Despite the fact that Disney+ has taken aim at every topic under the sun, but one of the wells they keep coming back to — because there’s a lot of potential for satire there — is the world of celebrity. Springfield is populated with many proxies for famous people from the real world. So, here are the 10 Funniest Celebrity Parodies On The Simpsons.
Randall Curtis (George Lucas)
The Simpsons universe doesn’t just have its own version of George Lucas named Randall Curtis — it also has its own version of Star Wars named Cosmic Wars. In the episode “Co-Dependent’s Day,” the equivalent of The Phantom Menace, Cosmic Wars: The Gathering Shadow, left a lot of fans like Bart and Lisa feeling disappointed, and they wrote a letter to Curtis, telling him what they thought of the movie. All they got back from him was a signed picture of Jim Jam Bonks (an obvious spoof of the maligned Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks), so they traveled to Cosmic Wars Ranch (a parody of Skywalker Ranch) to confront him.
Alaska Nebraska (Hannah Montana)
Played by guest star Ellen Page, Alaska Nebraska is a 16-year-old pop star and a riff on the Disney Channel pop sensation Hannah Montana. Hannah, of course, was the pop star pseudonym of Miley Cyrus’ character Miley Stewart on her self-titled Disney show, before she would break out with her own name. Alaska doesn’t just lip-sync her music; she lip-syncs conversations with people. Her show was one of many available for Homer to stream on his Butt-Whisperer 4000 treill, but he’d already seen it. Whereas Hannah Montana only gets her surname from a U.S. state, both of Alaska Nebraska’s names come from U.S. states.
Lucius Sweet (Don King)
Lucius Sweet is the boxing promoter behind Drederick Tatum’s storied career. He’s an obvious riff on real-life boxing promoter Don King. The show was hilariously on-the-nose with the fact that Lucius was based on King. According to Moe, Lucius is “exactly as rich and famous as Don King and looks just like him, too.” Lucius is said to have begun his career promoting schoolyard bullies.
The character is voiced by Paul Winfield, who also happens to have played Don King in the 1995 made-for-TV movie Tyson. It’s no wonder, because Winfield brilliantly nailed all of King’s quirks and mannerisms when he parodied him on The Simpsons.
Gunter and Ernst (Siegfried and Roy)
Gunter and Ernst are an obvious portrait of the famous Las Vegas act Siegfried and Roy, who similarly used white lions and white tigers in their shows. Siegfried and Roy’s Vegas show suffered a major incident in 2003 when a white tiger named Mantecore got confused by one of Roy’s cues. Roy fell over the tiger’s paw and was carried off-stage by his neck. He had a stroke during the ordeal, but doctors were unable to determine if the stroke occurred before or after he was mauled. Either way, it’s what the duo is now most famous for, and of course, The Simpsons couldn’t resist including it as a gag.
Señor Spielbergo (Steven Spielberg)
When Springfield announced that it would be holding its first film festival in Burns said, “Get me his non-union Mexican equivalent!” Shortly thereafter, Señor Spielbergo was recruited to helm the project. Mr. Burns had creative differences with Spielbergo from the get-go. Burns asked the director to “do for me what Spielberg did for Oskar Schindler,” but Spielbergo explained, “Schindler es bueno, Señor Burns es el diablo.”
Henry (Simon Cowell)
From the high-waisted jeans to the tight black t-shirt to the annoyingly snarky attitude, Henry is a hysterical parody of Simon Cowell. Cowell even played the character in the episode “Smart and Smarter.” Henry is an employee at Mrs. Wickerbottom’s Pre-Nursery School and his job is to interview potential new students — in the episode, Maggie was one of them. Henry is just as mean and brutally honest with the babies he interviews as the real Simon Cowell is with contestants on TV talent shows. Funnily enough, Cowell would later reappear on the show playing himself in the episode “Judge Me Tender.”
Opal (Oprah Winfrey)
Oprah Winfrey is one of the most beloved and highest paid celebrities in the world, so it was only natural for the writers of The Simpsons to take satirical aim. The show parodied Oprah with the character of Opal, the host of The Opal Show, although she appeared late in the game, debuting in Season 18. Just like Oprah, millions of Americans are obsessed with Opal and they’ll read whatever book she recommends on her show. She frequently gasps at the camera to react to on-air revelations, she’s always good to her studio audience, and she often mentions her boyfriend, Straightman.
Mayor Quimby (John F. Kennedy)
Mayor Joe Quimby has been running Springfield since Season 1, despite the fact that he accepts bribes and constantly screws over the town. He’s a hilarious allusion to former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and the extended Quimby family plays on the eccentricities of the wealthy Kennedy family.
From his Massachusetts accent to his notorious extramarital affairs to his upper-class upbringing to his left-wing policies, Quimby is a spot-on satire of JFK. His wife Martha Quimby is just as accurate a parody of Kennedy’s wife, Jackie Onassis, and frequently walks in on the mayor with other women, always crying out, “Joseph!”
Rainier Wolfcastle (Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Rainier Wolfcastle is an A-list action movie star, best known for starring in the McBain franchise, and one of the richest residents of Springfield. From his thick Austrian accent to his hulking physique to his ill-fated attempts at comedy (Help! My Son’s a Nerd) to his Republican political views to his connections to the Quimby (or Kennedy) family, Wolfcastle is a hysterical spoof of every aspect of Schwarzenegger’s public persona. Arnold Schwarzenegger himself would later be depicted as the President of the United States in The Simpsons Movie, although Arnie didn’t play himself. Instead, Harry Shearer used the same voice he uses for Rainier Wolfcastle.
Drederick Tatum (Mike Tyson)
Perhaps the most famous example of a Simpsons character spoofing a celebrity, Drederick Tatum is a pitch-perfect take on Mike Tyson. Just like Tyson, Tatum is an in-universe boxing legend, he speaks with a distinctive lisp, he’s prone to violent outbursts, and he’s constantly apologizing to the public for things he’s done in his personal life. Tatum’s actions have been a lot more exaggerated than Tyson’s — true to the parody form — because Tatum even pushed his own mother down the stairs. When he was asked if he’d go back in time and stop himself from pushing her, he said that he would “certainly reconsider it.”