Snowball (The Simpsons)

From Simpsons Wiki

Snowball, Snowball II, Snowball III, Coltrane, and Snowball V are five fictional cats that have been owned by the Simpson family in the TV show The Simpsons. The differences between them are:

• Snowball I, a white female cat who died and only briefly appeared in a flashback in the series, but has been mentioned numerous times.
• Snowball II, a black female cat which was the cat owned from the first episode up until her death in the episode "I, D'oh-Bot".
• Snowball III, a brown male cat that only appeared in "I D'oh-Bot"
• Coltrane, a white male cat that only appeared in "I D'oh-Bot".
• Snowball II/Snowball V, a black female cat that first appeared in "I D'oh-Bot" and has been the family cat ever since. In order to save money on a new dish, Snowball V was renamed Snowball II. She is the current cat owned by the family.

The various Snowballs have mainly been in the background but have been featured in several episodes, including "Old Yeller Belly", "The Seven-Beer Snitch" and the aforementioned "I D'oh-Bot".

Snowball

Snowball, also known as Snowball I, was the Simpsons' first cat. Her death (by car accident) was never seen in the actual series, since it occurred "before" the show's continuity began. She was first mentioned in the series premiere in a Christmas letter Marge was writing where she explains that Snowball I had died that year. In "Treehouse of Horror III", a picture of Snowball I (as a black cat) is shown with the words "1988-90" underneath and Lisa says "she died four years ago tonight" (although that particular episode aired in 1992): because that episode is a Halloween episode, it is possible she died on Halloween of 1990.

Snowball I has been shown both as a black cat (in a picture in "Treehouse of Horror III") and a white cat (the above and below screenshots). Snowball was, according to Lisa in a poem, run over by a Chrysler. At a later point it emerged that Snowball was run over by Clovis Quimby, drunkard brother of Mayor Quimby (in a parody of what could be any of the Kennedy brothers, Roger Clinton, Jr., or even Billy Carter). Snowball was so-named due to her white-colored fur, though in a few occasions in the series, Snowball I is pictured similar to Snowball II. Although the Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Albright, tells Lisa that Snowball cannot go to Heaven, this proves to be wrong as Snowball has been seen in heaven by characters who have undergone near-death experiences, including Bart, and sometimes in flashback sequences. Due to election forgery, Snowball was listed as posthumously voting for Sideshow Bob. There is evidence that the family owned a similar white cat before Snowball I: In a flashback to "five years ago" in Lisa's Sax, a much whiter cat is seen and in the episode "And Maggie Makes Three", a young Bart is seen riding a white cat in a photograph, which is presumed to be Snowball I.

In real life, many Simpsons books are jokingly dedicated to her. For example, in The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (in which she is mistakenly colored black), the dedication reads, "We hope that they change your catbox in kitty heaven more often than we did down here." In The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror: Fun-Filled Frightfest, published by HarperCollins in 2003, the more morbid dedication reads "We're sorry you're gone. You would have made a tasty hors d'oeuvre." Also, The Simpsons Holiday Humdinger, published by the same company in 2004, says, "As this snow sculpture thaws on the first warm day, so will our hearts melt whenever we think of you."

Snowball II

Not to be confused with the family's fifth cat.

Snowball II was the Simpson family's second cat. Snowball II was named after Snowball I. Though Snowball I had white fur, which obviously inspired her name, Snowball II had black fur.

She first appeared in "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", where it is explained that Snowball I had died the previous year and they had gotten Snowball II. Neither Snowball I or II were seen or mentioned in the Tracey Ullman Shorts. Snowball II received little attention in the series, although she appeared in many episodes.

Snowball II and Santa's Little Helper have always been shown as having a good relationship; usually they are seen sleeping near each other, prompting Marge to remark in the episode "Fear of Flying" that they should get married because "they've been living in sin." In the "Fly Vs. Fly" segment of "Treehouse of Horror VIII", SLH chases Snowball II into a transport device and their DNA gets mixed. Two different animals emerge: one with both Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II's heads (similar to a Catdog), the other with their rear ends. Snowball II also found a love interest in Scratchy in the "Terror of the Tiny Toon" segment of "Treehouse of Horror IX".

Her largest role was in the fourteenth season episode "Old Yeller Belly", in which Snowball II saves Homer from a burning treehouse built by the Amish after Santa's Little Helper runs away. She also had minor roles in "Bart Gets an Elephant", where she tries to get attention, in "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds", in which she is scared by the many puppies and in Make Room for Lisa, in which Lisa has a hallucination in which she becomes Snowball II.

In "I, D'oh-Bot", Snowball II was hit and killed by Dr. Hibbert's Mercedes-Benz G500.

Snowball III

Snowball III was the third cat owned by The Simpsons. Snowball III was a male cat that was brown in color. Lisa adopts him from an animal shelter shortly after the death of Snowball II. She passes over a skunk, a siamese cat, and a cat with an eye infection before finally deciding upon Snowball III. He drowns trying to catch a goldfish in an aquarium while Lisa was preparing his cat food in the kitchen for the first time. A full funeral was held for him.

Coltrane

Coltrane was the Simpsons' fourth cat. His name is a reference to John Coltrane, who was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Lisa adopts him from an animal shelter shortly after the death of Snowball III. Originally, she was not sure whether she wanted another cat, but his name won her over. Upon bringing him home, Lisa decides to play Coltrane "some music by his namesake" (the song "Impressions"). The music frightens Coltrane and he jumps out the window, to his death. Coltrane was the only cat (except for Snowball I) that was actually white whereas previous and future cats named "Snowball" are black or brown.

Snowball V (Snowball II)

Snowball V is the Simpsons' fifth cat and looks exactly like Snowball II. In "I, D'oh-Bot", the Crazy Cat Lady throws a cat at Lisa while she is mourning the death of the other three cats that appear in the episode. Lisa then tells the cat to leave, because any cat that she owns is unlucky and is certain to be killed. As the cat starts to cross Evergreen Terrace, a car, driven by Gil, drives past. Gil swerves; his car hits a tree and bursts into flames, thereby giving Gil insurance compensation for his meals. Since the cat is unhurt, Lisa takes it as a sign of good luck and adopts her.

Lisa renames Snowball V "Snowball II" at the end of the episode, in her words "to save money on a new dish", also vowing to pretend the whole thing never happened. Most viewers recognize this as the writers making a subtle self-jab at The Simpsons' often-forced tradition of maintaining a status quo continuity in the series. Principal Skinner, who happened to be walking by, asked "Isn't that a cheat?" to which Lisa replies, "I guess it is, Principal Tamzarian." (a reference to The Principal and the Pauper, another episode with a similar continuity gag at the end.)

Snowball V also was the focus of a subplot in the sixteenth season episode "The Seven-Beer Snitch", in which she becomes overweight after abandoning Lisa for brief periods to visit a different family that feeds her well and renames her "Smokey".

See also

• Simpson family
• List of animals in The Simpsons
• List of fictional cats