Top 45 Matt Groening Quotes

It’s just hard not to listen to TV: it’s spent so much more time raising us than parents have.

Everybody doesn’t have to get every joke. People really appreciate not being condescended to.

The writers led by Mike Scully are fantastic. And they’re creating original stories that not only don’t repeat what we’ve already done, they also don’t repeat anything I’ve seen on television.

We did ‘The Simpsons Movie,’ which took almost four years; it was the same people that do the TV show, and it just killed us. So that’s why there hasn’t been a second movie. But I imagine if the show ever does go off the air, they’ll start doing movies.

I loved literary science fiction. In fact, as a kid, when I was reading science fiction, I thought ‘I can’t wait for the future when the special effects are good’ to represent what was in these books by Arthur C. Clarke, Alfred Bester, Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard, Jack Vance.

With ‘Futurama,’ I was just worried that somebody would beat us to it; it seemed so obvious that there should be an animated science fiction show set in the future. And one of the reasons why it’s not, I learned, is that it’s really, really difficult.

The best stories in our culture have some sort of subversiveness – Mark Twain, ‘Catcher in the Rye.’ You provide kids with great stories and teach them how to use the tools to make their own.

I know for a fact, obviously, because my kids grew up watching the show, that there are some things they are introduced to from ‘The Simpsons’, and then later in life they see the thing we’re parodying. My kids had not seen ‘Casablanca,’ and we’d done parodies of ‘Casablanca.’

I don’t have to be careful, I’ve got a gun.

The conundrum that I face on a daily basis is that I have two sons who have grown up watching ‘The Simpsons,’ so they know exactly what buttons to push. They know how Bart irritates Homer, and they use these lines against me to tell me that I’m not funny anymore.

A lot of people believe that if everybody just did what they were told – obeyed – everything would be fine. But that’s not what life is all about. That’s not real. It’s never going to happen.

The nice thing about ‘Futurama’ for me personally was that it was a way to honor some of the traditional ideas in literary science fiction, not so much movie or television science fiction – although we have that too, obviously. Our situation, a workplace comedy, led to all sorts of stuff.

I think there is a certain charm to the hand drawn image that I like. My problem with CGI is that it’s so rich in texture that my eyes actually get tired. Everything is in focus down to the littlest leaf.

It’s a funny show. The characters are surprisingly likable, given how ugly they are. We’ve got this huge cast of characters that we can move around. And over the last few seasons, we’ve explored some of the secondary characters’ personal lives a bit more.

‘Adult Swim’ on the Cartoon Network is unbelievable. And ‘South Park’ continues to do great stuff. And ‘Family Guy’ and the various other Seth MacFarlane projects are amazing.

When authorities warn you of the sinfulness of sex, there is an important lesson to be learned. Do not have sex with the authorities.

‘The Simpsons’ obviously is a huge success, and Fox has nothing to do with its success, with its creative success, and as a result they don’t really like the show. They don’t like ‘The Simpsons’ at Fox.

I was always frightened by taverns. They just seemed like very unpleasant places to go.

‘The Simpsons’ basically – and ‘Futurama’ – are really smart shows. They’re kind of disguised as these goofy animated sitcoms, but the references within the shows, if you’re paying attention, are pretty smart and pretty sophisticated.

I gave away ‘Life in Hell’ when it was a little ‘zine, and sold it at record stores for $1, and I knew from the time that I first did it that I would continue to do it, because it was fun.

I think in daily newspapers, the way comic strips are treated, it’s as if newspaper publishers are going out of their way to kill the medium.

With Charlie Brown, it was about loneliness and isolation. I always thought that the thing about Charlie Brown and those characters was the absence of the parents. Half the strip was about who wasn’t there. The parents were never in the picture.

Charles Schultz is a really interesting case. He wrote that comic strip and drew it himself from beginning to end, and it’s a work of genius. It’s very simply drawn, but it has some really deep emotions that you don’t expect in a silly-looking comic strip.

One of the things I would like to do is make up stories that I would have enjoyed when I was a kid. So, if I’m thinking about an audience, it’s usually a younger version of myself.

Living creatively is really important to maintain throughout your life. And living creatively doesn’t mean only artistic creativity, although that’s part of it. It means being yourself, not just complying with the wishes of other people.

Science fiction and comedy are generally a pretty bumpy mix.

We’ve got a bunch of new writers now who tell me they grew up watching The Simpsons. It’s bizarre, and they’re writing some very funny stuff.

With animation, because you can draw anything and do anything and have the characters do whatever you want, the tendency is to be very loose with the boundaries and the rules.

Love is a perky elf dancing a merry little jig and then suddenly he turns on you with a miniature machine gun.

Most TV shows don’t reward you for paying attention.

I have less to do with ‘The Simpsons’ every season, but I stick my nose in here and there. Basically, it’s just trying to keep the characters consistent and making sure the show has a soul.

When The Simpsons came around, there really was nothing else like it on TV. It’s hard to imagine, but when Fox first took the plunge with it, it was considered controversial to put animation on prime time.

I think when ‘The Simpsons’ first came on, there was an uproar. People got used to it. They realized the show’s really funny, it’s got a heart, so I think it’s pretty safe.

I went to Bali, and I was in a small village, and somebody who was with me showed a woman a little figurine of Bart and asked: ‘Do you know who this is?’ And she said: ‘Mickey Mouse.’

I thought I was going to make crazy cartoons for the rest of my life. I didn’t think I’d ever get paid for it, didn’t think I drew well enough, but I knew it made me happy.

Don’t have a cow, man.

Eat my shorts!

Here’s to alcohol: the cause of, and answer to, all of life’s problems.

We have ‘Doctor Who’ references on ‘Futurama,’ but we have a lot of science fiction references that I don’t get; but in the staff we have experts on ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Dungeons and Dragons.’

I like the ‘Simpsons’ pinball machines. Those are pretty great.

The thing about a cartoon is, you can do whatever you want. The tightrope that we are walking on ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Futurama’ is ‘How do you continue to surprise the audience, but make them good surprises?’ Not every surprise is good, but you want to continue jolting people.

We’ve been running a little behind schedule. But only by about 15 years or so.

When DVDs finally disappear, I’m going to be sad. I’ll miss the commentaries.

I always say that ‘Futurama’ is real, and ‘The Simpsons’ is fiction.

God often gives nuts to toothless people.