It's been almost ten years since Edna Krabappel said goodbye to The Simpsons following the passing of the original voice actress, Marcia Wallace, in 2013. Faced with the refusal to hire a new performer for the character, the creatives and producers behind the long-running cartoon finally introduced the replacement of Bart Simpson's teacher. It's about Ms. Peyton, an African-American teacher voiced by Kerry Washington.
The first glimpse of the character was given in a trailer titled “My Octopus and a Teacher”, where she asks her students to make portraits of themselves to get to know them better. “This way, I can see you the way you look,” the children are heard saying. As he watches how all of them are drawing versions of them, he is suddenly struck by the strange behavior of Bart, who has filled his rubber sheet and pretends to be a monster.
The protagonist of Scandal and Little Fires Everywhere brings to life Rayshelle Peyton, a very capable, albeit inexperienced teacher, who has been in charge of the classroom where Bart Simpson studies. Initially, it will be difficult for Homer's eldest son to accept the presence of Krabappel's replacement, so the new teacher will try to reach him and gain his trust to know what really happens to him.
“She's a great teacher,” Washington said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “But like all the best teachers, she knows that her students have as much to teach her as she has to teach them. And teaching Bart is a job full of opportunities for growth,” he added.
Edna Krabappel's farewell in The Simpsons
The much-loved Edna Krabappel gave her last farewell in the 25th season when Ned Flanders, her husband, dreams of dancing a tango both with her and one of her students, Nelson, joins this vision claiming that he will miss her too. Later, in another chapter, Bart also gives him a dedication: “We will miss you, Mrs. K”.
In 2021, The Simpsons once again honored the late Marcia Wallace with “The Queen's Diary”, an episode in which Bart finds Krabappel's diary and learns how much she believed in it. It is narrated by the same voice actress thanks to audio files that were recorded by the production. The moment undoubtedly moved the audience again, because it was the precise moment when his most rebellious student needed to believe in himself again and be inspired to move forward.
Throughout this time, there have been other yellow figures who have tried to make up for the teacher's absence, but have failed to remain. Some of them were the vengeful Professor Jack Lassen (Willem Dafoe), Sergeant Carol Berrera (Sofia Vergara) and Flanders himself. “I don't know why we postponed it,” said executive producer Carolyn Omine about replacing the character for EW. “I miss our dear Marcia, and I think there was a bit of sadness and reluctance to do it, but it's been nine years. We had a conversation at least once a year, maybe every two years. We really couldn't decide.”
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