Editing Bumblebee Man

{{Infobox character
| color       = #FADA00
| name        = Bumblebee Man
| series      = [[The Simpsons]]
| image       = 
| first       = ''[[Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie]]''
| creator     = 
| voice       = Hank Azaria
| gender      = Male 
| occupation  = Actor
| relatives   = Wife: Unnamed, divorced
}}


The '''Bumblebee Man''', voiced by Hank Azaria, is a fictional character in [[The Simpsons]] who appears on a television show on "Channel Ocho" dressed in a [[bumblebee]] costume. In the episode "[[Team Homer]]," his bowling shirt bears the name '''"Pedro"'''. He works at the same studio as [[Kent Brockman]].

==Biography==
The Bumblebee Man (initially voiced by [[Dan Castellaneta]] and later by [[Hank Azaria]]) is the star of a Mexican Spanish-language television sitcom on ''[[Channel Ocho]]'', in which he dresses in a [[bumblebee]] costume and performs [[Slapstick|slapstick comedy]]. In the episode "[[Team Homer]]", his bowling shirt bears the name "'''Pedro'''", though he is informally referred to as "'''Chespirito'''". He works at the same studio as [[Kent Brockman]]. His first appearance was in "[[Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie]]". Bumblebee Man is rarely seen to take off his costume, even when by himself; the sole exception is the episode "[[22 Short Films About Springfield]]", in which his private life is shown. In this short segment, he is portrayed as innately clumsy rather than simply acting as such.

In general, Bumblebee Man only speaks in simple, over-enunciated (and inaccurate) Spanish sentences. His catchphrases of choice are typically "¡Ay, ay, ay, no me gusta!" ("I don't like it!"), "¡Ay, ay, ay, no es bueno!" ("That's not good!") and "¡Ay, Dios no me ama!" ("God doesn't love me!"). Quite commonly, his phrases will be intentionally sloppy Spanish. For example, in the episode "[[22 Short Films About Springfield]]", there are several words used that are not real (such as "wudpequero" for "[[woodpecker]]", rather than the correct ''pájaro carpintero''). The crude Spanish is used so that English-speaking viewers would still understand what was being said.<ref>Season 7 DVD Commentary – "[[22 Short Films About Springfield]]"</ref> On occasions, he also speaks English, such as briefly in "[[Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington]]". In "[[Bart Gets Famous]]", he anchors the news with an articulate English accent, filling in for Kent Brockman, who would not report the news because he did not get his cheese Danish, which Bart stole to give to Krusty.

Bumblebee Man is a caricature parody of ''[[El Chapulín Colorado]]'', a character created and portrayed by Mexican television comedian [[Roberto Gómez Bolaños]] (a.k.a. "Chespirito"), and his show consists of simple skits, often involving heavy [[slapstick]]. The staff have said that whenever they watched [[Univision]], this character was "always on", thus they created Bumblebee Man, who is also always on the air when the Spanish-language channel is depicted.<ref>{{cite video |people=Reiss, Mike |year=2004 |title=The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> His costume was based on one used in the ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' sketch "Killer Bees".<ref name=tvguide>{{cite news|title=Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves|date=October 21, 2000|work=[[TV Guide]]|author=Joe Rhodes}}</ref>

In 2003, Azaria won a [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance]] for voicing Bumblebee Man, and various other characters.<ref name=Emmy>{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.org/awards/awardsearch.php |title=Primetime Emmy Awards Advanced Search |publisher=Emmys.org |accessdate=November 5, 2008 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5wWgU0Yh9?url=http://www.emmys.org/awards/awardsearch.php |archivedate=February 15, 2011 |df= }}</ref>
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==Character origins==
Bumblebee is a caricature of "[[El Chapulín Colorado]]" ("The Red Grasshopper"), a character created and portrayed by Mexican television comedian [[Roberto Gómez Bolaños]] (aka "Chespirito"), and his show consists of simple skits, often involving heavy [[slapstick]]. In several DVD commentaries, the shows producers say that whenever they watched [[Telemundo]], this character was always "on", and then they created Bumblebee Man, who is also always "on".

==Character traits==
Bumblebee Man never takes off his costume, even when by himself; the sole exception is the episode "[[22 Short Films About Springfield]]", in which his private life is shown. In this short segment, he is portrayed as innately clumsy rather than simply acting as such. In the end, his house is destroyed and his wife leaves him.

In "[[Bart Gets Famous]]", he speaks with an articulate British accent, but this was mentioned in an episode commentary as a mistake. In general, Bumblebee Man only speaks in simple, over-enunciated (and inaccurate) Spanish sentences. His catchphrases of choice are typically “¡Ay, ay, ay, no me gusta!” (“I don’t like it!”), “¡Ay, ay, ay, no es bueno!” (“That’s not good!”) and “¡Ay, Dios no me ama!” (“God doesn’t love me!”)

Quite commonly, his phrases will be intentionally sloppy Spanish. For example, in the episode "[[22 Short Films about Springfield]]", there are several words used that are not real (woodpecker in Spanish is not "wudpequero"; it is "pájaro carpintero"). The crude Spanish was used so that American viewers would still understand what was being said<ref>Season 7 DVD Commentary - "[[22 Short Films About Springfield]]"</ref>

In the Simpsons comics{{Fact|date=May 2007}}, he claims to be Belgian, though the comics are not considered [[canon (fiction)|canon]].

In the Mexican [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|Spanish-language version]] of the show, the humour of Bumblebee Man (known in this version as ''hombre abejorro'' in the [[Spanish-speaking countries]] of [[Latin America]], or ''el hombre abeja'' in [[Spain]]) relies on the fact that he wears a gigantic bee costume and frequently engages in physical comedy; there has been no effort made to translate his speech to another language. However, in the European [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|Spanish-language version]], he speaks with an over-the-top Mexican accent. The Japanese version leaves Hank Azaria's performance untouched.

==References==
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[[Category:The Simpsons]]