The Simpsons' was about children and married parents; 'Futurama' is about people in between; they're growing up and haven't settled down. Every other cartoon show seemed to be, you know, dumb dad, bratty kids.

My father was a really sharp cartoonist and filmmaker. He used to tape-record the family surreptitiously, either while we were driving around or at dinner, and in 1963 he and I made up a story about a brother and a sister, Lisa and Matt, having an adventure out in the woods with animals.

The Simpsons' from the very beginning was based on our memories of brash '60s sitcoms - you had a main title theme that was bombastic and grabbed your attention - and when you look at TV shows of the 1970s and '80s, things got very mild and toned down and... obsequious.

Cartooning is for people who can't quite draw and can't quite write. You combine the two half-talents and come up with a career.

The first fantasy books I can remember reading were 'The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek' and the series of 'Mushroom Planet' books.

I think scientific arrogance really does give a great degree of distrust. I think people begin to think that scientists like to believe that they can run the universe.

We treat human biology as our center point. Everyone already has a head-mounted display. It's your head!

As a little girl growing up in the Deep South, my mother told me that my future lay in my education. And she was right.