Groundskeeper Willie
Encyclopedia
William McDougal, usually referred to as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 on The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, voiced by Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...

. He is head groundskeeper at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is a Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 immigrant
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

, almost feral
Feral
A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...

 in nature and immensely proud of his homeland
Homeland
A homeland is the concept of the place to which an ethnic group holds a long history and a deep cultural association with —the country in which a particular national identity began. As a common noun, it simply connotes the country of one's origin...

. He is easily identifiable by his flaming red hair and beard, as well as his strong Scottish accent
Scottish English
Scottish English refers to the varieties of English spoken in Scotland. It may or may not be considered distinct from the Scots language. It is always considered distinct from Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language....

.

Role in The Simpsons

Groundskeeper Willie is the groundskeeper at Springfield Elementary School and is an angry Scotsman. Groundskeeper Willie is an uncouth and unpleasant, though essentially harmless, character. He has claimed to originate from several different places in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and frequently gives contradictory accounts of his past life before arriving in Springfield
Springfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...

. These contradictions are referenced in "The President Wore Pearls
The President Wore Pearls
"The President Wore Pearls" is the third episode of the The Simpsons fifteenth season, first broadcast on November 16, 2003. The episode was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Music And Lyrics .-Plot:...

" when Groundskeeper Willie tells a story of working at a mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 that caved in, saying, "No one made it out alive, not even Willie!" He has also said that he is deaf but can read lips (poorly). Groundskeeper Willie is depicted as being incompetent, quick to anger for little or no reason, and slow-witted. He has shown great antipathy towards both his employer, Principal Skinner
Seymour Skinner
Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...

, and nemesis, Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

. Groundskeeper Willie is often the target of Bart's cruel childhood pranks, whereas Principal Skinner frequently forces Willie to perform demeaning labour, which even included an unwitting part in the "Scotchtoberfest" sting-operation in "Bart's Girlfriend
Bart's Girlfriend
"Bart's Girlfriend" is the seventh television episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 6, 1994. The plot of the episode follows the secret romance of Bart and Jessica Lovejoy, Reverend Lovejoy's daughter...

". Despite his antipathy towards Principal Skinner, Groundskeeper Willie is shown at times to be fiercely devoted to his job. He is regularly shown living in a shack on the school's property and takes great pride in maintaining the school's "award-winning
Principal Charming
"Principal Charming" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 14, 1991. In the episode, Marge's sister Selma is looking for a husband, so Marge orders Homer to help her find one...

" landscape in many episodes. In "Lisa Gets an "A"", Groundskeeper Willie is shown gleefully plunging a severely clogged toilet with his own arm, and in "Bye Bye Nerdie
Bye Bye Nerdie
"Bye Bye Nerdie" is the sixteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 11, 2001. In the episode, when she becomes the target of a female bully, Lisa discovers a scientific reason as to why...

", he panics and rushes immediately to change a restroom towel dispenser that was nearly reaching its end.

As far as family, Groundskeeper Willie once told Principal Skinner that he had seen his own father being lynched for stealing a pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

 and, on another occasion, he expanded on his father's death, relating that his corpse had simply been thrown into a bog rather than receive a proper burial (presumably in the aftermath of his sentence for pig theft). However, his father's fate was later called into question in "Monty Can't Buy Me Love
Monty Can't Buy Me Love
"Monty Can't Buy Me Love" is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons tenth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 2, 1999. In the episode, Mr Burns is jealous of megastore owner Arthur Fortune, who is beloved by the people of Springfield...

", in which he met two very similar characters that he claimed were his parents. In "Lemon of Troy
Lemon of Troy
"Lemon of Troy" is the 24th episode of The Simpsons sixth season, and originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 14, 1995. In the episode, the children of Springfield wage war on Shelbyville after their beloved lemon tree is stolen from them by Shelbyville children...

", it is shown that the female groundskeeper at neighbouring Shelbyville Elementary School looks and speaks identically to Groundskeeper Willie. Despite his usually gruff, unrefined mannerisms, on occasion Groundskeeper Willie has demonstrated gentlemanly behaviour. He once came to the aid of wrongfully accused Homer Simpson (in "Homer Badman
Homer Badman
"Homer Badman", also known as "Homer: Bad Man" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons sixth season and originally aired November 27, 1994. It was written by Greg Daniels and directed by Jeffrey Lynch. After his attempt to grab a gummy candy off of the seat of a young feminist's pants is accused for...

