Who now does not know about the mega-popular animated series "The Simpsons"? How many years, efforts and time this comedy mastodon took from the creators and ardent fans!
In the article, we will discuss the history of the appearance and some interesting facts that you might not notice when watching a humorous cartoon. In addition, at the end of the article you will find out how many years the Simpsons go! You just won’t believe it, but this brainchild of American cinema has reached middle age! What will now be those who are accustomed to consider it a cartoon for teenage rebels? How the series appeared, how old the animated film "The Simpsons" is, what is the age of the main characters and much more - all this you will learn in the continuation of the article.
History of creation
The concept of the popular animated series belongs to cartoonist Matt Groening. It took him only 15 minutes to create a cinematic masterpiece, and the profit that he still has today is more than one billion dollars a year! It seems that someone will have a careless old age!
It’s even scary to imagine how many years the series “The Simpsons” will excite the fantasies of children and adults, but he’s definitely not going to give up his position.
Here is such an unexpected success!
Inspiration came to Matt while he awaited an audience with producer James Brooks. Groening brought a completely different idea to the meeting, but, frightened that he might be deceived, he decided to quickly sprinkle the idea worse. Matt sketched five angular characters and awarded them with the names of his relatives.
Next, we will dwell on interesting facts and details of the series The Simpsons. How many years have passed, but people are still interested in this series, so the facts about it will also be very exciting. So let's get started!
The Facts About The Simpsons Characters
How old are the main characters? The father of the family (Homer) is 36 years old, his wife (Marge) is 34 years old, his son (Bart) is 10 years old, the eldest girl (Lisa) is 8 years old, and her little daughter (Maggie) is only one year old.
According to the original idea, Bart was supposed to be the main character. But, as the result of the first two seasons showed, the audience considered Homer more interesting, and since then almost everything has been spinning around him.
Homer got his name in honor of his father, Matt Groening, the name Marge is a variation of the name of his mother Margaret, the sisters of the cartoonist also served as material for creating the image of the characters.
The name Bart is not just an abbreviation for Bartholomew - it is a kind of anagram of the abusive word brat, which translates as “jerk” or “puppy”.
Oddly enough, but the Simpsons can be called the perfect American family. This is not immediately noticeable, but if you look closely, you can see that the couple is legally married, they have three children, they regularly attend the local church, and Homer does not leave his workplace at all and works hard for the good of the family. In addition, they have their own home! Is all this together not the same American dream that many dream of?
The surname "Simpson", which is quite suitable for the character of the heroes, is translated from English as "son of a simpleton."
In the first shorts, Maggie sometimes spoke.
It is assumed that Homer was born in 1955, and his son in 1979.
Unusual facts about the appearance of the heroes
In the Simpsons universe, all characters have four fingers on each hand. It is worth mentioning that this is a rather old animated practice in hand-drawn films of the time.
As the old animators said, the fifth finger does not play a special role, and if you do not pay attention to its image, you can save valuable time on drawing. If you look at the fingers in the "Family Guy", you can notice the same trend.
The hairstyle of Homer's wife (Marge) was borrowed from the movie "Frankenstein's Bride."
Interesting details about the series
The production of one series of "The Simpsons" (how old the cartoon is - only its ardent fans know) costs $ 1 million 800 thousand.
Each episode is created for approximately eight months, so usually ten episodes are usually in production.
In the credits for each series, you can see the name of only one screenwriter, but in fact about 20 people are working on one episode. Sometimes we can see the name of a particular screenwriter only because it was his turn to “light up” in the credits, although usually the credits include the author who wrote the draft version of the script before anyone else.
It is known that each scenario is collectively rewritten 12 times.
Despite the fact that a larger number of stories were written by John Schwarzvelder, the best jokes in the series still belong to George Meyer. Therefore, it is not surprising that many authors complained that any quoted joke from the series was usually the work of the witty Meyer - apparently, he always managed to screw a couple of suitable witticisms during collective thinking.
The Simpsons: The Beginning
When Brooks first heard about the new idea, he almost immediately recognized its rich potential. After several meetings, the producer and cartoonist signed the initial contract. But, as you know, any business in show business requires a sufficient amount of time for promotion.
After two whole years (in 1987), the Tracy Ullman show appeared on television. Each release of the program included a short series of prehistoric "The Simpsons", which were written at that time by Groening.
Until 1998, the leading actors (six people) who voiced the series received for one series 30 thousand dollars, which they had to share among themselves. Over time, the artists' fees increased to 300 thousand - they achieved this through countless negotiations and several strikes.
According to the latest data, the average age of the audience of the series is by no means a children's audience, but people aged 30 years.
Creating a distinctive atmosphere
The famous Danny Elfman worked on the creation of the musical theme of The Simpsons . Matt Groening showed him works that were supposed to combine into a new sound. Among the melodies presented by Matt to the composer were: a musical theme from the series of the 60s. titled "Jetsons", the soundtrack to the movie "Juliet and Spirits", a jingle of advertising electric shavers, as well as recordings from a record entitled "Learn to Speak Your Parrot." It was such a "compote" that served as the basis for creating a unique theme for the series. Danny wrote it in just two days.
The town of Springfield (perhaps the most hackneyed name in America) was chosen by Groening, because it can be attributed to the most common American place names, given the fact that the map of the United States simply replete with this "rare" name - about 29 cities.
By the way, although Groening took care of creating the Simpsons, the exclusive rights to the series still belong to the Fox television company, which the cartoonist, by the way, desperately scolded in jokes throughout the series.
Curious details
In any series, you can stumble upon a repeating phrase-parasite "D'oh!" - This interjection has become the hallmark of Homer. In addition, it became so popular that it was even included in the Oxford English Dictionary.
By the way, this is the most “D'oh!" is a revised abbreviation for a comedian's corporate scream named Jim Finlayson. The actor who voiced the character decided to simplify his task, and shouted “D'oooooooohhh!” transformed into a concise "D'oh!"
Finally, you will find out how old the Simpsons animated series is. It turns out that in 2018 he turns 31 years old. A very adult series for an adult audience - what an irony!