Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Encyclopedia
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder is the last of a series of four straight-to-DVD Futurama
movies. The movie was written by Ken Keeler
, based on a story by Keeler and David X. Cohen
, and directed by Peter Avanzino
. Guest stars include Phil Hendrie
, Penn Jillette
(credited with Teller
), Snoop Dogg
and Seth MacFarlane
, who sings the theme song. In the movie, Leela becomes an outlaw when she and a group of ecologically-minded feminists attempt to save an asteroid of primitive life forms and the Violet Dwarf star from being destroyed, while Fry
joins a secret society and attempts to stop a mysterious species known as the "Dark Ones" from destroying all life in the universe. The title itself is a reference to the U.S. Air Force Song
, which main chorus describes reaching "Into the wild blue yonder".
The DVD
and Blu-Ray were released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
on February 23, 2009, while the film itself premiered on February 6, 2009 at New York Comic Con. It made its broadcast premiere on Comedy Central
on August 30, 2009. The film and its predecessors together comprise season five
of Futurama, with each film being separated into four episodes of the broadcast season. It won the 2009 Annie Award
for Best Home Entertainment Production, and Twentieth Century Fox and Comedy Central cited sales of Into the Wild Green Yonder and the other Futurama direct-to-DVD movies as one reason Comedy Central decided to renew the Futurama television series in 2009.
parents, Leo and Inez, who are destroying the "old" Mars
Vegas
and constructing a more extravagant one. A group of eco-feminists
(calling themselves "eco-feministas") led by Frida Waterfall protest the destruction of the environment, leading to an accident wherein a piece of Frida's jewelry lodges inside Fry's
brain. The destruction upsets Leela, but Leo has bribed Professor Farnsworth
to rubber stamp the project as environmentally friendly. Leela saves a Martian muck leech
, the last of its species, from the site.
In New Mars Vegas, Fry starts to go mad when he cannot stop hearing the thoughts of everyone around him. He meets Hutch, a transient
who advises Fry to wear a tin foil hat to keep others' thoughts out of his head. Hutch warns Fry never to reveal his powers and to beware the "Dark Ones".
While golfing with the crew, Leo reveals plans to build the universe's largest miniature golf
course, destroying 12% of the Milky Way in the process. Farnsworth and the crew survey the site and discover an asteroid in a violet dwarf star system teeming with primordial life. Despite this, Farnsworth approves Leo’s project. Disgusted, Leela joins the eco-feminists, who begin sabotaging the project.
Hutch introduces Fry to the "Legion of Mad Fellows", a secret society
of tin-foil-hat-wearing telepaths led by the Number 9 man. No. 9 tells Fry a story of two species that worked together to survive, until one broke the cycle and caused an "evolutionary arms race", both species evolving to defeat the other. One became the extinct "Encyclopods" who evolved to preserve the DNA
of endangered species so they could be restored should they become extinct. The other became the "Dark Ones", who want to destroy all life. Fry learns that the violet dwarf is the only surviving egg of the Encyclopods. Due to a resurgence in the life-giving force "Chi"
, the Encyclopod will soon be reborn. As Fry is immune to the Dark Ones' psionic
powers he alone can save it from Leo Wong's plans to turn it into a golf course, and from the Dark Ones, who have evolved to the point that no one knows what they look like.
To end the sabotage, Leo enlists Zapp Brannigan
and Kif Kroker
, who in turn hire Bender to track down the eco-feministas. Fry infiltrates Leo's empire as a security guard. Amy is angered by her father's sexist jokes and joins Leela, while Bender bugs Fry's phone in case he communicates with Leela. Fry runs into Frida and has her take a message of support to Leela, but an unseen Dark One murders Frida.
Farnsworth prepares to close Planet Express; with their delivery team missing they cannot continue. Leo Wong hires them to put up a fence around the construction site. Farnsworth cancels the closing and goes with Zoidberg and Hermes to do the job. They are captured by the eco-feminists, who commandeer the Planet Express ship. When the eco-feministas suspect Fry of murdering Frida, Fry and Leela arrange a rendezvous. They are ambushed by the Nimbus, which was tipped off by Bender. The eco-feministas are sent to prison.
