Final Fantasy theme by Shadowfyre
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(3 backgrounds)
Final Fantasy[a] is a fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy role-playing video games. The first game in the series was released in 1987, with 16 numbered main entries having been released to date.
The franchise has since branched into other video game genres such as tactical role-playing, action role-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing, racing, third-person shooter, fighting, and rhythm, as well as branching into other media, including films, anime, manga, and novels.
Final Fantasy is mostly an anthology series with primary installments being stand-alone role-playing games, each with different settings, plots and main characters, but the franchise is linked by several recurring elements, including game mechanics and recurring character names. Each plot centers on a particular group of heroes who are battling a great evil, but also explores the characters' internal struggles and relationships. Character names are frequently derived from the history, languages, pop culture, and mythologies of cultures worldwide. The mechanics of each game involve similar battle systems and maps.
Final Fantasy has been both critically and commercially successful. Several entries are regarded as some of the greatest video games, with the series selling more than 185 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. The series is well known for its innovation, visuals, such as the inclusion of full-motion videos, photorealistic character models, and music by Nobuo Uematsu. It has popularized many features now common in role-playing games, also popularizing the genre as a whole in markets outside Japan.
Media[edit]
Games[edit]
The first installment of the series was released in Japan on December 18, 1987. Subsequent games are numbered and given a story unrelated to previous games, so the numbers refer to volumes rather than to sequels. Many Final Fantasy games have been localized for markets in North America, Europe, and Australia on numerous video game consoles, personal computers (PC), and mobile phones. As of June 2023, the series includes the main installments from Final Fantasy to Final Fantasy XVI, as well as direct sequels and spin-offs, both released and confirmed as being in development. Most of the older games have been remade or re-released on multiple platforms.[1]
Main series[edit]
| 1987 | Final Fantasy |
|---|---|
| 1988 | Final Fantasy II |
| 1989 | |
| 1990 | Final Fantasy III |
| 1991 | Final Fantasy IV |
| 1992 | Final Fantasy V |
| 1993 | |
| 1994 | Final Fantasy VI |
| 1995 | |
| 1996 | |
| 1997 | Final Fantasy VII |
| 1998 | |
| 1999 | Final Fantasy VIII |
| 2000 | Final Fantasy IX |
| 2001 | Final Fantasy X |
| 2002 | Final Fantasy XI |
| 2003 | |
| 2004 | |
| 2005 | |
| 2006 | Final Fantasy XII |
| 2007 | |
| 2008 | |
| 2009 | Final Fantasy XIII |
| 2010 | Final Fantasy XIV (original) |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2013 | Final Fantasy XIV |
| 2014 | |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | Final Fantasy XV |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | |
| 2019 | |
| 2020 | |
| 2021 | |
| 2022 | |
| 2023 | Final Fantasy XVI |
Three Final Fantasy installments were released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Final Fantasy was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990.[2][3] It introduced many concepts to the console RPG genre, and has since been remade on several platforms.[3] Final Fantasy II, released in 1988 in Japan, has been bundled with Final Fantasy in several re-releases.[3][4][5] The last of the NES installments, Final Fantasy III, was released in Japan in 1990,[6] but was not released elsewhere until a Nintendo DS remake came out in 2006.[5]
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) also featured three installments of the main series, all of which have been re-released on several platforms. Final Fantasy IV was released in 1991; in North America, it was released as Final Fantasy II.[7][8] It introduced the "Active Time Battle" system.[9] Final Fantasy V, released in 1992 in Japan, was the first game in the series to spawn a sequel: a short anime series, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals.[3][10][11] Final Fantasy VI was released in Japan in 1994, titled Final Fantasy III in North America.[12]
The PlayStation console saw the release of three main Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy VII (1997) moved away from the two-dimensional (2D) graphics used in the first six games to three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics; the game features polygonal characters on pre-rendered backgrounds. It also introduced a more modern setting, a style that was carried over to the next game.[3] It was also the second in the series to be released in Europe, with the first being Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Final Fantasy VIII was published in 1999, and was the first to consistently use realistically proportioned characters and feature a vocal piece as its theme music.[3][13] Final Fantasy IX, released in 2000, returned to the series' roots, by revisiting a more traditional Final Fantasy setting, rather than the more modern worlds of VII and VIII.[3][14]
Three main installments, as well as one online game, were published for the PlayStation 2.[15][16][17] Final Fantasy X (2001) introduced full 3D areas and voice acting to the series, and was the first to spawn a sub-sequel (Final Fantasy X-2, published in 2003).[18][19] The first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in the series, Final Fantasy XI, was released on the PS2 and PC in 2002, and later on the Xbox 360.[20][21] It introduced real-time battles instead of random encounters.[21] Final Fantasy XII, published in 2006, also includes real-time battles in large, interconnected playfields.[22][23] The game is also the first in the main series to utilize a world used in a previous game, namely the land of Ivalice, which was previously featured in Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story.[24]
