Top of the morning to ya me foine foine buckos and buckettes.
Wookiee here for a fun little character post about a character I’m really hoping to see very soon, like tomorrow or the next day soon. Who’s that you ask? Well, if the post title didn’t give it away completely, I’m talking about the Leprechaun.
This is a post I’ve actually been planning to do since Halloween last year but kept pushing it back for other stuff. Last week, I promised the Lady Addicts I’d work on it since I had all the screenshots ready but somehow didn’t get around to it. Then I’m watching Season 2, Episode 24: Blood Feud because of the big, ugly head (Olmec head) and I hear this little bit of dialogue.
Homer: “Marge, you’re my wife, and I love you very much. But, you’re living in a world of make-believe. With flowers and bells and leprechauns, and magic frogs with funny little hats…”
First off Homer, Leprechauns are very real, just Oogle search “Leprechaun in Alabama” if you don’t believe me. Second, I’ve eaten way too many breakfast cereals and seen too many movies to think that the “Little People” are a myth. I don’t know what your favorite is but my all-time is definitely Darby O’Gill and the Little People. The banshee in that film scared the pants off me when I was little. Homer knows they’re real. Heck, he’s interacted with the leprechaun on a bunch of occasions and in true Wookiee form, I’m here to let you know about them.
So, the leprechaun became a part of our TSTO experience back during the St. Patrick’s Day mini-event that launched on March 7th, 2013. For a short amount of time, we got all our water turned green, a new building for free and the option to purchase the wishing well for donuts which included a new non-playable character (NPC)…. the Leprechaun. For 150 donuts, the leprechaun was a part of your game and you could follow him around. Every time you tapped on him, you received money and/or XP. Small amounts but they added up especially if you have a good bonus multiplier.
So, the mainly agreed upon first appearance of the leprechaun is in “This Little Wiggy” (S9:E18). At the end of the episode, the leprechaun appears over Ralph’s shoulder. Apparently the leprechaun is responsible for Ralph’s penchant for burning things. I don’t know about you, but this brings a whole new meaning to his 8 hour task in TSTO.
“You’ve done grand laddy! Now ya know what ya have to do. Burn the house down! Burn ‘em all!”
I really like this episode but thought it would be kind of cool to show you an appearance by a leprechaun way before this one. In “Bart’s Inner Child” (S5:E7), Brad Goodman plays a prominent part. Among his ideas of “Owning Your Okayness” and “Adjusting Your Self-O-Stat” is his “Feel Bad Rainbow”. Personality disorders in the rainbow include “depression, insomnia, motor-mouth, darting eyes, indecisiveness, bossiness, uncontrollable falling down, Geriatric Profanity Disorder (or GPD), and chronic nagging”. Check out the mascot for his rainbow and tell me that’s not an early version of the little fella.
I think the most well known appearance of the leprechaun is in the “Hex and the City” segment of Treehouse of Horror XII (S13:E1). The Simpsons family is cursed by a gypsy and the only cure appears to be a leprechaun. It’s apparently really easy to catch one too. Just dig a hole and pour Lucky Charms into it. Just be ready to also catch imps, faeries, pixies, goblins, nymphs, nyads, wood sprites and Katie Couric before finding your prey.
Also important to note that leprechauns and gypsies take to each other like birds and bees. There is an upside though… weddings by Yoda.
We go a couple seasons with no sightings but in “Mommie Beerest” (S16:E7), Moe’s is closed down by the health inspector and the boys throw the bar a good old fashioned Irish wake. Among the mourners are Duffman in Black, Surly and the Leprechaun.
For our next installment of Irish festivity, we turn to Season 18, Episode 9: “Kill Gil Volume I & II”. Gil is free-loading on the Simpsons’ dime. His time squatting in the living room spans a whole mess of holidays including St. Patrick’s Day. Check out his festive enjoyment with Kirk Van Houten, Eleanor Abernathy and the leprechaun.
My favorite part of this little vignet is Santa’s Little Helper squaring off against the leprechaun.
In Season 18, Episode 22: “You Kent Always Say What You Want” (also the 400th episode btw), Marge is late to meet the kids after school and the car won’t start. What to do? Well, run through Springfield to get there of course. This is a hilarious scene but among all the funniness is Marge passing the Springfield St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Marching in the parade of course is the leprechaun. Too funny that she downs a pint while passing them too.
Next up, “All About Lisa” (S19:E20). You’d have to watch the episode for it to make sense but Bart and Homer have taken up coin collecting. One of the many places they go to find coins is inside the Luck O’ the Irish Wishing Well.
The leprechaun is none too happy with them stealing his coins and protects his booty with some fisticuffs. He also gets trapped inside the well by Homer and Bart which explains why he comes with the wishing well in TSTO.
In “Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes” (S20:E1), it starts off the way any good episode should with Boba Fett and St. Patrick’s day. Springfield is having it’s St. Paddy’s day parade but due to Mayor Quimby’s announcement of a booze-free event and the concurrent celebration by the Northern Irish, hugging and violence commence.
The antagonism between the two sides of Irish is funny but actually hits home for me. My family is Northern Irish and let’s just say wearing orange to school on St. Patty’s day is a great way to get pinched. Leading the Catholic Irish is our favorite green little guy. I’d also love if his orange cousin would join us this Patty’s day.
The next appearance is up for debate. In Season 20, Episode 14: “In the Name of the Grandfather”, the entire family jaunts off to Ireland to fulfill Grampa Simpson’s bucket list. This episode is more known for the appearance of Tom O’Flanagans Pub (also part of TSTO St. Patrick’s Day 2013), but doesn’t this look like our leprechaun friend?
I also think the pilot for Derry Air looks a bit like him.
If for nothing else, this episode does show us leprechauns we could have gotten instead of the one we did. Grampa calls them the “Yupprechauns”. I’m like the green and orange guys better.
The last little blip of the leprechaun comes in “Them, Robot” (S23:E17). The couch gag for this episode includes Leon Kompowsky, Stampy, Poochie and Ghost Maude Flanders among some other great shots. Don’t you worry Princess Penelope, I’ll always love you and Anne Hathaway. The gag is the family sitting on the couch as the years pass on from 1989 to 2012. For the year 1997, the leprechaun pops in over the Simpsons’ TV set. “This Little Wiggy” aired 22 Mar 1998 so my guess is the writers came up with the idea and started animating in 1997.
Well, that about sums up this post about the leprechaun. I sincerely hope we are only a day or two away from him re-joining the game. I also hope EA has some other goodies in store for us for St. Paddy’s Day. If the episode tie-in dialogue is any clue, it’s about to be a green fest in our towns.
Well, I’m off. Comment away below and know I’ve gotten everything furry that I can crossed for some future amazingness. Just remember that when you’re building your town in TSTO, Andre the Archangel advises you don’t use Leprechaun Labor ever, just don’t do it. (Season 16, Episode 19: “Thank God it’s Doomsday”)
TTFN… Wookiee out!