At a Legion meeting, No. 9 explains that Fry must stop the implosion of the violet dwarf and thwart the Dark One who is sure to be present. Though no one knows the Dark One's form, its mind cannot be read, allowing Fry to identify it. No. 9 gives Fry the Omega Device, which can temporarily disable the Dark One at close range.
Bender frees the eco-feministas from prison in order to uphold his record for most crimes committed at once. Hermes, Zoidberg, Scruffy, and a repentant Farnsworth rescue them.
At the ceremony, Fry cannot locate an unreadable mind; he concludes that he himself (having an unreadable mind) must be the Dark One. The eco-feministas disrupt the ceremony, but Fry convinces Leela to let him proceed. Fry activates the Omega Device, which creates a small dome around the two that appears to have no effect. Leela's leech falls to the ground and reveals itself as the final Dark One. The violet dwarf system forms a giant sperm
and flies into the star, creating an Encyclopod embryo which quickly matures, taking the form of a giant manta ray
-like creature. The Dark One kills Hutch, whose dying act is to pull Frida's necklace out of Fry's forehead, causing Fry to lose his telepathy. The Encyclopod kills the Dark One. No. 9 convinces the Encyclopod to preserve the Dark One's DNA, but Zoidberg eats the remains before it can. The Encyclopod preserves Hutch's DNA before leaving.
Zapp attempts to apprehend the escaped prisoners, but the crew of the Planet Express ship and the Eco-feminists escape along with Kif. Fry and Leela profess their love for each other as the Nimbus chases the Planet Express ship toward a wormhole
, which the Professor warns could take them trillions of light years
away. Everyone agrees to go for it. Fry and Leela kiss as the ship enters the wormhole.
away. The show was picked up by Comedy Central
, and it is revealed in the episode "Rebirth" that the wormhole sent the ship directly back to Earth.
series. As in previous environmentally-minded episodes such as "The Problem with Popplers
", "A Taste of Freedom
" and "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz
", the Waterfall family makes an appearance, with Frida Waterfall reappearing along with a new member, Hutch (identifying himself as Frida's brother by removing her jewelry from Fry's head as Hutch dies), and in keeping with tradition both Frida and Hutch Waterfall meet an untimely end. The Encyclopod's decision to preserve Hutch's DNA defines it as Hutch's successor and serves as a warning about the fragility of the existence of the human species. With dark matter now useless as fuel the Planet Express ship has been modified to run on whale oil
, an alternative introduced in "Bendin' in the Wind
".
Fry was originally frozen and brought to the future by Nibbler
because a Nibblonian prophecy foresaw that he and his unique, Delta-wave-deficient mind (a consequence of his being his own grandfather) would be required to save the universe. In Yonder Fry is once again appointed for such a task (though by the Legion of Mad Fellows instead of the Nibblonians), due to his immunity from the Dark Ones' psionic attacks.
The No. 9 man, a recurring background character throughout the series, is given a significant role in the movie, though quite different from the role in the series for which he was originally conceived.
As a fan service, the climactic scene of the film features a scene with up to 200 characters on screen at once; most minor characters from Futurama's history can be seen (Unit 2013 appearing twice) with the exception of the children (like Dwight and Cubert), who were removed when the production team realized that Morbo mentions that there are no children present. In the DVD commentary, producer David X. Cohen
notes that Rough Draft Korea, Futuramas overseas animation studio, charged a significant premium because of the difficulty of animating this scene.
In the final scene of the movie, Amy and Kif are reunited after being estranged. After years of Fry trying to win her over, Leela finally returns Fry's love in full; Cohen notes that there was considerable debate among the Futurama writers about how to end the movie, and that Futurama creator Matt Groening
himself pushed for the actual conclusion.
The movie was initially intended to end the series. After Futurama was renewed, its creators were unsure if the storylines in the film would be continued. Groening stated that he wanted to ignore the film's ending and move on with the show. Cohen felt differently, stating that the revelations at the end should be resolved, even if the resolutions were brief, which they were in the premiere of the new season.