"), where Groundskeeper Willie revealed that his pastimes included secretly videotaping couples
Voyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....

. Groundskeeper Willie's amateur video exonerated Homer of his sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...

 accusations, although ironically the publicity led to Smartline's profile of the groundskeeper as "Rowdy Roddy Peeper." Not always a bachelor, Groundskeeper Willie was once engaged to Shary Bobbins as mentioned in "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious
Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious
"Simpsoncalifragilisticexpialacious", also known as "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpialacious", is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons eighth season and originally aired February 7, 1997. After Marge becomes stressed, the Simpsons hire a new nanny, a Mary Poppins parody, Shary Bobbins , who tries to...

", until she recovered her eyesight; at which point, in Groundskeeper Willie's words, "Suddenly the ugliest man in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 wasn't good enough for her!" During a Springfield Elementary Science Fair, student Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...

 featured the Scotsman in her project. The experiment showed high society was not beyond reach of the lowliest member of society (a.k.a. Groundskeeper Willie).

Groundskeeper Willie was once given the job of teaching Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

 in "On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister
On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister
"On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons sixteenth season, which originally aired on March 6, 2005.-Plot:...

". Lisa had taken a restraining order against Bart, so he couldn't legally go to the same school. Groundskeeper Willie became Bart's teacher because, according to Principal Skinner, Groundskeeper Willie's shack is the only place on school grounds "outside all laws of Man and God." In season 19's "The Debarted
The Debarted
"The Debarted" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons nineteenth season. It was first broadcast on March 2, 2008, and guest stars Topher Grace and radio host Terry Gross have a cameo. A new troublesome student named Donny arrives at Springfield Elementary School, prompting a gleeful Bart to...

", it is revealed that Groundskeeper Willie uses his left arm for a diary
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...

 and because of his lack of money he is forced to cut the words into his arm with a tattoo needle. Also, in this episode Principal Skinner gives Groundskeeper Willie an elementary school diploma for snitching on Bart. His years of heavy work have given him amazing strength and a very muscular physique, which has been observed many times; for example, he rescues Bart from a marauding Alaskan timber wolf
Gray Wolf
The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...

 by wrestling the wolf into submission, and and is also shown when Homer, upset over Bart falling in a well, hits the last straw when Bart starts to cry and begins to dig a hole to rescue him, and Willie seeing this mutters "Why didn't I think of that?" and rips off his shirt to show his muscles and grabs a shovel and starts helping; also proving that despite the many pranks, Willie does care for Bart as he is the first to aid Homer despite the town being angry at him for pulling a prank earlier and as mentioned saved him from being mauled by a wolf. His physique though, much like Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...

, is unremarkable when clothed, and seemingly morphs as soon as he is partially nude
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...

.

Groundskeeper Willie has been a regular character since the second season
The Simpsons (season 2)
The Simpsons second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt...

, but has only been central to one episode: season 17
The Simpsons (season 17)
The Simpsons' seventeenth season originally aired between September 2005 and May 2006, beginning on Sunday, September 11, 2005. It broke Fox's tradition of pushing its shows' season premieres back to November to accommodate the Major League Baseball games airing on the network during September...

's "My Fair Laddy
My Fair Laddy
"My Fair Laddy" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons seventeenth season. It first aired on February 26, 2006. This is the first episode that centers around Groundskeeper Willie. The title and the plot is based on the Broadway musical and film My Fair Lady.-Plot:When Mrs...

", although he has played minor roles in several episodes, including "Treehouse of Horror V
Treehouse of Horror V
"Treehouse of Horror V" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons sixth season and the fifth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series. It premiered on October 30, 1994, and features three short stories called The Shinning, Time and Punishment, and Nightmare Cafeteria...

", "Treehouse of Horror VI
Treehouse of Horror VI
"Treehouse of Horror VI" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons seventh season and the sixth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 29, 1995, and contains three self-contained segments...

