Cartoonist, creator of "The Simpsons", "Futurama" and "Life in Hell": Who is Matt Groening?
We have gathered the details of the successful career and private life of cartoonist Matt Groening, who was an avid cartoonist from an early age, but did not take it seriously as a career option and thought of becoming a writer.
His full name is Matthew Abrham Matt Groening was born on February 15, 1954 in Portland, Oregon. He was born to his father, writer, filmmaker, and advertiser Homer Philip Groening, and mother, teacher Margaret Ruth. Groening has an older brother, Mark, and sisters, Patty, Lisa, and Maggie.
Growing up in Portland, Groening began his education at Ainsworth Elementary School. Later, he continued with Lincoln High School. He began his education at Evergreen State College in Olympia in 1972 and studied for five years. During this time, he was the editor of the campus newspaper "The Cooper Point Journal". He wrote articles for the newspaper and drew cartoons.
Groening began production with the animated film "One Hundred and a Dalmatian," which inspired him to start drawing cartoons. In 1977, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism. After graduating, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer and worked in many different business sectors. Meanwhile, he started drawing cartoons for his book "Life in Hell", based on his own struggles and featuring the 'Binky' feature of an oppressed rabbit. He bought his first professional cartoon sale in 1978, to "Wet" magazine.
Groening, who later went to work for an alternative Los Angeles Reader newspaper, officially published "Life in Hell" as his first comic in 1980. The comic suddenly became popular and became a huge success. In 1984, he published "Love is Hell", some relationship-themed strips from his work, by his colleague Deborah Caplan. The book was a huge success and was followed by Caplan's next work, "Work is Hell".
The two later left the newspaper company. Groening founded the Acme Features Syndicate to distribute "Life in Hell." The comic has been published in more than 250 weekly newspapers and many related books have been compiled.
Later, Groening's comic came to the attention of producer and writer James L. Brooks. In 1985 Brooks contacted Groening and offered to involve him in the creation of an animated series to air on The Tracy Ullman Show. Thus, Groening created a dysfunctional family and first appeared on the show in 1987 as "The Simpsons." Groening named his characters in the TV series after members of his own family and carefully crafted and designed each character.
In the same year, Groening, who worked as a writer and animator for two years on the 'Traccy Ullman Show', gained great popularity with "The Simpsons" and a special half-hour exhibition series. The series premiered in 1989 and Groening also appeared as a creator, writer, voice actor and producer. Additionally, the series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon and no one thought it would become such a hit. The series was often a satirical depiction of politicians, teachers, police and other officials. The series has won multiple awards in various categories, as well as being the longest-running US primetime TV series. Also, it is currently working on its 27th season.
In 1994, Groening opened the comic book publishing company "Bongo Comics". Groening co-founded the company with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance, and Bill Morrison. The company released comics about "The Simpsons" and "Futurama," and founded "Zongo Comics", a brand of Bongo, to target mature comic readers the following year.
After years of research, in 1997 Groening created "Futurama," an animated series about life in the year 3000, with producer David X Cohen. The series was broadcast by Fox Broadcasting Company in 1999 and ran for four years. Despite being canceled, it was a huge success and a strong fan base. He has also acted as a voice actor, creator, writer, and producer of the show while working on the series
TV channel called Comedy Central has worked for the reruns of the series. Subsequently, the series produced four films on DVD: "Bender's Big Score" (2007), "The Beast with a Billion Backs" (2008), "Bender's Game" (2008) and "Into the Wild Green Yonder" (2009). In February 2022, the series was announced for a remake on Hulu, with a 2023 release.
Groening has appeared in films and documentaries such as "Comic Book: The Movie" (2004), "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" (2005), "Seventh Python" (2008) and "I Know This Voice" (2013).
Later, "Disenchantment," an animated fantasy sitcom created by Groening for Netflix, was created. Starring Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre and Nat Faxon, the series also takes place in the medieval fantasy kingdom of Dreamland. It also tells the story of Bean, a rebellious and alcoholic princess, his naive elf friend Elfo, and his destructive "personal demon" Luci. The series, which started airing its first episode in August 2018, aired its fourth season in February 2022. The fifth season is currently in the works. Since its release, the series has garnered positive reviews from both critics and viewers.
Private life
Groening married Deborah Caplan in 1986. The couple has two sons named Homer and Abe. The couple decided to divorce in 1999. In 2007, Groening met artist Augustina Picasso. The couple got married in 2011. The couple had twin daughters named Luna Margaret and India Mia in 2015. Later, they had twins Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth for the second time in 2018. The couple had a daughter named Nirvana in 2020 and another child named Satori was born in 2022.
Self-described agnostic, Groening contributed to many campaigns against Democratic Party candidates and organizations. Groening has won 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and 23 Annie Awards in various categories. Thanks to the animated series 'The Simpsons', it won the Primetime Emmy Awards for 'Outstanding Animated Program' almost every year. Additionally, it received the Annie award in the 'Best Animated Television Production' category for the series for six years from 1992 to 1997.
In 2008, Groening received the 'Best Animated Home Entertainment' award for his direct-to-video film 'Futurama: Bender's Biggest Score'. In the following years, he was honored with an Annie Award in the 'Best Animated Home Entertainment' category with "Futurama: A Billion-backed Monster" and "Futurama: Wild Green Yonder".
In 2002, he received the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Association for his work 'Life in Hell'. In addition, Groening was crowned with the British Comedy Award for his 'outstanding contribution to comedy'.