Matt Groening

Matthew Abram Groening (born February 15, 1954) (name rhymes with raining, IPA {{IPA|)}} is an American cartoonist and the creator of the animated series The Simpsons and Futurama. He currently serves at the former as creative consultant.

Facts

• His father Homer, a descendant from Russian Mennonites in Canada, spoke Plautdietsch as a child in Saskatchewan in the 1920s but Matt never learned the language.

http://www.canadianmennonite.org/vol06-2002/6-19/artsculture.html

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• The name Groening may be derived from Groningen (city) (or Grun'n in the local dialect) in the north of the Netherlands.
• Groening was influenced as a youngster by the dark humor of English cartoonist Ronald Searle.
• He is part of the rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders whose members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, and Greg Iles.
• Groening currently serves as creative consultant on The Simpsons. In the past he has served as executive producer on The Simpsons and Futurama.
• Both Groening and his character Bart Simpson are left-handed. Other left handed characters on The Simpsons include Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns and Moe Szyslak, the bartender.
• In college, Groening sometimes took notes in class in the form of comic strips.