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{{short description|Fictional character from The Simpsons franchise}}
{{Simpsons character|
{{Infobox character
image=]|
name=Groundskeeper Willie| | name = Groundskeeper Willie
| series = ]
gender=]|
| image = GroundskeeperWillie.png
hair=Red head|
| image_size = 220
age= 50s|
| first_major = "]"
job= Groundskeeper at ]|
| first_date = February 14, 1991
relatives= Gravedigger Billy (cousin), Willie's ma and pa|
| creator = ]
appearance=]|
| designer = Matt Groening
voiceactor=]
| voice = ]
| full_name = William MacDougal
| gender = ]
| occupation = Groundskeeper/Janitor at ]
| family = {{Plainlist|
* Mr. MacDougal (father)
* Mrs. MacDougal (mother)
* Gravedigger Billy (cousin)
* Ben (uncle)
}} }}
| significant_others = {{Plainlist|
'''Groundskeeper Willie''' (a.k.a. '''G. K. Willington, Esq.''') is a ] on '']'', voiced by ]. He is head ] at ]. Willie is a Scottish ], and inordinately proud of his homeland. He is easily identifiable by his flaming red hair and beard, as well as his exaggerated ]. His alias was invented by ] in episode "]" from season 17.
* Maisie MacWeldon (wife)
* Inga (ex-girlfriend)
* ] (ex-fiancée)
* Birdy the ] (ex-fiancée)
* ] (ex-girlfriend)
* ] (ex-girlfriend)
}}
| nationality = ]
| origin = ], ]
}}
'''Dr. William <!-- Sean Moran -->MacDougal''',<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Lisa the Drama Queen |episode-link=Lisa the Drama Queen |series=The Simpsons |series-link=The Simpsons |season=2 |number=9 |time=14:27}}</ref> better known as '''Groundskeeper Willie''', is a recurring character on '']'', voiced by ]. He is the head ] and ] at ]. Willie is almost ] in nature and is immensely proud of his Scottish origin. He is easily identifiable by his red hair and beard, as well as his aggressive temperament and thick, stereotypical ].


==Role in ''The Simpsons''==
Although Willie is a ] Highland Scot, '']'' reported in late 2005 that "he is the most instantly recognizable Scot in the world: better known than ] or ], even ]." The same article quotes ''Simpsons'' creator ] as saying "We wanted to create a ] ] that was filled with rage, sort of our tribute to angry janitors all over the world".
Willie is the groundskeeper and janitor at ] and lives in a shack on the school premises. He is a Scotsman with an aggressive temper. Willie is an uncouth and unpleasant character, though essentially harmless. His personality is depicted as being incompetent, drunken, slow-witted, and quick to anger for little or no reason. Willie has shown antipathy to both his employer, ], and ], who frequently plays practical jokes on him. In the alternate continuity of "]", his spirit plots revenge on the students of Springfield Elementary after getting burned to death by their parents' actions.


Due to the deliberately inaccurate continuity of the series, he has claimed to be from various parts of Scotland during the series, most recently ] in the ] in the 2012 episode ']'. This settled the previous continuity problem in which Willie had been stated to be a supporter of ], and to have lived in ]. In early episodes, Willie's father was said to be dead. However, his parents were later introduced in "]", and lived near ]; which is near ]. In "]", it is revealed that he has a cousin, "Grave Digger Billy". In '']'' he describes himself as a "Scottish Old Believer Presbyterian" who "hates Easter" as some conservative ] ] as a man-made feast on the basis of the ].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Regulative Principle of Worship |url=https://www.fpchurch.org.uk/about-us/how-we-worship/the-regulative-principle-of-worship/ |publisher=] |access-date=21 March 2022}}</ref>
==First Appearance==
Willy made his first appearance in the season 2 episode ]. Originally, the character was just written as an angry janitor and ] was assigned to do the voice. According to the DVD commentary for the episode, Castellaneta first tried using a Spanish voice, which the writers felt was too clichè. he then tried an angry Swede which also fell flat. Finally, he used an angry Scotsman, which was deemed appropriate enough and was used in the episode. The producers at first thought he would only be a one-timer and would not return, but he has since become a common recurring character.


