Read about the totality of Matt Groening’s conquest of American popular culture on CNN.

This post brought to you by the Oregon Cartoon Institute, your source for Oregon animation and cartooning history since 2003.

I love seeing Homer everywhere. I remember when Mel Gibson made Passion of Christ (2004), the reviewer in the NY Times sniffed that it was almost as morally profound as an episode of The Simpsons. This image was used to illustrate an online story about brain chemistry.

Ricky Gervais reveals the depth of his love of The Simpsons. “Its the only thing I’m a real nerd over.”

]]> http://www.talltalestruetales.com/2009/10/ricky-gervais-spreads-some-love/feed/ 0 http://www.talltalestruetales.com/2009/04/the-simpsons-television-debut-1987/ http://www.talltalestruetales.com/2009/04/the-simpsons-television-debut-1987/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:18:50 +0000 Anne Richardson http://talltalestruetales.wordpress.com/?p=2553

First version of America’s most beloved nuclear family, The Simpsons, as unveiled on The Traci Ullman Show.

The Simpsons eventually became movie stars, but for two decades they labored away on the small screen. You may have heard of them.

Matt Groening, their Portland born and raised creator, is second generation show biz — Homer Groening, his father, was an independent filmmaker and advertising man in Portland. Abraham Groening, his grandfather, was a professor at Lewis and Clark College.

I hereby claim everything ever made starring Bart, Maggie, Lisa, Homer and Marge Simpson as an Oregon film, based on the Oregon origin of their creator, Lincoln High School alumnus Matt Groening.

This post brought to you by the Oregon Cartoon Institute, your source for Oregon animation and cartooning history since 2003.

Whatever the mysterious forces are which bring Oregonians to animation success, they were especially powerful in the mid-1980’s, when Will Vinton made the first feature length Claymation film in Portland. The following year, Matt Groening debuted The Simpsons and Brad Bird debuted Family Dog, both on network television, and Bill Plympton, working in NYC, was nominated for an Oscar for Your Face.

All four men are animation geniuses. If you are unsure that a successful advertising man like Will Vinton belongs in this group, see The Adventures of Mark Twain to appreciate just how miraculously odd he is as an artist.

If you remain skeptical of the size of Vinton’s contribution to American film, just watch the credits. Count the names who went on to other things — animator Mark Gustafson (The Fantastic Mr. Fox) and sound editor (now a director) Kelley Baker are just two.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It was Vinton who modeled the passionate engagement with technique which paved the way for Coraline.

I hereby claim The Adventures of Mark Twain as an Oregon film, based on many qualifying factors. It was made at the Will Vinton Studios in Northwest Portland, and written, directed, produced, animated — you name it— by Oregonians.

This post brought to you by the Oregon Cartoon Institute.