In 2009, Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan, and in North America and Europe the following year, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[25][26] It is the flagship installment of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy series[27] and became the first mainline game to spawn two sub-sequels (XIII-2 and Lightning Returns).[28] It was also the first game released in Chinese and high definition along with being released on two consoles at once. Final Fantasy XIV, a MMORPG, was released worldwide on Microsoft Windows in 2010, but it received heavy criticism when it was launched, prompting Square Enix to rerelease the game as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, this time to the PlayStation 3 as well, in 2013.[29] Final Fantasy XV is an action role-playing game that was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016.[30][31] Originally a XIII spin-off titled Versus XIII, XV uses the mythos of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, although in many other respects the game stands on its own and has since been distanced from the series by its developers.[38] The sixteenth mainline entry, Final Fantasy XVI,[39] was released in 2023 for PlayStation 5.[40]
Remakes, sequels and spin-offs[edit]
Final Fantasy has spawned numerous spin-offs and metaseries. Several are, in fact, not Final Fantasy games, but were rebranded for North American release. Examples include the SaGa series, rebranded The Final Fantasy Legend, and its two sequels, Final Fantasy Legend II and III.[41] Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was specifically developed for a United States audience, and Final Fantasy Tactics is a tactical RPG that features many references and themes found in the series.[42][43] The spin-off Chocobo series, Crystal Chronicles series, and Kingdom Hearts series also include multiple Final Fantasy elements.[41][44] In 2003, the Final Fantasy series' first sub-sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, was released.[45] Final Fantasy XIII was originally intended to stand on its own, but the team wanted to explore the world, characters and mythos more, resulting in the development and release of two sequels in 2011 and 2013 respectively, creating the series' first official trilogy.[28] Dissidia Final Fantasy was released in 2009, a fighting game that features heroes and villains from the first ten games of the main series.[46] It was followed by a prequel in 2011,[47] a sequel in 2015[48] and a mobile spin-off in 2017.[49][50] Other spin-offs have taken the form of subseries—Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Ivalice Alliance, and Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy. In 2022, Square Enix released an action-role playing title Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin developed in collaboration with Team Ninja, which takes place in an alternate, reimagined reality based on the setting of the original Final Fantasy game, depicting a prequel story that explores the origins of the antagonist Chaos and the emergence of the four Warriors of Light.[51][52] Enhanced 3D remakes of Final Fantasy III and IV were released in 2006 and 2007 respectively.[53][54] The first installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project was released on the PlayStation 4 in 2020.[55] The second and latest installment of the remake trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, was released on the PlayStation 5 in 2024.[56]
Other media[edit]
Film and television[edit]
| 1994 | Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals |
|---|---|
| 1995–2000 | |
| 2001 | Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within |
| Final Fantasy: Unlimited | |
| 2002–2004 | |
| 2005 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children |
| Last Order: Final Fantasy VII | |
| 2006–2015 | |
| 2016 | Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV |
| Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV | |
| 2017 | Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light |
| 2018 | |
| 2019 | Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue |
Square Enix has expanded the Final Fantasy series into various media. Multiple anime and computer-generated imagery (CGI) films have been produced that are based either on individual Final Fantasy games or on the series as a whole. The first was an original video animation (OVA), Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, a sequel to Final Fantasy V. The story was set in the same world as the game, although 200 years in the future. It was released as four 30-minute episodes, first in Japan in 1994 and later in the United States by Urban Vision in 1998. In 2001, Square Pictures released its first feature film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The film is set on a future Earth invaded by alien life forms.[57] The Spirits Within was the first animated feature to seriously attempt to portray photorealistic CGI humans, but was considered a box office bomb and garnered mixed reviews.[57][58][59]
A 25-episode anime television series, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, was released in 2001 based on the common elements of the Final Fantasy series. It was broadcast in Japan by TV Tokyo and released in North America by ADV Films.
