| Color: |
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| Creator: | Matt Groening |
| Origin: | The Simpsons shorts from The Tracey Ullman Show |
| Owner: | 20th Century Studios |
| Years: | April 19, 1987 – present (years) |
| Books: | List of books |
| Comics: | List of comics |
| Magazines: | Simpsons Illustrated |
| Films: | The Simpsons Movie |
| Tv Shorts: | The Simpsons shorts (1987–1989) |
| Games: | Simpsons Jeopardy! |
| Vgs: | List of video games |
| Soundtracks: | Discography |
| Music: | The Simpsons Theme |
| Toys: | World of Springfield Lego The Simpsons |
| Attractions: | The Simpsons Ride Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl |
| Website: | www.thesimpsons.com |
The Simpsons is an American animated comedy franchise whose eponymous family consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The Simpsons were created by cartoonist Matt Groening for a series of animated shorts that debuted on The Tracey Ullman Show on Fox on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into an animated series. a half-hour prime time show that was an early hit for Fox, becoming the first Fox series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990). The popularity of The Simpsons has made it a billion-dollar merchandising and media franchise. Alongside the television series, the characters of the show have been featured in a variety of media, including books, comic books, a magazine, musical releases, and video games.
The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in 2007 and was the eighth highest-grossing film of that year. A variety of merchandise, including T-shirts, DVDs, board games, and action figures have been released. The Simpsons merchandise has sold well, generating $2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales. In 2003, about 500 companies around the world were licensed to use The Simpsons characters in their advertising. In 2008, $750 million worth of The Simpsons merchandise was purchased worldwide. Peter Byrne, Fox executive vice-president of licensing and merchandising, called The Simpsons "without doubt the biggest licensing entity that Fox has had, full stop, I would say from either TV or film."
In 2002, the property was valued at $5 billion to $6 billion according to Fox.[1]
See main article: History of The Simpsons. Matt Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Brooks, the producer of the sketch comedy program The Tracey Ullman Show, wanted to use a series of animated cartoons as bumpers between sketches. Groening had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended to present his Life in Hell series. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life's work, Groening decided to go in another direction.[2] He hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family, and named the characters after his own family.[3]
The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield, without any geographical coordinates or references to U.S. states that might identify which part of the country it represents.[4] The Simpsons uses the standard setup of a situational comedy or "sitcom" as its premise. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town. However, because of its animated nature, The Simpsons scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom. The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant, the show can comment on the state of the environment. Through Bart and Lisa's days at Springfield Elementary School, the show's writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry. Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left-wing bias. The writer and producer Al Jean admitted in an interview that "We [the show] are of liberal bent." The writers often evince an appreciation for liberal ideals, but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum. Religion also figures as a recurring theme. In times of crisis, the family often turns to God, and the show has dealt with most of the major religions.[5]
See also: List of characters in The Simpsons. The main characters of the show are the Simpson family. The Simpsons are a family who live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in Springfield. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.[6]
The five family members were given simple designs so that their facial emotions could easily be changed with little effort[24] and so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.[25] They made their debut on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night". In 1989, the shorts were adapted into The Simpsons, a half-hour series airing on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The Simpson family remained the main characters on this new show.[26]
See main article: The Tracey Ullman Show and The Simpsons shorts. The Simpsons shorts debuted on The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987, were featured on the first three seasons of the show. By the fourth and last season of The Tracey Ullman Show the first season of the half-hour show was on the air. In the two first seasons the shorts were divided into three or four parts, but in the third season they were played as a single story. The stories for the shorts were written and storyboarded by Matt Groening.[27] 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. The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo,[28] with Wesley Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season. After season one it was animated by Archer and Silverman. "Georgie" Gyorgyi Kovacs Peluce (Kovács Györgyike)[29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] was the colorist and the person who decided to make the characters yellow.
The actors who voiced the characters would later reprise their roles in The Simpsons. Dan Castellaneta performed the voices of Homer Simpson, Abraham Simpson, and Krusty the Clown. Homer's voice sounds different in the shorts compared to most episodes of the half-hour show. In the shorts, his voice is a loose impression of Walter Matthau, whereas it is more robust and humorous on the half-hour show, allowing Homer to cover a fuller range of emotions.[35] Voices were needed for the shorts, so the producers decided to ask Castellaneta as well as Julie Kavner to voice Homer and Marge, rather than hire more actors.[7] Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith performed the voices of Bart Simpson and Lisa Simpson respectively.
In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house.[36] The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989, with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special.[37] "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990 because of animation problems.[38] The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield, without any geographical coordinates or references to U.S. states that might identify which part of the country it represents. For The Simpsons, Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria were added as cast members. In addition to the main cast, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters. From 1999 to 2002, Maggie Roswell's characters were voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven. Karl Wiedergott has appeared in minor roles, but does not voice any recurring characters.[39] Repeat "special guest" cast members include Albert Brooks, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Joe Mantegna, and Kelsey Grammer.[40]
The Simpsons was the Fox network's first TV series to rank among a season's top 30 highest-rated shows.[41] While later seasons would focus on Homer, Bart was the lead character in most of the first three seasons. In 1990, Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television in what was termed "Bartmania".[42] [43] [44] On February 9, 1997, The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones with the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" as the longest-running prime-time animated series in the United States. In 2004, The Simpsons replaced The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952 to 1966) as the longest-running sitcom (animated or live action) in the United States.[45] In May 2007, The Simpsons reached their 400th episode at the end of the eighteenth season. Hallmarks of the show include the opening sequence;[46] its theme song, composed by Danny Elfman in 1989;[47] Treehouse of Horror episodes, which have themselves inspired an offshoot of merchandise;[48] its use of cultural references; sight gags; and the use of catchphrases, such as Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh!".
The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 24 Primetime Emmy Awards,[49] 26 Annie Awards[50] and a Peabody Award.[51] In a 1998 issue celebrating the 20th century's greatest achievements in arts and entertainment, Time magazine named The Simpsons the century's best television series.[52] On January 14, 2000, the Simpsons were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[53]
In September 1994, 20th Television began syndicating reruns of The Simpsons to local stations throughout the United States.[54] As of 2003, syndication reruns of The Simpsons have generated an estimated one billion dollars in revenue for Fox. In 2008, advertisers spent $314.8 million to advertise during the primetime show and subsequent reruns, down 16.8% from 2007. Since August 2014, every episode of the show has aired on FXX. From 2014 until 2019, all episodes were available on-demand via the Simpsons World website. All of the episodes have since been moved to the Disney+ streaming service since November 12, 2019.[55] [56] [57]
Throughout its run, The Simpsons has featured characters from different series. The first such instance was in the season six episode "A Star is Burns", which featured characters from The Critic; due to it being produced by staff who had worked on The Simpsons, including former writers Al Jean, Mike Reiss and producer James L. Brooks, Matt Groening publicly criticized the episode and Brooks, going on to remove his name from the opening credits.
Further episodes with crossovers include season 8 episode "The Springfield Files" with The X-Files, and season 26 episode "Simpsorama", which is a full-length crossover with Futurama, another show created by Matt Groening. Also in season 26, the episode "Mathlete's Feat" featured a crossover couch gag with Adult Swim series Rick and Morty.
Fellow Animation Domination series Family Guy would have a crossover with The Simpsons titled "The Simpsons Guy", which is part of Family Guy season 13.
See main article: The Simpsons Disney+ shorts. Following the addition of The Simpsons to the Disney+ streaming service, co-creator and executive producer James L. Brooks suggested the creation of a series of short films in which the Simpsons would "invade the rest of Disney+" as a way to promote The Simpsons and reach viewers who may not have been familiar with the series.[58] So far, six shorts have been released, the most recent being Rogue Not Quite One on May 4, 2023.
See main article: The Simpsons Movie. 20th Century Fox, Gracie Films, and Film Roman produced an animated Simpsons film, titled The Simpsons Movie, that was released on July 27, 2007.[59] The film was directed by long-time Simpsons producer David Silverman and written by a team of Simpsons writers comprising Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, Al Jean, George Meyer, Mike Reiss, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, David Mirkin, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, and Ian Maxtone-Graham. Production of the film occurred alongside continued writing of the series despite long-time claims by those involved in the show that a film would enter production only after the series had concluded. There had been talk of a possible feature-length Simpsons film ever since the early seasons of the series. James L. Brooks originally thought that the story of the episode "Kamp Krusty" was suitable for a film, but he encountered difficulties in trying to expand the script to feature-length.[60] For a long time, difficulties such as lack of a suitable story and an already fully engaged crew of writers delayed the project.[61] After winning a Fox and USA Today competition, Springfield, Vermont hosted the film's world premiere.[62]