Willie plays a supporting role in most of his episodes, but he was a main character in the episode "]", where ] introduced him to high culture as a science project.
==Willie's roots==
In many ways, Willie is an unpleasant character, although he's fairly harmless. He has claimed to originate from several different places in ] (including, but not limited to: ], ] and "North Kilttown"), and frequently gives contradictory accounts of his past life before arriving in ]. A darker side to Willie emerges when ] hires a private investigator to spy on Lisa, who, on seeing Willie, remarks on his resemblance to "The ] Strangler," at which Willie nervously gulps and scurries away. Willie apparently ran over a kid with a lawnmower once, as hinted in an episode when he runs over a red dodgeball, mistakes the pieces of the ball for blood, and says, "Oh no! I've shredded a child! Again!" Willie has been seen to instigate a ] riot with some previously unseen Scottish friends. He has also betrayed ] by allowing the boy to confide in him, and then donning his distinctive ] and performing unkind impressions of him behind his back, much to the merriment of the school staff. One of Lisa's main motivations for doing well at school is so that she does not end up like Willie.
Willie claims to be deaf from a mishap with a boiler and reads lips (though somewhat unsuccessfully). He has also revealed that he wears contact lenses and has crippling arthritis in his index fingers, which he got from "space invaders" in 1977. Willie was surprised when Chief Wiggum pointed that ] is a videogame (which was released in 1978).


In a ] in each of the three segments of the episode "]", Willie tries to help the main protagonists, but is struck in the back with an axe by a different character each time, a reference to ]'s death in ]'s '']'', of which the first segment, "]", is a direct parody.
In "]", ] referred to Willie as "an escaped mental patient".


Willie has a troubled and distant relationship with his parents. In the episode "My Fair Laddy", Willie recalls his birth and how his abusive father told him he would never amount to anything in life and would be lucky if he grew up to be "garbage".
Willie, along with the members of the ] family, is one of the few Springfield residents who actually has eyebrows.


On two occasions, Willie frames Bart for pulling pranks that Bart would normally pull. In "]", he unleashes a giant pie of rats on the Springfield Elementary medieval festival to get revenge for being cast as the ] and his cruel treatment. Skinner is quick to blame Bart and expels him. Willie is never shown being found out as the culprit, but it can be assumed that he is eventually found out after Bart is enrolled in Catholic school and earns his way back into Springfield Elementary. In "]", Willie causes hundreds of eggs to be splattered at the Springfield Easter celebration out of inbred hatred for the holiday. Bart is put on trial for the incident, only to be acquitted when Willie is caught and turned in by Lisa and Mr. Burns (as Fruit Batman).
Willie, along with several other Springfielders, was originally an ] who stood to be deported once "Proposition 24" was passed. All of the illegal immigrants except him succeeded in getting their citizenship before the Proposition was approved, and he was its only victim. Of course, he is seen back in Springfield in later episodes, which suggests that once he returned to Scotland, he simply turned around and legally immigrated to the United States through the normal channels.


===Life goals=== ==Character==
], the voice of Groundskeeper Willie]]
Willie's limited ambitions in life are beautifully captured in one episode. We see a sleeping Willie snoring in his cold and empty ] with an empty ] bottle next to him. We then see that the "real" Willie is actually sleeping in a ] next to a bottle of turpentine, dreaming of the above scenario. He also dreams of one day owning a "crystal slop bucket" for his mop.
Groundskeeper Willie's first appearance was in the season two episode "]", first broadcast on February 14, 1991. Originally, the character was written as simply being an angry janitor; his Scottish accent was added during a recording session. ], who voices several other characters including ], was assigned to do the voice. Castellaneta did not know what voice to use and ], who was directing at the time, told Castellaneta to use an accent. He first tried a ]'s voice, which Simon felt was too ]d. He then tried a "big dumb ]", which was also rejected. For his third attempt, he used the voice of an angry Scotsman, which was considered to be more appropriate and was used in the episode.<ref name="Reiss">{{cite video | people=Reiss, Mike|date=2002|title=The Simpsons season 2 videocassette commentary for the episode "Principal Charming"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref><ref name="sprcon">{{cite book |last1=Reiss |first1=Mike |last2=Klickstein |first2=Mathew |title=Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons |date=2018 |publisher=Dey Street Books |isbn=978-0062748034 |page=104|location=New York City}}</ref> Originally thought by the directors to be a one-off appearance, Willie has since become a recurring character.<ref name="Kirkland">{{cite video | people=Kirkland, Mark|date=2002|title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Principal Charming"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> ] later revealed that the character was based partially on Angus Crock, a ]-wearing chef from the sketch comedy show '']'', who was portrayed by ]<ref name="SoS">{{cite news | url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/thesimpsons/Groening-lifts-toilet-lid-on.3308980.jp | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202032609/http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/thesimpsons/Groening-lifts-toilet-lid-on.3308980.jp | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 2, 2013 | title=Groening lifts toilet lid on the real-life Groundskeeper Willie | publisher=] | date=July 21, 2007 | first=Marc | last=Horne | access-date=2007-08-02 }}</ref> and ], the moustachioed ] actor who appeared in 33 ] films.<ref name="doh">{{cite news|first=Jeremy|last=Simon|title=Wisdom from The Simpsons' 'D'ohh' boy|publisher=The Daily Northwestern|date=1994-02-11|df=mdy-all}}</ref>


