Ralph Wiggum

The Simpsons character
Ralph Wiggum
Gender	Male
Job	Student at Springfield Elementary School
Relatives	Parents: Clancy and Sarah Grandfather: Iggy (deceased)
Voice actor	Nancy Cartwright
First appearance
The Simpsons	Moaning Lisa

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Ralph Wiggum is a recurring fictional character on the animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Nancy Cartwright.^[1] He is best known as the show's resident oddball, and has been immortalized for his non sequiturs and erratic behavior. His lines range from nonsensical, or bizarre interpretations of a current event, to surprisingly profound statements that go over people's heads. For this, Ralph is somewhat of an outcast among his peers, although he seems to be on good terms with a fair number of the major child characters on the show.

The son of Chief Wiggum and Sarah Wiggum, Ralph is a good-hearted and generally well-meaning boy who has severe learning and social disabilities and suffers at the hands of his peers. The nature of his mentality is kept rather ambiguous, much like many of the signature traits of much of the show's cast. The creator of the show, Matt Groening, has said that he is his favourite character.^[2]

Ralph is also seen in the movie The Simpsons, at the 20th Century Fox intro, singing the intro.

Role in The Simpsons

Ralph is quite an enigma of a child. Upon first glance, one might look at him as mentally challenged. His unique manner of speech is often the source of the character's trademark random quotes, where Ralph may make a comment such as "Me fail English? That's unpossible!", "It tastes like...burning!", "That's where I saw the leprechaun. He told me to burn things." "I found a moon rock in my nose!", or "Mr. Flanders, you're blindeded!"^[3], as well as his tendency to call his teacher "School Mommy" and on one occasion calling Superintendent Chalmers "Super Nintendo Chalmers" and, when Bart Simpson was visiting his house, he said "This is my sandbox. I'm not allowed to go in the deep end" However, Ralph is also able to speak in a normal manner much of the time, which only adds to the question of his condition and character. He also appears to have several talents. He is an incredible tap dancer and played the role of George Washington in the school play. As Washington, he not only recited his lines perfectly but also managed to play the role so well that he brought the audience to tears.

Ralph is often seen in very awkward situations such as eating paste, crayons, worms, and other such erratic forms of behavior that have since become a staple of the character. Ralph has a rather immense imagination, and is seemingly oblivious to the world around him. As such, he is generally a cheerful boy. However, Ralph also has a hint of tragedy and dark satire to him, like almost every other character on the show. Throughout the show's history, Ralph is eternally the odd one out among his peers at school.

Ralph seems to generally get along with many people, as well as occasionally irritate and baffle them. After Lisa gave him a Valentine out of pity, Ralph developed a crush on her. Lisa publicly rejects him and Ralph is left humiliated and devastated. The pair eventually become friends and Lisa has generally been nice toward him since. Bart is rather long suffering of Ralph. On one occasion, Bart is forced by Marge to play with Ralph. He is at first bored with Ralph but ends up having fun after they steal Clancy Wiggum's master key to the city. Bart eventually admits that Ralph is a friend. Ralph's relationship with his parents seems to be loving and affectionate. Clancy, in particular, rather adores his son as the two do much together, such as various road trips or Ralph's first trip to a major league baseball game as depicted in the comic If you can't Wiggum, join 'em!. Ralph can be quite a handful, however, and there are times where Clancy can be neglectful of his son as well.

Ralph has a multitude of imaginary friends such as Wiggle Puppy and a pyromaniacal leprechaun being particularly well known among viewers. Ralph's teacher, Ms. Hoover, is indifferent to his personality and his imagination. Though she will often correct him in a dull, condescending manner, ("The children are right to laugh at you, Ralph," she tells him at one point) she has yet to outright scold him.

In the nineteenth season episode "E. Pluribus Wiggum", citizens of Springfield became so disgusted with their presidential candidates that they wrote "Ralph Wiggum" on the ballot, and immediately Ralph became the leading presidential candidate in the election.

Ralph has one very odd ability, as shown in the seventeenth season episode "See Homer Run": he can eat a five-dollar bill and regurgitate a fifty. This was discovered by accident after Clancy gave him the lower-value note, and Ralph consumed it instead of buying a Father's Day gift for his father. Chief Wiggum, however, then fed him a $100 bill, and Ralph did not produce the "big money" expected.

The typical Ralph moment

Future Ralph, as seen in the episode "Bart to the Future" by the age of 39.

Ralph is 8 years old, and his use as a character in the show is to deliver odd bits of behavior and dialogue that perplex or give the audience a quick laugh. During class, Ralph's teacher Ms. Hoover will stop lecturing the class for a moment to question Ralph's actions such as eating something that he should not, or saying something bizarre or oblivious to the point where Ms. Hoover almost reaches her breaking point. Another common 'Ralph' moment is that Ralph will be at a major event in the episode's story, and will say something to either perplex everyone present or point out something so glaringly obvious it is funny. Ralph has quite a knack for getting himself into sticky situations as well. Examples include: gluing his ear to his shirt in "I Love Lisa", gorging himself with chocolate in "Bart the Murderer", eating poisonous purple berries in "Das Bus", being profiled by a scary dentist in "Last Exit to Springfield", pretending to be a firetruck in "Fraudcast News," and proclaiming that he will attend "Bovine University" (a slaughterhouse) in "Lisa the Vegetarian". There is criticism that as the show has gone on, Ralph has become less of a merely clueless and eccentric child to more of a dim-witted one liner character with little subtlety. In later seasons in particular, Ralph is depicted showing mentally challenged behavior a little more often. In "Little Girl in the Big Ten", he is shown wetting himself in public. Similarly, in "Future-Drama", a 16-year-old Ralph is seen talking to a classmate by the punchbowl, saying "I can use the potty now." One of these moments also appears in The Simpsons Movie when Ralph says "I like men now" as Bart skateboards by naked.

Creation

Ralph in one of his first appearances in "Moaning Lisa."

In Ralph's first credited appearance in the show was the episode "Moaning Lisa", he was considerably different in both appearance and behavior from his later appearance. Originally intended to be a "Mini-Homer", Ralph eventually took on a life of his own^[4]. The staff figured that he would also fit perfectly as the son of Chief Wiggum, a fact made canon in "I Love Lisa",^[5] (although he is referred to by his last name of Wiggum in "Kamp Krusty" before). Ralph was named after comedian Jackie Gleason's character on The Honeymooners Ralph Kramden.^[6] Matt Groening considers any lines for Ralph "really hard to write."^[5]

Nancy Cartwright raises her eyebrows whenever she performs Ralph's voice.^[5]

The original Ralph design makes a cameo appearance in the episodes "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" and "Bart's Comet" as well as in Simpsons Comics #59.

Reception

Ralph eventually became one of the show's most popular characters. Ralph's popularity as a character has even spread so far that the comedy band The Bloodhound Gang made a song called "Ralph Wiggum," dedicated to the character and composed solely of some of his most famous quotes for lyrics. The song can be found on their album Hefty Fine. Show creator Matt Groening has stated that whenever someone asks who writes specific characters (a common misconception about the writing process), writers will most likely take credit for writing for Ralph.^[7]

References

External links

• The Simpsons official site A profile on the official Simpson website.
• Official site of Ralph's 2008 presidential election campaign
• That's Unpossible A Ralph Wiggum Fan Page