Matthew Abram Groening (born February 15, 1954) (name rhymes with raining, IPA ['greɪnɪŋ]) is an American cartoonist and the creator of the animated television series The Simpsons and Futurama. He currently serves at the former as creative consultant.
Early life
While at Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon, he was the student body president. He graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
Before his work in television, Groening created the syndicated comic strip Life in Hell, which is still carried in many weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, such as School is Hell, Love is Hell, Childhood is Hell, Work is Hell, and The Big Book of Hell.
The Simpsons
Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strip caught the attention of Hollywood writer-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks, and asked Groening to developed a series of short animation skits to be featured on the FOX variety show The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987. The animation skits would later be known as The Simpsons.[1]
The Simpsons family character names
He quickly named the main family Simpson characters after his own family (reportedly he was not feeling very creative in those fifteen minutes), his parents, Homer and Margaret (Marge), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Maggie. Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, but these siblings were left out of the main Simpson family. As for Groening himself, he decided it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself and therefore chose the name "Bart" (an anagram of brat).
Not wishing to curse another member of his family by lending their name to a cartoon character, Groening says he refused to name Homer's dad, instead choosing to leave the room. When he returned, the writers had given him the name of Abraham, which coincidentally turned out to be the name of Groening's grandfather. The name 'Wiggum' for the police chief Clancy Wiggum came from Groening's mother's maiden name. Groening has also named his own sons Homer (who goes by Will) and Abe (which is the name of Grandpa Simpson). Other names, like other elements of the cartoon, are rife with obscure and not-so-obscure references to pop-culture for alert viewers to discover on their own.
Other character names
Groening grew up in Portland, Oregon, and seems to have found names for some characters from major Portland street names such as Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby, and Terwilliger.
Facts
- His father, a descendant of Russian Mennonites in Canada, spoke Plautdietsch as a child in Saskatchewan in the 1920s, but Matt never learned the language. [2]
- The name Groening may be derived from Groningen (city) (or Grun'n in the local dialect) in the north of the Netherlands.
- As a youngster, Groening was influenced by the dark humor of English cartoonist Ronald Searle.
- He is a member of the rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders, whose members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, and Greg Iles.
- Groening currently serves as creative consultant on The Simpsons. In the past he has served as executive producer on The Simpsons and Futurama.
- Both Groening and his character Bart Simpson are left-handed. Other left-handed characters on The Simpsons include Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, and Moe Szyslak, the bartender.
- In college, Groening sometimes took notes in class in the form of comic strips.
- Groening has appeared in both Futurama & The Simpsons. He appeared in Futurama as a head in a jar, and in The Simpsons as the creator of Futurama.
- His sister is married to Craig Bartlett of Hey Arnold! fame.
Myths
A popular legend in the U.S. Navy's nuclear program is that Groening is a former Navy nuclear operator. The story goes on to claim that the character of Mr. Burns is based on Admiral Hyman Rickover, and that the Ned Flanders character was inspired by a former commander of a moored training ship prototype unit in Charleston, South Carolina.
Many fans of The Simpsons believe Springfield, Oregon to be 'the' Springfield of the show. This holds some merit considering the time show creator Matt Groening spent in the area growing up, and other evidence (a popular park, for instance, bears a striking resemblance to the fictional Springfield's town square. Also, the blue collar industrial nature of Springfield, Oregon complements the adjacent university town of Eugene, Oregon as the 'real' Shelbyville.
It was said that, while high-school student body president, Groening was stripped of his office because he tried to amend the constitution to make himself all-powerful president for life. But when asked about it at a party for his publishing company, Groening said he liked the myth better, but he did finish his term and was not stripped of his title.
Spinoffs
Futurama has also given rise to a comic series which includes a two-part comic special entitled Futurama/Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between it and The Simpsons.
References
- ^ "THE SIMPSONS". Museum of Broadcast Communications. June 23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help)
External links
- Matt Groening's Portland from the Portland Tribune
- Matt Groening's Bio at Rock Bottom Remainders' Website