Mona Penelope Simpson (née Olsen), also known as Sunny,^[1] and formerly Penelope Olsen,^[2] was the mother of Homer Simpson, mother-in-law of Marge Simpson, paternal grandmother of Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson and first wife of Abraham Simpson II.

Personality[]

Mona was strong-willed, righteous and caring, always doing what she knew or thought was the right thing no matter what. She cherished the relationship she had with her son and later her grandchildren and daughter-in-law. Despite her friendly nature, she was shown to hold distaste for her ex-husband and Homer's father Abe due to his irritability, intolerance and questionable parenting methods concerning their son, even berating him for telling Homer she had died (even if he had his reason for doing so). She also disapproved of those with ill intentions, as seen when she joined a radical group protesting biological warfare experiments and other unscrupulous activities by Monty Burns.

Overall, she seemed to bring out a more vulnerable side of Homer reminiscent of the innocent child he was before she left.

Early Years[]

Due to being a fugitive from the law from her 30s onward that used fake identification and aliases, Mona's age was unclear. Her fake I.D.s have her date of birth as May 10, 1920 March 15, 1929; May 5, 1931; November 26, 1934; July 18, 1933; and February 27, 1926.^[3]

She relayed one part of her childhood. She saw all Lisa's awards and told her not to be bashful since they're mighty impressive. "When I was your age, kids made fun of me because I read at the 9^th-grade level." They also bond over the dismissal of the novel A Separate Piece and hatred of its author John Knowles. Homer, empathizing with Todd Flanders over not having a mother, recalls being in his bed overhearing one of his parents fights where Abe yelled "Good God, woman, why did you marry me?" and Mona shouts back, "To piss off my mother, and it worked!"^[4]

In the 1950s she worked as a cocktail waitress at the Chafing Chaps Riding Club on the Springfield Air Force Base and known as "Sunny" because she was so bright and yellow. Abe was in the Air Force at the same time, but his job was keeping desert turtles off the runway and they started making nice with each other. Abe flies a dangerous test plane that none of the pilots would to in order to distinguish himself from the "glamourous flyboys" like Mach Ridley and she choses Abe because, "I'm a sucker for reckless nitwits."^[1]

They still had a rather long courtship which also included dancing at "The Coconut Babaloo" nightclub.^[5]. It was while Abe was still courting her that Abe fathered a son after going to the carnival and meeting a prostitute working at the dunk tank. They put the baby up for adoption who eventually gets named Herbert Powell. Mona knew about this and a year later she and Abe married in a large church wedding. On the day she gave birth to Homer, she made Abe promise to never talk about the "Carnival Incident" because she wants Homer to grow up respecting his father. Abe kept this promise until a stay in the hospital over 3 decades later and apparently forgetting the promise.^[6] Her delivery of Homer must have gotten some press attention as the front page headline of the Springfield Shopper was "Unusually Large, Ugly Baby Born" that same day.^[7]

However, she often found herself looking out for Homer while Abe could not have cared any less due to the circumstances of his conception,^[8] much to her dismay.

Despite her hippie activism, Mona's life was on a floating timeline, and while one episode cited Joe Namath's sideburns during a Super Bowl in the 1960s as the start of her political activism and subsequent disappearance,^[3] another episode placed this circa the 1980s to 1990s, about 30 years before the Patriots traded Brady.^[9]

Mona took Homer and Abe to Woodstock, where Homer ended up being influenced by hippies.^[10] Unfortunately, her frequent protesting eventually led to Homer developing his eating disorder to cope with her absence.^[11] When Homer was either about six^[12][13] or nine,^[9] and when Mona was in her early 30s, she and other activists protesting germ research entered a facility owned by Mr. Burns, destroying all the biological warfare experiments and curing Clancy Wiggum of asthma. While escaping, she made the mistake of stopping to tend to Burns who threatened her with arrest. She then left her husband and son; Mona kissed Homer on the head while he was asleep, which Homer thought he dreamed. Abe told Homer that she had died while he was at the movies,^[3] although in another episode's flashback Abe told Homer she was dead when she had already been missing for a while.^[9] Abe went as far to point out a grave, telling him it was Mona's, although the grave actually belonged to Walt Whitman.^[3] A few weeks prior to Mona's departure, Abe took Homer on a fishing trip that ended with Homer nearly drowning, but Abe rescued him and took him back home. This resulted in a brief reconnection between Mona and Abe.^[14] Unfortunately, they went back to bickering amongst themselves when Mona revealed she only married Abe to get back at her mother.^[15]

