Matt Groening Reveals Springfield Is In His Home State of Oregon 148
First time accepted submitter TheSeventh writes "Simpsons creator Matt Groening has revealed the location of the real Springfield: It's in Oregon. In an interview with Smithsonian magazine, Groening credits the name to the hit TV show Father Knows Best. The show 'took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown,' he says. 'When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also 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.'"
Springfield located!!! (Score:1)
...um... yay? I guess?
Bullshit. (Score:3)
It doesn't rain nearly enough on the show, and there's not enough bars (just Moe's).
OTOH, I can see the characters based on the townfolk in general...
(Disclosure: I live near PDX.)
Funny... (Score:5, Funny)
I always thought it was inside my television.
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People here in Springfield, IL are shocked. We have the Simpsons' Springfield rivals with the same name as a town right down the highway, we had a dead ringer for Mr Burns running the power company (retired last year), a dead ringer for Mayor Quimby (committed suicide last year), a dead ringer for the TV news announcer at local station WICS (retired 2 years ago).
We have Ward 2 alderman Gail Simpson.
And the town is full of cartoon characters, especially if you drink and take Paxil.
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"And the town is full of cartoon characters"
Not all of it. Just the part near the state legislature and governors mansion. And a goodly portion of them are imported from that disneyland up north of I-80.
(I watch from a safe distance over near Champaign-Urbana. :)
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Wrong (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Wrong (Score:5, Funny)
grasping at straws really, the interviewer and the guy who submitted the article.
he says he got the idea to springfield name from the old show which had springfield in it and that he thought it was their springfield, so he decided to use the same trick. being named after something like that is a far fetch from actually _being_ that springfield, which the article headline says.
simpsons isn't a documentary filmed in real time, Highlander is.
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Ah, slashdot pedantry at its best, when people think they now better than the writer of an obviously fictional story.
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When a fictional universes has been around for a long time, the opinion of the creator becomes less and less important and the stories themselves and the fictional facts therein become more important.
It's the same with the Star Wars Expanded Universe, where many fans desperately wish that Lucas would stop meddling with their SW universe and leave it to the authors and writers who can capture the feel of the universe much better and have a lot more knowledge about what's happening in that world.
Re:Wrong (Score:4, Insightful)
Not to be a jerk or anything, but what in the hell is a "fictional fact"?
No, really, that's just wrong. Way wrong. Please don't do that again.
==
I do agree with you that once a canon of sorts is established, especially in a long-running fictional/storybook 'universe', the details of it do fill out, and fans expect the author to try and stay within them, especially as the storylines get more complex. On the other hand, it all too often happens that a new and interesting story may well break the fabric of what you the fan may have come to expect, and something is going to have to explain that.
Maybe Groening will come up with such an explanation in the future? After all, it wasn't unheard of for weird crap to occur in Start Trek:TNG (and others) to start popping out of the writers' collective arse to explain a particular story or situation (accidental time travel, getting sucked into alternate universes, the all-too-rambunctious dilithium crystals, etc.)
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When a fictional universes has been around for a long time, the opinion of the creator becomes less and less important and the stories themselves and the fictional facts therein become more important.
It's the same with the Star Wars Expanded Universe, where many fans desperately wish that Lucas would stop meddling with their SW universe and leave it to the authors and writers who can capture the feel of the universe much better and have a lot more knowledge about what's happening in that world.
Meh, I disagree. Groening was probably only very hands on for the first few seasons. And probably wasn't as heavily involved much past Schwartzwelder (sp?). I would think the creator's original notion is more important than the nameless rabble of writers who've contributed to that show over the years, for a fact like where Springfield is located. Plus, it's important to take people at their word. He says it's in Oregon, so it's in Oregon. It probably turned into more an amalgam of places over time.
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It all depends on what the definition of "named after" is.
If, for example, "named after" means to give a label to something or someone based on the previous existence of something, then I could say the following: A was named after B. A is not necessarily B, and B is not necessarily A.
If, for example, "named after" means the word "is", then someone could say the following: I named my child Barack Obama. Therefore, my child is President!
