The Simpsons (franchise) In 2008, $750 million worth of "The Simpsons" merchandise was purchased worldwide. Peter Byrne, Fox executive vice-president of licensing and merchandising, called "The Simpsons" "without doubt the biggest licensing entity that Fox has had, full stop, I would say from either TV or film." Matt Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Brooks, the producer of the sketch comedy program "The Tracey Ullman Show", wanted to use a series of animated cartoons as bumpers between sketches. Groening had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended
The Simpsons: Cartoon Studio screaming, while Bart can run, trip over, cycle, ride his skateboard, and paint graffiti with spray-paint. Backgrounds featured range from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to Bart's room, and props include tables, blenders, and the three-eyed fish Blinky. "The Simpsons Cartoon Studio" was released for PC and Mac computers in the middle of 1996. It was developed and published by Fox Interactive, and uses an improved version of the interface from "Felix the Cat's Cartoon Toolbox" that was developed by Big Top Productions. The dialogs featured in the program were provided by the actual cast members of "The Simpsons". Critics