A recurring joke, which was first shown in "]", is that Groundskeeper Willie appears to have an average build with a ], but upon removing his shirt he is incredibly muscular.<ref name="Jean">{{cite video | people=Weinstein, Josh|date=2003|title=The Simpsons season 3 DVD commentary for the episode "Jean, Al"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Weinstein">{{cite video | people=Weinstein, Josh|date=2004|title=The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Badassss song"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>
In a later episode, Lisa made Willie into a refined gentleman, getting him a new job as ] at the snooty and exclusive restaurant "The Gilded Truffle". Willie was miserable in his refined role, and realized he was happier as a janitor. This suggests that Willie's job as a custodian does not seem to bother him, and it is likely that he is simply a naturally angry man, possibly playing into the stereotype of ] as being fiery-tempered and quick to anger.


==Willie's role== ==Cultural impact==
], ] (''pictured'')]]
His years of heavy work have given him amazing strength and a very muscular physique, which has been observed many times; for example when he digs into a well to save ], who had fallen in, and the time he rescues Bart from a marauding timber wolf by wrestling it into submission. On an occasion when he has to crawl through narrow ventilation shafts to retrieve Bart's dog, ], Willie turns to ] and asked "Have you got any grease?" She replies by saying, "Yes, yes we do". Willie (while ripping off his clothes) bellows "Then grease me up, woman!", to which she replies, "Okey-dokey." Upon capturing the dog he remarks, "Theres n'ary an animal that can outrun a greased scotsman." He also plays a part in the song in the middle of the episode in which principal skinner tries to ban music, gym and art. He claimed that he was "so drunk he could bearly see, but it helps me get through another day. My stomach is full with haggis and beer, I need to go puke in some hay."
Groundskeeper Willie's description of the French as "]"<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501051742/http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-frenchsurrendermonkey.htm |date=2012-05-01 }} ''About: Political humour''. Retrieved on December 27, 2006</ref> from the episode {{"-}}]" has become widely used, particularly in the run-up to the ].<ref> ''The Guardian''. Retrieved on December 27, 2006</ref> The newspaper '']'' used the phrase "Surrender Monkeys" as the headline for its December 7, 2006 front page, referring to the ] and its recommendation that U.S. soldiers be withdrawn from Iraq by early-2008.<ref name="PBP">{{cite news | url=https://nypost.com/2006/12/07/iraq-appease-squeeze-on-w-panel-kisses-up-to-iran-syria-plan-would-pull-troops-out-in-08/ | title=Iraq 'Appease' Squeeze on W. | newspaper=] | date=December 7, 2006 | first=Niles | last=Lathem | access-date= April 3, 2015}}</ref> The line was "most likely" written by ].<ref name=com>Mentioned in ''The Simpsons'' Season 6 DVD Commentary for the episode {{"-}}]".</ref> The phrase "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys" has also been used by ] and ].


