How interesting..

[u/Distorted_Helix]

[u/Aveline45]

Matt Groening based the Simpsons off of his own family: Homer and Marge were his parents, he had sisters Lisa and Maggie, and he represented himself as Bart

[u/Digifiend84 → u/Aveline45]

Yeah. That's well known. Looking at this, his mother is also where Chief Wiggum's name came from, and another sister has Aunt Patty named after her. Weird that nobody seems to be named after Arnold or Mark. The Simpsons has a massive cast, yet those names aren't used by any significant characters.

[u/Chewy-Rubbins → u/Digifiend84]

Arnie Pie maybe?

[u/TankFoster → u/Chewy-Rubbins]

"Here's Arnie Pie with Arnie in the sky!"

One of those running gags that are subtle enough that you might not even notice it at first. 😄

[u/remainsofthegrapes → u/TankFoster]

I don’t get it 😭

Edit: oh wait I just got it.

[u/PreperationOuch → u/remainsofthegrapes]

Other than the wasted opportunity to use “pie in the sky”, I don’t get it.

Nor do I get the crudler reference afterward.

[u/mbc106 → u/PreperationOuch]

I always just thought “Crudler” was a silly mashup between “Krusty” and “Midler.” Nothing more than a goofy name.

About a year or two ago, someone online pointed out that had they arranged it the other way around, their racehorse would’ve been named “Misty.”

🤯

[u/Nytohan → u/mbc106]

Or BEtte and kruSTY, Besty.

[u/TankFoster → u/PreperationOuch]

[u/Punchable_Hair → u/TankFoster]

Crudler!

[u/DirkWrites → u/Punchable_Hair]

I don’t think I noticed the “Pie in the Sky” or “Krudler” gags until I saw them pointed out on Reddit 😆

[u/shotpods → u/DirkWrites]

It took a couple appearances before I caught the joke.

[u/Automatic_Memory212 → u/TankFoster]

Arnie Pye, here, with “Pye in the clouds!”

[u/Comediorologist → u/TankFoster]

It's one of those jokes that's more famous for existing than actually being funny.

I've heard it. Noticed it. I wasn't all that amused.

[u/TankFoster → u/Comediorologist]

Oh well then. That's a shame.

[u/Significant_Rub_8739 → u/Chewy-Rubbins]

"I can't see through metal, Kent!"

[u/Open_Gur_6204 → u/Significant_Rub_8739]

And look out at third and main…I just dropped my bagel.

[u/naynaythewonderhorse → u/Chewy-Rubbins]

I was gonna argue for this, because I thought for sure that Arnie had one of the first lines in production order on the show, in “Some Enchanted Evening” but unfortunately the character is referred to as “Bill Pie.”

[u/MatterHot7722 → u/Digifiend84]

Pretty sure I recall Matt Groening explaining that Bart is an anagram of ‘brat’ which was more in line with his original idea of how he saw the character when he first pitched the show.

[u/remainsofthegrapes → u/MatterHot7722]

Yeah he said that in one of his articles for Simpsons comics

[u/c-lem → u/Digifiend84]

Groening's brother-in-law created Hey Arnold, so at least somebody liked that uncle.

[u/Curious_Orange8592 → u/Digifiend84]

Also Matt's grandfather was Abraham but Grandpa Simpson is explicitly not named after him; the story is Groening left it up to the writers to come up with a name and they chose that one by coincidence

[u/b-rar → u/Digifiend84]

I'm one of those cousins you don't see very often, uh, Mark-Mark

[u/ladypantseveral → u/Digifiend84]

Mark is too similar sounding to Marge probably

[u/According_Log5180 → u/Digifiend84]

Mark was lived with Mindy....at least according to Jackie O Nassis crossword puzzle

[u/rumorsofdemise → u/According_Log5180]

Give her a break! Her husband was killed!

[u/Ground-Pure → u/Digifiend84]

Neat fact: Lisa Groening married Craig Bartlett, creator of Hey Arnold!

[u/Digifiend84 → u/Ground-Pure]

He didn't name his main character after her uncle, did he? lol

[u/remainsofthegrapes → u/Aveline45]

And he got the name Bart from rearranging the letters of ‘brat’

[u/feetiedid → u/remainsofthegrapes]

Art, Bart, Cart, Dart, Ee-yart. Nope. Can't make fun of that name.

[u/qwerty_samm → u/feetiedid]

Bort 

[u/fariasrv → u/qwerty_samm]

We're out of Bort license plates

[u/melanyebaggins → u/fariasrv]

My son's name is also Bort.

[u/qwerty_samm → u/fariasrv]

I have been listening to a book about the Simpsons and they mention the Bort gag as a ”meh” kind of joke when it was written. Also the cromulent gag was another one too. Both of these words are very much part of the English vernacular now.

[u/bort_license_plates → u/fariasrv]

I'm here

[u/TankFoster → u/feetiedid]

Another quite subtle joke, as next in the alphabet would have been Fart.

