"Simpsons" Creator Matt Groening's Dad Was Named Homer, and He Made Movies

Matt Groening created "The Simpsons," and as we all know, Homer Simpson is the patriarch of the family. Well, Homer was the name of Matt's dad too...but he wasn't a doofus. The late Homer Groening was a documentary filmmaker, a WWII pilot, and a writer, among other things. Today I thought I'd share with you one of Homer's films from 1969, "Basic Brown, Basic Blue," a trippy, rambling meditation on color, which eventually devolves into shots of people swimming, including an extended digression on ladies in bikinis. Oh, Homer.

You can also download the film from Archive.org, which includes the catalogue note:

Ever wonder how Matt Groening of 'The Simpsons' got his quirky sense of humor? Probably from his filmmaker dad, Homer Groening, who passed away in 1996. Although known for his documentaries, Homer Groening directed and narrated this film, ostensibly about color, but filled with an ongoing series of bikini-clad bathing beauties. The film is perhaps best viewed as a graphic artifact that will interest media historians seeking additional insight into the elements that influenced the cartoonist.

There's also an incomplete list of other films by Homer, including the swimsuit-themed "Tag" from 1966, described: "A training film for salesgirls in swimwear departments. Uses underwater swimming scenes to explain that information about swimsuits is given on the tags." Ahem.

You can read a bit more about the Groening family,

Trivia note: Matt Groening also has a son named Homer, but he apparently goes by "Will." Also, Matt's mother is named Margaret and his sisters are Lisa, Maggie, and Patty. I have found no record of a "Bart" in Matt's immediate family, so we'll have to assume that Matt is Bart.