News stories written at the time of the show's premiere highlighted The Adventures of Brian and Junior's connection to Isao Takahata, who died on April 5, 2018. The animator, Matt Groening, and his creator, Isao Takahata conceived the show in 1999, according to an article in The New York Times, adding he wanted it to be a sitcom, but about a family of United States. Until the success of SpongeBob SquarePants, according to Sherm Cohen, a storyboard artist organization, "people thought it was a big idea."