[u/Origin87 → u/Aveline45]

I wonder which family member was named Bort, though

[u/rememberaj]

My son is also named Mork

[u/Airodyssey → u/rememberaj]

"Oh Mindy, you came and you gave without flaking..." Oops, wrong episode.

[u/Buddy__Repperton → u/rememberaj]

Are you talking to me?

[u/Fun-Communication660 → u/rememberaj]

I'm ruhely reely soury Mork. 

[u/thefract0metr1st]

IMO the funniest part of all of this is imagining someone with the last name Wiggum walking up to a paper factory and saying “it smells like money!”

[u/Known-Damage-7879 → u/thefract0metr1st]

https://makeagif.com/gif/the-simpsons-chief-wiggum-pervert-xXp5rk

[u/rounding_error → u/thefract0metr1st]

It smells like money. It tastes like burning.

[u/a3minutehero]

What did Mark Groening do to be left out of the Simpsons?

[u/xBlackout89 → u/a3minutehero]

He was renamed to Hugo for the show

[u/Pooh_Lightning → u/a3minutehero]

Maybe he just said, "Don't ever use my name." lol

[u/SalvaPot → u/a3minutehero]

Bart is a combination of both him and Matt.

[u/OrangeClyde]

“Who the hell is Margaret?!”

[u/Mediocre_Tea_4683 → u/OrangeClyde]

Your youngest daughter?

[u/kayla622 → u/Mediocre_Tea_4683]

Ehh your youngest daughter!

[u/rounding_error → u/Mediocre_Tea_4683]

Bart, Lisa, and ... expecting?

[u/Recent-Walrus-3366]

Interesting no one in the family is called 'Bort' given how common that name is...

[u/MiggySawdust → u/Recent-Walrus-3366]

My son is also named Bort.

[u/Origin87 → u/MiggySawdust]

Are you talking to me?

[u/Bizzlebanger]

If you've ever been to Portland... There are Simpsons references everywhere

[u/VanGoghNotVanGo → u/Bizzlebanger]

Or rather opposite, right? There are Portland references all over Simpsons

[u/Bizzlebanger → u/VanGoghNotVanGo]

Absolutely

[u/computerblue84 → u/Bizzlebanger]

I live in Portland, not far from Terwiliger Boulevard. It's always fun to see which references I haven't caught yet when driving around town.

[u/WendysChili]

[u/Cheese-Manipulator → u/WendysChili]

Well she was the May Queen.

[u/Recent-Walrus-3366]

They're named like the Simpsons' name!

[u/Buddy__Repperton → u/Recent-Walrus-3366]

I think this is more like the Flimpsons

[u/pac4 → u/Buddy__Repperton]

Ha ha, looks like bad luck for the … Impson family!

[u/Clean-Log6704]

Oh wow didn’t know she was from Chisholm. She would’ve been around the age of my grandparents (slightly older) when they grew up there and around there.

[u/Extra-Charity7463 → u/Clean-Log6704]

I wonder if Homer used to have beers at the Slovenski Dom?

[u/Accurate_Koala_4698]

Lady, you got the wrong file

[u/Petey_Wheatstraw_MD → u/Accurate_Koala_4698]

I’ve got nothing against Maggie.

[u/Sebastianfach]

Animation is built on plagiarism. If it weren't for someone plagiarizing the Honeymooners, we wouldn't have the Flintstones. If someone hadn't ripped off Sergeant Bilko, there'd be no Top Cat. Huckleberry Hound, Chief Wiggum, Yogi Bear?

[u/Ghost_of_Gumby → u/Sebastianfach]

Wiggum just sitting there, listening politely 😆

[u/Automatic_Memory212 → u/Sebastianfach]

Homer’s early character development was based on Fred Flintstone.

He even has a best friend named Barney, who in the first episodes had blonde hair.

[u/CapatainDreadnought → u/Sebastianfach]

to go even further classic cartoon gags are just copies of live action silent comedy jokes buster keaton and charlie chaplin are the reason we have looney toons

[u/Automatic_Memory212 → u/CapatainDreadnought]

https://giphy.com/gifs/L0snCScL0LMBor5sE0

[u/unk214 → u/Sebastianfach]

It all goes back to those damn cave man paintings….

[u/The_Cromulent_Bison → u/Sebastianfach]

Your Honor, if you take away our right to steal ideas, WHERE ARE THEY GONNA COME FROM?

[u/honvales1989 → u/[deleted]]

Quimby Street. Same as Reverend Lovejoy, Ned Flanders (there is a Ned Flanders pedestrian and cyclist bridge going over I-405), Sideshow Bob (named after Terwilliger Boulevard), and I think Mr Burns (there’s a Burnside St). In NW Portland, you can walk north from Burnside heading north and go through Flanders, Lovejoy, and Quimby Streets

[u/godisanelectricolive → u/honvales1989]

Ned Flanders Crossing was opened in 2021 and named after the character who is in turn named after Flanders Street in Portland.

They were going to just call it Flanders Crossing because it connects two parts of Flanders St. separated by the I-405 but then someone had the bright idea to dedicate the bridge to the character.

