Difference between revisions of "Matt Groening"

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'''Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening''' (born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, producer, animator, author, musician, comedian, and voice actor. He is the creator of the comic strip ''[[Life in Hell]]'' and television series' ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and ''[[Futurama]]''. Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of ''Life in Hell'' to the avant-garde ''Wet'' magazine in 1978. The cartoon is still carried in 250 weekly newspapers. He was also interviewed in ''[[The Simpsons: Celebrity Friends]]'', ''[[The Simpsons: Mischief & Mayhem]]'', ''[[The Simpsons: Access All Areas]]'', ''[[The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!]]'', ''[[The Simpsons: America's First Family]]'', and ''[[The Simpsons: A Culture Show]]''. He will also appear in ''[[The Simpsons Take the Bowl]]''.<ref>[http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/the-simpsons-live-show-with-orchestra-coming-to-hollywood-bowl-20140717 Rolling Stone - "'The Simpsons' Live Show With Orchestra Coming to Hollywood Bowl"]</ref>

''Life in Hell'' caught the attention of [[James L. Brooks]]. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation for the [[FOX]] variety show ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]''. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his ''Life in Hell'' characters for the show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening decided to create something new and came up with a cartoon family, [[Simpson family|the Simpsons]], and named the members after his own parents and sisters — while [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] was an anagram of the word brat. The shorts would be spun off into their own series: ''The Simpsons'', which has since aired more than 450 episodes in 21 seasons. In 1997, Groening got together with [[David X. Cohen]] and developed ''Futurama'', an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999. After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox in 2003, but Comedy Central commissioned 16 new episodes from four direct-to-DVD movies. In June 2009, Comedy Central ordered 26 new episodes of Futurama, to be aired over two seasons. His advice to beginning cartoonists is to not care about what other people think and just try to make yourself laugh. He said that if he did not think up the Simpsons, he would probably be in a tire shop, drawing doodles of his boss on the break room wall.

Groening has won 11 [[Awards#Emmy Awards|Primetime Emmy Awards]], ten for ''The Simpsons'' and one for ''Futurama'' as well as a [[Awards#British Comedy Awards|British Comedy Award]] for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on ''Life in Hell''. In some [[Simpsons Comics]], he gives himself a fake title, such as "Big Daddy" (''[[Taming Your Wild Child]]''), "Cartoonist Gone Wild" (''[[Bart's Beard]]''), and "Former Heartthrob" (''[[Faking the Band]]'').

Groening has voiced {{Ch|Matt Groening|himself}} on a few occasions, "[[My Big Fat Geek Wedding]]", ''[[The Simpsons Game]]'' and "[[Homer the Whopper]]". He also voiced a soccer announcer in "[[Holidays of Future Passed]]".<ref>[http://simpsonsmusic500.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/wrapping-up-2011/ Simpsons Music 500 "Wrapping Up 2011"]</ref>

== Biography ==

=== Early life ===

Groening was born on February 15, 1954 in [[Portland]], [[Oregon]]. He grew up in Portland, and attended Ainsworth Elementary School, and Lincoln High School. He was the middle child of five children. His Norwegian mother, Margaret Wiggum, was once a teacher, and his German father, Homer Philip Groening, was a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist. Homer, born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up in a Mennonite, Plautdietsch-speaking family. Matt's grandfather Abram 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.

=== Futurama ===

{{main|Futurama}}

After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (still known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, [[1999]]. Groening's sole writing credit for the show was the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000", co-written with Cohen.

After four years on the air, the show was cancelled by Fox. In a similar situation as Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Cartoon Network brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama 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 four straight-to-DVD films—Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009)—would be produced. Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. 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."

=== Awards ===

Groening has been nominated for 25 Emmy awards and has won eleven: ten for The Simpsons and one for Futurama in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less)" category.

== Credits ==

=== Created by / Developer / Executive producer / Character designer / Creative consultant ===

{{scroll|

{{Episode credits|note=uncredited}}

=== Created by ===

*{{bk|Simpsons World the Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1-20}}

=== Written by ===

*{{ul|Good Night}}

*{{alb|The Simpsons Sing the Blues|("[[Deep, Deep Trouble]]")}}

*{{alb|The Yellow Album|("[[The Ten Commandments of Bart]]")}}

{{scroll|

*{{bon|It's in the Cards}}

*{{bon|The Gnarly Adventures of Busman}}

*{{bon|When Bongos Collide!}}

*{{bon|Be-bop-a-Lisa}}

*{{bon|Chief Wiggum's Pre-Code Crime Comics: The End of El Barto}}

*{{bon|The Greatest D'oh! on Earth}}

*{{bon|I Shrink, Therefore I'm Small}}

*{{bon|Edna, Queen of the Congo: Jungle Bungle}}

*{{bon|The Purple Prose of Springfield}}

*{{bon|Homer Simpson's Pathetic Pal Barney Gumble: Asleep at the Well}}

*{{bon|Fan-Tasty Island}}

*{{bon|Apu Nahasapeemapetilon's Kwik-E-Comics: Apu's Incredible 96 Hour Shift (Without Having a Break)}}