In 2009, Willie was added to the "Famous Glaswegians" webpage of ], based on his line in "]". A spokesman for ] disputed Glasgow's claim to the character, citing the episodes {{"-}}]" and "]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/AboutGlasgow/FamousGlaswegians/|title=Famous Glaswegians|publisher=Glasgow City Council|access-date=June 16, 2009|archive-date=November 4, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104074420/http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/AboutGlasgow/FamousGlaswegians/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Horne, Marc|date=May 24, 2009|url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/glasgow/Civic-war-centres-on-Simpsons.5297705.jp|title=Civic war centres on Simpsons star|work=Scotland on Sunday|access-date=June 16, 2009}}</ref> In Season 23 Episode 13 "]", first aired in 2012, it was finally stated that Groundskeeper Willie is from ] in ], therefore ending this dispute.<ref>{{cite news |date=3 February 2012 |title=Groundskeeper Willie is from Orkney ... and he was 'torn apart' by Uppies and Doonies |work=] |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/groundskeeper-willie-is-from-orkney-and-he-was-torn-apart-by-uppies-and-doonies-3h8khq7dfld |access-date=15 August 2022}}</ref>
===Springfield Elementary===
Bart is not the most grateful child, however. He is more than willing to make Willie the butt of frequent jokes. One of these pranks, involving creamed corn and a pump, actually destroyed Willie's tarpaper shack on the edge of campus and broke his leg; Willie sought a violent revenge, but ] smoothed things over.


In September 2014, Groundskeeper Willie featured in an official video in which he endorsed a vote for ] in an ], and put himself forward to lead a potentially independent Scotland while standing in front of the ] with a tattoo on his chest that read: 'Aye or Die!'.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Davies Boren|first1=Zachary|title=Groundskeeper Willie declares support for Scottish independence, volunteers to lead the new country|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/scottish-independence/groundskeeper-willie-declares-support-for-scottish-independence-volunteers-to-lead-the-new-country-9731930.html|access-date=27 July 2020|work=]|date=14 September 2014}}</ref> Following the result of the referendum where the Scottish electorate voted to remain as part of the ], the producers released an image of Willie now standing in front of a ] flag, looking depressed with his "Aye or Die!" tattoo replaced with a picture of ] and empty bottles of ] with a newspaper featuring Former ] ], who was widely credited with giving the "No" campaign a last-minute boost.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/see-groundskeeper-willie-simpsons-gutted-4295952 | title=The Simpsons Groundskeeper Willie gutted after Scots 'No' vote| website=]| date=2014-09-20}}</ref>
For the most part, Willie gets very little respect from anyone. Principal Skinner attempted to punish Nelson for theft by getting him to perform what he refers to as the most degrading task ever, janitorial work. Willie expresses that he is right there listening. Nelson has also taken shots at Willie, using a rake to launch a beehive at Willie yelling, "Hey Willie, catch the football!" Willie apparently believed it was a football until the last minute.


===Reception===
According to ], Willie is an escaped patient from a mental hospital that ] hired. According to Willie, he has worked at the school for 20 years, just as long as Principal Skinner, so he was likely hired soon after Skinner began his job.
In 2006, Groundskeeper Willie was named the fourth-best peripheral character in the history of the show by ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/730/730957p5.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031112102/http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/730/730957p5.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 31, 2007|title=Top 25 Simpsons Peripheral Characters|access-date=2007-06-08|date=2006-09-06|author1=Eric Goldman |author2=Dan Iverson |author3=Brian Zoromski |publisher=]}}</ref> 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 "]", the only episode which centres around Willie, the best episode of the seventeenth season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/731/731095p3.html|title=The Simpsons: 17 Seasons, 17 Episodes|author1=Goldman, Eric |author2=Dan Iverson, Brian Zoromski |publisher=]|date=2006-09-08|access-date=2007-08-02}}</ref> Jim Slotek of ] 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, ]", from "]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/2007/07/22/4358557-sun.html|title='Simpsons' makes jump to big screen|author=Slotek, Jim|publisher=]|access-date=2007-08-02|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115104310/http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/2007/07/22/4358557-sun.html|archive-date=2013-01-15}}</ref> '']'' reported in late-2005 that "he is the most instantly recognisable Scot in the world: better known than ] or ], even ]." The same article quotes ''Simpsons'' creator ] as saying "We wanted to create a school ] that was filled with rage, sort of our tribute to angry janitors all over the world".<ref name="Times">{{cite news | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article581035.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604091429/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article581035.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 4, 2011 | title=The strange world of Oor grown-up Wullie| work=] | date=October 23, 2005 | first=Adrian | last=Turpin | access-date= 2007-08-02 | location=London}}</ref>


