Russell ''Russ'' Cargill is the main antagonist of The Simpsons Movie. He was the leader of the EPA and the Head of the Dome operation in The Simpsons Movie. At first, he seemed to have been acting out for the safety for the environment, but he gradually goes mad with power, and plans to blow up all of Springfield with a powerful time bomb.
History
Russ mentioned he went to Harvard Business School. Russ was the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Commander and described himself as a rich and successful man assigned to the least successful department of the government. He is first seen after a mutated squirrel is captured in Springfield and presents it to President Schwarzenegger. He then proposes five different solutions to the mass pollution in Springfield. The president choses number three without reading, number three was seal Springfield in a glass dome. He appears to the townsfolk via a giant holographic screen and explains that Springfield is being contained because of high intoxicating levels in the polluted lake where the squirrel mutated. He also pointed that despite the fact that the town agreed to stop polluting the lake, somebody didn't get the message. Eventually, the townspeople found out that Homer was the one who polluted the lake by dumping a pig silo into it after ignoring the signs not to dump there, so they tried to kill him and his family. However, the Simpsons escapes the dome through a sinkhole. With the knowledge that Homer is responsible for what happened, Russ orders extreme and somewhat strange measures to be taken in support of the containment of the town, as well as the capture of the Simpsons. One of his henchmen responds by claiming, "Sir, I'm afraid you've gone mad with power!" to which Cargill responds, "Of course I have. Have you ever tried going mad without power? It's boring; no one listens to you."
Cargill later appears once again discussing with the president, about a solution to dispose of Springfield and takes advantage of Schwarzenegger's attitude towards reading plans, tricking him into choosing a particular plan, number four, which is blow up Springfield with a dangerous nuclear bomb. Later, Russ appears at a train station in Seattle after learning that Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie are on a train headed there (thanks to the NSA tracking their location through a train conductor robot) and sends his troops in to capture them and return them to the dome in order to murder them by blowing up Springfield. When the family are brought back after Homer's failed attempt to rescue them, Russ contacts the town once again via the screen and tells them that the EPA is going to blow up Springfield and everybody within the dome. A helicopter arrives, lifts a plug off the top of the dome and lowers the bomb on a rope in front of the now-destroyed City Hall. Russ impatiently oversees the countdown, and Cletus Spuckler distracts him so the townspeople can escape up the rope. Homer, who has climbed the outside of the dome, jumps through the hole and knocks everyone and the bomb off of the rope and accidentally brings forward the detonation timer, prompting Russ to disappear at this point. After Homer sees to it that the bomb detonates outside the dome and destroying it, a worn and battered Cargill wielding a shotgun ambushes Homer and Bart at Springfield Gorge and prepares to murder them in a final attack, but Bart Simpson pranked him about the "Treasure of Ima Weiner". Russ isn't amused and raises the shotgun at Homer and Bart, but before he could commit the murders, he is suddenly struck in the head by a large rock shoved off from a nearby ledge by Maggie before he can fire a single shot. After the EPA's plan to blow up Springfield failed, it is unknown what happened to him.
He was rumored to appear in "Sky Police", but this has proven to be false.
Criminal Record
Attempted Mass Murder: He nearly blew-up Springfield with a bomb.
Murder: A man was crushed by the dome.
Attempted Murder: He tries to murder Homer and Bart by shooting them.
Unlicensed Use of a Firearm: He had a shotgun and possibly didn't have a license for it.
Manipulation: He manipulated the President into allowing him permission to blow up the town.
Drugging: He arranged for his men to knock out and incarcerate Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie (presumably without medical degrees) through the use of anesthetics.
Unlawful imprisonment: He trapped all the Springfielders in a dome.
Kidnapping: He captured the Simpsons Family (excluding Homer) and put them in a van. Homer eventually came to destroy the van but he was hit by a wrecking ball and smashed into multiple things before he was crushed by the ball, leaving the van to get away.