After leaving Springfield, her exact movements are unknown, although it is later revealed she resided at the hippie commune Groovy Grove Natural Farm for several years, painting murals of Homer.^[10] She sent Homer care packages each week, although Homer was unaware of this, only collecting the packages many years later ("That's what happens when you don't tip your letter carrier at Christmas").^[3] During this time, she also cheated on Abe, having a ménage a trois relationship at Groovy Grove with Seth and Munchie, who later fondly remembered her as a "pretty groovy chick" and "a demon in the sack", with Abe humorously remaining oblivious to this fact despite being present during the hippies' reminiscence. ^[10] Abe remained unaware of her whereabouts throughout all these past events.

She was found in Utah working in a Texxon gas station by Abe and 16-year-old Homer, but Homer lost her to save Abe. She was the disguised pediatrician for Bart after he was born.^[9]

Return to Springfield[]

When Homer faked his own death to avoid work, Mona hears of her son's death on the news and visits her son's still open grave, finding Homer in the grave, who accidentally fell in. She initially told him off for lying in her son's grave until both realized who the other was. She returns to the Simpson house, spending time with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. She meets Abraham again, although Abraham continues to harbor resentment over her leaving him and Homer. Mona gets angry after learning he had told Homer she was dead although Abraham states to her that he did not want Homer to find out about the fact that she was a wanted criminal on the run for 27 years. While this episode insisted that Homer first discovered Mona was alive after she finds him in his grave^[3] a different episode has him learn this when he was 16.^[9] When Homer and Mona go to the post office, to collect years worth of care packages, she is spotted and recognized by Burns. Mona is forced again to leave Springfield, on the run from the police, although the now Police Chief, Clancy Wiggum, aides her escape as she had helped cure his asthma.^[3]

Second return to Springfield[]

Sometime later, Homer discovers a hidden message in a newspaper, left by his mother, to meet her under a bridge. Homer and Bart do so and reunite with Mona, although she is discovered by the police at a diner and is arrested, later put on trial. She is acquitted because of evidence given by Homer, although she is later imprisoned, thanks to Mr. Burns, for signing into a federal park under a false name. Homer attempts to break his mother out of prison on a prison bus, with a police chase ensuing. The chase ends when she apparently dies, after the bus drives off a cliff and into some water, where it explodes, which sets off a rock avalanche, burying the bus. Mona narrowly escapes the bus before it went off the cliff. She again goes on the run, where she sends another hidden message in a newspaper to Homer, written while eating a Rhode Island-style clam chowder.^[16]

Final return and death[]

Mona returns to Springfield again, visiting Homer. Homer has grown sick of his mother's constant leaving and returning and refuses to reconcile with her in order to keep himself from feeling hurt. Later, feeling guilty, he attempts to apologize to his mother, only to find out she had passed away sitting in front of the fireplace.

She is cremated and, sometime after her cremation, the Simpson family watches her recorded will. She leaves Bart her Swiss-army knife, Lisa her rebellious spirit (although Lisa takes her earrings), and Marge an old purse made of hemp, asking Homer to release her ashes from the top of a specific mountain at 3:00 pm. Homer completes his mother's wish, releasing the ashes, which are sucked into a missile launch computer within the mountain, owned by Mr. Charles Montgomery Burns. The ashes stop the missile from launching, preventing the nuclear power plant's waste from being blasted to the Amazon rain forest. Homer is arrested but manages to escape, with help from Marge, Bart and Lisa, destroying the base and fulfilling his mother's final wish.^[11]

Homer's dreams[]

Mona continues to live on in Homer's dreams. When Homer develops a bed wetting problem after taking Bart on a fishing trip (which brought back his memory of his disastrous fishing trip with Abe), the rest of the family ventures into his dreams to find the cause of the problem. Eventually, they come across Mona after she saves them, under the guise of Death, from being crushed by a pair of gears. She provides them the answer to Homer's bed wetting problem via movie theater. Mona also tells Homer that he misinterpreted everything that happened between her and Abe after the fishing trip and shows him a video of what really happened. She tells Homer she will always live on in his memory along with younger versions of Homer and Abe. She then tells them to leave the dreams and to wake up, with Homer saying goodbye to his mother one last time. Homer's dream then collapses (due to Jonathan Frink and Clancy Wiggum fighting), and he and the rest of the family return to the real world.

