Matt Groening

File:Matt-groening.jpg

Matt Groening

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, The Big Book of Hell and The Huge Book of Hell.

Abe Groening, Matt Groening's son, was the inspiration for the entire Simpaons universe. The character of Apu was based off of Abe and his anecdotes. Apu with "pu" on it's side actually spells "Abe". Abe currently resides in sunny Florida, where he runs an off-shore sneaker factory.

The Simpsons

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 develop 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

Groening named the main family Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Margaret (Marge), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Maggie. 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).

Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, but these siblings were left out of the main Simpson family. Groening says he refused to name Homer's dad after his father's real dad, leaving it to other writers to name that character—they gave him the name of Abraham, which turned out to be the name of Groening's grandfather after all.

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 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.
• He is a big fan of the avantgarde musical group, The Residents.

Myths

A sea story in the U.S. Navy's nuclear program holds 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 (MTSPU) located north of Charleston, South Carolina. All good sea stories ignore the truth in some fashion, and this story ignores the facts that Groening was never in the Navy, and that the MTSPU did not open to students until July 1989 when Groening was in his second year of creating The Simpsons for the Tracey Ullman Show.

Many fans of The Simpsons believe Springfield, Oregon to be the Springfield of the show. Evidence cited included the time Groening spent in the area growing up, the presence of a popular park which bears a striking resemblance to the fictional Springfield's town square, and the blue collar nature of the two Springfields.

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

1. ^ "THE SIMPSONS". Museum of Broadcast Communications. December 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
2. ^ "Homer Simpson has Canadian Mennonite roots". December 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)

External links

• Groening's official website (under construction)
• Matt Groening's Portland from the Portland Tribune
• Groening's Bio at Rock Bottom Remainders' website