Matt Groening: Difference between revisions

''[[The Simpsons]]'' started off in 1987 as extremely short cartoons used as bumpers before and after commercials during the ''[[The Tracey Ullman]] Show]]''. Despite being crudely animated and a lot of [[Early Installment Weirdness]] the segments caught on with the American public. By 1989 Groening got the chance to turn the series into a full length prime time animated series, something that hadn't been done since ''[[The Flintstones]]'' in the 1960s. The show quickly became a critically lauded mainstream success, especially thanks to [[Breakout Character]] Bart Simpson. It became the first prime time cartoon series since ''[[The Flintstones]]'' to become popular both with children and adults. Its clever satire, edgy subversiveness, hilarious gags and beyond all that recognizable emotional depth were praised. Its cult success paved the way for other adult cartoon series such as ''[[Beavis and Butthead]], [[South Park]]'' and ''[[Family Guy]]''. Yet, the show wasn't without its critics. Especially in the early years many parents and educators complained about certain scenes they deemed to be offensive or unsuitable for children. Even president [[George H. W. Bush]] attacked the series during the 1992 Republican National Convention by claiming that "the American family should be a lot more like ''[[The Waltons]]'' and a lot less like ''[[The Simpsons]]''." Only a week later ''[[The Simpsons]]'' reacted by letting Bart say: "Hey, we're just like the Waltons. We're all praying for an end to the depression too." Coincidence or not, but Bush lot the elections later that year.

''[[The Simpsons]]'' continued its succesfulsuccessful run and is still on television to this day, despite claims that the show isn't as good as it used to be. In 1999 Groening launched another animated series , ''[[Futurama]]'', around a totally different concept. Set in the far future, "''Futurama"'', mostly spoofs every science fiction or future dystopia concept in a similar satirical way like [[The Simpsons]]. The program never reached the same amount of immediate popularity that ''[[The Simpsons]]'' did and was thus cancelled by FOX until [[Comedy Central]] revived the series a few years later. Still, its audience keeps growing and will probably be [[Vindicated by History]] later.

== {{examples|Works of Matt Groening ==}}

* ''[[Life in HellFuturama]] '''

* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Akbar and Jeff in ''[[Life in Hell]]'', Smithers, Lenny and Carl in ''[[The Simpsons]]''.

* [[Art Evolution]]: Groening has never been a great artist from a technical point of view. He can only draw people with bug-like eyeballs and huge overbites. The early ''Simpsons'' cartoons look very ugly because his animators used to trace his own drawings instead of modefyingmodifying them. In time the Simpsons' art became impressively better, though "''Life in Hell"'' hasn't evolved that much.

** Happens regularly in ''[[The Simpsons]]''

** In "''Futurama"'' a fictional alien language is used in backgrounds so that fans can decipher it.

* [[Boarding School of Horrors]]: "''Life in Hell"'' even has a volume called "School is Hell".

** Also a prominent theme in ''[[The Simpsons]]''.

** "''Life in Hell"'' handled themes that most mainstream cartoon strips never tackled with.

** "''The Simpsons"'' went inon the air at a time when most TV animation was aimed at children and thus very safe and formulaic. It immediately attracted attention because of its subversive content, often featuring themes that you wouldn't see or hear in mainstream animation.

* [[Denser and Wackier]]: Both "''The Simpsons"'' and "''Futurama"'' evolved to this point.

** ''[[The Itchy and Scratchy Show]]'' is probably the most deranged Groening's work ever got.

** The early "''Life in Hell"'' cartoons had a different tone. It features the rabbit Binky bickering about all of his life's problems. Only when Groening changed him into a victim of society the cartoon became succesfulsuccessful.

** The early "Simpsons" are hardly recognizable at all. Their physical designs were very ugly, the animation was amateuristicamateurish and many jokes were still very cartoonish and generic. It did have an edginess and subversions, but only in the second season did the satirical component finally start to blossom.

* [[Executive Meddling]]: Groening's artistic vision often clashes with the executives of Fox. Still, there aren't that many scenes in both ''[[The Simpsons]]'' or ''[[Life in Hell]]'' that have been censored. Most of Fox's complaints are ignored. Groening has always been lucky that ''[[The Simpsons]]'' was so succesfulsuccessful, so the show was never [[Screwed by the Network]], a fate that the less -popular ''[[Futurama]]'' did have to cope with.

* [[Free-Range Children]]: Both in "''Life in Hell"'' and "''The Simpsons"'' the children are far more mature than their respectable ages;

* [[Hidden Depths]]: To a lot of people "''Life in Hell", "The Simpsons"'' and "''Futurama"'' appear to be just your typical cartoon series, but they are far more mature than one would expect from a so-called "children's medium".

* [[Medium Awareness]]: In both "''The Simpsons"'' and "''Futurama"'' a lot of jokes are made about television and animation clichés and conventions.

** Several names of characters in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' were derived from streetnamesstreet names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon: Terwilliger, Lovejoy, Flanders, Kearney, Van Houten, Quimby, Burnside,... There is even an Evergreen Terrace!