Physical Appearance[]

Mona had straight, light blue hair as well as the distinctive large, round eyes and small, rounded nose typical of Simpson family members. In flashbacks her hair was a burgundy, maroon shade of brown. In the flashback from "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" she has brown hair on her wedding day and light purple hair on the day Homer was born.

The character design from Season 2 to her reappearance in Season 7 was slightly altered to make her more resemble Homer. Yet Homer is a dead ringer for his "seldom seen" half-brother Herb or Abe's father yet Herb and Abe's father are not related to her by blood.

Relationships[]

Homer Simpson (Son)[]

Her every appearance was focused on her relationship with Homer. Given that Homer was her first and only son, she was a caring and doting mother who deeply loved him. However, when she developed a radical personality and became a hippy, this caused Homer to develop abandonment issues, believing she died while he was at the movies. She returned in Mother Simpson, when news broke believing Homer died and intended to visit his grave after Homer fell in and realizing they have reunited. They immediately hit it off and Homer was very happy, and the family was shocked. He takes her out and about, introducing her to Moe and his tavern buddies. Moe believes she is responsible for leaving a hole in Homer's heart which he filled with alcohol. Despite Homer celebrating her return, Marge is unsure if he should get attached to her and questions why she had to leave him. Homer believed might be because he was a bad son before they confront her for the truth. It was revealed that she tried to continue to look after Homer by sending him care packages, but they never arrived at his house for years. Homer was also very protective as he did whatever he could to keep her from going to jail after realizing why she left. He aided her escape but was heartbroken to watch her leave again, only to be grateful that he is awake to say goodbye to her this time.

She was mentioned and seen in a flashback in D'oh-in' in the Wind as she named Homer and neither he or his dad, Abe know Homer's middle name "J." He learns of a mural she painted for him which also shown his full name, marking his middle name Jay. He also meets her radical friends Seth and Munchie who told him about how she brought him and Abe to Woodstock, inspiring Homer to be a hippie like his mother.

She returns again in My Mother the Carjacker as she began to miss Homer after realizing she has a coffee mug he made. She contacted him by putting a hidden message in a newspaper of that day's date on an article about a giant pizza to meet her at the Springfield Overpass. They go to a local diner to catch up, however, they escape as soon as the police show up but crash into the police station where she gets arrested. Despite her crimes taking place about 40 years ago, she was still put on trial to which Homer testified in her defense and gets her acquitted by begging the jury that he greatly misses her and does not want to lose her again. This moves everyone in the courtroom to agree and let her off free. Immediately after she was set free, she and Homer catch up on mother-son bonding to even reenact and show her Bart's birth. However, Mr. Burns still refuses to let go how she destroyed his Germ Warfare lab followed through with his revenge and sets her up to confess her crime of using a false name on a national park registry in her past and gets her arrested again. Homer is heartbroken to lose his mother again and prints photos of his short time with her. He is then convinced by Lisa and decides to bust her out. He steals the prison bus and tries to help her escape. Mona did not want Homer to repeat her mistake and have him abandon his family like she did him and tosses him off the bus while she continues to get away. Homer thought she died by crashing the bus into a gorge, which then explodes and the boulders trap and cave the waters, once again devastating him. However, after the funeral, attended by his family and her ex-husband Abe Simpson, Homer checks the paper to see a similar message to be assured she is actually still alive as he revealed her coffin was actually the previous week's garbage. He sees a paper to just shows it saying "I AM OK." His family is unsure but tells him that as long as they think of her, she is alive and console him with a bottle of jack and ask him to come to bed. He, however, misses a lengthier message in a taco article that details that she did escape the bus before it crashed and was picked up by a young couple.

