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  • 2022-07-18 (xsd:date)
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  • Who is 'Graggle Simpson'? (en)
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  • Fans of the long-running animated show The Simpsons are probably aware the Simpson family consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and Graggle. Wait, Graggle? According to an internet rumor, the show once featured an odd-looking character named Graggle (or Gumbly) who has since been lost to history. Neither Gumbly nor Graggle Simpson have ever appeared on The Simpsons. The above-displayed image has been doctored. Images of the nonexistent character Graggle often circulate along with messages about the Mandela Effect, a term that refers to a collective false memory. For example, many people incorrectly remember comedian Sinbad's starring as a genie in a movie called Shazam, Ed McMahon's being the spokesperson for Publisher's Clearing House, and former South African president Nelson Mandela's dying in prison in the 1980s (hence, the Mandela Effect). In the case of Graggle Simpson, however, we're not dealing with a population of people who truly believe that they remember a nonexistent character. Rather, images of Graggle (or Gumbly) Simpson were created as a hoax in order to mimic, mock, or possibly fabricate an instance of the Mandela Effect. Know Your Meme traced the first instance of Graggle/Gumbly being digitally inserted into a scene with The Simpsons back to a 2015 posting on the image board 2chan. While this was the first instance of Graggle being associated with The Simpsons, KYM notes that the character can actually be traced back a bit further to 2011. Before becoming Graggle, the character was known Nan-j min, one of the mascots of 2chan. The meme picked up steam in 2021 as internet users started photoshopping this character into actual scenes from The Simpsons. Some falsely claimed that Simpsons creator Matt Groening introduced the character as a version of himself and that Groening had been inserting the character into the show since its debut season in the 1989. Others falsely claimed that Graggle was a modern phenomenon that was added to the show circa 2015 to attract new viewers. These claims were all false and were based on doctored images. (Sidenote: The Simpsons spoofed the idea of adding new characters to spice up the show in a season 8 episode that featured the The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show.) In June 2022, Vice spoke to one of the people attempting to will this nonexistent character into The Simpsons. Graggle Simpson does not exist. And while some people may generally misremember the spelling of The Berenstain Bears, the claim that a large number of people remember this character appearing on The Simpsons is just another internet hoax. (en)
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