Aware that Into the Wild Green Yonder could have been the final Futurama episode at the time of writing, the writers inserted numerous references to that fact. The title screen displays the message "The Humans Shall Not Defeat Us" in Alien Language 1; according to Cohen, the message is a defiant statement regarding the possible end of the series. Midway through the movie, a shot of the exterior of the Planet Express building draped with a banner reading "Going Out Of Business Forever! Again!" is shown, a reference to the original series' previous cancellation in 2003. The scene where Professor Farnsworth removes Zoidberg's and Hermes's career chips and the countdown scene at the violet dwarf implosion ceremony both reference events from the pilot episode, "Space Pilot 3000
" and also "The Cryonic Woman
". The cliffhanger nature of the final scene in the movie was devised so that it could conclude the series on an emotional note but also provide a point of departure for a series renewal, according to Cohen.
The script contains several detailed scientific references, such as the Keeler Gap in the rings of Saturn, the asteroid 2261 Keeler
and the Keeler crater on Mars, all named after astronomer James Edward Keeler. In the movie the violet dwarf star is located at "galactic coordinates
167.84, -58.03, Mark 948", and Cohen mentions in the DVD commentary that the first two coordinates refer to another astronomical object. In addition, the Martian muck leech is given the scientific name
Cyprinodon martius. Writer Ken Keeler adapted the name from Cyprinodon salinus, the scientific name of the Death Valley pupfish
, which like the Martian muck leech lives in the desert and is nearly extinct.
The opening musical theme is a Frank Sinatra
-style number sung by Family Guy
and American Dad!
creator Seth MacFarlane
as the Planet Express ship flies around the casinos of Mars Vegas.
gave the film a grade of B, saying that it catered to established fans. Scott Collura of IGN
rated the movie itself 5/10, praising the use of both major and minor characters from the series and the science-fiction content, but criticizing the movie for being disjointed and for its "underwhelming climax" and concluding that it "never fully captures the greatness of the original series." Collura rated the DVD 7/10, noting the high quality of the video transfer, the image detail and depth, and the use of surround sound and low-frequency effects. Martin Liebman of Blu-ray.com rated the movie 2.5/5 and the Blu-ray release 3.5/5 overall. Liebman praised the film for its development of the primary characters in a way that would appeal to longtime fans and new viewers, but criticized the messy plot and haphazard pacing of the movie. Liebman lauded the Blu-ray release for its crisp images, resolution of detail in the animation, lossless soundtrack and use of surround sound. Movie Critic Bruce Kirkland of Sun Media Corporation wrote that the movie was "just as good as Bender's Big Score", praising its send-ups of Las Vegas and science fiction themes and writing that it "nicely handles its environmental message with trenchant wit". Jeffrey Kauffman of DVD Talk rated the movie four stars out of five, calling it a "a fun and frenetic windup to a perhaps undervalued television gem".
According to the-numbers.com, the DVD sold approximately 83,000 units for a total of $1.6 million during its initial week of release, placing it 20th in sales across the USA. As of April 19, 2009, estimated DVD sales in the USA stand at approximately 159,000 units for a total of $3.03 million. Comedy Central cited sales of the DVD as one reason it decided to renew the Futurama television series.
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
movies. The movie was written by Ken Keeler
Ken Keeler
Kenneth "Ken" Keeler is an American television producer and writer. He has written for numerous television series, most notably The Simpsons and Futurama. According to an interview with David X. Cohen, he proved a theorem which appears in the Futurama episode "The Prisoner of Benda".-Career:After...
, based on a story by Keeler and David X. Cohen
David X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
, and directed by Peter Avanzino
Peter Avanzino
Peter Avanzino is an American animation director. He has directed several episodes of Futurama, and currently serves as supervising director on the 6th season of the series. He has also directed episodes of Drawn Together, Duckman, The Wild Thornberrys, Sit Down, Shut Up, and The Ren and Stimpy Show...
. Guest stars include Phil Hendrie
Phil Hendrie
Philip Stephen Hendrie is an American radio personality. He is best known as the host of The Phil Hendrie Show, a comedy talk radio program that is syndicated throughout North America on Talk Radio Network...