In 2005, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a feature length direct-to-DVD CGI film, and Last Order: Final Fantasy VII, a non-canon OVA,[60] were released as part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Advent Children was animated by Visual Works, which helped the company create CG sequences for the games.[61] The film, unlike The Spirits Within, became a commercial success.[62][63][64][65] Last Order, on the other hand, was released in Japan in a special DVD bundle package with Advent Children. Last Order sold out quickly[66] and was positively received by Western critics,[67][68] though fan reaction was mixed over changes to established story scenes.[69]
Two animated tie-ins for Final Fantasy XV were released as part of a larger multimedia project dubbed the Final Fantasy XV Universe. Brotherhood is a series of five 10-to-20-minute-long episodes developed by A-1 Pictures and Square Enix detailing the backstories of the main cast. Kingsglaive, a CGI film released prior to the game in Summer 2016, is set during the game's opening and follows new and secondary characters.[70][71][72][73] In 2019, Square Enix released a short anime, produced by Satelight Inc, called Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue on their YouTube channel which acts as the background story for the final piece of DLC for Final Fantasy XV giving insight into Ardyn's past.
Square Enix also released Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light in 2017, an 8-episode Japanese soap opera based, featuring a mix of live-action scenes and Final Fantasy XIV gameplay footage.
As of June 2019, Sony Pictures Television is working on a live-action adaptation of the series with Hivemind and Square Enix. Jason F. Brown, Sean Daniel and Dinesh Shamdasani for Hivemind are the producers while Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton were attached as writers and executive producers for the series.[74]
Other media[edit]
Several video games have either been adapted into or have had spin-offs in the form of manga and novels. The first was the novelization of Final Fantasy II in 1989, and was followed by a manga adaptation of Final Fantasy III in 1992.[75][76] The past decade has seen an increase in the number of non-video game adaptations and spin-offs. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within has been adapted into a novel, the spin-off game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles has been adapted into a manga, and Final Fantasy XI had a novel and manga set in its continuity.[77][78][79][80] Seven novellas based on the Final Fantasy VII universe have also been released. The Final Fantasy: Unlimited story was partially continued in novels and a manga after the anime series ended.[81] The Final Fantasy X and XIII series have also had novellas and audio dramas released. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has been adapted into a radio drama, and Final Fantasy: Unlimited has received a radio drama sequel.
