Seth Macfarlane is an American multifaceted animation artist known for directing, voicing and writing the adult animated sitcom Family Guy. He began his career working on animated kid’s shows like Johnny Bravo, Dexter's Laboratory and I am Weasel for Cartoon Network. Due to restricted creative freedom, he pitched his own show at FOX and that materialised into Family Guy, which is now a franchise of more than $1 billion.
Macfarlane’s other television works include the long-running animated adult comedy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. He also directed and starred with Mark Wahlberg in the adult comedy Ted (2012) and its sequel Ted 2 (2015). He voiced the titular character, a teddy bear, in the movies. Macfarlane also directed and starred in the western comedy, A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014). The cast included Neil Patrick Harris, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried and Liam Neeson. He also voiced one of the characters in the animation movie Sing (2016).
Early Life
Seth Woodbury Macfarlane was born to Ronald Milton MacFarlane and Ann Perry on October 26th, 1973 in Kent, Connecticut. Seth has a sister, Rachael, who is also a voice actress. Early on in his childhood, Macfarlane was drawn to cartoons. He drew the cartoon character Fred Flintstone when he was just two. He was only five when he chose animation as his profession. His parents were extremely supportive of his dreams and presented him with a book on animation that they borrowed from the local library. The book was a treasure trove for him and he began creating flip books from it. When he was nine, Macfarlane published his first comic strip in the local newspaper, titled “Walter Crouton”. He was paid five dollars every week for his work.
Macfarlane finished his high school in 1991 from the Kent School. During this time his parents got him an 8mm camera and that’s when he dived into the deep end of animation. He enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design to study movie-making and animation. In his senior year at Rhode Island, Macfarlane created a short film for his thesis titled The Life of Larry (1995) and Larry & Steve (1997). This would eventually be the inspiration for his runaway hit TV show, Family Guy. His professor submitted the short film to the Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, where he was hired a year later. He graduated from Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
Personal Life
Macfarlane is a huge Game of Thrones fan and dated Emilia Clarke. She plays Daenerys Targaryen, the mother of the dragons on the show. They were together for six months and ended it when the long distance relationship didn’t seem to work out.
Television Career
Macfarlane was chosen by Ellen Cockrill and President Fred Seibert at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons purely based on his writing abilities more than his cartooning abilities. During his time there he worked on Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel and Johnny Bravo. This facilitated Macfarlane to meet various voice over actors and look closely into all the intricacies that went into making a TV cartoon show. He also worked on Jungle Cubs for Walt Disney and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective for Nelvana, as a freelancer. Working on Ace Ventura further strengthened his understanding of story progression, character behaviour and plot points. All this would come in handy for his work on Family Guy.
Macfarlane first pitched an idea to the executives at FOX when he was still working with Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. FOX looked at his previous works and offered him a deal. They gave him $50,000 and asked to work on a pilot that would eventually be Family Guy. The show made its debut in January of 1999. It has won 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and several other awards. The show has constantly been criticised for its indecent content but that hasn’t deterred it from having a strong fanbase. The fanbase is such that it forced FOX to get the show back on air twice after it was cancelled. The show is currently in its 15th season.
American Dad! is an animated American adult sitcom which was developed for FOX TV by Macfarlane, along with Mike Barker, and Matt Weitzman. The show has been awarded multiple awards and is currently in its 14th season. It was picked up by TBS after 12 seasons and has been renewed for the 15th season with 22 episodes.Macfarlane voiced several characters on both the shows. Back in 2008, he signed an agreement worth $100 million with FOX to keep Family Guy and American Dad! on air until 2012. Both the shows enjoy healthy viewership on different networks. The Cleveland Show was developed by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry as a spin-off to Family Guy. The show wasn’t a critic favourite and lasted for four seasons.
Movie Career
Macfarlane made his big screen directorial debut with Ted (2012). Apart from directing, writing and producing, he also voiced the main character which happened to be a teddy bear that miraculously comes to life. The movie was a critical and mainstream success. It currently holds the record for the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, internationally.
Macfarlane’s next was titled A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014). He co-wrote the movie with Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. It was a western, laced with Macfarlane’s brand of humour. The movie had a decent run at the box office.
In 2015, Macfarlane returned with the sequel to the 2012 hit, Ted. The R-rated movie was a moderate hit but was overshadowed by its predecessor in terms of story and box office returns.Macfarlane returned to voice acting with the animated movie, Sing (2016), alongside Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson. He plays the role of Mike, a white mouse.
Singing Career
Apart from acting, directing, voice acting and producing, Macfarlane is also a singer. He has a baritone voice and was trained by Lee and Sally Sweetland, the same folks who voice trained Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra. Macfarlane is deeply influenced by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Johnny Mercer, Gordon MacRae, Bing Crosby and the Rat Pack. In 2011 he signed a record with Universal Republic Records and dropped his first album on September 27, 2011. The album Music Is Better Than Words opened to mixed reviews but it was nominated in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category at the 54th Grammy Awards.
His second album was Holiday for Swing, which released on September 30, 2014. It was partially recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios. The album saw him collaborate with Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles. It was well received by the critics.September must mean something to Macfarlane, as he released yet another album on September 30, 2015. No One Ever Tells You, Macfarlane’s third studio album, was a critical success and earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.Macfarlane’s musical journey has been well documented and much appreciated, and he was honoured by Barbara Sinatra at the 28th annual Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational.