The death of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, not only leaves football in mourning, but pop culture.
The Brazilian, the only three-time world champion in history, became one of the best-known faces on the planet. And this could not go unnoticed in a television phenomenon that was born in the late 80s, The Simpson.
The star appeared in several episodes of The Simpsons, as a character or as a reference. There is even one, the most important performance of him, where the creators of the series make fun of his mercantilist attitude.
Pelé’s image, as a transcendental figure in 20th century sport, was linked to many large companies, such as Pepsi, Mastercard, Louis Vuitton, Emirates or Hublot. The writers of The Simpsons took advantage of the vein to present it in 1997.
The main episode of The Simpsons where Pelé appeared:
The biggest episode he was in was in “The Cartridge Family”, or “A dangerous family”, fifth of the ninth season (1997). Before a game between Mexico and Portugal in Springfield, where the family attended, Pelé made the presentation.
“Look, there’s Pelésays Lisa, pointing to the field.
The player, dressed entirely in white (like Santos’ uniform), greets the crowd with these words: “Pelé is the king of soccer. To make stuffing for the kitchen, use waxed paper Loches”.
Immediately afterwards, he receives a bag of money from the organizer and leaves.
The voice in English was made by Hank Azaria, and the literal translation of what was said is: “Pele is the king of the soccer field: to be the king of your kitchen, use Campo waxed paper.” It was a pun on fields.
Mentions to the Brazilian legend
In other episodes of The Simpsons, O Rei was only mentioned. For example in “EIEI”, or “Homer the Farmer”, fifth episode of season 11 (1999), during the movie The Poke of Zorro.
Or in “Brother from the Same Planet”, titled in “Hispano-America Big brother, little brother”, which was the 14th episode of the fourth season (1993), where Nelson says that he is going to Pelé’s camp.
Also, it was the cover of a Radioactive Man comic book in the episode “Marge’s Son Poisoning”, or “The poisoning of Marge’s son”, fifth episode of season 17 (2005).
Criticized or merely mentioned, Pelé’s appearances on The Simpsons represented his importance to the culture. pop and the reference to O Rei as an important figure of the 20th century.