A trading card game named Final Fantasy Trading Card Game is produced by Square Enix and Hobby Japan, first released Japan in 2012 with an English version in 2016.[82] The game has been compared to Magic: the Gathering, and a tournament circuit for the game also takes place.[83][84]
Common elements[edit]
Although most Final Fantasy installments are independent, many gameplay elements recur throughout the series.[85][86] Most games conta
Twist
Twist theme by Precisi
Download: Twist.p3t
(4 backgrounds)
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment[edit]
Film, television, and stage[edit]
- Twist (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist
- Twist (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of Oliver Twist starring Rafferty Law
- The Twist (1976 film), a 1976 film co-written and directed by Claude Chabrol
- The Twist (1992 film), a 1992 documentary film directed by Ron Mann
- Twist (stage play), a 1995 stage thriller by Miles Tredinnick
- Twist, the main character on television series The Fresh Beat Band and its spin-off Fresh Beat Band of Spies
- Oliver Twist (disambiguation), name of several film, television, and musical adaptations based on Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist
- "Twist" (Only Murders in the Building), a 2021 episode of the TV series Only Murders in the Building
- Jack Twist, a character in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain
- Twist Morgan, a character in the television series Spaced
Music[edit]
- Twist (album), a 1994 album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Dave Dobbyn
- The Twist (album), a 1984 album by Danish indiepop band Gangway
- "The Twist" (song), a song by Hank Ballard, covered by Chubby Checker, a hit in 1960
- "The Twist", a song from the album Grow Up and Blow Away by Metric
- "The Twist", a song from the album Coming Back Hard Again by hip hop band The Fat Boys
- "Twist" (Phish song), from the 2000 album Farmhouse by Phish
- "Twist" (Goldfrapp song), a single from the 2003 album Black Cherry by Goldfrapp
- Twist, an album by Chris & Cosey
- "Twist", a song from the album Unfinished Business by Nathan Sykes
- "Twist" a song from the album A Hundred Days Off by Underworld
- "Twist", the opener of the 1996 Korn album, Life Is Peachy
- "Twisting", a song from the album Flood by They Might Be Giants
- Twist (band), a rock band from Birmingham, England, UK
Other media[edit]
- Twist ending, an unexpected conclusion or climax to a work of fiction
- Twist (magazine), an American teen magazine
- Twist (Cano novel), a novel by Harkaitz Cano
- Twist (Östergren novel), a novel by Klas Östergren
- Twist (TV network), an American television network
- Oliver Twist, a novel by Charles Dickens, and its main character
Finance[edit]
- Transaction Workflow Innovation Standards Team (TWIST), a non-profit financial industry standards group
- Operation Twist, an effort (in 1961, and again in 2011) by the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower long-term interest rates
Mathematics, science, and technology[edit]
- Twist (mechanics), the torsion of an object
- Twist (mathematics), a geometric quantity associated with a ribbon
- Twists of curves, a method of deriving related curves
- Twist (screw theory), in applied mathematics and physics
- Twist (software), a test automation solution by ThoughtWorks Studios
- Ellipse Twist, a French hang glider
- Twist fungus (Dilophospora alopecuri)
- Twisting properties, in statistics
- Twist transcription factor, a gene protein
People[edit]
- Barry McGee (born 1966), also known as Twist, painter and graffiti artist
- Leroy "Twist" Casey (born 1973), disk jockey
- Liz Twist (born 1956), British Member of Parliament
- Susan Twist, British actress
- Tony Twist (born 1968), Canadian hockey player
Places[edit]
- Twist, Arkansas, a city in the United States
- Twist, Germany, a municipality in Lower Saxony
Sport[edit]
- Aerial twist, an acrobatic maneuver in gymnastics
- Twist lifts, a type of lift in pairs figure skating
Other uses[edit]
- Twist (cocktail garnish), a decorative piece of citrus zest
- Twist (confectionery), a Norwegian bag of sweets, now produced in Sweden
- Twist (dance), a rock and roll dance
- Twist (poker), a special round in some variants of stud poker
- Twist (ride), a popular amusement ride, often seen on travelling funfairs
- French twist (hairstyle), a hair styling technique
- Twist tobacco, a type of chewing tobacco
- Sail twist, a phenomenon in sailing
- Wing twist, a design choice in aeronautics
See also[edit]
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
Portal
Portal theme by Mr.Chubigans
Download: Portal.p3t
(1 background)
Portal often refers to:
- Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel
Portal may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment[edit]
