Matthew Abram Groening (/ˈɡreɪnɪŋ/GRAY-ning; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist and animator. He is the creator of the television seriesThe Simpsons (1989–present),Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present),[1] andDisenchantment (2018–2023), as well as the comic stripLife in Hell (1977–2012).
In 1997, Groening and formerSimpsons writerDavid X. Cohen began production onFuturama, an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999. It ran for four years on Fox, was picked up in 2008 byComedy Central for another 5 years, and was picked up again byHulu in 2023. In 2016, Groening developed a series forNetflix,Disenchantment, which premiered in August 2018.
Groening was raised in Portland[14] and attended Ainsworth Elementary School[15] andLincoln High School.[16] Following his high school graduation in 1972,[17] Groening attendedThe Evergreen State College inOlympia, Washington,[18] a liberal arts school that he described as "ahippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest."[19] He served as the editor of the campus newspaper,The Cooper Point Journal, for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons.[17] Groening graduated with aBachelor of Arts in journalism in 1977.[20] He befriended fellow cartoonistLynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter toJoseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply.[21] Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration."[22] He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated filmOne Hundred and One Dalmatians[23] as well asMonty Python.[24]
In 1977, at age 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer. He went through several jobs, including being an extra in the television filmWhen Every Day Was the Fourth of July,[25] busing tables,[26] washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant,[27] and chauffeuring andghostwriting for a retired director ofWestern films.[28][29]
Groening described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic bookLife in Hell, which was loosely inspired by the chapter "How to Go to Hell" inWalter Kaufmann's bookCritique of Religion and Philosophy.[30] Groening distributed the comic book in the book corner ofLicorice Pizza, arecord store in which he worked. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-gardeWet magazine in 1978.[30] The strip, titled "Forbidden Words", appeared in the September/October issue of that year.[26][31]
Groening had gained employment at theLos Angeles Reader, a newly formedalternative newspaper, delivering papers,[17] typesetting, editing and answering phones.[27] He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper.[17]Life in Hell made its official debut as a comic strip in theReader on April 25, 1980.[26][32] Vowell also gave Groening his own weekly music column, "Sound Mix", in 1982. However, the column would rarely actually be about music, as he would often write about his "various enthusiasms, obsessions,pet peeves and problems" instead.[19] In an effort to add more music to the column, he "just made stuff up",[25] concocting and reviewing fictional bands and nonexistent records. In the following week's column, he would confess to fabricating everything in the previous column and swear that everything in the new column was true. Eventually, he was finally asked to give up the "music" column.[33] Among the fans of the column wasHarry Shearer, who would later become a voice actor onThe Simpsons.[34]
Life in Hell became popular almost immediately.[35] In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend and co-worker at theReader, offered to publish "Love Is Hell", a series of relationship-themedLife in Hell strips, in book form.[36] Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings.Work Is Hell soon followed, also published by Caplan.[17] Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled merchandising forLife in Hell.[26] Groening also started Acme Features Syndicate, which initially syndicatedLife in Hell as well as work byLynda Barry andJohn Callahan, but would eventually only syndicateLife in Hell.[17] At the end of its run,Life in Hell was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, includingSchool Is Hell,Childhood Is Hell,The Big Book of Hell, andThe Huge Book of Hell.[14] Although Groening previously stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation,"[37] the June 16, 2012, strip markedLife in Hell's conclusion.[38] After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. The poster contained tribute cartoons by 22 of Groening's cartoonist friends who were influenced byLife in Hell.[39]
Life in Hell caught the attention of Hollywood writer-director-producer andGracie Films founderJames L. Brooks, who had been shown the strip by fellow producerPolly Platt.[35][40] In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation on an undefined future project,[11] which would turn out to be developing a series of short animated skits, called "bumpers," for the Fox variety showThe Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt hisLife in Hell characters for the show. Groening feared that he would have to give up his ownership rights, and that the show would fail and take down his comic strip with it.[41] Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of adysfunctional family:Homer, the overweight father;Marge, the slim mother;Bart, the miscreant oldest child;Lisa, the intelligent middle child; andMaggie, the baby.[41][42][43] Groening famously named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Marge (for Groening's mother it was short for Margaret and the cartoon character Marge is short for Marjorie), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Margaret (Maggie). Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart", an anagram of brat.[41][44] However, he stresses that aside from some of the sibling rivalry, his family is nothing like the Simpsons.[45] Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, and in a 1995 interview Groening divulged that Mark "is the actual inspiration for Bart."[46]
