After years of back-and-forth, The Simpsons has finally resolved the mystery surrounding Groundskeeper Willie’s hometown.
Dan Castellaneta voices William MacMoran MacDougal, best known as Groundskeeper Willie, who first appeared on the long-running animated series in 1991.
He is the Springfield Elementary School’s head groundskeeper and caretaker, and he is noted for his hostile demeanour.
The Scotsman has always been quite proud of his background, but it’s never been entirely clear where he comes from.
Many towns and places across the country, including Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Orkney, have claimed to be the home of the prickly character over the years.
However, the current episode showed that he is from Edinburgh.
In Ae Bonny Romance, the family travelled to Scotland in quest of the Scots school caretaker who had gone to his hometown to reconcile with his long-lost love Maisie, played by Karen Gillan.
When the Simpsons discovered him, he disclosed that he had lived in the capital before migrating to Springfield.
The programme went on to make light of Scotland and parts of its speech.
In one scene where Inverness-born Karen’s character is asking Willie for a kiss, she said: ‘Give us a smooch ya big ugly bawbag.’
In response, the janitor replied: ‘Aw haud yer wheesht before I boke.’
During her tour of the city, Lisa also took aim at the pretentiousness of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
‘The Fringe Festival, a celebration of theatrical irony and self-awareness. It’s so clever without being good,’ she said.
Scots Dr Who star David Tennant also appeared in the episode as the proprietor of a whisky distillery.
It concluded with Homer and Marge committing sacrilege by romping on St Andrews’ Old Course.
Despite the fact that Willie’s roots have finally been disclosed, writer and showrunner Mike Reiss said in 2021 that he gave no regard to where he was born.
‘Forty-five seconds. That’s how much thought went into making Groundskeeper Willie Scottish,’ he said after revealing the character was initially meant to be Hispanic.
‘In one episode we said Willie is from Glasgow and in another we said he’s from Aberdeen. Why? Because we didn’t give a cr**. But people in Glasgow and Aberdeen care deeply,’ he added.
Willie described to himself as Glasgow’s ugliest man in a 1997 episode, but a few years later he awoke from a football-themed dream and screamed, ‘Go Aberdeen.’
Then, in 2012, he abruptly claimed to be from Orkney.
The Simpsons is available to stream on Disney Plus in the UK.
