'Je Suis Milhouse': Matt Groening Gets Emotional At Annecy As He Reveals The Motivation Behind The 800-Episode Longevity Of ‘The Simpsons'
Receiving the gong in front of a packed house, he paid tribute to the 'gods and goddesses' in the audience, who 'fill the universe with crazy characters who do what you tell them to do.'
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'You can have them be brave but isn't it more fun to have Homer fall off a cliff?,' he said. 'We torment our characters and have fun with them.'
Groening was emotional as he thanked his family and reminded the audience that the main characters in The Simpsons are famously named after his father and mother, Homer and Marge, his sisters, Lisa and Maggie, and his grandfather, Abe.
Is Bart named after Groening? 'I'll let you into a little secret…. Je suis Milhouse,' joked Groening, in reference to Bart's loveable, dorky best friend.
After watching a new ep of The Simpsons, the audience were treated to a masterclass from Groening, animator David Silverman and showrunner Matt Selman.
During this session, Groening revealed the real thing that has motivated him to return to The Simpsons after all these years.
'We don't think about being responsible but our main motivation is to surprise ourselves,' he said to applause. 'If we surprise ourselves then we think we can surprise the audience.'
The secret to the 36-year-old animation stalwart's 800-episode longevity is never to be lazy and keep layering the humor, he added.
'As it goes on we become known for different kinds of jokes,' added Groening. 'We have parodies of cinema and references to books, TV shows and personal autobiographical anecdotes. The sum total of the show is that contribution of everyone involved.'
In the next season of The Simpsons, there will be an ode to famous American cartoonist Jules Feiffer and Groening quoted Feiffer when referencing The Simpsons' long-lasting success: 'Jules said with every advance in technology comes decline in quality. So we have tried to maintain that hand drawn quality.'
He also faced questions over the show's odd knack for predicting real-life events, including an episode in which Lisa references a President Donald Trump years before he became POTUS.
'All the conspiracy theories are true,' joked Groening, who pretended that the creative team pulls its predictions out of a Marge Simpson-shaped wig that his team had brought on stage.
Groening and the team then proceeded to pull out a set of joke predictions including that the 'Statue of Liberty will be returned to France when no one in America can remember what the word 'liberty' means,' and 'electric cars will use a new energy source powered by a hatred of Elon Musk.'
In terms of the advice he'd give future animators, Groening first said 'do not let your mom throw away your comic book collection when you leave High School,' and secondly became emotional once more as he urged the crowd of young animators: 'Whatever you're working on, finish it. The world is full of half-finished pieces of animation, so finish it and get it out there.'
Groening was speaking on the second day of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which is being attended by all the big American studios. Groening labeled Annecy 'the best festival in the world, animation or otherwise.'
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