*{{bon|Fallen Flanders}}

*{{bon|Homer on the Range: The Kwik-E and the Dead!}}

*{{bon|Survival of the Fattest!}}

*{{bon|White-Knuckled War Stories: Spare the Rod, Spoil the Grunt!}}

*{{bon|Give Me Merchandising or Give Me Death!}}

*{{bon|Jimbo Jones' Wedgie Comics: Rebel Without a Clutch}}

*{{bon|To Heir I$ Homer}}

*{{bon|Bongo Cantankerous Coot Classics: Nostalgia Ain't What it Used to Be}}

*{{bon|A Trip to Simpsons Mountain}}

*{{bon|Heinous Funnies: Kill 'Er Up With Regular}}

*{{bon|Waitresses in the Sky}}

*{{bon|What's the Frequency, Simpson?}}

*{{bon|Headlight Comics: The Dame and the Clown}}

*{{bon|Get Fatty}}

*{{bon|Bart's Pal, Milhouse: The Quest for Yaz}}

*{{bon|Don't Cry for Me, Jebediah!}}

*{{bon|The Artist Formerly Known as Bart}}

*{{bon|Stand and Deliverance}}

*{{bon|Little Big Mart}}

*{{bon|Bart de Triomphe}}

*{{bon|Reverend Lovejoy's Hellfire Comics: Citizen Shame!}}

*{{bon|Send in the Clowns}}

*{{bon|Li'l Homey: Homey Alone}}

*{{bon|Marge Attacks! (Simpsons Comics 25)|pipe=yes|3=Marge Attacks!}}

*{{bon|Itchy & Scratchy: Game Called Because of Pain}}

*{{bon|Diner Violations}}

*{{bon|They Fixed Homer's Brain!}}

*{{bon|Tales of the Briny Deep Featuring Captain McCallister in: Down the Hatches, Boys!}}

*{{bon|Krustonia}}

*{{bon|Flanders' Big Score}}

*{{bon|Maggie Simpson: Bringing Down Baby}}

*{{bon|Smitherses!}}

*{{bon|Bart and Milhouse: Bore Us-The Movie-Gruel}}

*{{bon|Radioactive Homer}}

*{{bon|Rhymes and Misdemeanors}}

*{{bon|Milhouse the Man, Krusty in the Can, and the Great Springfield Frink-Out}}

*{{bon|Burnsie on Board}}

*{{bon|The Simpsons Supporters Suggestion Spin Cycle}}

*{{bon|To Live and Diaper in Springfield}}

*{{bon|The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth}}

*{{bon|The Heroic Life and Mortifying Death of Radioactive Man: Chapter I}}

*{{bon|The Absent-Minded Protester}}

*{{bon|The Heroic Life and Mortifying Death of Radioactive Man: Chapter II}}

*{{bon|Dullards to Donuts}}

*{{bon|The Heroic Life and Mortifying Death of Radioactive Man: Chapter III}}

*{{bon|Sense and Censorability}}

*{{bon|The Heroic Life and Mortifying Death of Radioactive Man: Chapter IV}}

*{{bon|Sideshow Simpsons}}

*{{bon|The Incredible Edible Exploits of Lard Lad: In Search of the Lost Donut Holes}}

*{{bon|Bart Simpson and the Krusty Brand Fun Factory}}

*{{bon|The Day the Nagging Stopped}}

*{{bon|The Homer Show}}

*{{bon|Classics Illustrative: Slobberwacky}}

*{{bon|Journey to the Cellar of the Kwik-E-Mart}}

*{{bon|Poochie!|(as Matt 'King of the Vast Wasteland' Groening)}}

*{{bon|The Prime of Miss Lisa Simpson}}

*{{bon|Hamburger's Little Helper}}

*{{bon|Mr. Sparkle: Destroy All Manga!}}

*{{bon|Angels with Yellow Faces}}

*{{bon|Picture Perfect}}

*{{bon|The Rise and Fall of Bartholomew J. Simpson}}

*{{bon|Where Has All the Flour Gone?}}

*{{bon|Tic-Tac-D'oh!}}

*{{bon|The Official Cockamamie's Mail Order "Cult-alog" of Cool Pop-Cultural Collectibles!!}}

