The Simpsons Homer for the Holidays by Matt Groening

I took that name from a minor character in the novel The Day of the Locust, by Nathanael West. In my novel, Bart was the son of Homer Simpson. I had this idea of an angry father yelling “Bart,” and Bart sounds kind of like bark-like a barking dog. I thought it was a very unusual name for a kid at the time. I was going to name the main character Matt, but I didn’t think it would go over well in a pitch meeting, so I changed the name to Bart.īack in high school I wrote a novel about a character named Bart Simpson. I have a sister Lisa and another sister Maggie, so I drew all of them. While I was waiting-I believe they kept me waiting for over an hour-I very quickly drew the Simpsons family. I soon realized that whatever I pitched would not be owned by me, but would be owned by Fox, so I decided to keep my rabbits in “Life in Hell” and come up with something new. He wanted me to come in and pitch an idea for doing little cartoons on that show. Matt Groening: I had been drawing my weekly comic strip, “Life in Hell,” for about five years when I got a call from Jim Brooks, who was developing “The Tracey Ullman Show” for the brand-new Fox network. In 1987 you were waiting for a meeting with James Brooks and you started sketching. UPDATE: 'The Simpsons' responded to this interview with a new chalkboard gag before the Sunday, April 15, episode proclaiming that 'The true location of Springfield is in any state but yours.' Check it out.Ĭlaudia De La Roca: So take us back to the Simpsons’ foundational moment.

The Simpsons Homer for the Holidays by Matt Groening