Her final appearance was in Mona Leaves-a, where she decided to break into the Simpson's residence while they were out. The family initially did not know it was her, Homer got the defender, a weapon made of cinderblock on a chain, was ready to attack the intruder, but luckily did not when he saw her in the ken baking a pie. She returns after some time since she is still believed to be dead and the authorities are no longer looking for her. This time, however, the relationship sours as Homer refuses to embrace her fearing that she will abandon him again. He pouts and continues to be angry with her for her entire visit, rejecting her every attempt of motherly affection and blaming her for filling the hole left in his heart by her with food. However, after he rejects her tuck-in to bed, he begins to feel guilty and have trouble sleeping and attempts to apologize by making her a card. However, she passes away while looking at the fireplace, devastating Homer and racking him with guilt that he did not get a chance to make amends before she died. He has her cremated and her funeral was this time attended by Homer, Abe, her radical friends Seth and Munchie, and her lover she had an affair with during her marriage to Abe, who was believed to be Homer's father (but is not), Mason Fairbanks. Homer sulked and laid depressed for days since her death and had a beer at Moe's. After her DVD will was found, she gave each member of the family gifts and had a final wish for Homer. This final wish was to climb the top of Mt. Springfield and release her ashes, which he obliged, only to be furious when he was used for a final hippie protest. However, he completes his mission and sabotaged Mr. Burn's attempt to destroy a forest in her honor and released her ashes once more. He gets comfort from Marge and Lisa as she lives on in Homer completing her final mission.

Beyond death, she appeared and continued to live on in Homer's dream in How I Wet Your Mother. Homer begins to wet the bed when he went fishing with Bart. Mona reveals his bed-wetting was a subconscious trigger from a memory of his family fishing trip he thought gone wrong as she left the family about a week later. Homer felt it was his fault, but Mona shows him that it was not, and his parents were actually happy, and Homer was what was holding them together until Mona had to leave since she became a fugitive. This cures him from his bed-wetting. She parts with him with young Abe and Homer, assuring him that they will all always be with him in memory and in his dream.

Marge (Daughter-In-Law)/Her Grandchildren[]

The family all are met with shock and surprise when Homer eagerly introduced her, immediately dropping their jaws. The surprise immediately shifted to excitement as Marge was ecstatic to have a mother-in-law and the kids all felt a connection to her. Bart tells her he is owed 5 figures in grandparent presents from her for the 10 years of his milestones and birthdays. Lisa learns how much she is just like her as an achiever and being academically excelled. However, they grow suspicious of her as Marge questions where she has gone all this time. Lisa gets suspicious as she quickly ran in the house when the police was driving by, and Bart went through her purse and found multiple fake ID cards. The family all confront her for the truth and pressured to confess or they will call the police or worse, her ex-husband Abe Simpson. She tells them of her radical past and how she destroyed Mr. Burn's Germ Warfare lab and how it broke her heart to become a wanted fugitive and to abandon her family to protect them, emotionally moving them.

In My Mother the Carjacker, Lisa testified in her defense and agreed when cross-examined on her grandmother being a kind and gentle person, even saying she is less of bad person than Bart. They each express their disgust when she got set up and arrested again after she was acquitted, Lisa especially saying she got unfairly arrested on a technicality. Bart helps Homer stop the prison bus to bust her out. They each express their sadness when she supposedly "died." With Marge wanting to take her pie recipe as her own, Lisa expressing how she felt she belonged in her family in a positive way, and Bart expressing how she inspired him to be a bad boy well into old age being possible.

In Mona Leaves-a, her grandchildren spend time with her despite Homer choosing to be angry with her constant abandonment. Looking at photos and possessions she had for Homer. Upon her death, they try to comfort Homer, with Bart at least making him smile when she defends him when Bart told her how much Homer sucks. Lisa finds her box in the attic which included a DVD will and she had gifts for each of them. Marge was given a handbag made of hemp, Bart was given a Swiss army knife, and Lisa was gifted her rebellious spirit (however, Lisa took her earrings from her nightstand). Each of them use her gifts to help Homer on her final mission she wished Homer to complete. Bart gives Homer the knife to escape when he was tied up, Marge burns her handbag and has the hemp's scent blow through the vent to stone out the guards, and Lisa sets the handbag on fire projected the light from the sun to the bag with the earrings. All happy to complete her final wish.

Abe Simpson II (Ex-husband)[]

Mona and Abe's relationship is shown throughout her appearance to be very rocky. Every flashback appearance shows them having a clash in values, with Abe having more conservative, straight man values while Mona is more radical. It is unclear how they fell in love and married in the beginning but it is likely the relationship developed issues as Mona got her radical mindset watching Joe Namath during a super bowl game and had a nirvana trip with his hair, or due to Abe fathering a child prior to their marriage named Herb Powell with a carnival floozy. Despite feeling sad and regretful of leaving Homer, she was more relieved to leave Abe as he continually berates and disapproves of her hippie lifestyle. When she was forced to go on the run, Abe did not seem to visibly show concern and told Homer she died while he was at the movies and pointed to Homer a gravesite that was hers (which was actually Walt Whitman).

