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Homer Looking at Map (Artwork) "Snowball" redirects here.

For other uses of Snowball see Snowball (disambiguation).

Snowball I was the Simpsons' first cat who died before the start of the series. She is mentioned occasionally and sometimes seen in flashbacks.

Biography[]

Snowball I was first mentioned in "Simpsons Roasting On an Open Fire", in a family Christmas letter Marge is writing. She explains that Snowball I had died that year[1], but they got a new cat to replace her, Snowball II. This episode was not the first produced, and the Simpsons are depicted as having a pet cat in both "Moaning Lisa" and "The Telltale Head" which were produced earlier. It's unclear if the cat seen in these episodes is supposed to be Snowball I, or if Snowball I's death happened sometime before Season I began, but the latter seems likely, given the cat seen in the two pre-Christmas episodes is black, not white. Based on a memorial photograph we see of her in Lisa's room in one episode, Snowball I was five years old when she died.

Snowball I is usually portrayed having green eyes and white fur, hence her name. The humor of Snowball II's name comes from the fact that unlike Snowball I, she is a black cat. However, in one episode Snowball I is depicted as being black too (see image on the right).

Snowball 1

White Snowball I

According to Lisa in one of her poems, Snowball I was run over by a Chrysler, as mentioned by Homer in "'Round Springfield". She later claimed Snowball I was run over by Clovis Quimby, the drunkard brother of Mayor Quimby.

Snowball I's burial spot has not been consistent. Sometimes she is depicted as being buried in the Springfield Pet Cemetery, located next to Antonio's Ice Palace. In one episode, however, she is buried in the Simpsons' backyard, next to their various other dead cats.


Snowball 1 in heaven

Snowball I in Heaven

Snowball I portrait

Black Snowball I's portrait

Snowball frozen

Snowball frozen

Life after death[]

Snowball is a rare example of a character who predates the show's on-screen continuity, along with Marge's late father. She is only mentioned in dialogue or occasionally seen in flashbacks.

In one episode, Ms. Albright tells Lisa that Snowball I cannot go to Heaven because it is just for humans. This is later proven false in "Bart Gets Hit By a Car" when Bart sees an angel version of Snowball I (complete with tire tracks) during his near-death experience.

Sideshow Bob used Snowball I's name (along with those of many other dead people and animals) to pad the voter rolls and get elected mayor of Springfield in 'Sideshow Bob Roberts". This angered Lisa much more than Bob's repeated attempts to kill Bart.[2]

Non-canon[]

Ssi 5 The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened/existed.

In "Treehouse of Horror III", Bart and Lisa try to bring back Snowball I using a zombie spell in the pet cemetery, but instead awaken an army of human zombies in the nearby Springfield Cemetery.

In the "Treehouse of Horror XIV" segment "Reaper Madness" Homer claims that he killed the Grim Reaper as revenge for killing Snowball I and John F. Kennedy.

Behind the Laughter[]

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 cat box 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’œuvre." Also, in The Simpsons Holiday Humdinger, it reads, "As this snow sculpture thaws on the first warm day, so will our hearts melt whenever we think of you."

A passage in Cartooning With the Simpsons reads, "Dedicated to the memory of Snowball I: You may be gone, but we still remember how to draw you." Many other Simpsons books are dedicated to her, but the dedications ceased in 2005.

Trivia[]

  • By looking the original cut for the Season 1 Some Enchanted Evening episode, you can see that as Lisa and Bart get money and leave to go to their school, a cat with a striking resemblance to Snowball II could be seen dashing through the doorway before Lisa and Bart head off. This cat is not shown at any point in the final version of the episode at all. Normally, it would be safe to say that that cat is Snowball II, but you would have to understand that this episode was produced prior to Snowball II's introduction (this episode was actually produced before every single other episode on the whole show). Basically, this means that this episode would have been Snowball I's only appearance on the show alive without the usage of any flashbacks or fantasies (albeit with a very early design), but the episode getting mostly reanimated prevented this from happening.
  • XRecorder 17062024 081604

    Here's photographic proof.

S29e08 snowball

Snowball and Baby Lisa

Appearances[]

Citations[]

The Simpsons Characters
The Simpsons and relatives
Homer SimpsonMarge SimpsonBart SimpsonLisa SimpsonMaggie Simpson
Santa's Little HelperSnowball IIAbraham SimpsonPatty BouvierSelma BouvierMona SimpsonJacqueline BouvierLing BouvierHerb Powell
Around Springfield
Jasper BeardlyComic Book GuyBarney GumbleMaude FlandersNed FlandersProfessor FrinkGil GundersonJulius HibbertLionel HutzHelen LovejoyReverend Timothy LovejoyCaptain Horatio McCallisterAkiraHans MolemanMarvin MonroeBleeding Gums MurphyApu NahasapeemapetilonMayor Joe QuimbyDr. Nick RivieraAgnes SkinnerCletus SpucklerDisco StuSqueaky-Voiced TeenMoe SzyslakSam and LarryKirk Van HoutenLuann Van HoutenClancy WiggumEddieLouCrazy Cat LadyLindsey NaegleCookie KwanWiseguyBrandine SpucklerThe Yes GuySanjay NahasapeemapetilonBlue-haired LawyerJudge Roy SnyderRich TexanLuigi RisottoOld Jewish ManMrs. Glick
Media Personalities
Itchy & ScratchyKent BrockmanKrusty the ClownTroy McClureSideshow MelRainier Wolfcastle | Arnie PyeRadioactive ManDuffmanBumblebee ManBill and MartyDrederick TatumMr. TeenyScott ChristianBooberellaGabboLurleen LumpkinCelebrities
Springfield Elementary School faculty and students
Superintendant ChalmersSeymour SkinnerEdna KrabappelElizabeth HooverGroundskeeper WillieOtto MannLunchlady DorisDewey LargoRayshelle PeytonDr. J. Loren PyrorMilhouse Van HoutenRalph WiggumNelson MuntzMartin PrinceRod FlandersTodd FlandersSherri and TerriWendell BortonDatabaseJimbo JonesKearney ZzyzwiczDolph StarbeamÜter ZörkerJaney PowellLewisRichardBashir bin Laden
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Charles Montgomery BurnsWaylon SmithersCarl CarlsonLenny LeonardCharlieBlinky
Villains
Snake JailbirdKang & KodosHermanSideshow BobFat TonyFrankie the SquealerJohnny TightlipsLegs and Louie
Families
The SimpsonsThe BouviersThe FlandersThe Van HoutensThe Wiggums
Guest Stars
Matt GroeningConan O'BrienStan LeeStephen HawkingMark ZuckerbergLady GagaElon MuskLizzoTaika Waititi
Miscellaneous
Fictional charactersOne-Time CharactersLGBT charactersParodied celebritiesAnimals
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