Editing Matt Groening (section)

====''The Tracey Ullman Show''====
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.<ref name="americasfirstfamily"/> The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette.<ref>Groening, Matt. (2005). Commentary for "[[Fear of Flying (The Simpsons)|Fear of Flying]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. He still draws the ear as a 'G' when he draws pictures of Homer for fans.{{sfnp|Groening|2001b |p=90}} Marge's distinct [[Beehive (hair)|beehive]] hairstyle was inspired by ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue.<ref name="real people"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Solomon |first=Deborah |author-link=Deborah Solomon |title=Screen Dreams |work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |date=July 22, 2007 |page=15 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/magazine/22wwln-Q4-t.html |access-date=October 31, 2008 |archive-date=November 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108004049/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/magazine/22wwln-Q4-t.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size.<ref>[[David Silverman (animator)|Silverman, David]]; [[Wes Archer|Archer, Wes]]. (2004). Illustrated commentary for "[[Treehouse of Horror IV]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Mike B. Anderson|Anderson, Mike B.]]; Groening, Matt; [[Pete Michels|Michels, Pete]]; [[Yeardley Smith|Smith, Yeardley]]. (2006). "A Bit From the Animators", Illustrated Commentary for "[[All Singing, All Dancing]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Lisa's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline.<ref>Groening, Matt; Reiss, Mike; Kirkland, Mark. (2002). Commentary for "[[Principal Charming]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles".<ref name=THOHV>Silverman, David; Reardon, Jim; Groening, Matt. (2005). Illustrated commentary for "[[Treehouse of Horror V]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> 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".<ref>Groening, Matt. (2006). "A Bit From the Animators", illustrated commentary for "All Singing, All Dancing", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Groening storyboarded and scripted every short (now known as ''[[The Simpsons shorts]]''), which were then animated by a team including David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series.<ref name="silverman">{{cite web|title=The David Silverman Interview |last=Heintjes |work=Hogan's Alley |url=http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/interviews/silverman.asp |access-date=January 13, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070102052143/http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/interviews/silverman.asp |archive-date=January 2, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Simpsons shorts first appeared in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' on April 19, 1987.{{sfnp|Groening|1997|p=14}} Another family member, [[Grampa Simpson]], was introduced in the later shorts. Years later, during the early seasons of ''The Simpsons'', when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, they chose "Abraham", unaware that it was the name of Groening's grandfather.<ref name="oldmoney">{{cite video |people=Groening, Matt |date=2002 |title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Old Money" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>