The Sea Captain
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The Simpsons character | |
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Horatio McCallister | |
Age | late-50s/mid-60s |
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Gender | Male |
Hair color | White |
Job | Sea Captain, Owner of the Frying Dutchman |
Relatives | |
First appearance | New Kid on the Block |
Voice actor | Hank Azaria |
Captain Horatio McCallister (or McAllister), is a fictional character from the animated television comedy The Simpsons, voiced by Hank Azaria. He is generally referred to as the Sea Captain, though he admitted that he wasn't a real captain and he hates the sea. The Sea Captain is also bisexual.
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[edit] Origins
The character was created by Conan O'Brien while he was a writer for The Simpsons [1]. The character first appeared in 1992 in the episode New Kid on the Block as the owner of The Frying Dutchman (a play on The Flying Dutchman) all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant. In that episode, McCallister is sued by Homer for not letting him eat all he could eat. Homer Simpson's visit to the restaurant caused the captain to observe about him, "'Tis no man, 'tis a remorseless eatin' machine!"
Captain Horatio McCallister's first name probably either comes from British admiral Horatio Nelson or C.S. Forester's fictional sea-captain Horatio Hornblower. His surname is probably named after Captain McCallister in the movie Flying Leathernecks or Fort McCallister. The character, with his pegleg, two glass eyes,[2] and repetitive exclamations of "Arrr" is based on numerous popular media versions of seafarers and pirates, including Long John Silver.
[edit] Character
McCallister is frequently shown to be completely incompetent at seafaring. He once deliberately sinks a ship by not pointing a lighthouse out to sea, muttering "I hate the sea, and everythin' in it". On another occasion, in a probable reference to the Exxon Valdez incident, he causes an oil spill by crashing his tanker while drunk. He launches a river raft for Homer, only to have it sink immediately to the bottom. The captain's idea for Mr. Burns' casino involved three ships and fifty "stout men" who would "sail 'round the Horn and return with spices and silk, the likes of which ye' never seen!"
On several occasions, he acknowledges his incompetence with a depressed: "Yarr, I don't know what I'm doin'." He is a member of the Springfield Alcoholics Anonymous and has a literal "wooden leg" in which he keeps liquor.

On another occasion, he tried selling his houseboat to Marge and Homer while they were looking for a new home, and in an obvious nod to Robert Shaw's character in Jaws starts grappling with a shark when it attacks through the floor. As he is, presumably, dragged to a watery grave, he urges Marge and Homer not to forget to look at the galley, adding "That's real shag carpeting! Yarr!"
As an entrepreneur, McCallister is equally incompetent. His restaurant, The Frying Dutchman, is a failing business venture that does not generate enough income to support its owner. In the episode Lisa Gets an "A", the captain appears as a penniless bum. When seeing Homer and Marge walking Homer's pet lobster at the beach, he approaches them and claims that he runs a "small academy for lobsters." However, when Marge refuses to send the lobster away to "some snobby boarding school," McCallister asks her for spare change instead. He attacked a giant squid in Homer's Barbershop Quartet, looking for gold he believed was in its belly.
Despite his age, unfit physique and poor vision (both of his eyes are glass eyes), McCallister demonstrated notable skills as an amateur basketball player.[3]
On another occasion, he tries his hand at stand-up comedy. Although not seen performing, one joke somehow involves a swordfish with 3 rolls of toilet paper on its nose. He was unsuccessful at this too, with Krusty remarking "it's more like thar he blows!"
He has never been shown with a girlfriend and, while it's generally believed that he's not gay, he has hinted to the fact that he has engaged in situational homosexuality with his fellow sailors. In one episode, he is seen to have a son, whom he describes as "the catch of the day." [4] In one episode he misinterprets newly widowed Ned Flanders' attempt at camaraderie and tells Flanders that he doesn't "do that kind of thing ... on land".
In The Simpsons: Hit and Run and the episode Bart's Girlfriend, it is revealed that he hates the sea, despite being referred to the Sea Captain. [5] In The Way We Weren't, it is revealed that Homer considers the Captain a good friend.
[edit] References
- ^ Conan O'Brien Facts TV.com. URL accessed on December 28, 2006
- ^ The Old Man and The "C" Student episode: McCallister claims his both eyes are prosthesis.
- ^ The Wettest Stories Ever Told episode: McCallister playing basketball.
- ^ Captain McCallister File SNPP. URL accessed on December 28, 2006
- ^ Captain McCallister File SNPP. URL accessed on December 28, 2006