Who is Matt Groening, what’s his new show Disenchantment and when did he create The Simpsons and Futurama?
MATT Groening is one of the richest cartoonist’s in the world, being the mind behind The Simpsons and Futurama.
Despite the former being the longest-running U.S. animated series of all time, Matt’s not content with easing his workload with a Simpsons sequel and a new Netflix show. Here’s the lowdown…
Who is Matt Groening?
Matthew Abraham Groening was born February 15, 1954, in Portland, Oregon and is an American cartoonist, writer, animator and voice actor.
The 64-year-old moved to Los Angeles in 1977 with ambitions of becoming a writer and he self-published the comic strip Life in Hell.
He gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader which is where Life in Hell made its official debut which caught the eye of Gracie films founder and future Simpsons producer James L. Brooks.
Due to the success of The Simpsons, Matt has an estimated net worth of $500 million and he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.
What’s his new show Disenchantment?
Matt is also the creator of Disenchantment, an animated fantasy parody for adults set to be released on Netflix UK on Friday, August 17.
The show is all about a female anti-heroine called Princess Tiabeanie and her search for a job.
Failing to get anything right, hard-drinking princess Bean is joined on her quest by her personal demon Luci and her refugee elf friend Elfo.
The star-studded voice act cast includes The Lego Ninjago Movie’s Abbi Jacobson and Futurama’s John DiMaggio.
When did he create The Simpsons and Futurama?
Matt was originally contacted to adapt his Life in Hell characters for an animated project but fearing giving up his ownership rights, Matt conceived a new idea for The Simpsons.
The characters are all famously named after members of Matt’s own family except Bart, which is an anagram of Brat. The animated shorts made their debut on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987.
It’s success led to a prime-time show on Fox in December 1989 and it’s since produced over 600 episodes and a hugely successful feature-length film.
Matt first envisioned Futurama during the mid-90s and its first run was broadcast from 1999 to 2003 before earning a brief revival on Comedy Central from 2008 to 2013.