", "Girly Edition
Girly Edition
"Girly Edition" is the twenty-first episode of the ninth season of the animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired in the United States on April 19, 1998, and received a Nielsen rating of 8.7. In the episode, Lisa and Bart Simpson must co-anchor a new news program, though when Bart...

", "The President Wore Pearls
The President Wore Pearls
"The President Wore Pearls" is the third episode of the The Simpsons fifteenth season, first broadcast on November 16, 2003. The episode was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Music And Lyrics .-Plot:...

", "Love, Springfieldian Style
Love, Springfieldian Style
"Love, Springfieldian Style" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons nineteenth season and was first broadcast on the Fox Network on February 17, 2008, three days after Valentine's Day. It includes three self contained stories about romance...

" and "The Great Money Caper
The Great Money Caper
"The Great Money Caper" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons twelfth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 10, 2000. In the episode, Homer, along with his son Bart, con people out of their money in order to pay for Homer's broken car...

". Groundskeeper Willie also works as a groundskeeper during summer vacation at the Springfield Glen Country Club, is a professional beekeeper, and also works as a janitor in Shelbyville.

According to Groundskeeper Willie, he is "too poor to have a last name", although in the Simpsons Comics he is referred to as "William MacMoran". In "My Fair Laddy
My Fair Laddy
"My Fair Laddy" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons seventeenth season. It first aired on February 26, 2006. This is the first episode that centers around Groundskeeper Willie. The title and the plot is based on the Broadway musical and film My Fair Lady.-Plot:When Mrs...

" he is also temporarily known as G. K. Willington, Esq
Esquire
Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...

. The 2009 episode "Lisa the Drama Queen
Lisa the Drama Queen
"Lisa the Drama Queen" is the ninth episode of the twentieth season of The Simpsons. It aired January 25, 2009 and guest starred Emily Blunt as Juliet. A special version of the end credits theme was performed by Fall Out Boy, although they do not guest star in the actual episode...

" reveals that Groundskeeper Willie's full name is William MacDougal, and that he holds a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

.

Character

Groundskeeper Willie's first appearance was in the season two episode "Principal Charming
Principal Charming
"Principal Charming" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 14, 1991. In the episode, Marge's sister Selma is looking for a husband, so Marge orders Homer to help her find one...

." Originally, the character was written just as an angry janitor; his Scottish accent was added during a recording session. Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...

 was assigned to do the voice. Castellaneta did not know what voice to use and Sam Simon
Sam Simon
Samuel "Sam" Simon is an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. He submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was...

, who was directing at the time, told Castellaneta to use an accent. He first tried a Spaniard
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 voice, which Simon felt was too cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...

d. He then tried a "big dumb Swede
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

," which was also rejected. For his third attempt, he used the voice of an angry Scotsman, which was considered to be appropriate and was used in the episode. Originally thought by the directors to be a one-shot appearance, Willie has since become a common recurring character. Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....

 later revealed that the character was based partially on Angus Crock, a kilt
Kilt
The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly...

-wearing chef from the sketch comedy show Second City Television
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...

, who was portrayed by Dave Thomas
Dave Thomas (actor)
David "Dave" Thomas is a Canadian comedian and actor. He was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, but moved to Durham, North Carolina where his father, John E. Thomas, attended Duke University and earned a PhD in Philosophy. Thomas attended George Watts and Moorehead elementary schools...

 and Jimmy Finlayson
Jimmy Finlayson
James Henderson "Jimmy" Finlayson was a Scottish actor who worked in both silent and sound comedies. Bald, with a fake moustache, Finlayson had many trademark comic mannerisms and is famous for his squinting, outraged, "double take and fade away" head reaction, and characteristic expression...

, the mustachioed Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 actor who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...

 films.

A recurring joke, which was first shown in "Radio Bart
Radio Bart
"Radio Bart" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 9, 1992. In the episode, Bart receives a microphone that transmits sound to nearby AM radios...

," is that Groundskeeper Willie appears to have a pot belly, but whenever he takes off his shirt, he is quite muscular. One of Groundskeeper Willie's trademarks is a gruffly-spoken insulting retort, which take the writers a long time to come up with, although they do not consider them that funny.