By the way fellow Americans, don't forget April 17th named after tax day
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Ah, slashdot pedantry at its best, when people think they now better than the writer of an obviously fictional story.
slashdot at it's best, where ac's make claims based on the submission that get modded up that could be seen as silly if you read the article part and understood being named after is not the same as being. that only works if you get appointed as the lama. (he only thought that he read it better than the article submitter, possibly better than the fucking article writer who was trying to pin a hook on his story).
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Uh, Springfield has both mountains and a sea shore. I dont know what this "Portland" is but does it have such a cool geography? I think eat up Martha!
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yes..i mean, no. Stay away. It's all flat and hippies. Everything sucks.
haha.
Portland, Oregon - Visitors welcome. Please take a hippie when you return home.
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The fact that The Simpsons is still on the air probably proves this out...because where else can the dream of the 90s be alive?
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Additionally, in earlier episodes, there are often short clips of mail that were shown on screen. Mr. Burn's address in 03F06 (I believe -- it was on a few days ago) was shown to be in "Springfield, IL." Other episodes showed mail to go to "Springfield, NT", but that was not until much later in the series (the first use of it I believe was in the 10th season).
Re:Wrong (Score:5, Funny)
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I didn't realize the CREATOR of the show could make Oregon border Ohio, Maine, and Kentucky. I stand corrected.
Funny, I don't think any state can fit that description... at least in the real world. But, given that Simpsons isn't a documentary, I think the creator can do whatever he wants with the location.
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Based entirely on the work it seems quite clear that Springfield is nowhere, or anywhere depending on how you want to look at it, this allowing the viewer to consider it to be somewhere relevant to himself.
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Sure, but according to the principle of the Death of the Author [tvtropes.org] (warning - TVTropes link), unless it's made clear in the text, the author's opinion has no weight when it comes to an interpretation. Based entirely on the work it seems quite clear that Springfield is nowhere, or anywhere depending on how you want to look at it, this allowing the viewer to consider it to be somewhere relevant to himself.
And while he has said he based it on Springfield, OR, the actual intent of the shows writings was to do exactly what you described.
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Oh, well TVTROPES. that settles it~
Based on the entiority of the work, SPringfield is in Oregon. Here:
Names of streets in Portland:
Quimby, Terrwilliger, Powell, Lovejoy, flanders.
Look at the bridges.
It became obvious to me that Springfield is in Oregon the first time I visited Portland.
I like how people keep referring to what Ned Flanders says. An evangelical wrong on a basic and obvious fact? Surely it's a statement of fact and not a Joke~
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Well, ultimately it seems no one is actually reading the interview. The Springfield where the Simpsons live is not in Oregon, it is not anywhere. It was inspired by and named after Springfield, Oregon, which is entirely different.
From TFA:
Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon. The only reason is that when I was a kid, the TV show “Father Knows Best” took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown. When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also 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.
At no point does he claim the show is supposed to take place in Oregon, since it obviously doesn't.
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Who says it takes place on this Earth? Maybe it's on Earth Prime or Earth B?
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The creator of the show purposely made it confusing so that morons like you wouldn't try to defend their point about how it's "their" state, leading to an effect where everyone can associate their Springfield with the show's.
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From Wikipedia... Due to the many contradictory statements regarding Springfield, it is impossible for the town to exist in any specific U.S. state. For example, in The Simpsons Movie, Ned Flanders tells Bart that Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky all border Springfield's state. The city's unknown and unknowable geography is a recurring joke in the series; despite the "riddle wrapped in an enigma that is Springfield's location", Lisa Simpson states that "it's a bit of a mystery, yes. But if you look at the clues, you can figure it out." Episodes frequently make fun of the fact that Springfield's state is unidentifiable by adding further conflicting descriptions, obscuring onscreen map representations, and interrupting conversational references. The telephone area codes for Springfield are 636 (St. Charles County - Western St. Louis County, Missouri) and 939 (Puerto Rico). David Silverman has claimed that Springfield is in the fictional state of "North Takoma". This is substantiated by the state abbreviations NT and TA used within the show. However, this has never been officially confirmed in any canonical episode of The Simpsons or by other Simpsons producers.
