David Cooper
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0332 - Uncle Sam
🕑 Added 2024-05-09 08:00:01 +0000 UTCLet's get patriotic for the final character of "Bart vs Thanksgiving"! Unless you're not American. And I'm not.
It's kind of a less traditional design for Uncle Sam, although perhaps this is accentuated by the unusual colours and lighting in this fantasy sequence.
On paper this version ticks all the boxes - bushy eyebrows, little beard, general mean demeanour, but something about him is lost in the translation to Simpsonification, I think. I've gathered some other Uncle Sam appearances for comparison (from "Much Apu About Nothing", season 8, "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", season 10 and "New Kids on the Blecch", season 12):
He also has two more speaking appearances, in season 21's "Million Dollar Maybe" and season 22's "Homer the Father".
It's debatable whether the "Million Dollar Maybe" Sam is the "real" Uncle Sam, or an actor playing him, making him a different character entirely, but that's a problem for the Cooper of 2067. The "Homer the Father" Sam is in a Bart fantasy sequence, so I can definitively say he is the same one as the "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" one.
Uncle Sam's origins are unclear, although a popular legend is that he is partially based on Samuel Wilson, who issued rations to the US army in the War of 1812. The character is most commonly used in US propaganda, so it makes sense that a The Simpsons would most commonly use him as a satirical tool to mock the US government, or highlight America's jingoistic traits. This subversion is not present in the "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" fantasy sequence though, it's just a silly extension of Bart's fears. No political commentary here, we already did all that a couple of episodes ago.
This post is part of my "Every Simpsons Character Ever" series. For a list of my rules in this project, click here.