*{{bon|Maggie Come Home}}

*{{bon|Lisa Simpson, Storeroom Raider}}

*{{bon|Wall or Nothing}}

*{{bon|Bartman - The 1001 Costumes of Bartman}}

*{{bon|Love Gory}}

*{{bon|Krusty's 11}}

*{{bon|Radioactive Man in Planet of the Strange-O's}}

*{{bon|Li'l Goodfellas}}

*{{bon|...Inside Bongo Comics!}}

*{{bon|Bart and Lisa and Marge and Homer and Maggie (to a Lesser Extent) Vs. Thanksgiving}}

*{{bon|What Would Possibly Happen If Cletus Went to College?}}

*{{bon|Worst Christmas Ever!}}

*{{bon|A Springfield Christmas Carol}}

*{{bon|The Beer Boys}}

*{{bon|Tanks for Nothing}}

*{{bon|Homer vs. the Wallpaper}}

*{{bon|Siege on Evergreen Terrace}}

*{{bon|Duff Daddy}}

*{{bon|The Yes-Man Who Would Be King}}

*{{bon|Ned Flanders: Blind Luck}}

*{{bon|How the Vest Was Won!}}

*{{bon|A Swingin' Affair}}

*{{bon|Lisa's Historical Dream}}

*{{bon|Faking the Band}}

*{{bon|Kent's State}}

*{{bon|The Man With Two Wives}}

*{{bon|Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl: My Sister, My Sidekick}}

*{{bon|The Paper Chase}}

*{{bon|Asphalt Bungle}}

*{{bon|Bart Simpson's Bible Stories}}

*{{bon|Give a Hoot, Stay in School!}}

*{{bon|The Bogey Man}}

*{{bon|Judge Marge}}

*{{bon|Malibu Stacy: Stacy's Busy Day}}

*{{bon|Viva Bart}}

*{{bon|Beauty School Hellcats}}

*{{bon|Cruisin' for a Bruisin'}}

*{{bon|...So You Want To Work for Globex, Huh?}}

*{{bon|Growing Pains!}}

*{{bon|The Abominable Dr. Colossus}}

*{{bon|Merchants of Vengeance!}}

*{{bon|Crime Family Practice}}

*{{bon|In Burn$ We Tru$t}}

*{{bon|How Marge Got Her Curtains Back}}

*{{bon|A Recipe For Disaster}}

*{{bon|Homer's Run}}

*{{bon|The Secret Origin of Sideshow Mel!}}

*{{bon|Day of the Nerd}}

*{{bon|Bummer Vacation}}

*{{bon|Down Home Doctorin' Time, with Dr. Hibbert}}

*{{bon|...The Permanent Record Room!}}

*{{bon|Bard Boiled}}

*{{bon|The Many Faces of Bob}}

*{{bon|Homer vs. the Raccoon}}

*{{bon|The Buck Stops Everywhere}}

*{{bon|Homer for the Holidays}}

*{{bon|All Fired Up}}

*{{bon|Lisa Simpson's Book Club}}

*{{bon|Ned the Simpson}}

*{{bon|Lisa Goes to Camp}}

*{{bon|The Homer Effect}}

*{{bon|How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Lisa Simpson / To HELL and Back by Bart Simpson}}

*{{bon|Brain Drain}}

*{{bon|The Principal of the Thing}}

*{{bon|Crap That No One Wanted}}

<!-- Bartman -->

*{{bon|The Final Collision}}

*{{bon|Bartman (comic book story)||pipe=yes|3=Bartman}}

*{{bon|Bartman - Part Two: Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves}}

*{{bon|Bartman - Part III: The Great Purple Hope}}

<!-- I&S -->

*{{bon|Labor Pains (comic story)|pipe=yes|3=Labor Pains}}

<!-- Radioactive Man -->

*{{bon|See No Evil, Hear No Evil!}}

*{{bon|Dark Radioactive Man!}}

*{{bon|Who Washes the Washmen's Infinite Secrets of Legendary Crossover Knight Wars?}}

*{{bon|In His Own Image}}

*{{bon|No One Gets Over the Underground!}}

*{{bon|From Reinmania with Luv, Baby!}}

*{{bon|Don't Look Now, But It's 1984!}}

*{{bon|Radioactive Man, Man of Radioactivity}}

*{{bon|The Secret Origin of Bug Boy}}

*{{bon|A Shrimp in Time Pays Fine}}

*{{bon|The Grotesque Garage Sale of Gargamash!|(as Matt "Guru of Gargamash" Groening)}}