, Penn Jillette
Penn Jillette
Penn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, comedian, illusionist, juggler, bassist and a best-selling author known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, and scientific skepticism.-Early...
(credited with Teller
Teller (magician)
Teller is an American magician, illusionist, comedian, writer, and the frequently silent half of the comedy magic duo Penn & Teller, along with Penn Jillette. He legally changed his name from "Raymond Joseph Teller" to just "Teller"...
), Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
and Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
, who sings the theme song. In the movie, Leela becomes an outlaw when she and a group of ecologically-minded feminists attempt to save an asteroid of primitive life forms and the Violet Dwarf star from being destroyed, while Fry
Philip J. Fry
Philip J. Fry, known simply as Fry, is a fictional character, the main protagonist of the animated science fiction sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a version of his own voice as he sounded when he was 25.-Character overview:...
joins a secret society and attempts to stop a mysterious species known as the "Dark Ones" from destroying all life in the universe. The title itself is a reference to the U.S. Air Force Song
The U.S. Air Force (song)
The U.S. Air Force is the official song of the United States Air Force. Written in 1939, it is known informally as "The Air Force Song," and is often referred to informally as "Into the Wild Blue Yonder", "Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder," or simply "Wild Blue Yonder."Originally, the song was...
, which main chorus describes reaching "Into the wild blue yonder".
The DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-Ray were released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and FoxVideo, Inc....
on February 23, 2009, while the film itself premiered on February 6, 2009 at New York Comic Con. It made its broadcast premiere on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
on August 30, 2009. The film and its predecessors together comprise season five
Futurama (season 5)
Futurama fifth production season began airing in March 2008 and concluded after 16 episodes on August 30, 2009. The episodes were TV versions and edits of the four DVD movies. This list is for the TV versions.-Production:...
of Futurama, with each film being separated into four episodes of the broadcast season. It won the 2009 Annie Award
Annie Award
The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
for Best Home Entertainment Production, and Twentieth Century Fox and Comedy Central cited sales of Into the Wild Green Yonder and the other Futurama direct-to-DVD movies as one reason Comedy Central decided to renew the Futurama television series in 2009.
Plot
The Planet Express crew visits Amy'sAmy Wong
Amy Wong, voiced by Lauren Tom, is a fictional character, one of the main characters from the Fox and Comedy Central television animated series Futurama. She works as an intern at Planet Express...
parents, Leo and Inez, who are destroying the "old" Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
and constructing a more extravagant one. A group of eco-feminists
Ecofeminism
Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which points to the existence of considerable common ground between environmentalism and feminism, with some currents linking deep ecology and feminism...
(calling themselves "eco-feministas") led by Frida Waterfall protest the destruction of the environment, leading to an accident wherein a piece of Frida's jewelry lodges inside Fry's
Philip J. Fry
Philip J. Fry, known simply as Fry, is a fictional character, the main protagonist of the animated science fiction sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a version of his own voice as he sounded when he was 25.-Character overview:...
brain. The destruction upsets Leela, but Leo has bribed Professor Farnsworth
Hubert J. Farnsworth
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, or simply The Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a combination of impressions of Burgess Meredith and Frank Morgan. Farnsworth is the proprietor of the Planet Express delivery...
to rubber stamp the project as environmentally friendly. Leela saves a Martian muck leech
Leech
Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways...
, the last of its species, from the site.
In New Mars Vegas, Fry starts to go mad when he cannot stop hearing the thoughts of everyone around him. He meets Hutch, a transient
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
who advises Fry to wear a tin foil hat to keep others' thoughts out of his head. Hutch warns Fry never to reveal his powers and to beware the "Dark Ones".
While golfing with the crew, Leo reveals plans to build the universe's largest miniature golf
Miniature golf
Miniature golf, or minigolf, is a miniature version of the sport of golf. While the international sports organization World Minigolf Sport Federation prefers to use the name "minigolf", the general public in different countries has also many other names for the game: miniature golf, mini-golf,...
course, destroying 12% of the Milky Way in the process. Farnsworth and the crew survey the site and discover an asteroid in a violet dwarf star system teeming with primordial life. Despite this, Farnsworth approves Leo’s project. Disgusted, Leela joins the eco-feminists, who begin sabotaging the project.