Gaming[edit]
- Portal (series), a series of video games developed by Valve
- Portal (video game), a 2007 video game, the first in the series
- Portal 2, the 2011 sequel
- Portal Stories: Mel, a mod for Portal 2
- Portal Revolution, a mod for Portal 2
- Portal Reloaded, a mod for Portal 2
- Aperture Tag, a mod for Portal 2
- Portal (1986 video game), a 1986 computer game by Activision
- Portal (Magic: The Gathering), a set in the Magic: The Gathering card game
- Portal (video game element), an element in video game design
Music[edit]
- Portal (band), an Australian extreme metal band
- Portal (album), a 1994 album by Wendy & Carl
- "Portal", a 2014 song by Lights Little Machines
- Portals (Arsonists Get All the Girls album), 2009
- Portals (Sub Focus and Wilkinson album), 2020
- "Portals", by Alan Silvestri, from the soundtrack for the film Avengers: Endgame
- Portals (EP), a 2022 EP by Kirk Hammett
- Portals (Melanie Martinez album), 2023
Other uses in arts and entertainment[edit]
- Portal (comics), a Marvel Comics character
- Portal (magic trick), an illusion performed by David Copperfield
- Portal (TV series), a series about MMORPGs
- Portal (sculptures), interactive art sculptures videoconferencing two cities
- Vilnius–Lublin Portal, a 2021 interactive public art installation
- New York–Dublin Portal, a 2024 interactive public art installation
- Portals (initiative), a public art initiative that connects people in different world cities through real-time videoconferencing
- The Portal (podcast), a podcast hosted by Eric Weinstein
Computing[edit]
Gateways to information[edit]
- Captive portal, controlling connections to the Internet
- Enterprise portal, a framework to provide a single point of access to a variety of information and tools
- Intranet portal, a gateway that unifies access to all enterprise information and applications
- Web portal, a site that functions as a point of access to information on the World Wide Web
Other uses in computing[edit]
- Meta Portal, a screen-enhanced smart speaker
- Portal rendering, an optimization technique in 3D computer graphics
- Portals network programming API, a high-performance networking programming interface for massively parallel supercomputers
- Portal Software, a company based in Cupertino, California
Places[edit]
- Portal, Arizona
- Portal, Georgia
- Portal, Nebraska
- Portal, North Dakota
- North Portal, a village in Saskatchewan adjacent to Portal, North Dakota
- Portal Peak, a mountain in Canada
- Portal, Tarporley, a country house near Tarporley, Cheshire, England
- Portal Bridge, over the Hackensack River in New Jersey
- Portal Heights, former name for a railway station in Montreal, Canada
Organisations[edit]
- Clube Atlético Portal, a football club based in Uberlândia, Brazil
- Portals Athletic F.C., a defunct football club, based in Overton, England
- Portals (paper makers), a UK paper making company
Other uses[edit]
- NCAA transfer portal, a database and compliance tool facilitating US college athletes who wish to change schools
- Portal frame, a construction method
- Portal stones, a type of stone monument
- Portal (surname), shared by several notable people
- Portal venous system, an occurrence where one capillary bed drains into another through veins
- Hepatic portal system, the portal system between the digestive system and the liver
- Hepatic portal vein, a vein that drains blood from the digestive system
- Hypophyseal portal system
- Hepatic portal system, the portal system between the digestive system and the liver
See also[edit]
- Conduit (channeling)
- The Portal (disambiguation)
- Porthole, a window in the hull of a ship
- Wormhole
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
Tux n Tosh
The Simpsons
The Simpsons theme by HITMAN_DK
Download: TheSimpsons.p3t
(1 background)
| The Simpsons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Matt Groening |
| Based on | The Simpsons shorts by Matt Groening |
| Developed by |
|
| Showrunners |
|
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Danny Elfman |
| Opening theme | "The Simpsons Theme" |
| Ending theme | "The Simpsons Theme" (reprise) |
| Composers | Richard Gibbs (1989–1990) Alf Clausen (1990–2017) Bleeding Fingers Music (2017–present) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 35 |
| No. of episodes | 768 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | List
|
| Producers |
|
| Editors |
|
| Running time | 21–24 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | December 17, 1989 – present |
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company.[1][2][3] Developed by Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon, the series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield, it caricatures society, Western culture, television, and the human condition.
