Matthew Abram Groening (/ˈɡreɪnɪŋ/ GRAY-ning; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator.

He is best known as the creator of the television series The Simpsons (1989–present), Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present),[1] and Disenchantment (2018–2023), and the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012).

In 1997, Groening and former Simpsons writer David X. Cohen developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999.

"[16] He served as the editor of the campus newspaper, The Cooper Point Journal, for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons.

[14] He befriended fellow cartoonist Lynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter to Joseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply.

"[18] He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians,[19] and he has also cited Robert Crumb, Ernie Bushmiller, Rocky and Bullwinkle,[20] Ronald Searle,[21] Monty Python,[22] and Charles M. Schulz as inspirations.

He went through what he described as "a series of lousy jobs", including being an extra in the television movie When Every Day Was the Fourth of July,[25] busing tables,[26] washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant,[27] and chauffeuring and ghostwriting for a retired Western director.

[26][31] Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers,[14] typesetting, editing and answering phones.

[16] In an effort to add more music to the column, he "just made stuff up,"[25] concocting and reviewing fictional bands and nonexistent records.

[39] Life in Hell caught the attention of Hollywood writer-director-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks, who had been shown the strip by fellow producer Polly Platt.

[41] Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family: Homer, the overweight father; Marge, the slim mother; Bart, the miscreant oldest child; Lisa, the intelligent middle child; and Maggie, the baby.

[41][42][43] Groening famously named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Marge (for Groening's mother it was short for Margaret and the cartoon character Marge is short for Marjorie), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Margaret (Maggie).

[47] The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings.

[49] Marge's distinct beehive hairstyle was inspired by Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue.

[51] At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head.

[54] When designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color".

[60] Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.

In 1994, Groening and other Simpsons producers pitched a live-action spin-off about Krusty the Clown (with Dan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground.

[70] Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield".

In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life.

When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes.

In 1993, Groening formed Bongo Comics (named after the character Bongo from Life in Hell[83]) with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison, which publishes comic books based on The Simpsons and Futurama (including Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles.

He also plays the drums in the all-author rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders (although he is listed as the cowbell player), whose other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry and Greg Iles.

[90] In July 2013, Groening co-authored Hard Listening (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy, LLC).

In 2011, Groening married Agustina Picasso, an Argentine artist, after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini.

[94] On June 16, 2018, he became the father of twins for a second time when his wife gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, announced via Instagram.

Groening also collectively donated to the Democratic senatorial campaign committee and to the Senate campaigns of Barbara Boxer (California), Dianne Feinstein (California), Paul Simon (Illinois), Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts), Carl Levin (Michigan), Hillary Clinton (New York), Harvey Gantt (North Carolina), Howard Metzenbaum (Ohio), and Tom Bruggere (Oregon).

His first cousin on his mom's side, Laurie Monnes Anderson, was a member of the Oregon State Senate, representing eastern Multnomah County.

[104] Groening has a great disdain towards former President Richard Nixon, and enjoyed ridiculing him by making him the butt of jokes in The Simpsons and Futurama.

[108] In 2007, he was ranked fourth (and highest American by birth) in a list of the "top 100 living geniuses", published by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.