A native of Kent, Connecticut, MacFarlane is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied animation, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He was an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera for several television shows, including Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Dexter's Laboratory and I Am Weasel, before creating his own series for 20th Century Fox entitled Family Guy in 1999. MacFarlane went on to co-create American Dad! in 2005, The Winner in 2007 and The Cleveland Show in 2009 for 20th Century Fox.
As an actor, he has made guest appearances on shows such as Gilmore Girls, The War at Home and FlashForward. MacFarlane's interest in science fiction and fantasy has led to cameo and guest appearances on Star Trek: Enterprise and voicing the character of Johann Kraus in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. In 2008, he created his own YouTube series entitled Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. As a performer, MacFarlane has sung at several venues, including Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.
MacFarlane has won several awards for his work on Family Guy, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and an Annie Award. In 2009, he won the Webby Award for Film & Video Person of the Year. For several years, Family Guy has been a large subject of criticism from television watchdog groups, such as the Parents Television Council, who regularly condemn it for its indecency. Even fellow cartoonists such as The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, The Ren & Stimpy Show's John Kricfalusi and South Park duo Trey Parker and Matt Stone have criticized MacFarlane's creation on numerous occasions. He occasionally speaks at universities and colleges throughout the United States, and is a supporter of gay rights.
On the February 10, 2011 episode of the TBS variety nighttime talk-show series Conan, MacFarlane announced he is directing his first feature-length film, Ted. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as an adult who, as a child, wished his teddy bear would come to life. MacFarlane will be the voice and motion capture for the bear. It is currently in production and is scheduled for release sometime in 2012. MacFarlane also announced working on a debut album. The album, Music Is Better Than Words, was released on September 27, 2011. It has been announced that MacFarlane will produce a revival of Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones for the Fox network. Development will begin in fall 2011 and the first episode is scheduled to air in 2013.
MacFarlane's parents, Ann Perry (n�e Sager) and Ronald Milton MacFarlane, were born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He is of Scottish, English and Welsh ancestry, partly by way of Canada, and his ancestors include William Brewster, who traveled to America on the Mayflower. MacFarlane's parents met in 1970, when they both lived and worked in Boston, and married later that year. In 1972, the couple moved to Kent, Connecticut, where Ann Perry began working in the Admissions Office at South Kent School and later in the College Guidance and Admissions Offices at Kent School, a selective college preparatory school where Ronald was also a teacher. During his childhood, MacFarlane developed an interest in illustration and began drawing cartoon characters Fred Flintstone and Woody Woodpecker, as early as two years old. By the age of five, MacFarlane knew that he would want to pursue a career in animation, and began by creating flip books, after his parents found a book on the subject. Four years later, at nine, MacFarlane began publishing a weekly comic strip entitled "Walter Crouton" for The Kent Good Times Dispatch, the local newspaper in Kent, Connecticut, which paid him five dollars per week. One strip caused a bit of a local scandal.
MacFarlane received his high school diploma in 1991 from the Kent School. While there, he continued experimenting with animation, and was given an 8 mm camera by his parents. MacFarlane went on to study film, video and animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. As a student, he had originally intended to work for Disney, but changed his mind upon graduating. At RISD, MacFarlane created a series of independent films, eventually meeting future Family Guy cast member Mike Henry, whose brother was MacFarlane's classmate. His senior year at RISD, MacFarlane created a thesis film entitled The Life of Larry, which would eventually become the inspiration for Family Guy. MacFarlane's professor submitted his film to the animation studio Hanna-Barbera, where he was later hired.
After college MacFarlane was hired at Hanna-Barbera (then Hanna-Barbera Cartoons) based on the writing content of The Life of Larry, not based on artistic merits. He was one of few people hired to the company solely based on writing talent. At Hanna-Barbera, MacFarlane worked as an animator and writer for Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoons series. He described the atmosphere at Hanna-Barbera as resembling an "old fashioned Hollywood structure, where you move from one show to another or you jump from a writing job on one show to a storyboard job on another." MacFarlane worked on four television series during his tenure at the studio: Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, and Johnny Bravo. Working as both a writer and storyboard artist, MacFarlane spent the most time on Johnny Bravo. He found it easier to develop his own style at Johnny Bravo through the show's process of scriptwriting, which Dexter, Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel did not use. He also did freelance work for Walt Disney Television Animation, writing for Jungle Cubs and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Through strict observation of writing elements such as story progression, character stakes, and plot points, MacFarlane found the work for Disney was, from a writing standpoint, very valuable in preparation for his career (particularly on Ace Ventura). MacFarlane also created and wrote a short titled Zoomates for Frederator Studios' Oh Yeah! Cartoons on Nickelodeon. In 1996, MacFarlane created a sequel to The Life of Larry entitled Larry and Steve, which features a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. The short was broadcast as one of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons. Executives at Fox saw both Larry shorts and negotiations soon began for a prime-time animated series.
