Krusty the Clown

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Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky was born in the Lower East Side of Springfield to Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky. Little is known about his mother, Rachel, who died when Krusty was around thirteen years old. Hyman wanted Krusty to attend yeshiva and opposed his ambition to become a clown, believing that show business would distract him from his faith. Krusty nevertheless performed slapstick comedy in secret. While Krusty was performing at a rabbis' convention, a rabbi jokingly squirted him with seltzer, washing off his clown makeup and revealing his identity to Hyman. Hyman then disowned him, and they did not speak for 25 years. Krusty later reconciled with his father with help from Bart and Lisa.^[2]

It is later revealed that Krusty never had a Bar Mitzvah because Hyman feared he would disrupt the ceremony by "acting up." As an adult, Krusty holds two Bar Mitzvahs: first a Hollywood gala intended to revive his canceled show, and later a simple ceremony designed to reconnect him with his father.^[3] After leaving Springfield's Lower East Side, Krusty begins his show-business career as a street mime in Tupelo, Mississippi (Elvis Presley's birthplace).^[4] Krusty later discovers that he has a daughter, Sophie, from a brief relationship with Gulf War soldier Erin. Krusty and Sophie begin to bond.^[5]

Krusty hosts The Krusty the Clown Show on Springfield's Channel 6. Aimed at children, it has many devoted viewers, including Bart.^[6] Localized versions are produced in dozens of countries, including Ireland, China, Jamaica, and Romania; the original Springfield version is the least popular of them.^[7] The show has taken many forms. A 1961 clip presents it as a serious talk show in which Krusty interviews AFL–CIO president George Meany about collective bargaining agreements, while a 1963 clip shows him interviewing Robert Frost before dumping a load of snow on the poet. The show later featured Ravi Shankar as a guest,^[8] and in 1973 Krusty howled a drugged-out version of The Doors' Break on Through (To the Other Side).^[9] By the 1980s, it had become a children's program, although one episode shows Krusty providing updates on the 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. Its recurring cast includes Sideshow Mel, Mr. Teeny, Tina Ballerina, and Corporal Punishment.^[10] Sideshow Bob begins the series as Krusty's main sidekick. Years of abuse eventually lead Bob to frame Krusty for armed robbery, but Bart exposes the scheme.^[4] Bob later attempts to kill Krusty during one of Krusty's retirements, but the two reconcile; Krusty remarks that Bob's attacks boost his ratings.^[11] Sideshow Mel succeeds Bob and remains loyal despite enduring similar abuse.^[6]

Bart is one of Krusty's biggest fans. In the episode "Krusty Gets Busted", he declares, "I've based my entire life on Krusty's teachings,"^[4] and sleeps in a room filled with Krusty merchandise. He exposes Sideshow Bob's plot to frame Krusty, helps revive Krusty's career with a comeback special,^[6] and reunites him with his estranged father.^[2] Krusty is usually grateful for Bart's assistance but quickly forgets it, often failing to remember Bart's name when they next meet.^[2] At Kamp Krusty, Bart becomes disillusioned when he discovers that the poorly run camp has little connection to Krusty beyond licensing his image, and takes control of the camp before Krusty intervenes.^[12][13]

Krusty is a multimillionaire who has amassed much of his fortune by licensing his name and image to substandard products and services ranging from Krusty alarm clocks to Krusty crowd control barriers.^[14] Many of these products are dangerous.^[12] In one episode, every box of Krusty-O's, a cereal sold under his name, contains a jagged metal Krusty-O. Bart accidentally eats one, requires surgery to remove his appendix, and files one of the many lawsuits prompted by Krusty's products.^[15] Krusty's licensing company, the "Krusty Korporation", also runs disastrous promotions and business ventures. During the 1984 Summer Olympics, it sponsors a rigged promotion that backfires when the Soviet Union boycotts the games, costing Krusty $44 million.^[16] In the TV series and comic books, Krusty also owns and serves as the mascot of the fast-food chain Krusty Burger. The health board has repeatedly shut it down for overworking employees and assembling new burgers from stapled-together leftovers.^[17]