Maybe Groening failed geography.
And apparently topology, also.
Re:Wrong (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe Groening failed geography.
Dakota Channing was named after North Dakota. Does that mean she lives in North Dakota? No. She was born in Georgia. Georgia O'Keefe, named after Georgia, was born in Wisconsin and probably never got to Georgia, even though she did work in South Carolina.
Caroline Kennedy was named after South Carolina. Does she live there? No, she lives in New York. Dick York (first and really only true husband to Samantha, for those who care abouts such things), named after that vernerable city (and state!) doesn't live in New York (city OR state), he lived in Grand Rapids Michigan until he died in 1992.
Speedy Gonzalez (rapido == speedy) never went to Michigan, although he was named after Grand Rapids. (Little known fact: his full name was Super Speedy Gonzalez, or "La Grando Rapido".)
And Morey Amsterdam was named after what New York used to be called -- New Amsterdam. Ok, he did live in New York. Forget about him.
Short version: "named after" is not "is in".
Re:Wrong (Score:4, Funny)
You didn't realize that the creator of a cartoon can make their cartoon city in any place they want, and make it bordered by any other place they want?
Really?
I'm surprised you also didn't point out that the real Springfield, OR isn't occupied by 2-dimensional 4-fingered cartoons, hasn't ever been taken over by aliens, never had the sun blocked out by the nuclear plant owner's giant sunshade, or damaged to the tune of millions of dollars on a regular basis by the town's lovable buffoon.
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I'm surprised you also didn't point out that the real Springfield, OR isn't occupied by 2-dimensional 4-fingered cartoons
Just once, for the pure hell of it, I'd like to see a cartoon with normal 5 fingered people. Just to be different, because I don't think anyone's ever done it. I guess animators charge by the finger. Maybe in the future, cartoon people will have just have pincers...especially if Burn's nuclear plant stays in business!
Jap animation (Score:2)
I'd like to see a cartoon with normal 5 fingered people.
Try any random anime. Or look at the Marios in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.
The Briggses (Score:2)
Springfield, OR [...] hasn't ever been taken over by aliens
Were Native Americans living in what is now Lane County when Elias and Mary Briggs invaded? If so, that'd make the Briggses "aliens" (as in "not citizens").
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I didn't realize the CREATOR of the show could make Oregon border Ohio, Maine, and Kentucky. I stand corrected.
Well, Kentucky is fictional, too, so I don't see why it's such a big deal. Kentucky IS fictional, right? Yeah, GOTTA be. No way a place like that exists for real.
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Don't drink much bourbon do you? :)
Funny, reading his comment, I suspected he drank too much bourbon. ;)
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Still, I think there's value in knowing it's impossible for it to mirror a real-world "Springfield", and your original post really is informative (and you
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of course a writer can! the aspies in here, honestly.
a writer can do anything they can think of, so long as it's part of their work.
A more accurate headline (Score:5, Insightful)
"Matt Groening Reveals that 'Springfield' Name Came From 'Father Knows Best'"
The Springfield of the show is, of course, fiction. It can't exist. It's everywhere in the U.S. all at once. It's in the desert, near the ocean, it was founded by colonial settlers, it's close to both Mexico and Canada, it's home to every type of U.S. wildlife (except for bears, of course--the Bear Patrol keeps those out).
About the only things you won't find there these days are decent writing or a sense of pride.
Re:A more accurate headline (Score:5, Funny)
About the only things you won't find there these days are decent writing or a sense of pride.
Yeah, for that you need to go to Shelbyville.
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it's home to every type of U.S. wildlife (except for bears, of course--the Bear Patrol keeps those out).
And sharks. All of that jumping exhausted the local shark population years ago.
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Sounds like you described Oregon just fine.
Although I'm not sure why you think it's close to mexico. There is no time line given on the trip.
I'm sorry the huumor progressed from Choking a child to actually needing to think about it. It must be..so Dull in your head.
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About the only things you won't find there these days are decent writing or a sense of pride.
I thought this season was substantially better than the last several. You might want to give it a try if you haven't for a while.