Although MacFarlane enjoyed working at Hanna-Barbera, he felt his real calling was for prime-time animation, which would allow a much edgier style of humor. He first pitched Family Guy to Fox during his tenure at Hanna-Barbera. A development executive for Hanna-Barbera, who was trying to get back into the prime-time business at the time, introduced MacFarlane to Leslie Collins and Mike Darnell, heads of the alternative comedy department at Fox. After the success of King of the Hill in 1997, MacFarlane called Collins once more to ask about a possible second pitch for the series. The company offered the young writer a strange deal: Fox gave him a budget of $50,000 to produce a pilot that could lead to a series (most episodes of animated prime-time productions cost at least $1 million). Recalling the experience in an interview with The New York Times, MacFarlane stated, "I spent about six months with no sleep and no life, just drawing like crazy in my kitchen and doing this pilot". After six months, MacFarlane returned to Fox with a "very, very simply, crudely animated film � with just enough to get the tone of the show across" to present to the executives, who loved the pilot and ordered the series immediately. In July 1998, the Fox Broadcast Company announced the purchase of Family Guy for a January 1999 debut. Family Guy was originally intended to be a series of shorts on MADtv, much in the same way The Simpsons had begun on The Tracey Ullman Show a decade earlier. Negotiations for the show's MADtv connection fell through early on as a result of budgetary concerns. At age 24, MacFarlane was television's youngest executive producer. Family Guy first aired January 31, 1999. MacFarlane's work in animating Family Guy has been influenced by Jackie Gleason and Hanna-Barbera along with examples from The Simpsons and All in the Family. In addition to writing three episodes, "Death Has a Shadow", "Family Guy Viewer Mail 1" and "North by North Quahog", MacFarlane voices Family Guy's main characters � Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin and Glenn Quagmire as well as Tom Tucker, his son Jake and additional characters. Bolstered by high DVD sales and established fan loyalty, Family Guy developed into a $1 billion franchise. On May 4, 2008, after approximately two and a half years of negotiations, MacFarlane reached a $100 million agreement with Fox to keep Family Guy and American Dad until 2012. The agreement makes him the world's highest paid television writer. MacFarlane's success with Family Guy has opened doors to other ventures relating to Family Guy. On April 26, 2005, he and composer Walter Murphy created Family Guy: Live in Vegas. The soundtrack features a Broadway show tune theme, and MacFarlane voiced Stewie in the track "Stewie's Sexy Party". A fan of Broadway musicals, MacFarlane comments on using musicals as a component to Family Guy:
As an actor, he has made guest appearances on shows such as Gilmore Girls, The War at Home and FlashForward. MacFarlane's interest in science fiction and fantasy has led to cameo and guest appearances on Star Trek: Enterprise and voicing the character of Johann Kraus in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. In 2008, he created his own YouTube series entitled Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. As a performer, MacFarlane has sung at several venues, including Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.
MacFarlane has won several awards for his work on Family Guy, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and an Annie Award. In 2009, he won the Webby Award for Film & Video Person of the Year. For several years, Family Guy has been a large subject of criticism from television watchdog groups, such as the Parents Television Council, who regularly condemn it for its indecency. Even fellow cartoonists such as The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, The Ren & Stimpy Show's John Kricfalusi and South Park duo Trey Parker and Matt Stone have criticized MacFarlane's creation on numerous occasions. He occasionally speaks at universities and colleges throughout the United States, and is a supporter of gay rights.
On the February 10, 2011 episode of the TBS variety nighttime talk-show series Conan, MacFarlane announced he is directing his first feature-length film, Ted. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as an adult who, as a child, wished his teddy bear would come to life. MacFarlane will be the voice and motion capture for the bear. It is currently in production and is scheduled for release sometime in 2012. MacFarlane also announced working on a debut album. The album, Music Is Better Than Words, was released on September 27, 2011. It has been announced that MacFarlane will produce a revival of Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones for the Fox network. Development will begin in fall 2011 and the first episode is scheduled to air in 2013.
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After college MacFarlane was hired at Hanna-Barbera (then Hanna-Barbera Cartoons) based on the writing content of The Life of Larry, not based on artistic merits. He was one of few people hired to the company solely based on writing talent. At Hanna-Barbera, MacFarlane worked as an animator and writer for Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoons series. He described the atmosphere at Hanna-Barbera as resembling an "old fashioned Hollywood structure, where you move from one show to another or you jump from a writing job on one show to a storyboard job on another." MacFarlane worked on four television series during his tenure at the studio: Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, and Johnny Bravo. Working as both a writer and storyboard artist, MacFarlane spent the most time on Johnny Bravo. He found it easier to develop his own style at Johnny Bravo through the show's process of scriptwriting, which Dexter, Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel did not use. He also did freelance work for Walt Disney Television Animation, writing for Jungle Cubs and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Through strict observation of writing elements such as story progression, character stakes, and plot points, MacFarlane found the work for Disney was, from a writing standpoint, very valuable in preparation for his career (particularly on Ace Ventura). MacFarlane also created and wrote a short titled Zoomates for Frederator Studios' Oh Yeah! Cartoons on Nickelodeon. In 1996, MacFarlane created a sequel to The Life of Larry entitled Larry and Steve, which features a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. The short was broadcast as one of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons. Executives at Fox saw both Larry shorts and negotiations soon began for a prime-time animated series.
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