===Merchandising===
In another episode Willie was asked by Skinner what he had done in the summer vacation and he replied that he had made a fortune building a software company but blew it all at the track.
Three Groundskeeper Willie action figures were created by ] for the ] series: Willie depicted in his usual appearance, released in 2001 in wave 4;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://figures.nohomers.net/WoS_Figures_Series_4.html|title=Series 4|access-date=2008-11-04|publisher=The Simpsons Action Figure Information Station|archive-date=2013-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827150943/http://figures.nohomers.net/WoS_Figures_Series_4.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> "Ripped Willie", released in 2002 as part of wave 8;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://figures.nohomers.net/WoS_Figures_Series_8.html|title=Series 8|access-date=2008-11-04|publisher=The Simpsons Action Figure Information Station|archive-date=2013-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827150953/http://figures.nohomers.net/WoS_Figures_Series_8.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and "Kilted Willie", released in 2003 in wave 14.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://figures.nohomers.net/WoS_Figures_Series_14.html|title=Series 14|access-date=2008-11-04|publisher=The Simpsons Action Figure Information Station|archive-date=2013-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827150927/http://figures.nohomers.net/WoS_Figures_Series_14.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>


In 2015, Groundskeeper Willie appeared as a non-playable character in the ] video game '']''. In game, he only appears in the Simpsons levels and all his voice lines are archive audio from Dan Castellaneta.
===Community involvement===
Sometimes, Willie wears a ], usually due to a formal occasion. As a true Scotsman, he does not wear anything under the kilt. At ], Bart attaches a number of balloons to Willie's kilt, which leads to the kilt flying up. The gathered crowd gasps and a woman faints. In response, Willie cried, "Ach! 'Tis no more than what God gave you, you ] pukes!" This is a reference to the song "The Scotsman," by ]. In the second part of "]", Willie has his kilt on while being interviewed by the police. During the interview Willie uncrosses and then recrosses his legs. In response, the officers point a gun at Willie with a warning to stop doing that. The scene was a spoof of ]'s character's interrogation scene in the feature film '']''.


==Family issues== ==See also==
{{Portal|The Simpsons}}
===Parents===
* ]
In the episode "]", Willie is re-united with his mother and father on the banks of ] in Scotland, where Mr. Burns leads a successful expedition to catch the ] and bring it to Springfield. Willie tells ] that his parents own a pub which still has the same pool table on which he was conceived, born, and educated. (This is somewhat of a contradiction to another episode that Willie claims that he hails from a seemingly stereotypical and made up city called North Kilt-town. This was named by Homer as a ruse to avert Willie's attention.)
{{clear}}


===Father=== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
However, in the episode "]", Willie says his father was hanged for stealing a pig, and in the first part of "]" he says his father's body was thrown in the bog, instead of receiving a proper burial. Willie has come from a long line of underachievers as shown in the episode ] when he reveals his grandfather's job was to check the safety of mines before the canary was sent down.
===Acquaintances===
At one time, Willie was engaged to Shary Bobbins (a parody of ]), until she recovered her eyesight&mdash;at which point, in Willie's words, "suddenly the ugliest man in ] wasn't good enough for her anymore."


{{The Simpsons}}
===Lookalikes===
Willie has an older cousin named Gravedigger Billy. At the elementary school in the adjacent town of ], there is a female groundskeeper who strongly resembles Willie. Willie's archenemy is Seamus, another groundskeeper that speaks with a heavy Irish accent. The two blame each other for whatever goes wrong with their lives, and engage in fistfights every now and then. Seamus looks a lot like Willie, except that he is taller, thinner, and wears a hat.

==Personal issues==
Perhaps Willie's oddest piece of history, was that he has apparently died twice before. When talking to Skinner and Chalmers about a strike, he says that he and a group of miners went on strike because they wanted little lights on their hats. He then tells that there was a horrible mine collapse and that "...nobody made it out. Not even Willie!" at which point he nervously looks around the room. Of course, this could be explained by the fact that Willie is not very smart and might be getting confused about what he meant. In another Halloween Special, Willie died in a fire, then to come back and haunt the children (as a parody of ]) He is also killed (mainly by axes) on three other Treehouse of Horror occasions. The segments, however, are ] to the series.