When she returned in Mother Simpson, she feared her grandkids calling Abe over the police. When he showed up at the door, he was shocked and met her with immediate anger towards her. Mona's first response to seeing him was with disgust for how heavily he aged. Abe shoots back saying it is her fault as she left him alone to raise Homer. Mona then expresses her anger for Abe telling Homer she was dead, to which Abe said it was better Homer thought that then being told she was a wanted criminal. He then declares that Mona was a terrible wife, and he will never forgive her for her abandonment before immediately asking to have sex, which she responds in further disgust. While they were having dinner, they all share a laugh when asked if she will move back in with Abe, even Abe laughing before feeling disappointed that he is a joke. In My Mother the Carjacker, he testified in court against her and attempted to get her back with him, he claims he did it because he read that women liked jerks. While he continued to show no concern for her being arrested again, he was present at her supposed funeral. He once again is present in her actual funeral in Mona Leaves-a, where he tries to comfort Homer for still being with him. He then confesses to Homer that he has thought about dancing on her grave, even wearing tap shoes at the cremation, only to feel too sad to dance.

C. Montgomery Burns[]

Mr. Burns, being an antagonist for most of the series, was responsible for Mona living the life of a fugitive. He built a germ warfare lab which her radical lifestyle influence is a horrible plan to fight America's enemies. She and her hippie radicalists, after a failed peaceful protest, break into his lab and destroyed the germs, curing them with antibiotics. Despite Mona being polite and helping him up when he got trampled by the hippie mobs running out the building, he vowed to get her put away and reported her to the authorities. He immediately recognized her when she returned in Mother Simpson and notified the authorities and attempted to storm the Simpson's house with his tank to catch her, however she escapes which angers him.

In My Mother the Carjacker, when he attempted to have her prosecuted when she got arrested, she was instead acquitted when Homer plead the jury to give him his mother back. Mr. Burns, however, still refused to let it go and vowed that he will get his revenge on her yet. He does so by falsely setting up his old germ lab into a "Grandma Simpson Peace Museum and Kid-teractive Learnatorium" and asks her to be the first to sign the visitor's book. She then admits to how great it feels to finally sign her real name whereas every national park she visited, she signed a false name under their registries. Mr. Burns secretly got that on tape and revealed that he set her up as signing a false name on a state or national park registry is a federal offense. He is pleased with himself as she got arrested, showing no remorse or empathy of tearing a mother away from her child once again. In death, Mona does try one last attempt to stop Mr. Burn's plans to destroy a forest as her ashes flew into the generator, temporarily disabling the missile until Homer finished the mission.

Chief Clancy Wiggum[]

As a young man, Clancy worked as a student security guard at Burn's germ warfare lab. He was asthmatic and had nasal congestion which was what hurt his chances to be a police officer like he desired. However, when Mona and her hippie group destroys the lab via spreading antibiotic gas through the air, Clancy was cured of his asthma and nasal congestion. Years later, he was revealed to tip Homer off about the Feds coming to arrest her, stating he was grateful to her for curing him. However, before he could reveal who he is and that her curing him led to becoming the police chief, Homer rudely gets annoyed with his yapping and hangs up the phone.

In My Mother the Carjacker, however, he goes 180 and when Lou recognized her from the diner window when she came back, Clancy did attempt to arrest her. He succeeds in doing so after Homer crashed the car into the police station. She was acquitted from her crimes and when she was arrested again on technicality, he attempts to negotiate with her when she took control of the prison bus using a hippie dictionary to communicate. He never learned that Homer aided her in the escape and showed no concern when the bus crashed into the quarry, blew up, then was buried under a landslide of boulders. It is unclear why he desired to arrest her this time, it could be likely that he decided not to aid her after Homer rudely hangs up on him the last time.