Maggie Groening has co-written a fewSimpsons books featuring her cartoon namesake.[47]
The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings.[41] The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.[48] When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. He still draws the ear as a 'G' when he draws pictures of Homer for fans.[49] Marge's distinctbeehive hairstyle was inspired byBride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue.[10][50] Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size.[51] At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head.[52] Lisa's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline.[53] While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles".[54] When designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color".[55] Groening storyboarded and scripted every short (now known asThe Simpsons shorts), which were then animated by a team including David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series.[56]
The Simpsons shorts first appeared inThe Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[57] Another family member,Grampa Simpson, was introduced in the later shorts. Years later, during the early seasons ofThe Simpsons, when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, they chose "Abraham", unaware that it was the name of Groening's grandfather.[58]
AlthoughThe Tracey Ullman Show was not a big hit,[59] the popularity of the shorts led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. A team of production companies adaptedThe Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now theKlasky-Csupo animation house. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content.[60] Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.[61] The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989, with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", aChristmas special.[62] "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.[63]
The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Groening said: "Nobody thoughtThe Simpsons was going to be a big hit. It sneaked up on everybody."[19]The Simpsons was co-developed by Groening, Brooks, andSam Simon, a writer-producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. Groening and Simon, however, did not get along[59] and were often in conflict over the show;[26] Groening once described their relationship as "very contentious."[42] Simon eventually left the show in 1993 over creative differences.[64]
Like the main family members, several characters from the show have names that were inspired by people, locations or films. The name "Wiggum" for police chiefChief Wiggum is Groening's mother's maiden name.[65] The names ofa few other characters were taken from street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, includingFlanders,Lovejoy,Powell,Quimby andKearney.[66] Despite common fan belief thatSideshow Bob Terwilliger was named after SW Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, he was actually named after the character Dr. Terwilliker from the filmThe 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T..[67]
Although Groening has pitched a number of spin-offs fromThe Simpsons, those attempts have been unsuccessful. In 1994, Groening and otherSimpsons producers pitched a live-action spin-off aboutKrusty the Clown (withDan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground.[29][68] Groening has also pitched "Young Homer" and a spin-off about the non-Simpsons citizens ofSpringfield.[69]
In 1995, Groening got into a major disagreement with Brooks and otherSimpsons producers over "A Star Is Burns", acrossover episode withThe Critic, an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many formerSimpsons crew members. Groening claimed that he feared viewers would "see it as nothing but a pathetic attempt to advertiseThe Critic at the expense ofThe Simpsons," and was concerned about the possible implication that he had created or producedThe Critic.[46] He requested his name be taken off the episode.[70]
David X. Cohen and Groening at theFuturama panel ofComic-Con 2009
After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together withSimpsons writer and producerDavid X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developedFuturama, an animated series about life in the year 3000.[22][72] By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters andstorylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions.[72] Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life."[22] The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story).
After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar toFamily Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings onAdult Swim broughtFuturama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to airFuturama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that fourstraight-to-DVD films—Bender's Big Score (2007),The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008),Bender's Game (2008) andInto the Wild Green Yonder (2009)—would be produced.[73][29]
Since no newFuturama projects were in production, the movieInto the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as theFuturama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue theFuturama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film.[74] In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me".[75] Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013,[76][77] before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013.[78]
On February 9, 2022 the series was revived at Hulu, with theeighth season premiering on July 24, 2023.[1]
On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Groening was in talks withNetflix to develop a new animated series.[79] On July 25, 2017, the series,Disenchantment, was ordered by Netflix.[80] He described the fantasy-oriented series as originating in a sketchbook full of "fantastic creatures we couldn't do onThe Simpsons".[81] The cast includesAbbi Jacobson,Eric Andre, andNat Faxon.[82]
Disenchantment ran from August 17, 2018, to September 1, 2023, concluding with its fifth and final part, released on September 1, 2023.