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About the only things you won't find there these days are decent writing or a sense of pride.
They never did get their monorail.
No he doesn't (Score:5, Informative)
From TFA: "Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon"
That doesn't mean it IS Springfield, Oregon.
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Look up Springfield, Organ on the map. They look identical.
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aw man... (Score:5, Funny)
I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do.'
Well, not anymore.
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I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do.'
Well, not anymore.
In all seriousness, nailing down any fictional creation to a real-world equivalent kind of defeats the purpose of fiction.
It's especially lame if you do it after the fact. If you come out at the beginning and say, "Once upon a time in Springfield, Oregon..." you're establishing a setting, and that can be useful. Doing it after twenty-something seasons is like saying, "Oh, yeah, and Bob was really Jesus. The End."
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I agree.. I live about 20 miles south of Springfield, MA, and I think I can smell it from here.
More important (Score:2)
Re:More important (Score:5, Insightful)
Eugene.
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Now we can refer to Eugene, OR as "Shelbyville."
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Blimey. Ever since that lemon tree incident you guys have been so bitter.
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What's really funny is that Illinois has the most nuclear power plants and there is a Shelbyville, IL fairly close to Springfield.
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The nuclear power plant in-show represents Weyerhaeuser ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weyerhaeuser [wikipedia.org] ), a large paper company for whom just about everybody worked in the 80s. Either you worked for them, your spouse worked for them, or your parent worked for them. This was the big industry in the Eugene/Springfield area when Groening was young. I imagine he went with a nuclear power plant instead because of the comedic opportunities.
Next (Score:1)
Springfield is in Oregon.
We know who that song was about.
Now if we could only figure out why Billy Joe jumped off that bridge.
Wah (Score:2)
All along, we've thought it to be in OUR nearby Springfield. Life sucks suddenly.
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How many kids did George Carlin have?
Where did he get his PhD in Child development?
Can't possibly be in Oregon (Score:5, Funny)
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The characters aren't weird enough.
Oregonians aren't weird... As an Oregonian (now living in New York City) I can say that Oregon is one of the most normal places in the U.S. It's the rest of the country that's just plain weird.
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No, Oregon is weird. I mean, if they start to be normal, they quickly create a protest group against it.
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Yea, that also disqualifies Texas.
R.I.P. Leslie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Cochran [wikipedia.org]
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Leslie died?! D=
Man I can't believe I missed the news. Such a bummer. Austin is now officially less weird. :(
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I thought it was England (Score:2)
I used to work at a nuclear fuel processing plant here called Springfields:
http://www.nuclearsites.co.uk/site.php?LocationID=2 [nuclearsites.co.uk]
Great! Now, where is South Park? (Score:2)
If they can only answer that, my life's purpose will still be unknown.
P.S. Yes, I'm aware that it's almost certainly modeled on Fairplay, CO. I've been there, and to South Park, about 20mi away.
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Quite a different story... (Score:2)
... than this one:
http://www.cracked.com/article_18530_5-pop-culture-classics-created-out-laziness.html [cracked.com]
Does it matter? (Score:2)
Let's be honest. Between the shows, such a town cannot exist. It cannot be a huge city, lacking the necessary skyscrapers to house a multi million people population, but it has all the amenities of large towns, from well stocked and funded museums to casinos and other enterprises that need a large customer base to be profitable, plus it is visited by foreign dignitaries and is considered as the host of Olympic games. Still we only get to see a fairly small amount of people altogether, let alone be introduce
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Because it's ratings are fading, or because it's mostly continuing on inertia, or because it hasn't been on the cutting edge of cultural relevance in twenty years... Or whatever other reason. They just needed the column inches.
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Why do you need to pinpoint it on a map? It is simply not necessary for anything.
Only because it's been a running joke, and that in actuality it couldn't be in any real state. All references to it in the show were vague, contradictory, or hidden from view (maps, satellite images, mail, driver's licenses, etc.).
In one episode Lisa mentioned that there were enough clues to figure it out, but because there are so many contradictory clues, she meant that it wasn't a real city. This is just the final word (hopefully), that it is actually based on Springfield Oregon, just a highly fictio
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Why do you need to pinpoint it on a map? It is simply not necessary for anything.
