Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, animator, and voice actor. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Helland the television series The Simpsonsand Futurama. The Simpsons has gone on to become the longest running U.S. primetime television series in history, as well as the longest running animated series and sitcom...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCartoonist
Date of Birth15 February 1954
CityPortland, OR
CountryUnited States of America
Matt Groening quotes about
Charles Schultz is a really interesting case. He wrote that comic strip and drew it himself from beginning to end, and it's a work of genius. It's very simply drawn, but it has some really deep emotions that you don't expect in a silly-looking comic strip.
I gave away 'Life in Hell' when it was a little 'zine, and sold it at record stores for $1, and I knew from the time that I first did it that I would continue to do it, because it was fun.
With Charlie Brown, it was about loneliness and isolation. I always thought that the thing about Charlie Brown and those characters was the absence of the parents. Half the strip was about who wasn't there. The parents were never in the picture.
I've conducted an experiment on my kids. Instead of denying them access to media, I've encouraged it. They read comic books, play Nintendo and watch way too much TV.
Nihilism in American comedy came along way before 'The Simpsons.' There was a fairly nihilistic point of view to 'Saturday Night Live,' for instance, back in the beginning, and a lot of really dark comedy had a really anti-sentimental take on life.
If I have one technology tip of the day, it's this: No matter how good the video on YouTube is, don't read the comments, just don't, because it will make you hate all humans.
I loved literary science fiction. In fact, as a kid, when I was reading science fiction, I thought 'I can't wait for the future when the special effects are good' to represent what was in these books by Arthur C. Clarke, Alfred Bester, Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard, Jack Vance.
Everybody doesn't have to get every joke. People really appreciate not being condescended to.
I don't know why I did it, I don't know why I enjoyed it, and I don't know why I will do it again.
I always say that 'Futurama' is real, and 'The Simpsons' is fiction.
A lot of our writers, like Conan O'Brien, moved on to other things.
I judge my life by how miserable it used to be. If I could pay my rent, I was deliriously happy. Now I'm deliriously happy all the time.