Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters.

Groening had been called to pitch a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show, and had intended to present an adaptation of his Life in Hell comic strip.

The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up ; instead, they just traced over his drawings.

Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic strip Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters.

Groening had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show, and had intended to present an adaptation of his Life in Hell comic strip.

My father was an athletic, creative, intelligent filmmaker and writer, and the only thing he had in common with Homer was a love of donuts " Although Groening has stated in several interviews that Homer's namesake is his father, he also claimed in several 1990 interviews that a character in the 1939 Nathanael West novel The Day of the Locust was the inspiration for naming Homer.

The family was crudely drawn because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up ; instead, they just traced over his drawings.

Groening had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show and had intended to present an adaptation of his Life in Hell comic strip.

The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up ; instead, they just traced over his drawings.

Groening describes Rusty Nails as being a sweet clown whose show sometimes had a Christian message, but whose name scared Groening.

" Groening stated that he had originally intended him to be called Louis Lane and be " obsessed and tormented by " Lois Lane, but was out of the room when the writers named him.

Later in the production of that season, the producers had it changed to brown, because they thought that his hair looked like his skin ; as well, during an artistic convention of the show, Groening stated that he wanted only the Simpsons to have yellow hair.

He had asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series.

Groening, who had not paid much attention to television since his own childhood, was unaware that title sequences of such length were uncommon by that time.

Groening described the inspiration for Flanders as " just a guy who was truly nice, that Homer had no justifiable reason to loathe, but then did ".

Mr. Largo, Lisa's music teacher, was partly inspired by a music teacher Matt Groening had as a kid.

When they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and story lines ; Groening claimed they had gone " overboard " in their discussions.

" Matt Groening later told Empire that the idea never " got further than enthusiasm ", but " would have been really fun ".

Matt Groening, the creator of the franchise, expressed a wish to make a parody film named Simpstasia ; it was never produced, partly because it would have been too difficult to write a feature-length script.

Also, Groening claims that this episode has been incorrectly credited with creating the " alternate version " of " Jingle Bells " that has become a well-known children's playground song.

* It has been assumed that The Simpsons ( 1989 ) creator Matt Groening named his most famous character, Homer Simpson, after his own father, however, in several interviews given in 1990, Groening reportedly stated that he named the character after the Homer in this novel, although neither explanation is considered definitive.

Several sources, including John Ortved's The Simpsons history article " Simpsons Family Values " in Vanity Fair, have reported that after Taylor had been made to repeatedly record the line, she said " fuck you " to series creator Matt Groening and stormed out of the studio.

The origins of their names are unknown, Matt Groening has a sister named Patty, but unlike the other Simpson relatives, this has not been explicitly revealed.

The show's admitted liberal slant has been joked about in episodes such as " The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular ", in which a reference is made to " hundreds of radical right-wing messages inserted into every show by creator Matt Groening.

The noise rock version of the end credits performed by Sonic Youth has been ranked among the best versions of the theme by Matt Groening and also by Chris Turner in his book Planet Simpson.

Groening had been told by a spokesperson that if he put Planet Hollywood in The Simpsons, the creators of the restaurant, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Sylvester Stallone, would agree to make guest appearances on the show.

The episode has been criticized by series creator Matt Groening and by Harry Shearer, who provides the voice of Principal Skinner.

Groening also expressed a wish to make Simpstasia, a parody of Fantasia ; it was never produced, partly because it would have been too difficult to write a feature-length script.

Matt Groening later told Empire that the idea never " got further than enthusiasm ", but " would have been really fun ".

They were also invited twice to record BBC sessions for John Peel, and selected by The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and to play one of the many All Tomorrows Parties festivals at which they have performed.

The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks.

The series was envisioned by Groening in the late 1990s while working on The Simpsons, later bringing Cohen aboard to develop storylines and characters to pitch the show to Fox.

Matt Groening originally intended to pitch Life in Hell to Brooks

On the suggestion of friend and colleague Polly Platt, who gave Brooks the nine panel Life in Hell cartoon entitled " The Los Angeles Way of Death " which hangs outside Brooks ' Gracie Films office, Brooks asked Life in Hell cartoonist Matt Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts to appear on The Tracey Ullman Show.

The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks.

Having seen one of cartoonist Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strips, Brooks asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series.

Brooks had asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series.

Matt Groening, the series ' creator, allowed her to audition for Bart and offered her the role on the spot.

The success of The Simpsons led Fox to develop other animated series aimed at adults, including King of the Hill ( created by Mike Judge ), Futurama ( also by Groening ), Family Guy ( created by Seth MacFarlane ), American Dad!

Fox expressed a strong desire in the mid-1990s for Matt Groening to create a new series, and he began conceiving Futurama during this period.

In addition to the main title, Klasky Csupo was given the opportunity to produce a series of one-minute teaser cartoons which featured a group of characters called the Simpsons, created by Matt Groening.

The character, designated in the series as Bending Unit 22, was created by series creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, and is voiced by John DiMaggio.

The name Bender was chosen by series creator Matt Groening in homage to the character John Bender from The Breakfast Club.

Bender ( being the show's breakout character ) has made several cameos in different episodes of The Simpsons, another series by Matt Groening.

He hired cartoonist Matt Groening to create a series of shorts for the show, which eventually led to The Simpsons in 1989.

Groening initially intended to present an animated version of his Life in Hell series.