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Montgomery Burns
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Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. 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. Mr. Burns is the often antagonistic owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and Homer Simpson's boss. He is attended to at almost all times by Waylon Smithers, his loyal and sycophantic aide, advisor, confidant and secret admirer.
Although he was originally designed as a one-dimensional, recurring villain who might occasionally enter the Simpsons' lives and wreak some sort of havoc, Burns' popularity has led to his repeated inclusion on the show.
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Encyclopedia
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. 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. Mr. Burns is the often antagonistic owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and Homer Simpson's boss. He is attended to at almost all times by Waylon Smithers, his loyal and sycophantic aide, advisor, confidant and secret admirer.
Although he was originally designed as a one-dimensional, recurring villain who might occasionally enter the Simpsons' lives and wreak some sort of havoc, Burns' popularity has led to his repeated inclusion on the show. He embodies a number of characteristics about Corporate America, as he has an unquenchable desire to increase his own wealth and power. Mr. Burns also embodies the stereotype of a manager: he forgets his employees' names (especially Homer, despite the fact that they seem to interact on a daily basis) and is unconcerned for their safety and well-being. His age provides the writers a character with which to express dated humor and references to popular culture before the 1950s. His aspirations to apply obsolete technology to everyday life or references to Victorian era people or places provide a common source of humor on the show.
His trademark expression is the word "Excellent", muttered slowly in a low, sinister voice while tenting his fingertips. He also frequently orders Smithers to "release the hounds", resulting in his vicious guard dogs attacking any intruders or enemies. Mr. Burns is Springfield's richest and most powerful citizen; within the show his current net worth is $996 million. He uses his power and wealth to do whatever he wants, usually without regard for consequences and without interference from the authorities. These qualities led Wizard Magazine to rate him the 45th greatest villain of all time.
Role in The Simpsons
Mr. Burns is the often antagonistic owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and Homer Simpson's boss. He is attended to at almost all times by Waylon Smithers, his loyal and sycophantic aide, advisor, confidant and secret admirer. He uses his power and wealth to do whatever he wants, usually without regard for consequences and without interference from the authorities. At the nuclear plant, Burns spends most of time in his office, monitoring his workers via closed circuit cameras. In his office he keeps a team of ten high-priced lawyers, a scale model of Springfield, a special microbe-resistant chamber, a two-seat escape pod, and the "League of Evil" - a sinister cabal whose members are long deceased but whose skeletons remain. Burns has also owned or co-owned a number of business ventures in Springfield, including the Monty Burns Casino, "Li'l Lisa" recycling, an ocean slurry manufacturing plant, Burns Slant Drilling Co., Burns Media, and a basketball team.
At a young age Mr. Burns left his family to live with his grandfather, a twisted and heartless billionaire who owned an atom mill in Springfield. He lived a life of privilege and would amuse himself by injuring immigrant laborers. Mr. Burns later attended Yale University where he studied both science and business, and graduated in 1914. In 1939, at his 25-year college reunion, he became romantically involved with the daughter of an old flame. She would later bear his child, Larry Burns, who was given up for adoption and would later enter Mr. Burns' life briefly. Burns has been engaged at least three times: a woman named Gertrude who died of loneliness and rabies, to Marge Simpson's mother Jacqueline Bouvier, and to a policewoman named Gloria.
During World War II, Burns served in the United States Army as a member of Springfield's Flying Hellfish squad under Sergeant Abraham Simpson and saw action in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. At the end of World War II he was personally hired by President Harry S. Truman to transport a specially-printed trillion-dollar bill to Europe as the United States' contribution to the reconstruction of Europe. As the United States' richest citizen, Burns was thought to be the most trustworthy. Burns absconded with the bill and kept it in his possession for many years until it was lost to Fidel Castro in "The Trouble with Trillions".
Mr. Burns' extreme old age is a frequent source of humor on the show, he is occasionally referred to as "Springfield's oldest resident" but his exact age is uncertain. In "Simpson and Delilah" he said he was 81 years of age, while in "The Mansion Family", he said he was over 100 years old. In several episodes, including "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)", "Homer the Smithers", and "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love" his age is specifically stated to be 104.
