Groening named the cartoon family named after his own siblings and parents, albeit with a "Bart" in lieu of a character named after himself. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. Groening went on to the liberal Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where he butted heads with the more extreme countercultural types that populated the campus. Reader in 1986, after writing a letter to the editor over a fellow writer's dismissal, but by then Life in Hell was already appearing in other alt-weeklies and providing extra income through merchandise sales. Groening and his wife Agustina Picasso welcomed a baby in May 2013 named Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writer Nathanael West. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. After marriage, he became step father to Augustina Picasso's daughter Camille. (2005). 1 . "Teachers, principals, clergymen, politicians -- for the Simpsons, they're all goofballs, and I think that's a great message for kids." The couple divorced in 1999. "Bart is like what would happen if Eddie Haskell got his own show," he said. In interview after interview, he has recalled his youthful vow never to forget what childhood was like -- a gauntlet of petty rules and restrictions that exist only to be broken. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size. Many members of the Simpson family are named for members of his own family: Homer, Marge, Maggie, Lisa and Patty. The show centers on Fry, a pizza-delivery man who is accidentally frozen in a cryogenics lab and defrosted 1,000 years later. He ran for student body president on the "Teens for Decency" ("If You're Against Decency, What Are You For?") Groening's success owes as much to his own work as it does to the work of a slew of others, including co-creators James Brooks and Sam Simon, and "The Simpsons'" writing staff. All Rights Reserved. When Billie Met Lisa (2022), Disenchantment (2018-present) [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. Some seven years after Binky and his one-eared son, Bongo, first began delving into their epic disaffection, and the heroically insecure (but enterprising) gay twins Akbar and Jeff opened the first of their reprobate money-making "huts," "The Simpsons," the first animated series to hit prime time in 20 years, made its television debut. Work is Hell soon followed, also published by Caplan. 2) Disappointed? Matt Groening married Deborah Caplan in 1986. He also co-wrote and produced The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007. [2], On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Groening was in talks with Netflix to develop a new animated series. Deborah Caplan-Matt Groening: 68: Aquarius: Cartoonist: American: Children Name Gender Born Age Other Parent; Homer: Male: 1991: 31 years old: Matt Groening: Abe: Male: 1993: 29 years old: Matt Groening: Discussions Have your say Be the first to make a comment >> Recommended Recommended. [15] At the end of its run, Life in Hell was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, including School is Hell, Childhood is Hell, The Big Book of Hell, and The Huge Book of Hell. "[17] The Simpsons was co-developed by Groening, Brooks, and Sam Simon, a writer-producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. He made a name exploring his own alienation and a fortune exposing the absurdities and hypocrisies of our culture, and nowadays, Groening is as powerful an insider as they come. 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. And yet he speaks like the kid who just made it big, who still can't believe his luck. [104], In an interview with Wired from 1999, he stated that if he was president, his first act would be "campaign finance reform", stating that it is "a real detriment to democracy". As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [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". He gleefully zinged their sensibilities after becoming editor of the school paper, at one point instigating a petition that condemned his satirization of communal life, while also training his ire on mainstream targets like the Washington state legislature. So the story goes, and it has, as they say, legs. Bush family aside, who is not a fan of Matt Groening? But while he used to drive a beat-up Dodge Dart, he now drives a sleek new BMW. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. From teachers who forced him to rip up his cartoons in front of the class, to the petty tyranny of bosses ("I was told that I would never get a job in the Pacific Northwest in journalism after my disgraceful stewardship of the Cooper Point Journal," Groening told the graduating class in a commencement address at his alma mater, Evergreen State College. Patricia was an art dealer. (29 October 1987 - 1999) ( divorced) ( 2 children) Carina Chocano writes about TV for Salon. Acting out in school, he recalled having to write "I must be quiet in class" 500 times on at least one occasion and having his doodles torn up by teachers. Le fils de pre Homer Philip Groening et mre Margaret Ruth est comdien de stand-up, crivain & caricaturiste, anno 2023 clbre pour The Simpsons & Futurama. [15] Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled merchandising for Life in Hell. [10], Matt's grandfather, Abraham Groening, was a professor at Tabor College, a Mennonite Brethren liberal arts college in Hillsboro, Kansas, before moving to Albany College (now known as Lewis and Clark College) in Oregon in 1930. [16] A liberal arts school that he described as "a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest". [90] In July 2013, Groening co-authored Hard Listening (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy, LLC).