Cultural impact

Groundskeeper Willie's description of the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys
Cheese-eating surrender monkeys
"Cheese-eating surrender monkeys", sometimes shortened to "surrender monkeys", is a derogatory description of French people that was coined in 1995 by a writer of the television series The Simpsons. The phrase has since entered two Oxford quotation dictionaries...

" from the episode "'Round Springfield
'Round Springfield
"Round Springfield" is the 22nd episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on April 30, 1995. In the episode, Bart is rushed to hospital after eating a jagged metal Krusty-O and decides to sue Krusty the Clown. Whilst visiting Bart, Lisa meets her old mentor, jazz musician...

" has become widely used, particularly in the run-up to the war in Iraq. The newspaper New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...

used the phrase "Surrender Monkeys" as the headline for its December 7, 2006 front page, referring to the Iraq Study Group
Iraq Study Group
The Iraq Study group , was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations...

 and its recommendation that U.S. soldiers be withdrawn from Iraq by early 2008. The line was "most likely" written by Ken Keeler
Ken Keeler
Kenneth "Ken" Keeler is an American television producer and writer. He has written for numerous television series, most notably The Simpsons and Futurama. According to an interview with David X. Cohen, he proved a theorem which appears in the Futurama episode "The Prisoner of Benda".-Career:After...

. The phrase "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys" has also been used by Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...

.

In 2009, Willie was added to the "Famous Glaswegians" webpage of Glasgow City Council, based on his line in "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious". A spokesman for Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...

 disputed Glasgow's claim to the character, citing the episodes "Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky" and "The Dad Who Knew Too Little
The Dad Who Knew Too Little
"The Dad Who Knew Too Little" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons fourteenth season which aired on January 12, 2003.-Plot:Bart and Lisa are watching a TV and they see a commercial for a new & improved personal diary, the Turbo Diary, which does not allow anyone else to read it and shocks them if...

".

Reception

In 2006, Groundskeeper Willie was named the fourth best peripheral character in the history of the show by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

, who said "high-points for the character were being trained to be civilized, wrestling a wolf that was let loose in the school and becoming a substitute for the French language teacher - 'Bon jourrr! You cheese-eating surrender monkeys!'" IGN also named "My Fair Laddy
My Fair Laddy
"My Fair Laddy" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons seventeenth season. It first aired on February 26, 2006. This is the first episode that centers around Groundskeeper Willie. The title and the plot is based on the Broadway musical and film My Fair Lady.-Plot:When Mrs...

", the only episode which centers around Willie, the best episode of the seventeenth season. Jim Slotek of Sun Media
Sun Media
Sun Media Corporation is the owner of several widely read tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49 percent owner of Sun News Network...

 called Willie the ninth best Simpsons supporting character, and also made a Top Ten quotes list, which included Willie's quote "Och, back to the loch wi' ye, Nessie
Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next....

," from "Selma's Choice
Selma's Choice
"Selma's Choice" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons fourth season and originally aired on the Fox network on January 21, 1993. In the episode, Selma decides to have a baby, inspired by her late aunt's wish that she would not spend her life alone. She experiences a life with children by...

". The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

reported in late 2005 that "he is the most instantly recognisable Scot in the world: better known than Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...

 or Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...

, even Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...

." The same article quotes Simpsons creator Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....

 as saying "We wanted to create a school janitor
Janitor
A janitor or custodian is a professional who takes care of buildings, such as hospitals and schools. Janitors are responsible primarily for cleaning, and often some maintenance and security...

 that was filled with rage, sort of our tribute to angry janitors all over the world".

Merchandising

Three Willie action figures were created by Playmates Toys
Playmates Toys
Playmates Toys is a Costa Mesa, California toy manufacturer and a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Playmates Holdings Ltd , which was founded in 1966.-Proprietary brands:*Amazing Dolls*Amazing Pets*Kinder-Garden Babies*R.E.V.s*Waterbabies*WOW Pals...

 for the World of Springfield
World of Springfield
The World of Springfield is a series of action figures featuring characters from the animated sitcom The Simpsons. The line ran between December 1999 and December 2004 and was released by Playmates Toys....

series: Willie depicted in his usual appearance, released in 2001 in wave 4; "Ripped Willie", released in 2002 as part of wave 8; and "Kilted Willie", released in 2003 in wave 14.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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