Edna Krabappel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Simpsons character | |
 |
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| Edna Krabappel | |
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Job | Fourth grade teacher at Springfield Elementary |
| Relatives | an Ex-husband |
| Voice actor | Marcia Wallace |
| First appearance | |
| The Simpsons | "Bart the Genius" |
Edna Krabappel is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons, a 4th grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School, voiced by Marcia Wallace. Krabappel is the only character Wallace voices on a regular basis.
Contents |
[edit] Profile
Edna Krabappel holds a Master's from Bryn Mawr College, but is thoroughly jaded, a caricature of the American public school system. In "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story", it's revealed that she was once a very optimistic woman who genuinely wanted to help people in need. It would seem that after years of frustration thanks to the school, and Bart Simpson in particular, this wore away.
There is some inconsistency about Edna's origins. Though she is said to have come to Springfield to begin teaching in "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story," she can be seen running through the background in Springfield High School in "Springfield Up" when Clancy Wiggum is being videotaped as a hall monitor. Krabappel smokes heavily, especially during school hours.
[edit] Love life
A recurring theme is Ms. Krabappel's loneliness and longing for male company. She is divorced; in "Separate Vocations", she implies indirectly that her husband ran off with their marriage counselor. In early episodes, she is shown as very sexually aggressive: in "Flaming Moe's", she is shown with her arms around two sailors in the parody of the famous Cheers theme, and tried to pick up both Joey Kramer (Aerosmith's drummer) and Homer Simpson, even after learning he was married and Bart's father. In Bart's Friend Falls in Love while the children are watching the Sex Ed movie, she says to the children in disgust, "She's faking it". In "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" she has a "hot encounter" with a Japanese sushi chef on the backseat of her car. The episode "Bart the Lover" was the first episode to give Krabappel a central role, and also to expand her character and personality. Krabappel appears to be desired by many men, as seen in Sideshow Bob's outrage in ("Brother From Another Series") wherein his romantic date with her is ruined by a spying Bart: "You only get one chance with Edna Krabappel!"
Another theme is her relationship with the school principal, Seymour Skinner. In the episode "Grade School Confidential", she develops a secret romance with Skinner, a relationship that almost leads to marriage. Since then, Krabappel's attitudes to Skinner have vacillated between passion and disdain in various episodes. In The Simpsons Movie, she can be seen at the Green Day concert on top of Seymour's shoulders wearing a T-Shirt saying "Not my boyfriend" with an arrow pointing down at Skinner.
In Season 17 ("The Seemingly Never-Ending Story"), a flashback showed that Krabappel was in a serious relationship with Moe Szyslak when she first moved to Springfield, before meeting Skinner or even becoming a teacher. She was about to elope with him, but then changed her mind when she met Bart Simpson, a student she believed needed help. At the end of the episode, Moe and Edna are a couple once again, much to Skinner's jealousy when he catches them making out on school property.
In "Regarding Margie" is seen that she and Principal Skinner were making love on a golf course. Then they climbed off and she said: "Birthday is over, Seymour," and put up a cigarette.
[edit] Character
Krabappel is pronounced /krəˈbɑːpəl/. The name was chosen by early Simpsons writers Wallace Wolodarsky and Jay Kogen as a play on the fruit "crabapple" and as a reference to the teacher Miss Crabtree from the 1930s The Little Rascals TV series.[1] Also, there was an initial joke of no one mispronouncing the character's last name as "Crabapple".[1]
[edit] Cultural impact and reception
Marcia Wallace won an Emmy Award in 1992 for voicing Krabappel in the third season-episode "Bart the Lover".[2] IGN called "Special Edna" the best episode of the fourteenth season of the show.[3] Tilda Swinton modeled her hairdo in the film Burn After Reading on Krabappel's.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Groening, Matt; Wolodarsky, Wallace (2001). Commentary for the episode "Homer's Odyssey", in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ "Briefing–'Simpsons' score big in Prime-Time Emmys". Daily News of Los Angeles. 1992-08-03. p. L20.
- ^ Goldman, Eric; Dan Iverson, Brian Zoromski (2006-09-08). "The Simpsons: 17 Seasons, 17 Episodes". IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/731/731095p3.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-06.
- ^ Verner, Amy (2008-09-08). "Bad hair days welcomed on set of Coen brothers film". Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080908.BURN08/TPStory/Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-09-14.
[edit] External links
- Edna Krabappel's profile at TheSimpsons.com