===Life as a Scotsman===
Willie's nationality is also hinted to be the cause of his hostility. An example from the episode ]:

:'''Willie:''' "Brothers and sisters are natural born enemies! ]! Or Welshmen and Scots! Or Japanese and Scots! ]! Damned Scots! They ruined Scotland!"
:'''Skinner:''' "You Scots sure are a contentious people."
:'''Willie:''' "You just made an enemy for life!"

In "]" Homer pretends to be a Scot to distract Willie. When Homer claims to hail from "North Kilt-town", Willie responds, "No foolin'!? I'm from North Kilt-town tewooo! D'ye know Angus McLeod?". This goes on until Homer accuses Willie of not being Scottish and makes a mess of the situation with his ignorance by saying, "Wait a minute. There's no Angus McLeod from North Kilt-town. Why, you're not from Scotland at all!". At that point, Willie realizes what Homer is up to and, enraged, physically attacks Homer, accusing him of stealing his "retirement grease". In this episode he is also seen bathing with nothing but Ajax and steel wool.

===Hobbies and vices===
Willie's hobbies include ultimate frisbee and videotaping couples in cars, something which proves to the benefit of Homer Simpson when he is later wrongfully accused of ]. He says America thinks it's wrong but "every single Scottish person does it!" This further hints towards Willie's strange personality.
Willie has made a sculpture out of childrens lost retainers. He gives this to Marge, who tries not to look disgusted, before getting rid of it.

Willie is also an avid collector of squirrel skulls and bones of other small rodents. He has stated he is "going to raise a squirrel army of the dead and conquer Springfield! Or at least cause traffic delays."

==Quotes and special appearances==
One of his best-known quotes is "There's nary an animal alive that can outrun a greased Scotsman!". He was also responsible for labeling the French as "]!". This is in a way quite ironic, considering the fact that the ] have quite a long friendship.

Willy has since appeared in many episodes but only as a minor character, usually with a few lines of dialogue per episode. He was featured prominently in the "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace" segment in ], in which he is portrayed as a parody of ]. Willy had a large role in ] in which he was be killed by an axe in every segment. He would also figure prominently in the season 9 episodes ] and ], season 10s ] (in which he, Homer and Mr. Burns go to Scotland and we meet his family) and the season 15 episode ].It would not be until Season 17s ] that he would finally be central to an episode.

He is 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) tall.

==External links==
*
* {{imdb name|id=0144657|name=Dan Castellaneta}}
* - a ''Simpsons'' fansite

{{Simpsons characters}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Willie, Groundskeeper}}
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Willy has also appeared in every Treehouse of Horror episode, usually as a cameo or murder-victim. He joins Kang and Kodos in the dubious distinction.

Latest revision as of 03:06, 30 December 2024

Fictional character from The Simpsons franchise Fictional character
Groundskeeper Willie
The Simpsons character
First appearance
Created byMatt Groening
Designed byMatt Groening
Voiced byDan Castellaneta
In-universe information
Full nameWilliam MacDougal
GenderMale
OccupationGroundskeeper/Janitor at Springfield Elementary School
Family
  • Mr. MacDougal (father)
  • Mrs. MacDougal (mother)
  • Gravedigger Billy (cousin)
  • Ben (uncle)
Significant others
OriginKirkwall, Orkney
NationalityScottish American

Dr. William MacDougal, better known as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on The Simpsons, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is the head groundskeeper and Janitor at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is almost feral in nature and is immensely proud of his Scottish origin. He is easily identifiable by his red hair and beard, as well as his aggressive temperament and thick, stereotypical Scottish accent.

Role in The Simpsons

Willie is the groundskeeper and janitor at Springfield Elementary School and lives in a shack on the school premises. He is a Scotsman with an aggressive temper. Willie is an uncouth and unpleasant character, though essentially harmless. His personality is depicted as being incompetent, drunken, slow-witted, and quick to anger for little or no reason. Willie has shown antipathy to both his employer, Principal Skinner, and Bart Simpson, who frequently plays practical jokes on him. In the alternate continuity of "Treehouse of Horror VI", his spirit plots revenge on the students of Springfield Elementary after getting burned to death by their parents' actions.

