Artist Profile: Matt Groening

We'll skip all of the background information and start where Matt's career in animation started. Matt Groening moved to Los Angeles from Oregon to become a writer in 1977. After "a series of  lousy jobs," Matt began gaining fame for his comic strips titled Life in Hell which depicted rabbits discussing the troubles with relationships, music, and the general struggles of everyday life. In 1984, Groening began publishing his Life in Hell comics in volumes which quickly flew off the shelves.

Soon after publishing his comics they caught the eye of James L. Brooks, a Hollywood producer, who contacted Groening immediately and offered him a job working on an "undefined future animation project." This project later became The Simpsons. The show began as a series of short sketches which would appear on the Tracy Ullman Show. After three seasons working with the variety show, The Simpsons was developed into a half-hour, primetime show on Fox. Since it's release the show has won 27 Primetime Emmy Awards, 27 Annie Awards, and a Peabody Award. The show is still in production today.

After a number of years working directly with The Simpsons, Matt, along with co-writer David X. Cohen, created a new cartoon titled Futurama which depicts the wacky adventures of a delivery crew set in the year 3000. By the fourth season, even with a strong following, Fox cancelled the series. Reruns were later aired by the late-night cartoon block Adult Swim. While canceled the staff working on Futurama began creating movies of the show for their still loyal fans. Comedy Central recognized that the show had a strong following and brought the series back for its 5th season. The 6th season is set to release this summer.