Life in the 31st Century

As to his proximate, pre-jar, wholly embodied future, Groening will continue on his fortunate path, converting play into a livelihood, giving life to anxious, haunted buck-toothed rabbits, to the bright-yellow but otherwise dim citizenry of Springfield, to cyclopic alien babes and shoplifting, beer-drinking robots -- creating new worlds to illuminate ours, working late, having fun, making cartoons.

"Playing in the sandbox with my kids," he says, "I had this kind of doomed sensation that that was what I'd be doing for the rest of my life -- when these kids had grown up and become doctors and lawyers, I'd still want to be making up stories in the sandbox. Over the years I saw various friends peel off and buckle down, and actually do pre-med and the rest of that stuff. And I'm going, 'What about over here, with the cartoons?'"

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