The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer Brooks. He created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "simpleton".[4] The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).
Since its debut on December 17, 1989, 768 episodes of the show have been broadcast. It is the longest-running American animated series, longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series, both in seasons and individual episodes. A feature-length film, The Simpsons Movie, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, to critical and commercial success, with a sequel in development as of 2018. The series has also spawned numerous comic book series, video games, books, and other related media, as well as a billion-dollar merchandising industry. The Simpsons is a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Television.[5]
On January 26, 2023, the series was renewed for its 35th and 36th seasons, taking the show through the 2024–25 television season.[6] Both seasons contain a combined total of 51 episodes. Seven of these episodes are season 34 holdovers, while the other 44 will be produced in the production cycle of the upcoming seasons, bringing the show's overall episode total up to 801.[7] Season 35 premiered on October 1, 2023.[8]
The Simpsons received widespread acclaim throughout its early seasons in the 1990s, which are generally considered its "golden age". Since then, it has been criticized for a perceived decline in quality. Time named it the 20th century's best television series,[9] and Erik Adams of The A.V. Club named it "television's crowning achievement regardless of format".[10] On January 14, 2000, the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 37 Primetime Emmy Awards, 34 Annie Awards, and 2 Peabody Awards. Homer's exclamatory catchphrase of "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English language, while The Simpsons has influenced many other later adult-oriented animated sitcom television series.
Premise[edit]
Characters[edit]
The main characters are the Simpson family, who live in the fictional "Middle America" town of Springfield.[11] Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge (née Bouvier), a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker and prankster; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, the baby of the family who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.[12]
The family also owns a greyhound, Santa's Little Helper, (who first appeared in the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" and a cat, Snowball II, who is replaced by a cat also called Snowball II in the fifteenth-season episode "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot".[13] Extended members of the Simpson and Bouvier family in the main cast include Homer's father Abe and Marge's sisters Patty and Selma. Marge's mother Jacqueline and Homer's mother Mona appear less frequently.
The show includes a vast array of quirky supporting characters, which include Homer's friends Barney Gumble, Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson; the school principal Seymour Skinner and staff members such as Edna Krabappel and Groundskeeper Willie; students such as Milhouse Van Houten, Nelson Muntz and Ralph Wiggum; shopkeepers such as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Comic Book Guy and Moe Szyslak; government figures Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby and Clancy Wiggum; next-door neighbor Ned Flanders; local celebrities such as Krusty the Clown and news reporter Kent Brockman; nuclear tycoon Montgomery Burns and his devoted assistant Waylon Smithers; and dozens more.
The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV.[14]
Continuity and the floating timeline[edit]
Despite the depiction of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays passing, the characters never age. The series uses a floating timeline in which episodes generally take place in the year the episode is produced. Flashbacks and flashforwards do occasionally depict the characters at other points in their lives, with the timeline of these depictions also generally floating relative to the year the episode is produced. For example, the 1991 episodes "The Way We Was" and "I Married Marge" depict Homer and Marge as high schoolers in the 1970s who had Bart (who is always 10 years old) in the early '80s, while the 2008 episode "That '90s Show" depicts Homer and Marge as a childless couple in the '90s, and the 2021 episode "Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars" portrays Homer as an adolescent in the same period. The 1995 episode "Lisa's Wedding" takes place during Lisa's college years in the then-future year of 2010, the same year the show began airing its 22nd season, in which Lisa was still 8. Regarding the contradictory flashbacks, Selman stated that "they all kind of happened in their imaginary world."[15]
The show follows a loose and inconsistent continuity. For example, Krusty the Clown may be able to read in one episode, but not in another. However, it is consistently portrayed that he is Jewish, that his father was a rabbi, and that his career began in the 1960s. The latter point introduces another snag in the floating timeline: historical periods that are a core part of a character's backstory remain so even when their age makes it unlikely or impossible, such as Grampa Simpson and Principal Skinner's respective service in World War II and Vietnam.
