Stewie Griffin

Stewart Gilligan "Stewie" Griffin, voiced by Seth MacFarlane, is a fictitious character in the animated television series Family Guy. With Machiavellian tendencies and a wicked British accent, the toddler regularly plotted the demise of his doting mother Lois early in the series, and gradually underwent a change in character from "a Bond villain to a closet homosexual," says creator Seth MacFarlane on the DVD Commentary track for the episode "Fifteen Minutes of Shame".

Related Topics:
Seth MacFarlane - Animated television series - Family Guy - Machiavellian - British accent - Toddler - Mother - Lois - Bond villain - Homosexual - DVD - Fifteen Minutes of Shame

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Stewie's nose is drawn as a forward-pointing triangle, like that of his mother and sister. This is unusual because males in the series are very rarely drawn with such noses. Also unusual is Stewie's football-shaped head. An explanation is given for this in a flashback ("Stuck Together, Torn Apart"). Brian was babysitting him (he had a normal head at this point), and he was jumping on the bed. Brian tells him to stop at which point Stewie yells, "Shut up, you aren't my mother!" and jumps especially high, promptly smashing his head into the ceiling and flattening it into the football shape. (This contradicts flashbacks to Stewie's birth, when he has a football-shaped head.) Stewie has remarked that he's just not a hat person ("When You Wish Upon a Weinstein"). Regarding the size and shape of his own head, Stewie suggests he was either a C-section or Lois is Wonder Woman.

Related Topics:
Football - Stuck Together, Torn Apart - Brian - When You Wish Upon a Weinstein - C-section - Wonder Woman

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Stewie has a sophisticated style of both attitude and mannerism, but they sometimes interfere with childish interests which seems to be a conflict of his age and intelligence. He enjoys literature such as Faust and cites pop-culture references that date much farther back than his age would permit, but has also shown an affinity for children's singer Raffi and, like many children in the real world his age, had a brief, hypnotic attraction to the Teletubbies.

Related Topics:
Faust - Raffi - Teletubbies

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Stewie's voice and speech are very reminiscent of Dr. Zachary Smith from the 1960s television series Lost in Space and that of British actor Rex Harrison, suggesting some degree of parody. In reality, the creator's comments toward the actor suggest that the voice was in fact chosen in tribute, not as a parody. MacFarlane mentioned several times during the DVD commentary tracks of the series that Stewie is based on Rex Harrison in the film and play My Fair Lady and mentioned in a special feature on the third disc of the Season 3 DVD that he was a big fan of Harrison's performance in the film. On The Late Show with David Letterman, Seth stated that Stewie is "Rex Harrison in an infant's body".

Related Topics:
Dr. Zachary Smith - 1960s - Television series - Lost in Space - Rex Harrison - Parody - DVD - My Fair Lady - The Late Show with David Letterman

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This is further reinforced in the episode "One If By Clam, Two If By Sea" where Stewie bets Brian that he can train a Cockney girl close to Julie Andrews's character in "My Fair Lady" to present herself as a lady (the basic plot of My Fair Lady) and in the episode "Running Mates" in which he sings the Rex Harrison song "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face", also from My Fair Lady.

Related Topics:
One If By Clam, Two If By Sea - Cockney - Julie Andrews - Running Mates

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Despite his constant scheming, Stewie also shows affection for his mother, for instance when away visiting his grandparents. He also eventually began to show homosexual tendencies and has been caught cross-dressing, an event that was used successfully for blackmail. Brian once caught him putting on his mother's makeup before the bathroom mirror and mentioned that the viewers were starting to suspect something was up with him. This character transition came about largely in Season 3.

Related Topics:
Cross-dressing - Blackmail - Makeup - Mentioned that the viewers

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For the most part, Stewie loathes his father nearly as much as Lois, usually referring to him as simply "the fat man" and even questioning whether he's really his biological father (see the movie description.)

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Stewie once imagined himself in Europe with a musical incarnation of My Left Foot (which featured an incredible left foot tap sequence).

Related Topics:
Europe - My Left Foot

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