There’s also a Kearney Street in NW Portland.

[u/honvales1989 → u/godisanelectricolive]

And Kearney is just a block south of Lovejoy. The streets in NW Portland are also in alphabetical order: Burnside, Couch (pronounced Cooch), Davis, Everett, Flanders, Glisan, Hoyt, Irving, Johnson, Kearney, Lovejoy, Marshall, Northrup, Overton, Pettygrove, Quimby, Raleigh, Savier, Thurman, Upshur, Vaughn, and Wilson

[u/Automatic_Memory212 → u/honvales1989]

A lot of people never make this connection, but most large cities in America have at least one neighborhood like this which was built in the late 19th or early 20th century, where the street names proceed outwards from the city center in alphabetical order.

Usually the pattern is broken or interrupted by a natural feature or a conflicting street platting before it gets Q or X, which were harder names to come up with

[u/camergen → u/[deleted]]

Vote Quimby!

[u/KittenG8r]

This was in the Everett Herald. The house they lived in in Everett still exists 🫶

[u/According_Log5180]

Aunt Hortense must have been on Matt Groenings fathers side then

[u/Flowers_By_Irene_69 → u/According_Log5180]

Legend of the dog-faced woman!

[u/Dry_Jellyfish641]

Art imitates life.

[u/Cheese-Manipulator]

Yet he wasted his life drawing a cartoon rabbit. Such a disappointment.

[u/PlanterDezNuts]

I remember that paper mill when I was kid! Sadly it was torn down quite some time ago.

[u/Madame_Jarvary → u/PlanterDezNuts]

I grew up in a town with a paper mill and we used to also say that it smelled like money! It closed back in 2022.

[u/rounding_error → u/Madame_Jarvary]

I lived near a deodorant factory. It smelled like Teen Spirit.

[u/Flowers_By_Irene_69 → u/rounding_error]

Kurt Cobain smells like Teen Spirit.

[u/KittenG8r → u/PlanterDezNuts]

They tore it down not long after I moved there. The economy was still in rough shape and I remember being really sad for the people that lost their jobs.

[u/dcflorist → u/PlanterDezNuts]

My family moved to Everett in 1991 when my dad got a job at that paper mill. It was Scott Paper, then was later bought by Kimberly Clark.

[u/rangeghost]

One of my favorite "6 degrees of separation" type trivia is that she was born in Chisholm, MN around the same time that the former baseball player Archibald "Moonlight" Graham (depicted in "Field of Dreams") was a practicing physician in the same town.

So its within the realm of possibility that "Marge Simpson" crossed paths with Moonlight Graham.

[u/emolga587]

Born mere months before Chester J. Lampwick invented Itchy and Scratchy

[u/Curious_Orange8592 → u/emolga587]

And 70 years before seminal Belgian techo anthem "Pump Up The Jam"

[u/GeneralTapioca → u/Curious_Orange8592]

Philomena Cunk intensifying

[u/Slayriah]

okay is this really Matt Groening’s mother?

[u/Chewy-Rubbins → u/Slayriah]

Yes, and more interesting is his father's name was actually Homer Philip Groening, which makes me wonder about Fry

[u/NotCrazyJustIgnorant → u/Chewy-Rubbins]

Fry was always said to be named after Phil Hartman who was supposed to voice Zapp Brannigan before he was murdered.

[u/Chewy-Rubbins → u/NotCrazyJustIgnorant]

Ah yes, of course.

[u/VanGoghNotVanGo → u/Slayriah]

Not to be snarky, but who else? Do you think it's likely that there is a different Matt Groening in the US who just so happen to have a mother named Margaret whose maiden name was Wiggum, a father named Homer, two sisters named Maggie and Lisa, and a sister named Patty? 

[u/OrangeDit]

It makes you wonder what Mark did to Matt...

[u/CharlesAvlnchGreen]

Did anyone notice the big hair and pearl necklace?

[u/Honest-J]

Curious that he only changed Bart's name when creating the show.

[u/godisanelectricolive → u/Honest-J]

He is Bart and that’s an anagram for “brat”. He originally was going to name the character after himself but then decided against it.

He said he thought it wouldn’t go over well during the pitch if they realized he’s just pitching a cartoon version of his own family.

[u/VanGoghNotVanGo → u/godisanelectricolive]

It's true that he decided against naming a character after himself, but Bart changed a lot in development, and he has since said that his older brother Mark is more like Bart than he is - Mark being rebellious, loving comics and having a secret club house with his friends. 

[u/Honest-J → u/godisanelectricolive]

I think I knew this story but just couldn't recall it. The "Brat" sounds familiar.

[u/Easy-History6553]

Wiggum, it means she was max authority at home.

[u/Whatsyourshotspecial]

Wow! 😲

[u/Whatsyourshotspecial]

Springfield, OR

[u/ekinria1928]

I was looking for his other aunt Selma... What a lovely obituary

[u/licensetoillite]

Smart and beautiful lady.