Krusty spends money almost as quickly as he earns it. He lights his cigarettes with hundred-dollar bills, eats condor-egg omelettes, spends lavishly on pornographic magazines and call girls, and loses fortunes by gambling on horse races and operas, as well as by betting against the Harlem Globetrotters.^[14]

Krusty is a jaded show-business veteran who has repeatedly fallen on hard times. He remains addicted to gambling, cigarettes, alcohol, Percodan, Pepto-Bismol, and Xanax.^[18] He becomes depressed as soon as the cameras stop rolling.^[14] In Planet Simpson, author Chris Turner describes Krusty as "the wizened veteran, the total pro" who lives the celebrity life. Despite his misery, Krusty depends on his celebrity status.^[19] In "Bart the Fink", Bart inadvertently reports Krusty for tax fraud to the Internal Revenue Service, causing him to lose most of his money. Bart soon discovers that Krusty has faked his death and is living on a boat under the name Rory B. Bellows. Krusty insists that he is finished with celebrity life and remains unmoved when Bart reminds him of his fans and entourage.^[20] Bart finally persuades him to return by pointing out that leaving show business would mean surrendering his celebrity status.^[19] Krusty has been described as "the consummate showman who can't bear the possibility of not being on the air and not entertaining people."^[21]

In "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington", Bart persuades Krusty to run for Congress and sponsor an airline rerouting bill that would stop planes from flying over the Simpsons' house. Krusty runs on the Republican ticket. After his campaign initially falters, Lisa advises him to connect with ordinary families, leading to a landslide victory. Once in office, Krusty's more politically experienced colleagues ignore him. With help from the Simpsons and an influential doorman, however, he succeeds in passing the bill.^[18]

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Creation

Krusty first appeared in "The Krusty the Clown Show", one of the Simpsons shorts from The Tracey Ullman Show. The short first aired on January 15, 1989.^[22] The character was partially inspired by television clown Rusty Nails, whom The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and director Brad Bird watched while growing up in Portland, Oregon.^[23][24] Groening describes Rusty Nails as a gentle clown whose program sometimes carried a Christian message, although he found the name frightening.^[25] Dan Castellaneta based Krusty's voice on Chicago television performer Bob Bell, who had a raspy voice and portrayed WGN-TV's Bozo the Clown from 1960 to 1984.^[26] Krusty has also been compared with "Flunky the Late Night Viewer Mail Clown", an earlier clown character from Late Night with David Letterman. Jeff Martin, a writer on Letterman's show, created and played Flunky. He later joined the writing staff of The Simpsons and wrote episodes featuring Krusty.^[27][28]

Film critic Eric Henderson described Krusty as the Simpsons character that "owes the biggest debt" to comedian Jerry Lewis.^[29] Asked about the resemblance, Groening noted only that "[Simpsons] characters are collaborations between the writers, animators, and actors", neither confirming nor denying a direct association.^[30]

Krusty's appearance is essentially Homer Simpson's with clown makeup.^[31] Groening said that "The satirical conceit that I was going for at the time was that The Simpsons was about a kid who had no respect for his father, but worshipped a clown who looked exactly like his father", a theme that became less important as the show developed.^[23] An early concept would have revealed Krusty as Homer's secret identity, but the writers abandoned it because it was too complex and they were still developing the series.^[32] In the episode "Homie the Clown", Homer attends Clown College, dresses as Krusty, and is mistaken for him.^[14]