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". At times he has 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, a model train that takes 3 hours and 47 minutes to complete its circuit and comes back with snow on it, and a theater showing round-the-clock plays regardless of whether there is an audience.
Mr. Burns routinely subjects Springfield and its residence to his abuse and, as a result, there is a general dislike of him throughout the town. Burns has blackmailed and bribed various officials in Springfield, including Mayor Quimby and its nuclear safety inspectors. He employed his wealth to make an ultimately unsuccessful run for State Governor. He once blocked out the sun to force Springfield residents to increase their use of electricity produced by his Nuclear Plant and was subsequently shot by Maggie.
Burns' state of mind is the subject of frequent jokes on the show. At times, he appears to be completely removed from reality and modern conventions. He continually fails to recognize Homer Simpson or remember his name, despite many of the recent 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. 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.
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 indestructible, 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, carried away by a single bee, or pushed down by a sponge resting on his head. Bunting a baseball sends him flying to the backstop. He has a hunched back and his vertebral column is visible when he is viewed from the side.
Character
Creation
Burns's character, appearance, and mannerisms are based on several different persons. The show's creator Matt Groening principally based Burns on Fredrik Olsen, a reclusive Norwegian shipping magnate and the owner of Timex. Drawing further inspiration from oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and fictional character Henry Potter from It's a Wonderful Life, Groening made Burns the "embodiment of corporate greed". Animator David Silverman parodied Burns's appearance on Fox founder Barry Diller, and modeled his body on a praying mantis. The idea of Burns reading employee names off cards in "There's No Disgrace Like Home" came from an article about Ronald Reagan that writer Al Jean had read. In some episodes, parallels have been drawn between Burns and moguls such as Howard Hughes and, more frequently, fictional character Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane. Writer George Meyer lifted Burns's "Excellent!" hand gesture from his former Saturday Night Live colleague Jim Downey.
Matt Groening got Burns's middle name from a Montgomery Ward department store in Portland, Oregon's Northwest Industrial district and his surname from Burnside Street, a main thoroughfare in downtown Portland. Burns's first name being Charles is a reference to Charles Foster Kane. In the script for "There's No Disgrace Like Home", Al Jean and Mike Reiss referred to him as "Mr. Meanie".
In the second season, the writers started to enjoy writing about Smithers and Burns's relationship, and they often pitched episodes with them as the focus, but many never came to fruition.
Voice
Burns was originally voiced by actor Christopher Collins in the episode "Homer's Odyssey". 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 able to perform dialogue between the two characters in one take. Shearer said that Burns is the most difficult character for him to voice because it is rough on his vocal cords and he often needs to drink tea and honey to soothe his voice. He describes Burns as his favorite character, saying he "like[s] Mr. Burns because he is pure evil. A lot of evil people make the mistake of diluting it. Never adulterate your evil."
Reception
In 2006, Wizard magazine rated Burns the 45th greatest villain of all time. In a 2007 article, Entertainment Weekly named Smithers the 16th greatest sidekick of all time. They also described Smithers and Burns as being "TV's most functional dysfunctional couple". In a 2003 article, EW also named "Last Exit to Springfield" the greatest episode of The Simpsons. Other episodes which feature Burns placed on the list, including "Rosebud", at number two, and the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" two-part episode, at number 25. Vanity Fair placed "Rosebud" first on their list of the top 25 The Simpsons episodes.
Forbes estimates Burns's net worth at $996 million, placing 13th on the 2008 Forbes Fictional 15 list. Burns has been on the list since 1989 and has previously placed fifth in 2005, second in 2006 and sixth in 2007 when he was estimated to be worth $16.8 billion.
Burns's evil has made him a popular example of terrible television bosses. In 2006, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas released a report saying that Burns was one of the eight worst bosses on television. The News & Observer named Burns the third worst boss, calling him "heartless, greedy and exceptionally ugly, Mr. Burns makes Ebenezer Scrooge seem downright lovely."
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