Non-Canon appearances
He was seen in Simpsons Comics The Death of Comic Book Guy Part 2. In it, he is giving President Arnold Schwarzenegger the news that people won't be insulted on the Internet anymore. Schwarzenegger then says that he thought that he had fired him and does so after he's finished telling him. Later, in the same comic, he is seen working for Mayor Quimby and telling him about the fight between the nerds and the geeks. He also appeared in The Walking Ned as a zombie alongside other deceased characters from the show. This suggests he was actually killed by the boulder rather than knocked out.
In "Treehouse of Horror XXVI", he appears in Bob's fiendbook feed in Wanted: Dead, Then Alive. It is stated in his post that he is holding the ten year dome reunion.
He was seen in the original promo of "Treehouse of Horror XXVII" trying to kill the Simpson family, but was cut from the actual episode.
He also appeared in The Simpsons: Tapped Out as a limited time premium character for purchase in the store during the Secret Agent 2017 event.
Behind the Laughter
In The Simpsons Movie, Russ Cargill is voiced by Albert Brooks. His character went through many changes over the course of its development. An early version of the White House scene in the movie (available as a deleted scene in the Simpsons Movie DVD) shows an older and dorky model of Russ Cargill, who is arguably less menacing and antagonistic than the current incarnation. The older version is also the version given out in Burger King Kid's Meals promoting the movie.
It was also originally intended for him to be defeated by President Schwarzenegger with a tree branch, but it was changed to Maggie with a boulder.
Russ Cargill was not the first villain intended for The Simpsons Movie. The original villain was supposed to be Hank Scorpio from the Season 8 episode "You Only Move Twice" (also voiced by Albert Brooks), but was replaced by Cargill in the final film. While the reason for the final change is unknown, it is likely due a number of reasons, those including:
- Hank Scorpio's friendship with Homer.
- Confused mainstream audiences who didn't see his debut episode.
- And the producers wanting a full on villain but Hank was "too nice".
Trivia
- Despite Homer making a mistake in the movie that made everyone hate him but after he saved everyone, they probably hate Cargil more than Homer now since he made a much bigger mistake, but they didn't try kill him because it's possible they've seen what monsters they were trying to kill Homer, and had Cargill arrested instead.
- It is unknown how Cargill's clothes got ripped and torn before facing Homer and Bart outside Springfield. However, there is a possibility that he and his team were outside of the dome before it was destroyed. Another possibility is that he climbed up the gorge, ripping his clothes in the process.
- The idea for him could have possibly been based on Bill Clinton's Vice President Al Gore as like Cargill, Al Gore is an environmentalist.
- Russ Cargill aiming his double-barreled shotgun at Homer Simpson contains stock footage from "Treehouse of Horror XVI" of Mr. Burns aiming his double-barreled pump action shotgun at Comic Book Guy.
- Russ Cargill's double-barreled shotgun appears to be a break action, straight grip stock, one trigger inside a trigger guard, no opening lever, a front sight on top between the two barrels, and has two hammers.
- Russ Cargill is the only villain whose fate is ambiguous, as The Walking Ned is non-canon, leaving no confirmation of his death.
- Kirk Douglas, Jeff Daniels, John Malkovich, Liam Neeson, Robert De Niro, J.K. Simmons, Robin Williams, Steve Carell and Christopher Lloyd were all considered for the role before Albert Brooks was cast.
Appearances
- – The Simpsons Movie
- Episode – "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs" (Opening Sequence only)
- Comic book – The Death of Comic Book Guy, Part 2
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXVI" (Appears in Bob's fiendbook feed in Wanted: Dead, Then Alive)
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXVII" (Originally)
- Video game – The Simpsons: Tapped Out
Gallery
| |||
---|---|---|---|
Russ Cargill • Colin • Medicine Woman • Plopper • Multi-eyed squirrel • Arnold Schwarzenegger • Panicky Man • Bomb Disarming Robot |