Simpsons Creator Revealed the Real Springfield

Springfield town sign

Simpsons creator Matt Groening has revealed the location of the real-life Springfield which inspired the name of the fictional town in the long-running TV cartoon series.

The town of Springfield has become a character of its own on the popular animated TV show, serving as the backdrop to the experiences of the Simpson family.

But in 23 years on air, the show’s creator has kept the reallocation of the town veiled, saying he didn’t want to “ruin it for people” – until now.

In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine’s May issue, Matt Groening revealed the animated town is based on Springfield, Oregon, near his childhood hometown of Portland.

He also was inspired to use the town’s name after it was featured on the 1950s television show Father Knows Best.

“I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the US,” he said.

“In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, ‘This will be cool; everyone will think it’s their Springfield.’ And they do,” he said.

The tales of doughnut-loving father Homer J Simpson and his dysfunctional family, wife Marge and kids Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, have become a pop-culture staple, winning 27 Emmy awards, earning a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and even coining a new word: Homer’s expression “D’Oh” entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011.

The Simpson family are named after Groening’s family – father Homer (named after the Greek poet Homer), mother Margaret, and sisters Lisa and Maggie.

Bart has based on the creator himself, although Groening changed the name from ‘Matt’ to ‘Bart’ because he “had this idea of an angry father yelling ‘Bart,’ and Bart sounds kind of like bark – like a barking dog,” and he thought it would sound funny.

The inspirations drawn from Oregon did not just stop at the town name.

Groening also said he named some of the characters after streets in Portland, including Reverend Lovejoy and the Simpsons’ annoyingly loveable neighbor Ned Flanders.

Even the Simpsons‘ address, 632 Evergreen Terrace, is named after Groening’s own childhood home address.

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