*{{bon|The Broadcast Buccaneers!}}

*{{bk|Bart Simpson's Joke Book}}

<!-- Krusty Comics -->

*{{bon|Krusty & Mr. Teeny in Double Date}}

*{{bon|The Rise and Fall of Krustyland, Part Two}}

*{{bon|Krusty's Channeling Tips Finding a Decent Meal in Your Past Life}}

*{{bon|The Rise and Fall of Krustyland, Part Three}}

<!-- Lisa Comics -->

*{{bon|Sideshow Blob!|(as Moldering Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|The Exorsister!|(as Maggoty Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|The Immigration of the Body Snatchers|(as Mucous-Laden Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|Fatal Reception|(as Mamin' Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|I Faced Tahn-Enn-Bahm, The Christmas Tree From Another World|(as Gut Wrenching Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|The Illustrative Man|(as Grotesque Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|Dark Lisa|(as Mysterious Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|Xt'tapalatakettle's Day|(as Matt "Ghastly" Groening)}}

*{{bon|Apu on Rigel 7|(as Monstrous Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|Hell-o-ween|(as Maimin' Matt Groenin')}}

*{{bon|Metamorph Simpsons|(as Splat Groening)}}

*{{bon|Young Frinkenstein|(as Malignant Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|From Duffs Till Dawn|(as Malodorous Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|In Springfield No One Can Hear You Scream|(as The Spawn of Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|I'm Not in Springfield Anymore!|(as Matt (Great Oz) Groening)}}

*{{bon|Homererectus|(as Mischievious Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|Catastrophe in Substitute Springfields!|(as Anti-Matter Groening)}}

*{{bon|Night of Nineteen Screams!}}

*{{bon|Krustine}}

*{{bon|Tales from the Kwik-E-Mart}}

*{{bon|The Power Plant of Pain}}

*{{bon|Squish Thing|(as"Gruesome" Matt Groening)}}

*{{bon|Gnaws}}

*{{bon|Margemary's Baby}}

*{{bon|Big Fat Trouble in Little Springfield}}

*{{bon|Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind}}

*{{bon|Bart's Day at the Zoo}}

*{{bon|Talent Hunt}}

*{{bon|Maximum Bart!}}

*{{bon|Futility Belt}}

*{{bon|Battle of the Boy-Bands!}}

*{{bon|Sky-High Bart!}}

*{{bon|...Who Wants to Win a Pocketful of Quarters?|(as Matt "The Big Bucks Stop Here" Groening)}}

*{{bon|Professor Frink's Partly Probable Parables: Quantum Cola}}

*{{bon|Bully for You!}}

*{{bon|Wild, Wild Bart|(as Matt "Bat Masterson" Groening)}}

*{{bon|The Case of the Hanging Shoes}}

*{{bon|Bart Simpson's Day Off}}

*{{bon|The Supercat of Springfield!}}

*{{bon|The Invisible Nerd!}}

*{{bon|24 Hours in the Life of Ralph Wiggum}}

*{{bon|See You Later, Alligator!}}

*{{bon|The Case of the Missing Moon Waffles}}

*{{bon|All's Veldt That Ends Veldt!}}

*{{bon|The Dickens You Say}}

*{{bon|Li'l Kang and Kodos: Baby's First Abduction!}}

*{{bon|Sashimi Bart!}}

*{{bon|Almost Excellent Adventure}}

*{{bon|O Bart, Where Art Thou?}}

*{{bon|A Chair of One's Own}}

*{{bon|Bart's Nasty Shirt}}

*{{bon|Cooking with Kang and Kodos}}

*{{bon|Prize Possession}}

*{{bon|Cyrano de Bart}}

*{{bon|Hill of Beans}}

*{{bon|Bart's Beard}}

*{{bon|Snow Brawl}}

*{{bon|Of Mice and Menace!}}

*{{bon|Lunch Pales}}

*{{bon|The Madness of Milhouse}}

*{{bon|From Lichtenslava With Love}}

*{{bon|Tango Tangle}}

*{{bon|Bartzilla}}

*{{bon|Balloon Payment}}

*{{bon|An Anime Among Us!}}

*{{bon|Scheme Supreme}}

*{{bon|Taming Your Wild Child}}

*{{bon|Bart Fink and the Mighty Mississip}}

<!-- Futurama -->

*{{bon|Somewhere Over the Brain-bow!}}

*{{bon|Liquid Diamond Is Forever!}}

<!-- Simpsons Comics -->

*{{bon|Clip Clip Hooray!}}

*{{bon|Clip Clip Hooray!}}

*{{bon|Krusty's House of Novelties}}

=== Publisher (Bongo Comics Group) ===

*{{bon2|{{BoTS|34}}}}

=== Thanks ===

*{{bon2|{{BoTS|34}}}}

=== Commentary ===

*{{dvdcom|Bart the General}}

*{{dvdcom|Moaning Lisa}}

*{{dvdcom|Life on the Fast Lane}}

*{{dvdcom|Homer's Night Out}}

== See also ==

*{{IMDB|name/nm0004981/}}

 

[[Category:Executive producers]]

[[Category:Outstanding Animated Program Emmy winning crew]]