Matt Groening
Born on February 15th, 1954, Matt Groening (MG) grew up in Portland
Oregon. Groening began his doodling career at an early age - in fact, it was
the first day of school. Matt admits, however, that his doodling during class
ours often resulted in a visit to the principal's office. Yet despite the
disapproval of his teachers, Groening refused to give up his labour of love.
In 1977, Matt graduated from the "Evergreen State College" in Olympia,
Washington. According to an article in the book "Simpsons Mania,"
Evergreen was not exactly your average college - it didn't give grades and
had no required classes. While at Evergreen, Matt spent most of his time
working on the school's newspaper and later headed to Los Angeles to
pursue a career as a writer. Instead of writing for a newspaper or magazine,
Matt worked as a chauffeur and "biographer" for an 88-year old movie
director.
Matt's career took a drastic turn when he created a cynical comic entitled
"Life In Hell" which was based on his early experiences in Los Angeles. The
comic strip was centred on a bitter and simply drawn rabbit named "Binky."
Other characters in the comic were Sheba (Binky's girlfriend) and two
identical characters called Akbar and Jeff (resembling a mutated Charlie
Brown). In 1980, "Life In Hell" debuted in the Los Angeles Reader, a weekly
newspaper where Groening served as editor. Life In Hell became a huge
success for Matt and the comic, after ten years of existence, is featured in
over 200 newspapers in both the United States and Canada. Several books
by Groening including "School Is Hell," "Love Is Hell," "Work is Hell," "The
Big Book of Hell," "Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life," "Binky's Guide to Love"
and "Love is Hell - 10th Anniversary Edition," can be found in local
bookstores. Matt's cartooning career, however, did not end there ....
On September 8, 1986, The Simpsons made its debut as a two minute
sketch on the Tracey Ullman Show. According to Groening, he had received
a phone call from James Brookes who wanted him to do some animation for
the popular show. Matt quickly drew five brand new characters for the
presentation - characters that would inevitably garner a huge following of
fans. The Simpsons was Groening's first experience with animation.
The Simpsons earned instant acclaim by critics and fans when in 1990, it
debuted as the Fox Network's highest-rated program. Over the last eight
years, the show has won an Emmy award and made history for becoming
the longest running prime time animated series on television. The Simpson
family, comprised of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, are named after,
but not based on, Groening's family. Matt's father and son are named Homer,
his mother is named Margaret and his younger sisters are named Lisa and
Maggie. Bart, on the other hand, is an anagram of the word "brat", however,
Groening insists that Bart is not a portrayal of himself. As well, many of the
characters such as Chief Wiggum have been named after various streets
where Matt was raised. With the success of his show, Groening when on to
form the "Bongo Comics Group" in 1993. As the publisher of Bongo Comics,
Groening has created four different comic book titles including: "Simpsons
Comics," "Radioactive Man," "Bartman" and "Itchy and Scratchy Comics."
Groening has also produced two special comic series: "Lisa Comics" and
Krusty Comics." The Simpsons Comics are currently still in production today
and have published over 30 issues. A number of books about the Simpsons
have also been published including: "Bart's Guide to Life," "Making Faces
with the Simpsons," "The Rainy Day Fun Book," "The Simpsons Family
Album." Simpsons merchandise like T-shirts, posters, video games are still
extremely popular with die hard fans.
Since its debut on the Tracy Ullman Show, "The Simpsons" have become
the most well known animated prime time series worldwide. While the core
characters have remained the same, the show has expanded its "cast" to
include interesting, comical and well rounded characters. But, what hasn't
changed is the show's ability to make people think, laugh and tune in every
week.