Hutch introduces Fry to the "Legion of Mad Fellows", a secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
of tin-foil-hat-wearing telepaths led by the Number 9 man. No. 9 tells Fry a story of two species that worked together to survive, until one broke the cycle and caused an "evolutionary arms race", both species evolving to defeat the other. One became the extinct "Encyclopods" who evolved to preserve the DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
of endangered species so they could be restored should they become extinct. The other became the "Dark Ones", who want to destroy all life. Fry learns that the violet dwarf is the only surviving egg of the Encyclopods. Due to a resurgence in the life-giving force "Chi"
Qi
In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...
, the Encyclopod will soon be reborn. As Fry is immune to the Dark Ones' psionic
Psionics
Psionics refers to the practice, study, or psychic ability of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Examples of this include telepathy, telekinesis, and other workings of the outside world through the psyche.-History and terminology:...
powers he alone can save it from Leo Wong's plans to turn it into a golf course, and from the Dark Ones, who have evolved to the point that no one knows what they look like.
To end the sabotage, Leo enlists Zapp Brannigan
Zapp Brannigan
Captain Zapp Brannigan is a fictional character in the animated sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West, but was originally intended to be voiced by Phil Hartman, with West taking over the role after Hartman's death. Brannigan is a 25-Star General in the Democratic Order of Planets, and captain...
and Kif Kroker
Kif Kroker
Lieutenant Kif Kroker is a character from the animated television series Futurama. He is the long suffering assistant to Captain Zapp Brannigan and Fourth Lieutenant on the Democratic Order of Planets starship Nimbus...
, who in turn hire Bender to track down the eco-feministas. Fry infiltrates Leo's empire as a security guard. Amy is angered by her father's sexist jokes and joins Leela, while Bender bugs Fry's phone in case he communicates with Leela. Fry runs into Frida and has her take a message of support to Leela, but an unseen Dark One murders Frida.
Farnsworth prepares to close Planet Express; with their delivery team missing they cannot continue. Leo Wong hires them to put up a fence around the construction site. Farnsworth cancels the closing and goes with Zoidberg and Hermes to do the job. They are captured by the eco-feminists, who commandeer the Planet Express ship. When the eco-feministas suspect Fry of murdering Frida, Fry and Leela arrange a rendezvous. They are ambushed by the Nimbus, which was tipped off by Bender. The eco-feministas are sent to prison.
At a Legion meeting, No. 9 explains that Fry must stop the implosion of the violet dwarf and thwart the Dark One who is sure to be present. Though no one knows the Dark One's form, its mind cannot be read, allowing Fry to identify it. No. 9 gives Fry the Omega Device, which can temporarily disable the Dark One at close range.
Bender frees the eco-feministas from prison in order to uphold his record for most crimes committed at once. Hermes, Zoidberg, Scruffy, and a repentant Farnsworth rescue them.
At the ceremony, Fry cannot locate an unreadable mind; he concludes that he himself (having an unreadable mind) must be the Dark One. The eco-feministas disrupt the ceremony, but Fry convinces Leela to let him proceed. Fry activates the Omega Device, which creates a small dome around the two that appears to have no effect. Leela's leech falls to the ground and reveals itself as the final Dark One. The violet dwarf system forms a giant sperm
Sperm
The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive cells. In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell...
and flies into the star, creating an Encyclopod embryo which quickly matures, taking the form of a giant manta ray
Manta ray
The manta ray is the largest species of the rays. The largest known specimen was more than across, with a weight of about . It ranges throughout waters of the world, typically around coral reefs...
-like creature. The Dark One kills Hutch, whose dying act is to pull Frida's necklace out of Fry's forehead, causing Fry to lose his telepathy. The Encyclopod kills the Dark One. No. 9 convinces the Encyclopod to preserve the Dark One's DNA, but Zoidberg eats the remains before it can. The Encyclopod preserves Hutch's DNA before leaving.
