Here Is Seth MacFarlane's 1995 Short Film That Inspired 'Family Guy'

For his student thesis at RISD, Seth MacFarlane created a cartoon short film featuring a schlubby guy, his sarcastic dog best friend, sweet wife named Lois and their fat son. Naturally, MacFarlane did almost all of the voices. The cartoon was called The Life of Larry, and its status as clear precursor to Family Guy goes far beyond the synopsis.

The gags, the patter, the obsession with Star Trek and bizarre political commentary. It’s all here like an unvarnished artifact buried in hand-drawn ground.

In a way, it’s like watching old stand-up routines from Jim Carrey in his too-big sport coat, where the jokes and rhythms are still raw, but the DNA for future success is clearly at work. It’s also fascinating to see a creator stick so directly to a project (not to mention a student film) that he’d massage it into a network show 5 years later. There’s a sense that he basically got it right on the first try, inventing what would become a ridiculously popular show the first year he could legally drink.