In 1993, Groening formedBongo Comics (named after the character Bongo fromLife in Hell[83]) with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance andBill Morrison, which publishes comic books based onThe Simpsons andFuturama (includingFuturama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles. According to Groening, the goal with Bongo is to "[try] to bring humor into the fairly grim comic book market."[46] He also formedZongo Comics in 1995, animprint of Bongo that published comics for more mature readers,[46] which included three issues ofMary Fleener'sFleener[84] and seven issues of his close friendGary Panter'sJimbo comics.[85]
Groening and Deborah Caplan married in 1986[27] and had two sons together, Homer (who goes by Will) and Abe,[44] both of whom Groening occasionally portrays as rabbits inLife in Hell. The couple divorced in 1999.[citation needed]
In 2011, Groening married Agustina Picasso, an Argentine artist, after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini.[92] In May 2013, Picasso gave birth to Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writerNathanael West. She joked that "his godfather isSpongeBob's creatorStephen Hillenburg".[93] In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born.[94] On June 16, 2018, he became the father of twins for a second time when his wife gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, announced via Instagram.[95] In 2020, their daughter Nirvana was born.[96] In January 2022, they had another child, Satori.[97] In 2024, they had their eighth child together, Shivani, Groening's eleventh.
In an interview withWired from 1999, he stated that if he were president, his first act would be "campaign finance reform", observing that modern campaign funding is "a real detriment to democracy".[104]
Groening has a great disdain towards former PresidentRichard Nixon, and enjoyed ridiculing him by making him the butt of jokes inThe Simpsons andFuturama.[105]
Groening has been nominated for 41Emmy Awards and has won thirteen, eleven forThe Simpsons and two forFuturama in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less)" category.[107] Groening received the 2002 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award, and had been nominated for the same award in 2000.[108] He received aBritish Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004.[109] In 2007, he was ranked fourth (and highest American by birth) in a list of the "top 100 living geniuses", published by British newspaperThe Daily Telegraph.[110]
^Middlehurst, Charlotte (March 12, 2012)."Matt Groening interview".Time Out Shanghai.Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2016.
^Rose, Joseph (May 4, 2012)."'The Simpsons' map of Portland (What other proof do you need that they're Oregonians?)".The Oregonian.Archived from the original on January 28, 2016. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2016.Lincoln High School, Southwest 18th Avenue just south of Salmon Street. Groening drew and signed a sidewalk portrait of Bart Simpson in wet concrete outside his alma mater. "Class of 1972" appears next to Bart as he strikes his classic "Don't have a cow, man!" pose.
^Groening, Matt; Mirkin, David; Scully, Mike; Anderson, Bob (2005).Commentary for the episode "Two Dozen & One Greyhounds".The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
^Groening, Matt; Reiss, Mike; Kirkland, Mark. (2002). Commentary for "Principal Charming", inThe Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^Silverman, David; Reardon, Jim; Groening, Matt. (2005). Illustrated commentary for "Treehouse of Horror V", inThe Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^Groening, Matt. (2006). "A Bit From the Animators", illustrated commentary for "All Singing, All Dancing", inThe Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^Kuipers, Dean (April 15, 2004)."3rd Degree: Harry Shearer". Los Angeles: City Beat. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008. RetrievedSeptember 1, 2006.
^Groening, Matt; Oakley, Bill;, Weinstein, Josh; Appel, Richard; Cohen, David; Pulido, Rachel; Smith, Yeardley; Reardon, Jim; Silverman, David (2005).The Simpsons The Complete Seventh Season DVD commentary for the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
^"QUESTIONS FOR: Matt Groening".The New York Times. December 27, 1998.Archived from the original on October 19, 2010. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2010.I'm an agnostic