Zapp attempts to apprehend the escaped prisoners, but the crew of the Planet Express ship and the Eco-feminists escape along with Kif. Fry and Leela profess their love for each other as the Nimbus chases the Planet Express ship toward a wormhole
Wormhole
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it...
, which the Professor warns could take them trillions of light years
Light Years
Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was released on 25 September 2000 by Parlophone and Mushroom Records. The album's style was indicative of her return to "mainstream pop dance tunes"....
away. Everyone agrees to go for it. Fry and Leela kiss as the ship enters the wormhole.
Ending
The ending refers to the unsure future of the show. The makers were not sure if the show would return to TV, so if it did not, it is implied that the ship was in fact taken trillions of light yearsLight Years
Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was released on 25 September 2000 by Parlophone and Mushroom Records. The album's style was indicative of her return to "mainstream pop dance tunes"....
away. The show was picked up by Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
, and it is revealed in the episode "Rebirth" that the wormhole sent the ship directly back to Earth.
Cast
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Billy West Billy West William Richard "Billy" West is an American voice actor. Born in Detroit but raised in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Billy launched his career in the early 1980s performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN. He left the radio station to work on the short-lived revival... |
Philip J. Fry Philip J. Fry Philip J. Fry, known simply as Fry, is a fictional character, the main protagonist of the animated science fiction sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a version of his own voice as he sounded when he was 25.-Character overview:... Professor Farnsworth Hubert J. Farnsworth Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, or simply The Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a combination of impressions of Burgess Meredith and Frank Morgan. Farnsworth is the proprietor of the Planet Express delivery... Doctor Zoidberg Zapp Brannigan Zapp Brannigan Captain Zapp Brannigan is a fictional character in the animated sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West, but was originally intended to be voiced by Phil Hartman, with West taking over the role after Hartman's death. Brannigan is a 25-Star General in the Democratic Order of Planets, and captain... Leo Wong Additional voices |
| Katey Sagal Katey Sagal Catherine Louise "Katey" Sagal is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She first achieved widespread fame as Peggy Bundy on the long-running Fox comedy series Married..... |
Leela |
| John DiMaggio John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio is an American voice actor. A native of North Plainfield, New Jersey, he is known for his gruff, deep voice and New Jersey accent, which he uses to voice mainly villains and anti-heroes.-Filmography:... |
Bender Joey Mousepad Additional voices |
| Tress MacNeille Tress MacNeille Tress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the... |
Mom Fanny Additional voices |
| Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche is an Emmy Award winning Canadian-American voice actor and former stand up comedian. He is best known for his voicework in Futurama as Kif Kroker, as Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters, Verminous Skumm and Duke Nukem in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Big Bob Pataki in Hey... |
Kif Kroker Kif Kroker Lieutenant Kif Kroker is a character from the animated television series Futurama. He is the long suffering assistant to Captain Zapp Brannigan and Fourth Lieutenant on the Democratic Order of Planets starship Nimbus... Donbot Clamps Calculon Additional voices |
| Phil LaMarr Phil LaMarr Phillip "Phil" LaMarr is an American actor, comedian and voice actor. One of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series MADtv, he is also known for his small, but memorable role as Marvin in Pulp Fiction... |
Hermes Conrad Hermes Conrad Hermes Conrad is a fictional character in the Futurama animated series. He is voiced by Phil LaMarr.- Appearance and personality :Born in 2959, Hermes is a grade 36 bureaucrat from Jamaica. He manages the Planet Express delivery business with responsibilities that include paying bills, giving out... Additional voices |
| Lauren Tom Lauren Tom Lauren Tom is an American actress and voice actress perhaps best known for her roles as Lena St Clair in The Joy Luck Club, Julie in the TV series Friends, and for providing the voices for both mother and daughter characters on two animated TV comedy series: on Futurama she voices Amy Wong and her... |
Amy Wong Amy Wong Amy Wong, voiced by Lauren Tom, is a fictional character, one of the main characters from the Fox and Comedy Central television animated series Futurama. She works as an intern at Planet Express... Inez Wong Additional Voices |