Due to the deliberately inaccurate continuity of the series, he has claimed to be from various parts of Scotland during the series, most recently Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands in the 2012 episode 'The Daughter Also Rises'. This settled the previous continuity problem in which Willie had been stated to be a supporter of Aberdeen F.C, and to have lived in Glasgow. In early episodes, Willie's father was said to be dead. However, his parents were later introduced in "Monty Can't Buy Me Love", and lived near Loch Ness; which is near Inverness. In "The Girl Who Slept Too Little", it is revealed that he has a cousin, "Grave Digger Billy". In Dark Knight Court he describes himself as a "Scottish Old Believer Presbyterian" who "hates Easter" as some conservative Presbyterians reject Easter as a man-made feast on the basis of the regulative principle of worship.

Willie plays a supporting role in most of his episodes, but he was a main character in the episode "My Fair Laddy", where Lisa Simpson introduced him to high culture as a science project.

In a running gag in each of the three segments of the episode "Treehouse of Horror V", Willie tries to help the main protagonists, but is struck in the back with an axe by a different character each time, a reference to Dick Halloran's death in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, of which the first segment, "The Shinning", is a direct parody.

Willie has a troubled and distant relationship with his parents. In the episode "My Fair Laddy", Willie recalls his birth and how his abusive father told him he would never amount to anything in life and would be lucky if he grew up to be "garbage".

On two occasions, Willie frames Bart for pulling pranks that Bart would normally pull. In "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star", he unleashes a giant pie of rats on the Springfield Elementary medieval festival to get revenge for being cast as the village idiot and his cruel treatment. Skinner is quick to blame Bart and expels him. Willie is never shown being found out as the culprit, but it can be assumed that he is eventually found out after Bart is enrolled in Catholic school and earns his way back into Springfield Elementary. In "Dark Knight Court", Willie causes hundreds of eggs to be splattered at the Springfield Easter celebration out of inbred hatred for the holiday. Bart is put on trial for the incident, only to be acquitted when Willie is caught and turned in by Lisa and Mr. Burns (as Fruit Batman).

Character

Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Groundskeeper Willie

Groundskeeper Willie's first appearance was in the season two episode "Principal Charming", first broadcast on February 14, 1991. Originally, the character was written as simply being an angry janitor; his Scottish accent was added during a recording session. Dan Castellaneta, who voices several other characters including Homer Simpson, was assigned to do the voice. Castellaneta did not know what voice to use and Sam Simon, who was directing at the time, told Castellaneta to use an accent. He first tried a Spaniard's voice, which Simon felt was too clichéd. He then tried a "big dumb Swede", which was also rejected. For his third attempt, he used the voice of an angry Scotsman, which was considered to be more appropriate and was used in the episode. Originally thought by the directors to be a one-off appearance, Willie has since become a recurring character. Matt Groening later revealed that the character was based partially on Angus Crock, a kilt-wearing chef from the sketch comedy show Second City Television, who was portrayed by Dave Thomas and Jimmy Finlayson, the moustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films.

A recurring joke, which was first shown in "Radio Bart", is that Groundskeeper Willie appears to have an average build with a beer belly, but upon removing his shirt he is incredibly 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

Debate in Scotland over the hometown of Groundskeeper Willie ended when he was revealed to be from Kirkwall, Orkney (pictured)

Groundskeeper Willie's description of the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" from the episode "'Round Springfield" has become widely used, particularly in the run-up to the war in Iraq. The newspaper New York Post used the phrase "Surrender Monkeys" as the headline for its December 7, 2006 front page, referring to the Iraq Study Group and its recommendation that U.S. soldiers be withdrawn from Iraq by early-2008. The line was "most likely" written by Ken Keeler. The phrase "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys" has also been used by Jeremy Clarkson and Anthony Bourdain.

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. disputed Glasgow's claim to the character, citing the episodes "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" and "The Dad Who Knew Too Little". In Season 23 Episode 13 "The Daughter Also Rises", first aired in 2012, it was finally stated that Groundskeeper Willie is from Kirkwall in Orkney, therefore ending this dispute.