Krusty was originally conceived as an ordinary man wearing clown makeup, but David Silverman noted that "at some point, we decided he looked [like a clown] all the time".^[26] The producers debated whether Krusty should ever appear without his makeup but concluded that the distinction did not matter.^[4] Although "Krusty Gets Busted" and "Like Father, Like Clown" showed what appeared to be his real face, the writers decided that depicting him without his clown features did not look right. Later episodes turned the ambiguity into a joke. In "Homer's Triple Bypass", Krusty says that his "grotesque appearance" resulted from multiple heart attacks. Homer remarks that he looks fine, and Krusty replies, "This ain't makeup." In "Bart the Fink", Krusty abandons his plan to sail away under a new identity and swims toward shore. Yellow makeup trails behind him, exposing his natural white face. On shore, he shakes off his black hair to reveal naturally green clown hair, then removes his normal-looking fake nose to expose a naturally bulbous red one.^[33]

Development

The season 3 episode "Like Father, Like Clown" first establishes that Krusty is Jewish. His religion was not part of the original concept; then-head writer Jay Kogen proposed the idea. The episode parodies The Jazz Singer, in which a son defies his father to become an entertainer despite his strict religious upbringing. To complete the parody, the writers made Krusty Jewish and his father a rabbi. Al Jean proposed Krusty's surname, Krustofsky.^[34] Jackie Mason played Krusty's father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, and won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for the episode.^[35] "Krusty Gets Busted" establishes that Krusty is illiterate. Subsequent episodes such as "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" retained the trait, but the writers dropped it after the first few seasons because it limited the stories they could tell about him.^[36]

Krusty's design has undergone several subtle changes. For "Homie the Clown", the artists permanently revised his muzzle and added bags under his eyes to distinguish him from Homer.^[37] In "Lisa's Wedding", set fifteen years in the future, the artists based an older version of Krusty on Groucho Marx.^[38]

Several original writers considered Krusty a favorite, identified with him, and enjoyed writing episodes centered on him. His show-business role created opportunities for industry satire, and many of his experiences and anecdotes draw on the writers' lives and stories they had heard.^[39] Krusty was a particular favorite of Brad Bird, who directed the first two Krusty episodes and tried to animate at least one scene in every episode centered on the character.^[34]

In 1992, Matt Groening and James L. Brooks began planning a live-action spin-off of The Simpsons centered on Krusty, with Dan Castellaneta in the title role.^[40][41] They pitched the series in 1994. Groening and Michael Weithorn^[42] wrote a pilot in which Krusty moved to Los Angeles and hosted his own talk show. In one recurring joke, beavers continually gnawed the wooden stilts supporting Krusty's house. When contract negotiations failed, Groening stopped work on the project.^[43]

Before Groening's live-action pitch, Simpsons showrunners Al Jean and Mike Reiss planned an animated Krusty spin-off in which he would be a single father in New York City. The proposed supporting cast included a cantankerous makeup artist and a boss resembling Ted Turner. They later reworked the unsuccessful concept into the animated series The Critic.^[44]

Krusty has appeared on a range of Simpsons merchandise, including toys and apparel,^[45] and is the title character of the 1992 video game Krusty's Fun House.^[46]

The Simpsons Ride, a simulator attraction that opened at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood in May 2008, is set in Krustyland, a theme park built by Krusty.^[47][48][49] In July 2007, convenience store chain 7-Eleven converted eleven of its stores in the United States and one in Canada into Kwik-E-Marts to celebrate the release of The Simpsons Movie. The products sold included Malt-O-Meal's "Krusty-O's" cereal.^[50] In 2015, The Guardian identified Krusty as a fashion influence for the autumn/winter season.^[51]

In 2004, Dan Castellaneta won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his work as Krusty in "Today I Am a Clown".^[52] In 2007, Vanity Fair ranked "Krusty Gets Kancelled" as the ninth-best episode of The Simpsons, praising its guest stars, dark portrayal of Krusty's struggling show-business career, and satire of Hollywood and television.^[53] Matt Groening ranked "Krusty Gets Busted" as his ninth-favorite episode^[54] and praised Castellaneta's voice work, saying that he had to leave the room whenever Castellaneta recorded as Krusty to avoid ruining the take.^[55]

In 2015, The A.V. Club wrote that Krusty has "arguably the most pathos of any Simpsons character not named Moe Szyslak".^[56]