movie to gloss over his evil rise to power; being inspired by the movie
Sliver to have hidden cameras installed in every home in Springfield; meeting
Elvis Presley and regaling Smithers with his impression of the famous singer; using the
Ludovico Technique to train attack dogs; enjoying
Ziggy comics; playing golf with
Richard Nixon, who fretted to Burns about going to prison over the exposure of the
Watergate scandal; recalling the
prisoner abuse scandal at
Abu Ghraib in a "we-can-do-it-better" context ("this place will make Abu Ghraib look like the Four Seasons"); personally knowing
Jimmy Carter,
Richard Nixon and
Ronald Reagan, who along with
George H. W. Bush tried to attend Burns' birthday party (Carter and Bush were denied admittance for being "one-termers"); and recalling watching the
Beatles' breakthrough performance on the
Ed Sullivan Show, dismissing it as "off-key caterwauling". He also has a dislike for
Elvis Presley and claims
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead has more sex appeal with one raised eyebrow than "Modern movies". He also knows about various lesser-known animals which have long since gone extinct, such as the Fenway Flounder (which died off due to the
Boston Tea Party) and the Pocket Fox ("a creature which lived for only three weeks in the 16th century").
He is also known for not believing in suicide, though he says in the credits of
The Simpsons Movie after Smithers saying "They took everything, sir." He replies with "Smithers, I don't believe in suicide, but if you try it, it might cheer me up to watch."
Health
Burns has numerous physical ailments and health problems, often to the point where he seems to straddle the line between life and death. On prior occasions, Burns may have died. Presently, Burns has a condition known as "Three Stooges Syndrome" where a delicate state of
homeostasis is created by the presence in his body of every known disease and other newly-discovered diseases unique to him, which, when all trying to invade his body simultaneously, cancel out each other. Mr. Burns took this as being, although the
doctor who told him this suggested that the slightest
breeze could kill him.
Physically weak, he often has great difficulty performing the most basic physical tasks, such as giving a
thumbs-up, receiving a
hug, crushing a
paper cup, or stepping on an
insect. He is weak enough to be pushed over by an
ant or a
high-five, or pushed down by a
sponge on his
head. Bunting a
baseball sends him flying to the backstop. The weight of
toothpaste on his
toothbrush is enough to pull him over (as seen in the opening scene of the Simpsons Movie). He has a hunched back and his vertebral column is visible when he's viewed from the side. His exposure to radiation has given his skin a
green glow (though seen in only one episode) and left him
infertile. Once a $1000 bill bruised him leaving a reverse imprint of Grover Cleveland on his chest.
His
organs have grown immensely weak over the years. His
heart is black, desiccated, and barely beats or doesn't beat at all. At one point, he's struck with
lightning, restarting his apparently not beating
heart. It is shrunken to the size of a
cherry. Burns'
blood type is double-O negative. When his
finger is pricked, he bleeds
dust, and when his arm is poked with a needle, the needle passes through his arm. On one occasion, a chunk of Burns'
brain fell out through his
ear. Another time, his
lungs came out through his
mouth and acted like an
airbag. On another occasion, he indicated in an off-hand manner that he only has a single
lung. If he isn't careful, fluid can build up in his
hands, causing them to swell to enormous proportions, and his
fingers have been shown to flap in the breeze released from a bowling ball dispenser. It has been revealed that if Burns sweats even one drop, he could die of
dehydration unless he takes a bath immediately. Burns has also lost body parts due to
leprosy (one example is when he lost an entire fingernail in a cup). Both his legs have a crease in them, down the entire length.
Mr. Burns' medical treatment includes a weekly procedure which includes
chiropractics, a
vocal cord scraping, and an injection of
pain-killers; its purpose is to postpone his death for one week. This makes his pupils dilate to a large size, and he becomes temporarily 'nice'. He also glows green, a result of working in a nuclear plant for many years. This causes Homer to mistake Mr. Burns for an alien in one episode, though no one believes him, thinking him to have been drunk (he drank about ten bottles of a new type of
beer, 'Red Tick Beer' made out of beer and dog fleas). At the end of the episode, Lisa tries to prove that Burns isn't an alien, pointing a flashlight at him. This reveals him in his 'nice' form leading the townspeople to believe that he's a monster, but before they can kill him, Smithers rushes in and explains that it's really Mr. Burns. He also has his brain flushed out with
vinegar and his eyes "re-balled". Burns' knees are also sent out to be repaired at a "shop." His
dentures replace themselves. In the future, Burns may be kept alive by
cryonics.
On rare occasions he's displayed great strength and skill, such as when he managed to capture
Nessie (though it was never explained how he did so) and when he rescued his girlfriend Gloria from a burning building (although she wound up carrying
him out of the blaze).
Creation
Mr. Burns' character, appearance and mannerisms are based on several different people.
Matt Groening principally based Burns on
Fredrik Olsen, a reclusive
Norwegian shipping magnate and owner of
Timex. Groening made Burns an "embodiment of corporate greed" and drew further inspiration for the character from oil tycoon
John D. Rockefeller and
Henry Potter from
It's a Wonderful Life. Burns's appearance was modeled on
Fox founder
Barry Diller, and his physical movement style came from a
praying mantis. In episodes, parallels have been drawn between Burns and moguls such as
Howard Hughes and more frequently fictional character
Charles Foster Kane from
Citizen Kane. Burns's first name being Charles was a reference to Kane. Near it, there was a famous log cabin that burned down during Groening's childhood, giving the name "Montgomery Burns". He was soon replaced by
Harry Shearer, who has voiced the character ever since. He modeled the voice on
Lionel Barrymore and
Ronald Reagan. Shearer is also the voice of Smithers and is often able to perform dialogue between the two characters in one take. Shearer says that Burns is the most difficult character for him to voice because it's rough on his vocal cords and often needs to drink tea and honey to soothe his voice.
Reception
In 2006
Wizard Magazine rated him the 45th greatest villain of all time. In a 2007 article,
Entertainment Weekly named Smithers, Mr. Burns' lackey, the sixteenth greatest sidekick of all time. They have also described Smithers and Mr. Burns as being "TV's most functional dysfunctional couple". In a 2003 article,
Entertainment Weekly named "
Last Exit to Springfield", an episode that prominently features Mr. Burns, the greatest episode of
The Simpsons. Other episodes which feature Burns placed high on the list, including "
Rosebud" at number two and the
Who Shot Mr. Burns? duo of episodes the 25th best episode. placing 6th on the 2007
Forbes Fictional 15 list. Burns has been on the list since 1989. Burns has previous placed fifth on the list and placed second in 2006.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mr Burns'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://montgomery_burns.totallyexplained.com">Montgomery Burns Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