Only because it's been a running joke, and that in actuality it couldn't be in any real state. All references to it in the show were vague, contradictory, or hidden from view (maps, satellite images, mail, driver's licenses, etc.).
In one episode Lisa mentioned that there were enough clues to figure it out, but because there are so many contradictory clues, she meant that it wasn't a real city. This is just the final word (hopefully), that it is actually based on Springfield Oregon, just a highly fictionalized version of it and all the surrounding geography (continent-wide).
Springfield is obviously in the state that Riverdale also exists in.
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Then there's the geography. You have a beach right in front of it, yet huge mountains like the murderhorn and a skiing resort right behind it. And somewhere near is also a desert and what seems to be some kind of swamp/jungle and a seriously huge forest. It's equally close to Mexico and Canada.
Sounds like Oregon. Ocean going into forest (and probably some swamps) into mountains with ski resorts and then desert on the other side of the mountains, also about equidistant from Canada and Mexico (along I5).
The headline is misleading (Score:1)
Nowhere does he say that the Simpson's Springfield is in Oregon. He says it's named after a fictitious Springfield that resided in Oregon from another TV show. Naming it after another town doesn't make it that town any more than naming my child after me makes him me. There is no "real" Springfield and that was the creators intent; to make Springfield everywhere. He states that very clearly. people need to learn how to read.
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I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do.
Mine is Springfield, Massachusetts.. I knew it had nothing to do with the one on the show./
I remember reading an article more than 15 years ago where they interviewed some of the Simpsons staff writers. A couple of them were from New England, and said that certain elements of the town were copied from their home state, and that they included various (visual and other) references to Springfield, MA in the show.
It's clearly in North Takoma.
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There are actually quite a few things similar that can easily be seen as familiar to Springfield MA. For example, the bridge is remarkably similar to the Memorial bridge. Several episodes mention the Springfield Armory, which Springfield MA is famous for and a national historic site. Mayor Quimby is obviously modeled after certain MA politicians,
Springfield is 115 miles from Portland (Score:3)
He does have quite the imagination.
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I thought it was odd that he'd consider Springfield OR "next to" Portland, too. They're about 110 miles apart, as near as SF and Sacramento, or LA and Tijuana, not exactly next door. Maybe his Dad tooled the family around in a private plane.
He's probably bored out of his skull after 20+ years of handling this stupid question. Who wouldn't be?
"simpsons" and mother tie to Steve Job's sister? (Score:2)
It can't be Oregon (Score:2)
We knew this already because we are better (Score:3)
1. Matt Groening was from Oregon.
2. They have a statute of the founder of the town(Jebediah Springfield), and Eugene has a statue of its founder Eugene Skinner.
3. Principal's name is Skinner.
4. There's a Nuclear plant nearby.
There's probably more. Actually, I always heard Matt was from Springfield.
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Also, Krusty the Clown was based loosely on Portland TV clown, Rusty Nails:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_Nails [wikipedia.org]
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Those who lived in Springfield/Eugene Oregon always knew. 1. Matt Groening was from Oregon. 2. They have a statute of the founder of the town(Jebediah Springfield), and Eugene has a statue of its founder Eugene Skinner. 3. Principal's name is Skinner. 4. There's a Nuclear plant nearby. There's probably more. Actually, I always heard Matt was from Springfield.
Terwilliger, Flanders, and Lovejoy are all streets in Portland.
Krusty the Klown was named after a TV clown from Portland named Rusty Nails.
Comic Book Guy--though a stereotype--was based on a real person, who ran a comic shop in Portland.
And who can forget the Lewis and Clark spoof, when the sky turns grey and it starts raining and Carl says "we'll call this place Eugene, Oregon."
I'm sure there are many, many others, but to me the connection between the Simpsons and Oregon was as apparent as the one bet
Bizarre (Score:2)
Bogus story (Score:4, Informative)
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Yeah, but that was before Hank Scorpio took over the operation and relocated to Cypress Creek...
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Is that the one that runs down Cypress Hill? Or am I just being insane?
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