The only episodes not part of the series' main canon are the Treehouse of Horror episodes, which often feature the deaths of main characters. Characters who die in "regular" episodes, such as Maude Flanders, Mona Simpson and Edna Krabappel, however, stay dead. Most episodes end with the status quo being restored, though occasionally major changes will stick, such as Lisa's conversions to vegetarianism and Buddhism, the divorce of Milhouse van Houten's parents, and the marriage and subsequent parenthood of Apu and Manjula.
Setting[edit]
The Simpsons takes place in a fictional American town called Springfield. Although there are many real settlements in America named Springfield,[16] the town the show is set in is fictional. The state it is in is not established. In fact, the show is intentionally evasive with regard to Springfield's location.[17] Springfield's geography and that of its surroundings is inconsistent: from one episode to another, it may have coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires.[18] Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.[19] Groening has said that he named it after Springfield, Oregon, and the fictitious Springfield which was the setting of the series Father Knows Best. He "figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do."[20] Many landmarks, including street names, have connections to Portland.[21]
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
When producer James L. Brooks was working on the television variety show The Tracey Ullman Show, he decided to include small animated sketches before and after the commercial breaks. Having seen one of cartoonist Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strips, Brooks asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts. Groening initially intended to present an animated version of his Life in Hell series.[22] However, Groening later realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work. He therefore chose another approach while waiting in the lobby of Brooks's office for the pitch meeting, hurriedly formulating his version of a dysfunctional family that became the Simpsons.[22][23] He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name, adopting an anagram of the word brat.[22]
The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[24] Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production. However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial shorts.[22] The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo,[25][26] with Wes Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.[27] The colorist, "Georgie" Gyorgyi Kovacs Peluce (Kovács Györgyike)[28][29][30][31][32][33] made the characters yellow; as Bart, Lisa and Maggie have no hairlines, she felt they would look strange if they were flesh-colored. Groening supported the decision, saying: "Marge is yellow with blue hair? That's hilarious — let's do it!"[27]
In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included the Klasky Csupo animation house. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content.[34] Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.[35] The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989, with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".[36] "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.[37] In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons[38]—a claim rejected by the courts.[39]
Executive producers and showrunners[edit]
List of showrunners throughout the series' run:
- Season 1–2: Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, & Sam Simon
- Season 3–4: Al Jean & Mike Reiss
- Season 5–6: David Mirkin
- Season 7–8: Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
- Season 9–12: Mike Scully
- Season 13–31: Al Jean
- Season 32–present: Al Jean & Matt Selman
Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show's entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon, described by former Simpsons director Brad Bird as "the unsung hero" of the show,[40] served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons. He was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and the show's production company Gracie Films and left in 1993.[41] Before leaving, he negotiated a deal that sees him receive a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993,[41][42] at least until his passing in 2015.[43] A more involved position on the show is the showrunner, who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.[27]
Writing[edit]
The first team of writers, assembled by Sam Simon, consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky.[44] Newer Simpsons' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December.[45] The main writer of each episode writes the first draft. Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show's vocal performers.[46] Until 2004,[47] George Meyer, who had developed the show since the first season, was active in these sessions. According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits.[46] Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events.[48]
Credited with sixty episodes, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons.[49] One of the best-known former writers is Conan O'Brien, who contributed to several episodes in the early 1990s before replacing David Letterman as host of the talk show Late Night.[50] English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife", becoming the first celebrity both to write and guest star in the same episode.[51] Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, writers of the film Superbad, wrote the episode "Homer the Whopper", with Rogen voicing a character in it.[52]
At the end of 2007, the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the other members of the Writers Guild of America, East. The show's writers had joined the guild in 1998.[53]
In May 2023, the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the other members of the Writers Guild of America, East.[54][55]
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