Mason Fairbanks[]

During her marriage to Abe and before Homer was born, Mona cheated on her husband and had an affair with Mason, a strapping and handsome lifeguard. This was found out when the pollution from the Springfield Tire Fire caused Mt. Springfield's ice cap to melted revealing a mailman frozen since the 1960s with a letter addressed to Mona. The letter asked Mona to run away with him and if she does not show up next week, he will assume that she ran back and chose Abe, but that he believes the baby Mona carries is his child. However, the signature on the letter was just M, this made Homer curious and question his parentage and learn his identity. Mona never saw Mason again prior to the letter and Mason was left heartbroken and devastated for losing her and that she took "his child" with her. He felt victorious when the DNA test revealed he is Homer's father. It was later revealed that Abe intentionally switched the DNA samples to teach Homer a lesson about what makes him Homer's father. It is unknown how Mason felt to learn he really is not Homer's father. He does, however, attend Mona's funeral in the crematorium, sadden for Homer of her passing. So, it is likely that he is still friends with Homer and made peace with Abe.

Behind the Laughter[]

Creation[]

Mona's first major appearance was in the seventh season episode "Mother Simpson," which was pitched by Richard Appel, who was desperately trying to think of a story idea and decided that he had to really reach for an idea. He decided to do something about Homer's mother.^[17] Many of the writers could not believe that an episode about Homer's mother had not previously been produced.^[17] Part of the fun of an episode about Homer's mother for the writers was that they were able to solve several little puzzles, such as where Lisa's intelligence came from.^[17]

The character is named after Richard Appel's wife at the time, the novelist Mona Simpson who is also the biological sister of Steve Jobs (Jobs was put up for adoption at birth).^[17] The character design was slightly altered from her season 2 appearance for "Mother Simpson" in a way so that she has a little bit of Homer in her face, such as the shape of her upper lip and her nose.^[18] There were several design changes because the directors were trying to make her an attractive older and younger woman, but still be Simpson-esque.^[18]

The inspiration for the character comes from Bernardine Dohrn of the Weather Underground, although the writers acknowledge that several people fit her description.^[19] Her crime was intentionally the least violent crime the writers could think of, as she did not harm anyone and was only caught because she came back to help Mr. Burns.^[19]

Glenn Close was convinced to do the episode initially by James L. Brooks.^[20] She was directed in her first performance by Josh Weinstein,^[19] when Homer's mother hits her head getting into the van, the "D'oh" is provided by Pamela Hayden because Glenn Close could get the "D'oh!" quite right^[19] and so the original temp track recorded by Hayden was used for the episode.^[17]

Reception[]

"Mother Simpson" is one of Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein's favorite episodes, as they feel it is a perfect combination of real emotion, good jokes and an interesting story^[21] and they have expressed regret about not submitting it for the Emmy Award in the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)" category^[19]

IGN.com ranked Glenn Close's two performances as Mona as the 25th best guest star in the show's history.^[22] In 2007, Entertainment Weekly called Glenn Close one of "fourteen guest stars whose standout performances on TV make us wish they'd turn up in a Simpsons Movie 2."^[23]

Trivia[]

• The most Homer ever mentioned about her before season 7 was Homer drinking at Moe's after feeling embarrassed by his family at the company picnic, "You know, Moe, my mom once said something that really stuck with me. She said, “Homer, you’re a big disappointment,” and God bless her soul, she was really onto something." in "There's No Disgrace Like Home". In her goodbye at the end of season 7's "Mother Simpson" she has opposite feeling to Homer's earlier memory, "Oh, Homer. Remember, whatever happens, you have a mother and she's truly proud of you."
• Glenn Close voiced her in many major and minor appearances from season 7 onwards with the. exceptions being prior to season 7 when she only spoke a few words in quick flashbacks of 2 episodes, season 2's "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" and season 6's "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" she was voiced both times by Maggie Roswell. Between Glenn Close first guest spot in season 7 and her and the character's return in season 15's "My Mother the Carjacker", Mona briefly appeared in a flashback to her, Abe and Homer at Woodstock in season 10's "D'oh-in' in the Wind" where her voice was provided by Tress MacNeille. Tress MacNeille also provided her voice for the line "Whiskey, please" after giving birth when Mona was the mother of Paul Bunyon in season 12's "Simpsons Tall Tales". Glenn Close is heard again in season 7 in the "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" which was first aired two episodes after "Mother Simpson" and was a deleted scene from that episode. To date to season 36's "The Man Who Flew Too Much".is the last time Glenn Close guest voiced as her.
• Abe introduced himself to Bea Simmons as, "Widower, one son, one working kidney." In his room at Springfield Retirement Castle he kept his and Mona's wedding photo above his bed until he threw it away in season 30's "Mad About the Toy" although the wedding photo can still be seen hanging in the same spot in subsequent episodes. Whether they were legally divorced or remained married and estranged until her death has not been made completely clear.
• In "The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album" her name is Penelope Olsen which was also used in "Mother Simpson" as one of her aliases. The most famous Homer in history is the legendary Greek poet and Penelope is the faithful wife of Odysseus in Homer's major epic The Odyssey.
  • Some fans have speculated Olsen was inspired by the case of Sara Jane Olson (spelled Olson and not Olsen), but it could not be anything more than a possible coincidence as Sara Jane Olson's rearrest becoming national news did not happen until 1999 and 'The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album" was first published in 1991 and "Mother Simpson" was first aired in 1995.
• She appears in many of Homer's fantasies.
• Police Chief Wiggum credits her for his career.
• Her death in the episode "Mona Leaves-a" was dedicated to the memories of Elsie Castellaneta (Dan Castellaneta's mother) and Dora K. Warren (Harry Shearer's mother).
• She likely remains unaware that Abe accidentally told Homer about his half-brother Herb despite making him promise not to.
• Due to the Floating Time it retconned Mona leaving due to Abe^[24][25] before retconned back to her leaving because of she was a wanted criminal.^[26]