[91]. He is from OR. platform, and regretted his victory immediately. Even to this date, it continues to appear in many other alternative newspapers. Matt Groening (1954-) biography on Film Reference. He also made appearances in episodes of television series The Pitts, Portlandia and Space Ghost Coast to Coast. [38] After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. Groenings estimated net worth is $600 million. But that's not my point of view.". The details may vary, but the story, like most of the stories Groening tells about the defining moments in his life, reads like a fairy tale. And the idea of creating a show on his own appealed to him. Now, though, "The Simpsons" offices at Fox, housed in what looks like a cheap motel, run on a routine, and he has eased off a bit. It sneaked up on everybody. Matt Groening is well known for his cartoon characters, comic strips and animated television series. These days Mr. Groening, who lives in Venice, Calif., tries to stay home one morning a week to write "Life in Hell." This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Matt Groening was the writer and executive producer of this project. Groening won a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012. Executive producer and show runner Mike Scully once told the New Yorker, "People are always asking why 'The Simpsons' is still so good after all these years, and, at the risk of pissing off all the other writers, I think I'd have to say that the main reason is probably George." By now, though, the damage, such as it is, has clearly been done: the show has entered the very pop culture it pokes so much fun at. Some of the funniest jokes, he says, can only be caught on a still frame. His television series titled Futurama also earned him the Annie Award for Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production in the years 2010 and 2014, while his other work The Simpsons won the award in this category in the years 2011, 2012 and 2015. "And to be honest, the whole 'Simpsons' project was a project to see how far I could go in the mainstream. In 2013, the couple had a son named Nathaniel Philip Picasso. Ian Maxtone-Graham, another writer on the show, has said in an interview, "I would rather make George Meyer laugh than get an Emmy." Before, Groening was married to his first wife Deborah Caplan. While working on his animated series Futurama, he took up multiple roles like voice actor, creator, writer and executive producer of the show. The couple has two sons, Homer and Abe. "[46] He also formed Zongo Comics in 1995, an imprint of Bongo that published comics for more mature readers,[46] which included three issues of Mary Fleener's Fleener[84] and seven issues of his close friend Gary Panter's Jimbo comics. [111], Groening, Matt; Reiss, Mike; Kirkland, Mark. And it's not going to be dark and drippy like "Blade Runner." The Simpsons is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. [8][50] Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. Or rather, he is the struggling, penurious pre-"Simpsons" Matt Groening. [15] Life in Hell made its official debut as a comic strip in the Reader on April 25, 1980. "I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, because this is how everyone is treated [in Hollywood]," he told Mother Jones. In 1987, Groening married fellow Weekly staffer Deborah Caplan. [28][29], Groening described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic book Life in Hell, which was loosely inspired by the chapter "How to Go to Hell" in Walter Kaufmann's book Critique of Religion and Philosophy. [93] In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born. Brooks selected his longtime colleague Sam Simon to help Groening develop the animated series, and The Simpsons dynasty began on December 17, 1989, when the first episode aired. [27] He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. Years later, during the early seasons of The 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. [63], The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. It's my foundation,"[37] the June 16, 2012 strip marked Life in Hell's conclusion. In 2012, a 3-D short film based on The Simpsons was released with the title The Longest Daycare. Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield". I vowed I would never forget what it was like.". [26][31], Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers,[15] typesetting, editing and answering phones. [71] He has had several cameo appearances in the show, with a speaking role in the episode "My Big Fat Geek Wedding". The Simpsons premiered in 1989 with him as creator, writer, voice actor and executive producer. ``Matt didn't particularly have a reputation for discipline,'' says Randy Michael Signor, a former Reader editor who today works in . 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 in Life in Hell. [86][88] He illustrated the cover of Frank Zappa's posthumous album Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute (1996). This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Matt Groening has won 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and 23 Annie Awards across various categories. Images of "The Simpsons" have been licensed to sell everything from T-shirts to toys to potato chips to cheese, suggesting that mainstream culture has gotten pretty good at marketing genuine hipness as well. But when pressed, he concedes that he is not sure what makes his critique of Middle America so appealing to Middle Americans. Groening worked as the editor of the campus newspaper, The Cooper Point Journal, for which Groening also wrote articles and drew cartoons. In fact, when "Simpsons" writers wax elegaic, they tend to do so about George Meyer, a writer who first became involved with the show late in 1989, a few months before its Fox premiere. They said, 'Make it like "The Jetsons"! And I always say, 'Whatever offends you the most.' Clerks: The Animated Series (2000-2002) 2002, 2003 and 2004. Most importantly, The Simpsons retained the subversive undercurrent that has driven its creator since he was a bored grade school student. Matt Groening created a dysfunctional family and The Simpsons aired on the show for the first time in 1987. [89] In May 2010, he curated another edition of All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England.