In September 2014, Groundskeeper Willie featured in an official video in which he endorsed a vote for Scottish independence in an upcoming Scottish referendum, and put himself forward to lead a potentially independent Scotland while standing in front of the St. Andrew's Cross with a tattoo on his chest that read: 'Aye or Die!'. Following the result of the referendum where the Scottish electorate voted to remain as part of the UK, the producers released an image of Willie now standing in front of a Union Jack flag, looking depressed with his "Aye or Die!" tattoo replaced with a picture of the Queen and empty bottles of whisky with a newspaper featuring Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was widely credited with giving the "No" campaign a last-minute boost.

Reception

In 2006, Groundskeeper Willie was named the fourth-best peripheral character in the history of the show by IGN, 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", the only episode which centres around Willie, the best episode of the seventeenth season. Jim Slotek of Sun Media 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", from "Selma's Choice". The Times reported in late-2005 that "he is the most instantly recognisable Scot in the world: better known than Billy Connolly or Ewan McGregor, even Sean Connery." The same article quotes Simpsons creator Matt Groening as saying "We wanted to create a school janitor that was filled with rage, sort of our tribute to angry janitors all over the world".

Merchandising

Three Groundskeeper Willie action figures were created by Playmates Toys for the World of Springfield 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.

In 2015, Groundskeeper Willie appeared as a non-playable character in the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions. In game, he only appears in the Simpsons levels and all his voice lines are archive audio from Dan Castellaneta.

See also

References

  1. "Lisa the Drama Queen". The Simpsons. Season 2. Episode 9. Event occurs at 14:27.
  2. "The Regulative Principle of Worship". Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  3. Reiss, Mike (2002). The Simpsons season 2 videocassette commentary for the episode "Principal Charming" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. Reiss, Mike; Klickstein, Mathew (2018). Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons. New York City: Dey Street Books. p. 104. ISBN 978-0062748034.
  5. Kirkland, Mark (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Principal Charming" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. Horne, Marc (July 21, 2007). "Groening lifts toilet lid on the real-life Groundskeeper Willie". Scotland on Sunday. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  7. Simon, Jeremy (February 11, 1994). "Wisdom from The Simpsons' 'D'ohh' boy". The Daily Northwestern.
  8. Weinstein, Josh (2003). The Simpsons season 3 DVD commentary for the episode "Jean, Al" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  9. Weinstein, Josh (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Badassss song" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  10. Sound recording of Groundskeeper Willie's line Archived 2012-05-01 at the Wayback Machine About: Political humour. Retrieved on December 27, 2006
  11. Wimps, weasels and monkeys – the US media view of 'perfidious France' The Guardian. Retrieved on December 27, 2006
  12. Lathem, Niles (December 7, 2006). "Iraq 'Appease' Squeeze on W." New York Post. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  13. Mentioned in The Simpsons Season 6 DVD Commentary for the episode "'Round Springfield".
  14. "Famous Glaswegians". Glasgow City Council. Archived from the original on November 4, 2005. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
  15. Horne, Marc (May 24, 2009). "Civic war centres on Simpsons star". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
  16. "Groundskeeper Willie is from Orkney ... and he was 'torn apart' by Uppies and Doonies". The Times. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  17. Davies Boren, Zachary (14 September 2014). "Groundskeeper Willie declares support for Scottish independence, volunteers to lead the new country". The Independent. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  18. "The Simpsons Groundskeeper Willie gutted after Scots 'No' vote". Daily Mirror. 2014-09-20.
  19. Eric Goldman; Dan Iverson; Brian Zoromski (2006-09-06). "Top 25 Simpsons Peripheral Characters". IGN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  20. Goldman, Eric; Dan Iverson, Brian Zoromski (2006-09-08). "The Simpsons: 17 Seasons, 17 Episodes". IGN. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  21. Slotek, Jim. "'Simpsons' makes jump to big screen". Sun Media. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  22. Turpin, Adrian (October 23, 2005). "The strange world of Oor grown-up Wullie". The Times. London. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
  23. "Series 4". The Simpsons Action Figure Information Station. Archived from the original on 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  24. "Series 8". The Simpsons Action Figure Information Station. Archived from the original on 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  25. "Series 14". The Simpsons Action Figure Information Station. Archived from the original on 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
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