| Seth Macfarlane |
Article Index for Seth |
Shopping MacFarlane |
Website Links For Seth |
Information AboutSeth Macfarlane |
|
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (born October 26 , 1973 in Kent, Connecticut ) is an American Animator , Screenwriter , Producer , Director and Voice Actor . He is best known as the creator of the Animated Series '' Family Guy '' and '' American Dad! '' BIOGRAPHY Early career MacFarlane received his diploma at the ''. In 1996 , MacFarlane created a sequel to ''The Life of Larry'' for Hanna-Barbera Cartoons called '' Larry And Steve '', which featured the bumbling middle-aged Larry and his highly intelligent dog Steve. The short was broadcast as one of Cartoon Network's '' World Premiere Toons ''. Executives at Fox saw both ''Larry'' shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series based on the characters. Immediately before starting ''Family Guy'' in 1998 , Fred Seibert (who brought MacFarlane to Hanna-Barbera ) asked him to write and produce a short titled "Zoomates" for Frederator Studios ' '' Oh Yeah! Cartoons '' on Nickelodeon . MacFarlane is a skilled pianist and singer who, as a young man, worked with the same vocal coaches as Frank Sinatra . He is an avid fan of musicals and often employs musical numbers in his work. ''Family Guy'' ''Main article: Family Guy '' ''Family Guy'' is an animated series which follows the life of the Griffin family. Patriarch Peter Griffin , the main character and all around funny guy, shares a thick middle-class New England accent with wife Lois , a kind, calm, level-headed housewife who frequently gets caught up in the moment and acts as irrationally as her husband. Lois teaches piano lessons from home part-time while tending to her offspring. Only daughter and oldest child Meg Griffin craves social interaction, respect of her privacy and the attention of her school's James Dean-esque cool kid. Her plain looks are the butt of many jokes. High school freshman Chris Griffin is an obese teen with subnormal intelligence, who has a talent for drawing and many of the same hedonistic impulses as his dad. By far the most eloquent and rational member of the household is Brian Griffin , a talking family dog who drinks alcohol, smokes tobacco, sings, acts and is Peter's best friend. Infant Stewie Griffin is a highly-cognizant Genius infant with a head shaped like a sideways-sitting football and an effete, archaic English accent based on the voice of Rex Harrison . Stewie is hellbent on world domination and the defeat of all who oppose him, especially his mother. The only family member who consistently understands him when he talks and converses with him is Brian; the rest of them usually act like they only hear "baby noises" when he speaks and treat him like the normal, temperamental baby they believe him to be. On the show, MacFarlane provides the voices of Peter, Brian, Stewie, the sex-maniac neighbor Glen Quagmire , and the news anchor Tom Tucker who is seen regularly on the show. The show's future looked optimistic after high Nielsen Ratings for the pilot episode, "Death Has a Shadow" shown after the 1999 Super Bowl on Fox. The show was moved to many different time slots after ratings declined, and Fox cancelled ''Family Guy'' after three seasons and 50 episodes. A huge undertaking by the show's loyal fanbase worked to bring it back to life. The show became a hit on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in 2004 and stellar DVD sales of the show's three seasons led to the show's unprecedented May 1 , 2005 return to Fox's Sunday night lineup, where it remains. In 2005 the show was aired alongside ''American Dad!'' on BBC2 in the UK . ''American Dad!'' ''Main article: American Dad! '' ''American Dad!'', MacFarlane's latest undertaking, was first shown after who rescued Stan from Area 51 , and Klaus the Goldfish who hosts the transplanted brain of a German Olympic skier. Notable guest appearances MacFarlane is an avid fan of '''' in the third season episode " The Forgotten " (3.20), and the fourth season episode " Affliction " (4.15). Since then, Patrick Stewart has had a recurring role as the director of the CIA in '' American Dad! '' (and also reprised his famed role of Jean Luc Picard in an episode of '' Family Guy ''). MacFarlane also appeared in a 2002 episode of the '' Gilmore Girls '', entitled "Lorelai's Graduation Day" (2.21) as a classmate of Lorelai's (a number of episodes of ''Family Guy'' were produced by ''Gilmore Girls'' producer and writer Daniel Palladino , husband of the show's creator Amy Sherman-Palladino ). Not only did he voice ''Wayne "The Main Brain" McClain'' in an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force , he has also voiced various characters on Adult Swim 's '' Robot Chicken '', including a parody of Lion-O . September 11, 2001 experience On the morning of the in New York City . He often jokes that he arrived late because he was hungover from the night before and jokingly says, "Drinking can save your life." He was then told he would need to wait for the next flight and then sat down next to someone as they were watching the attacks and he said to the man beside him, "I was supposed to be on that flight." In an interview in '' USA Today '' a few days after the attacks, he said that he was unable to get in touch with his office or his family in Los Angeles. He ended up driving half way across the country before he finally was able to contact his office and parents to tell them that he was all right. In an interview with TVShowsOnDVD.com , MacFarlane had the following to say about his 9/11 close call: :"The only reason it hasn't really affected me as it maybe could have is I didn't really know that I was in any danger until after it was over, so I never had that panic moment. After the fact, it was sobering, but people have a lot of close calls; you're crossing the street and you almost get hit by a car ... this one just happened to be related to something massive. I really can't let it affect me because I'm a comedy writer. I have to put that in the back of my head." EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|