MEXICO CITY — Marge Simpson is near tears, and the normally menacing Mr. Burns is full of warmth and gratitude.
The union actors who dub "The Simpsons" into Spanish are asking their Mexican audience for help as they fight for their livelihoods in a labor dispute that could silence the original Spanish voices from the 15-year-old animated comedy.
"Marge is very sad," said Nancy Mackenzie, the voice of the Simpsons matriarch. "I don't believe they'll replace us. Something deep inside says no."
The disagreement between the actors union and a Mexican contracting company is in the hands of government labor arbitrators at a time when the actors say they normally would be sitting down to tape the upcoming season of "The Simpsons."
If an agreement isn't reached, the actors fear the company will hire new voices, changing the cartoon's Spanish alter egos — voices known throughout Latin America.
At a news conference, Gabriel Chavez, the voice of dastardly power-plant owner "Senor Burns," thanked fans who have objected to casting changes as the union negotiates its demands.
"The only thing I can say is, 'Heck, don't stop coming around to the nuclear plant in Springfield,' " Chavez said in his Mr. Burns voice, referring to the imaginary home town of the Simpsons family. "And I'm inviting you, I'm taking everybody out to drink at Moe's tavern. And it's free."
The Mexico's National Actors Association, a union founded in 1934 that now includes about 15,000 members, has accused a Mexican contractor of attempting to hire too many nonunion voices and breaking provisions of a collective bargaining agreement that dictates exclusive use of union labor.
The contractor, Grabaciones y Doblajes Internationales, maintains it has invited National Actors Association members and other actors to continue dubbing the cartoon series, but that the union is using strong-arm tactics to hold onto most parts.
The company argues it needs the new voices in order to compete.
"With attitudes like these, our country has lost ground for dubbing in Latin America," the company said in a news release. "Much of this work today is done in Venezuela, Colombia, and, more recently, in Argentina and Chile."
But Humberto Velez, the Spanish voice of Homer Simpson, said he makes only about $55 per episode and feels compelled to stand up for the union that pays his benefits.
"We're not people who like to fight," Velez said. "The only thing we know how to do is act. . . . But we will never let people that aren't interested in agreements take away our rights for their own benefit. How am I supposed to take care of my kids?"
While the dubbing contractor for "The Simpsons" condemned comments by the actors as pressure tactics, Mexican labor expert Nestor de Buen noted that the National Actors Association has not led a strike during the past three decades and is not known for being confrontational.
Mackenzie, the voice of Marge, has been with the union for about 40 years, dubbing television shows that include "Dallas" and "The Dukes of Hazard."
Losing the part in "The Simpsons" would be hard to take, she said.
"You get to the point where you care deeply for your cartoon character," Mackenzie said. "You love them. You go to bed with them at night. It's a sad state, and not because of the money. It's for love."