Matt Groening explained why he made The Simpsons characters yellow

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening explained why he decided to make his iconic cartoon characters yellow and where the idea first came from.

If you've made it this far onto the internet then you basically know who The Simpsons are, America's most famous family really needs no introduction.

Since their debut on TV, they've become titans of pop culture for being a brilliantly funny sitcom with so many jokes and clever references that made their episodes endlessly rewatchable.

At least that's how things started out, plenty of Simpsons fans have their own milestone for when the show lost its sparkle and an explanation for what brought it down.

Still, by then it had already become a juggernaut all by itself and the show's popularity was essentially self-sustaining. On top of that, The Simpsons has gained a reputation for being able to predict the future with uncanny accuracy.

Disney

As for how things all got started, The Simpsons began life as a series of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show before getting their own run on Fox.

Back when he was coming up with the initial design for the show, Simpsons creator Matt Groening wanted to go for something which didn't stick to the typical colours for cartoons of the time.

While most of the characters on The Simpsons have yellow skin as though they have some kind of debilitating kidney disease, there's a very good reason for this.

Answering fan questions before the release of The Simpsons Movie in 2007, Groening explained that the idea to make the family yellow didn't actually come from him.

He said: "An animator came up with the Simpsons’ yellow and as soon as she showed it to me I said, 'This is the answer!'

Lisa O'Connor/Variety via Getty Images

"When you’re flicking through channels with your remote control, and a flash of yellow goes by, you’ll know you’re watching The Simpsons."

So there you have it, an animator suggested to Groening that The Simpsons ought to be yellow and it turned out to chime with the iconic look he was going for all along.

Another part of the design for The Simpsons is all the characters only having four fingers on each hand, except for God and Jesus who both have five.

As for why The Simpsons are called that, Groening got the name from 'the simpletons', which is why during the title sequence you see 'The Simps' before the rest of the family name appears.

Now you know something, which is apparently half the battle already won.

Topics: The Simpsons, TV and Film

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker