A Trip Down Memory Lane: 35 Facts About Iconic Cartoons

The Couch Gag in ‘The Simpsons’ intro was developed as a clever way of adjusting the show’s runtime as needed.

2. The Simpsons episode 'Homer at Bat' is credited with saving at least two choking victims because their saviors had learned the Heimlich maneuver from a poster visible in the episode.

3. The original idea behind Marge Simpson's hair was to conceal large rabbit ears. The gag was intended to be revealed in the final episode of the series but was scrapped early on due to inconsistencies.

4. Upon first seeing The Simpsons character Hans Moleman, show creator Matt Groening claimed he was so shriveled and unrealistic that he resembled a "mole man". According to Groening, many viewers were offended by Moleman's look. He was made a recurring character in order to annoy these people.

5. In the Looney Tunes universe, the mouse Speedy Gonzales has a cousin named Slowpoke Rodriguez whose possible marijuana habit is alluded to in an episode from 1962.

Richard Nixon’s Head makes the “Aroo!” noise in Futurama because he reminds Billy West of a werewolf and also his performance is partially based on the way Anthony Hopkins portrayed the man in Oliver Stone's 1995 film “Nixon.”

7. In Zapp Brannigan's debut on Futurama, Brannigan was to appear fatter in every shot throughout the first episode in which he appeared, but the animators were so disgusted by his ultimate appearance that the idea was dropped.

8. Homer Simpson’s conversations with his own brain were often introduced because it filled time and was easy for animators to work on. Homer's conversations with his brain were used several times during the 4th season, but were later phased out after producers “used every possible permutation.”

9. The Simpsons is credited with the popularization of the word "Meh".

10. Homer Simpson’s idea to fill a mine with other cities’ garbage dissuaded a small Canadian town from implementing the exact same idea.

All characters on The Simpsons have 4 fingers except for God, who has 5 fingers.

12. Futurama has had 4 designated series finales, due to the recurringly uncertain future of the series. "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", "Into the Wild Green Yonder (Part 4)", "Overclockwise", and "Meanwhile" have all been written to serve as a final episode for the show.

13. Every episode of Family Guy includes at least one instance of a character saying “What the hell …”

14. Jerry Seinfeld once refused to play a turkey on South Park. However, George Clooney was totally fine with playing a dog.

15. The ‘Family Guy’ episode in which Stewie drinks horse sperm with cereal caused FCC to receive 188,368 complaints.

Mr. Hankey from South Park was inspired by Trey Parker's Father who told him that if he didn't flush the toilet, Mr. Hankey would come out and eat him.

17. Trey Parker stated that Mr. Mackey is based off his old school counselor Mr. Lackey. On South Park season 1 commentary Trey said “[Mr. Lackey used to say], ‘Trey, quit fooling around and get back to your school work, m’kay’ ‘but, now, I'm making millions out of him’”.

18. The song Chocolate Salty Balls from South Park reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Charts.

19. Moe from The Simpsons was only given the surname Szyslak so that he would have the initials M.S., and hence be a suspect in the Burns shooting.

20. The producers of The Simpsons considered aborting the series if the second episode's animation turned out as bad as the first, which was so appalling that after seeing it for the first time, they had to redo 70% off before it could go to air.

In two episodes of the first season of ‘The Simpsons’, Lou the cop was yellow colored. It wasn’t until Season 2 that they kept him black permanently.

22. Simpsons characters Lenny and Carl both possess master's degrees in nuclear physics.

23. XXX on cartoon jugs of alcohol originally denoted three-time distilled, resulting in almost pure alcohol content.

24. There is a Cartoon Network special crossover episode called The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door, also featuring Ed Edd n' Eddy, with cameos from the Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Lab among other shows.

25. Space Ghost Coast to Coast was the show that launched the late night television block we know today as Adult Swim on Cartoon Network.