Bartholomew JoJo Bart Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short Good Night on April 19, 1987. Bart was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. While the rest of the characters were named after Groening's family members, Bart's name was an anagram of the word brat. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three years, the Simpson family received their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989.
Although there were many critics of the character, favorable comments came from several quarters. Peggy Charren, president of Action for Children's Television, a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the quality of television programming offered to children, commented that the Simpson family is one of the few thoughtful cartoons on commercial television. [...] How can you teach the Constitution if you ban Tshirts? [127] Columnist Erma Bombeck wrote, Kids need to know that somewhere in this world is a contemporary who can pull off all the things they can only fantasize about, someone who can stick it to their parents once in a while and still be permitted to live. [127] In 2003, Bart placed first in a poll of parents in the United Kingdom who were asked which made-up character had the most influence on children under 12 years old.[136]
In 1998, Time named Bart one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. He was the only fictional character to make the list.[54] He had previously appeared on the cover of the December 31, 1990 edition.[137] Both Bart and Lisa ranked #11 in TV Guide's Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time .[138]
Soon, Mighty Mouse became the hottest animated character at Terrytoons. He was featured in a number of b"mellerdramas ", which were cartoons done in opera-style singing rather than simply spoken word. The first of Mighty Mouse's mellerdramas was Mighty Mouse and the Pirates, released on January 12, 1945. A number of other characters were also introduced, including Oil Can Harry, who was an earlier Terrytoons character rewritten as a cat for the Mighty Mouse adventures. Pearl Pureheart was also introduced as the cartoon's /"damsel in distress
