Chief Wiggum

Chief Clancy Wiggum is a fictional character from the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the chief of police in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of Ralph Wiggum and the husband of Sarah Wiggum.

Clancy Wiggum
The Simpsons character
First appearance"Homer's Odyssey" (1990)
Created byJay Kogen
Wallace Wolodarsky
Matt Groening
Voiced byHank Azaria[1]
In-universe information
GenderMale
OccupationPolice Chief of Springfield
FamilyIggy Wiggum (father)
Mark (cousin)[2]
SpouseSarah Wiggum
ChildrenRalph Wiggum (son)

The character's comedic value relies heavily on his immense incompetence and irresponsibility as a police officer, as well as his laziness and gluttony. Chief Wiggum's more responsible fellow officers Eddie and Lou play the straight men to his shenanigans.

Character development
Hank Azaria

His surname "Wiggum" is Matt Groening's mother's maiden name.[3] As "a conscious pun", Wiggum was designed to look like a pig.[4][5] Hank Azaria first based his voice for Wiggum on David Brinkley, but it was too slow and he switched it to an Edward G. Robinson impression.[4][5]

Biography

Chief Wiggum is of Irish descent.[6] Per the episode "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"", Wiggum's father Iggy served in Abe Simpson's infantry squad, implying the Wiggums emigrated to America by the early 1940s at the latest. In the episode "Mother Simpson", a teenaged Wiggum was a trainee security guard at Springfield University when Homer's mother Mona sabotaged the University's laboratory, which Mr. Burns was using for biological weapons. Antibiotics used to kill the weapons cured Wiggum's asthma, allowing him to join the police force.

Many episodes have dealt with the back story of how Wiggum, despite his incompetence, occupies such a high rank in the police force.[7] As with those of most supporting characters on the show, they are jokes for one episode and contradict each other. Wiggum was temporarily promoted to Commissioner of Police for Springfield's state in the 2005 episode "Pranksta Rap".[8] He also appeared on Halloween novel depicting Stranger Things as chief Jim Hopper.[9]

Positive qualities

Despite his severe incompetence at his occupation, Wiggum on occasion has helped various other characters, such as helping Homer find his wife in "Marge on the Lam". He rescued Maggie Simpson when she ran away from home to look for Marge in "Homer Alone", by helping Lisa Simpson find Mr. Burns' assailant in "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" as well as helping backing her up in a school protest on one occasion in "The President Wore Pearls". In the episode "Pranksta Rap" he manages to find the presumed kidnapped Bart Simpson in Kirk Van Houten's apartment. He also arrived just in time during crucial moments such as the various times Sideshow Bob had attempted to kill Bart Simpson. Wiggum is also shown to be a loving father of his son Ralph. Perhaps the best example of this is the episode "Mother Simpson", where it is implied that he leads the FBI astray in their search for Mona Simpson, allowing her to escape in gratitude for curing his asthma. Although Wiggum can often antagonize others as well, it is heavily implied that it is not out of malice but merely because he is doing his job or because he is ignorant of the situation.

References
  1. "Sam Simon's Iconic 'Simpsons' Characters". The Hollywood Reporter.
  2. "The Italian Bob"
  3. Joseph Rose (2007-08-03). "The real people behind Homer Simpson and family". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  4. Joe Rhodes (2000-10-21). "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves". TV Guide.
  5. 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. 101. ISBN 978-0062748034.
  6. See "In the Name of the Grandfather"
  7. Whiton, Christian (September 30, 2018). "'The Simpsons' turns 30 -- a big milestone for Gen X and America". Fox News.
  8. "The Simpsons Season 30 Episode 18 Review: Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy". Den of Geek.
  9. "The Simpsons to spoof Stranger Things in Treehouse Of Horror XXX this Halloween". July 15, 2019.
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