Springfield Mafia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Springfield Mafia is a fictional Italian Organized Crime Group based in Springfield in the animated television series The Simpsons. The premier family among the Springfield Mafia is the D'Amico Crime Family.
Contents |
[edit] Members
- Boss - Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico
- One-time Bartender - Bart Simpson (Bart the Murderer)
- Co Subistute Mafia Dons/leaders - Bart Simpson/Homer Simpson (The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer)
- Underboss - Michael D'Amico (The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer)
- Soldiers - Legs, Louie, Johnny Tightlips, Joey
- Associates - Frankie the Squealer, Don Vittorio DiMaggio (as seen in Homie the Clown, he may be a little over Fat Tony himself), Jimmy the Snitch (seen in 'Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky)
[edit] Fat Tony
Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico, voiced by Joe Mantegna, is the fictional local Mafia don and leader of The Springfield Mafia in the animated television series The Simpsons.
Fat Tony is a pastiche of Mafia characters from movies and dramas. His fellow mobsters include Joey, Legs, Louie, and occasionally Johnny Tightlips.
[edit] Legs and Louie
Legs, voiced by Karl Wiedergott (formerly voiced by Hank Azaria), and Louie, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, are the two Springfield Mafia hitmen who accompany Fat Tony at all times. Fans often get the two confused due to neither of them having any real definitive characteristic and because they are almost always seen together. Legs has a short haircut and raspy voice. Louie has a slight afro and a more high-pitched, even squeaky tone. He says that tear gas is "[his] one weakness," though this is likely an embellishment.
Louie's appearance and mannerisms are strongly evocative of the character actor Frank Sivero, who has played gangster roles in films such as Goodfellas and The Godfather Part II. It has also been established that Joseph Kennedy, father of President John Kennedy, had something to do with Legs acquiring his nickname, though this is never properly explained. Legs is an accomplished mob surgeon as referenced in Trilogy of Error, where he sews Homer's thumb back on as a part of Lisa's science project.
Louie is also a character in the video game The Simpsons Hit & Run. His map icon is two dice, and he is a source for money.
[edit] Johnny Tightlips
Johnny Tightlips, voiced by Hank Azaria, is a member of the Mafia and associate of Fat Tony. He says very little, which spares him from accusations of being a "squealer," but his reticence tends to be unhelpful to himself or others.
In Insane Clown Poppy, there is a shoot-out in Fat Tony's mansion and Tightlips is shot by accident. When asked where he's injured, he says " I ain't sayin' nuthin'!", and when asked what to tell the doctor he says, "Tell 'em to go suck a lemon."
Johnny Tightlips is a reference to Frank "Tight Lips" Gusenberg, who was shot down in the real-life St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago and replied "nobody shot me" while dying.
[edit] Frankie the Squealer
Frankie the Squealer, voiced by Harry Shearer, is another member of the Mafia and associate of Fat Tony. However, he does not appear to be very useful to his colleagues in criminal activity due to his uncontrollable habit of squealing (he claims that "it makes me feel big"). On several occasions, the mob has attempted to kill him for his squealing, though they have repeatedly been unsuccessful. He was seen once on the ocean floor, however, dead, with his feet in a concrete block. In the episode Ice Cream of Margie (With The Light Blue Hair) he was seen again, posing for Marge Simpson with Fat Tony, who is choking him, for one of Marge's icecream stick statuettes. After posing they smile deeply at each other. Fat Tony gets in the front seat of the car and Frankie opens the trunk and gets inside.
[edit] Business dealings
In Springfield Mafia's first appearance, Bart the Murderer, the D'Amico Family hired Bart Simpson as a bartender/errand boy in the local mob hangout, "The Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club".
This episode shows the hangout as a gambling place. This Family activity is the plot center of another episode, Homie the Clown, where Homer becomes a licensed Krusty the Klown imitator (D'Amico family subsequently mistakes him for the genuine clown in an effort to collect on assumably massive gambling debts, later revealed to be forty-eight dollars).
In Insane Clown Poppy, Krusty loses his daughter's violin to Tony in a poker game, and later sneaks into the mafioso's compound (with Homer's help) to steal it back.
Through the seasons, the family schemes will appear numerous, ranged from supplying rat's milk to the school cafeteria to dabbling in the illegal fireworks racket.
In a run in with Homer Simpson, Homer owed money to Fat Tony and agreed to let the mob film porn movies in his home. (When Fat Tony asked why Homer assumed they would be filming gay porn, Homer explained "I thought you were the Gay Mafia?")
The gang also attempts to monopolize various legitimate business, once waging war with the local Yakuza over the pretzel business. They are also responsible for maintaining Krusty Burger by keeping McDonald's and Burger King out of Springfield.
In Bart the Murderer, we also discover the Mafia involvement in tobacco traffic. When Springfield re-enacts Prohibition, naturally Fat Tony and crew pay off the cops to allow them to sneak in alcohol.
[edit] Headquarters
Their headquarters are located at the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club.
They are also known to frequently congregate at Luigi Risotto's Italian restaurant in Little Italy, and outside the Simpson's house.
[edit] Other mafia families facing the D'Amico Crime family
[edit] Calabresi Crime Family
This crime family plays a critical role in the episode The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and His Homer, but they have not previously played a role in The Simpsons canon, and the episode seems to end with the family's demise.
[edit] Castellaneta Crime Family
This crime family featured in Moe Baby Blues. Their name is an obvious reference to Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson and other characters on The Simpsons. They are wiped out by Maggie Simpson.
