Springfield Mafia
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Founded by | Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico, Don Vittorio DiMaggio, Legs and Louie |
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Founding location | Springfield, Nebraska |
Years active | 1974?-present |
Territory | Little Italy and other various neighborhoods over Springfield |
Ethnicity | Italian, Italian-American |
Criminal activities | Racketeering,conspiracy,loansharking, Gambling, Trafficking, Bookmaking, Bootlegging, money laundering and murder |
Allies | None |
Rivals | Springfield Police Department, Calabresi Crime Family, Castellaneta Crime Family and local Yakuza gangs |
The Springfield Mafia is a fictional Italian organized crime syndicate based in Springfield in the animated television series The Simpsons. The premier family among the Springfield Mafia is the D'Amico Crime Family.
Members
Bosses
- Boss - Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico
- Acting bosses while Fat Tony is in hospital - Bart Simpson/Homer Simpson/Michael D'Amico ("The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer")
- Don Vittorio DiMaggio (as seen in "Homie the Clown", voiced by Hank Azaria with a stereotypical Italian accent, he may be the true don with Fat Tony being the underboss or a figurehead)
Soldiers and Associates
- Legs
- Louie
- Johnny Tightlips
- Michael D'Amico
- Joey
- Frankie the Squealer
- Jimmy the Snitch
Bios
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.
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.
Johnny Tightlips
Jonathan "Johnny Tightlips" Schmallippe, 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. He is assumed to be a similar character to that of Clamps, from the brother show of Simpsons, Futurama.
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."[1]
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.
He was seen shooting Frankie the Squealer (see below) in Reaper Madness (he wouldn't die since Death was killed by Homer's Bowling Ball).
The German word "Schmallippe" translates to "tight lip."
Frankie the Squealer
Frankie the Squealer, 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 [him] feel big"[1]), even squealing on himself one time. On several occasions, the mob has attempted to kill him for his squealing, though they have repeatedly been unsuccessful. However, he was once seen dead on the ocean floor with his feet in a concrete block.[episode needed]
Frankie first appeared in episode Insane Clown Poppy where his squealing habits are introduced after he squeals on himself for squealing. He is taken to a room by Louie and Legs who tie him to a chair and beat him up. Homer witnesses how Louie and Legs beat up Frankie and tell him to "never squeal again", almost immediately, Frankie squeals again by saying "Did you know that Fat Tony's first name is Marion?", after he says that, Legs says "You just don't get it, do ya?" and proceeds to keep beating up Frankie.
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 ice cream 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.
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 $48).
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 this episode Fat Tony and his crew clashed with The Yakuza, to an unknown outcome.
The Mafia is also involved in tobacco traffic, a seen in "Bart the Murderer". When Springfield re-enacts Prohibition, naturally Fat Tony and crew pay off the cops to allow them to sneak in alcohol.
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 in the Simpson family's garden. A resident of that particular household (Marge Simpson) has admitted to bringing them lemonade.
Other mafia families facing the D'Amico Crime family
Calabresi Crime Family
This crime family plays a critical role in the episode "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and His Homer," but it has not previously played a role in The Simpsons canon, and the episode seems to end with the family's demise.
Boss
- Dante Calabresi, Sr. (deceased), voiced by Joe Pantoliano
Soldiers
- Dante Calabresi, Jr. (deceased), voiced by Michael Imperioli
- Unnamed (deceased), voiced by Dan Castellaneta. The Unnamed man's role resembles that of Luca Brasi.
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.
Boss
- Francis Castellaneta
References
- ^ a b ""Insane Clown Poppy"". The Simpsons Archive. Retrieved 2008-04-12.