The Simpsons: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Milhouse

Bart Simpson’s best friend is the blue-haired Milhouse Van Houten. Like many Simpsons characters, he’s had it tough. Constantly the target of bullies, hopelessly in love with Lisa Simpson and living in the shadow with Bart is the version of Milhouse we see most often, but we also can’t forget his rather distressing home life.

He has been a key character in the show since its conception way back in the late 1980s, but there are bound to be a few things that even the most committed fans didn’t know or might have forgotten about. Here are ten facts about Milhouse.

10 His Birthday Is July 1st, 1980

The idea of giving any character in The Simpsons an actual birthday is a complex one. On the one hand, they’re supposed to be humans, and as such, they were born. On the other, the show has been around for thirty years and not a single character has visibly aged (though some of their voices…). The fact that Milhouse is born on July 1^st means that, technically, he is now a forty-year-old man. Let that sink in.

9 He Has Been ‘Cool’ Twice

If there is one defining trait that has stuck with the unlucky Van Houten child throughout the entirety of The Simpsons, it’s that he isn’t cool.

However, there have been two occasions that have allowed him to explore a new side of himself: the first came when his parents were lost at sea; the second came when he decided to dye his hair blonde and take on an arrogant new attitude that other kids began to copy.

8 His Therapist Blocked His Number

If there is one thing that sums up just how much people look down on poor Milhouse, it’s this. He had a therapist for a long time, presumably to talk him through his rather upsetting life, but after he kept calling and asking for advice, even she had to block his phone number. That was so many years ago now that we really wonder how he’s getting on.

7 He Has An Uncle Called Norbert

Norbert was actually involved in one of those two brief periods in which Milhouse was considered cool. While Milhouse’s parents were missing, it came down to Bart to console him, which he did by bringing over Norbert from California.

He is a committed Indiana Jones parody, complete with hat and whip, and is able to fly Bart and Milhouse around the world in a hot air balloon.

6 He And Bart Bonded Over Milk

We are often treated to flashbacks and stories that fill in the gaps of the past lives of Springfield residents. One of those showed the first time Bart and Milhouse bonded. It was a simple affair: Bart made Milhouse laugh so hard that milk came out of his nose. The rest was history.

5 He Is Fluent In Italian

There is a MENSA group in Springfield that Lisa Simpson (Milhouse’s biggest crush) is involved in, and an organization within the school that collects all of the cleverest students. Milhouse is involved in neither because his depicted as of pretty average intelligence throughout.

However, something that isn’t mentioned very often is that he is actually fluent in Italian thanks to his family heritage. That’s really quite impressive for a ten-year-old.

4 He Once Loosened All The Screws At Springfield Elementary

Bart and Milhouse are known to get in a lot of trouble together throughout the course of The Simpsons, but sometimes things get taken a little too far. One of those times came when Milhouse made his way around Springfield Elementary loosening every Phillips-head screw so that everything inside the building (including the sandwiches) would fall down. That could have quite easily caused some deaths…

3 He Dated Greta Wolfcastle

One of the most powerful figures of Hollywood fame in Springfield is Rainier Wolfcastle. In one episode, we are introduced to his daughter, who ends up in a relationship with Bart.

When he gets bored, she ends up with Milhouse, who ended up being able to visit Hollywood sets thanks to his newfound girlfriend. This is a pretty crazy period in his life that you think he would reminisce about more often.

2 He Has Had A Variety Of Futures

The future versions of Simpsons characters are always non-canonical as they depict so many potential worlds that can’t all come true. Some future versions of Milhouse include: He attained a Nuclear Engineering degree and worked at the plant; he married Lisa and they had a child called Zia; he became a zombie; he admitted to Bart that their little league game was fabricated all those years ago.

1 He Has A Cameo In The Lego Movie

Out of nowhere, The Lego Movie was a smash hit. Everyone in the world knew they were going to watch a two-hour-long advert for some toys, but it was impossible to ignore the charming animation, brilliantly meta-story and great humor. He doesn’t speak, but pay attention when we are introduced to the Master Builders; he is at the forefront of their Lego-building team.