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Episodes where she has a major role are in bold.

Citations[]

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Simpson Family
Homer Simpson • Marge Simpson • Bart Simpson • Lisa Simpson • Maggie Simpson • Santa's Little Helper • Snowball V
Homer's living relatives
Abe Simpson II • Abbey • Herbert Powell • Tyrone Simpson • Dr. Simpson • Cyrus Simpson • Chet Simpson • Stanley Simpson • Bill Simpson • Cousin Francine • Cyrus' 15 wives
Marge's living relatives
Jacqueline Bouvier • Selma Bouvier • Patty Bouvier • Ling Bouvier • Jub-Jub Bouvier • Eunice Bouvier
Homer's deceased relatives
Amber Simpson Mona Simpson • Hubert Simpson • Aunt Hortense Orville Simpson • Bonita Simpson • Elrita Simpson • Twitta Simpson • Yuma Hickman "Old Tut" Simpson • Gaston Simpson • Hugo Simpson I • Dulcine Simpson • Lou Simpson • Floyd Simpson • "Happy" Simpson Howland Simpson • Zeke Simpson • Pippa Simpson • Gabby Crouse Garwood Simpson • Ivy Simpson • Galston Simpson • Prudence Simpson • Trixie Simpson • Clowta Stillman Rupert Simpson • Lambert Simpson • Winifred Running Goat • Humphrey Little Goat • Jane Nervous Goat Sven Simpson • Claretta Ethridge • Mary Frowning Cloud • Joe Puffing Goat
Marge's deceased relatives
Clancy Bouvier • Uncle Lou • Alvarine Bisque • Uncle Arthur • Alfreda Bouvier II • Françoise Billout • Antoine Bouvier • Axel Bouvier • Bambi Bouvier • Charlene Bouvier • Chester Bouvier • Dorothé Bouvier • JoJo Bouvier • Monique Bouvier • Pépé Bouvier • Victor Bouvier • Victor Bouvier II • Cléo Bouvier • Didi Bouvier • Ferdinand Gurney • Aunt Gladys • Honoré Bouvier • Alfreda LeDoux • Angelique Marceau • Marcel Bouvier • Bambi Petitbois • Pierre Bouvier • Rowena Bouvier • Yves Bouvier
Non-canon Characters
Hugo Simpson II • Zia Simpson • Skippy Simpson • Jiff Simpson • Maggie Simpson, Jr. • Bart Simpson, Jr. • Lisa and Ralph's children • Lisa and Nelson's child • Ishmael Simpson • Ezekiel Simpson • Silas Simpson • Gentleman Jim Simpson • 19th-century Whaler Homer Simpson • Abe Simpson Sr. • Olidia Simpson • Rube Ella Simpson • Luke Simpson • Jason Simpson • Tori-Mae Simpson • Lisa Marie Simpson • Baby Leroy Simpson • Zeke Simpson • Zza-Zza Simpson
Other Pets
Bart Junior • Chirpy Boy and Bart Junior • Coltrane • Duncan • Greyhound Puppies • Henry the Canary • Laddie • Lou • Mojo • Pinchy • Plopper • Princess • Smiley • Snowball I • Snowball II • Snowball III • Snowball V • Snuffy • Stampy • Strangles • She's the Fastest