| David Herman David Herman David Herman is an American actor, comedian and voice actor best known as an original cast member of MADtv and for his role as Michael Bolton in Office Space. He is also known for his voice roles on television programs such as Futurama and King of the Hill.- Biography :David Herman was born in New... |
Number 9 Additional voices |
| Dawnn Lewis Dawnn Lewis Dawnn Lewis is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her roles on sitcoms such as A Different World and in the first season of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.-Career:... |
LaBarbara Conrad Prison Warden |
| Snoop Dogg Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school... |
Himself |
| Phil Hendrie Phil Hendrie Philip Stephen Hendrie is an American radio personality. He is best known as the host of The Phil Hendrie Show, a comedy talk radio program that is syndicated throughout North America on Talk Radio Network... |
Frida Waterfall A Taste of Freedom "A Taste of Freedom" is the fifth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama.-Plot summary:The crew celebrates Freedom Day, a day where you can do anything you want, regardless of the consequences. Dr. Zoidberg seems passionate about the holiday, as he loves the idea of freedom, something... Hutch Waterfall The Encyclopod |
| Seth MacFarlane Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,... |
Mars Vegas singer |
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Themselves |
Continuity
The movie draws upon several major and minor running themes of the FuturamaFuturama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
series. As in previous environmentally-minded episodes such as "The Problem with Popplers
The Problem with Popplers
"The Problem with Popplers" is the 15th episode in the second production season of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on May 7, 2000.The title is a reference to the Star Trek: The Original Series Episode "Trouble with Tribbles", in which "tribbles" infest the USS Enterprise.-Plot:When...
", "A Taste of Freedom
A Taste of Freedom
"A Taste of Freedom" is the fifth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama.-Plot summary:The crew celebrates Freedom Day, a day where you can do anything you want, regardless of the consequences. Dr. Zoidberg seems passionate about the holiday, as he loves the idea of freedom, something...
" and "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz
The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz
"The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz" is the fifth episode in the third production season of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on March 4, 2001 as the ninth episode of the third season. The episode was written by Dan Vebber and directed by James Purdum...
", the Waterfall family makes an appearance, with Frida Waterfall reappearing along with a new member, Hutch (identifying himself as Frida's brother by removing her jewelry from Fry's head as Hutch dies), and in keeping with tradition both Frida and Hutch Waterfall meet an untimely end. The Encyclopod's decision to preserve Hutch's DNA defines it as Hutch's successor and serves as a warning about the fragility of the existence of the human species. With dark matter now useless as fuel the Planet Express ship has been modified to run on whale oil
Whale oil
Whale oil is the oil obtained from the blubber of various species of whales, particularly the three species of right whale and the bowhead whale prior to the modern era, as well as several other species of baleen whale...
, an alternative introduced in "Bendin' in the Wind
Bendin' in the Wind
"Bendin' in the Wind" is the thirteenth episode in season three of Futurama. It originally aired April 22, 2001. The title comes from the Bob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind". In South America, this episode was #1 in "Bender's Best" top ten Bender-related Futurama episodes.- Plot :Fry gets a free...
".
Fry was originally frozen and brought to the future by Nibbler
Nibbler (Futurama)
Lord Nibbler is a fictional character from the animated television series Futurama. He is voiced by Frank Welker, who provides not only his speaking lines but also the various noises he makes when not speaking English....
because a Nibblonian prophecy foresaw that he and his unique, Delta-wave-deficient mind (a consequence of his being his own grandfather) would be required to save the universe. In Yonder Fry is once again appointed for such a task (though by the Legion of Mad Fellows instead of the Nibblonians), due to his immunity from the Dark Ones' psionic attacks.
The No. 9 man, a recurring background character throughout the series, is given a significant role in the movie, though quite different from the role in the series for which he was originally conceived.
As a fan service, the climactic scene of the film features a scene with up to 200 characters on screen at once; most minor characters from Futurama's history can be seen (Unit 2013 appearing twice) with the exception of the children (like Dwight and Cubert), who were removed when the production team realized that Morbo mentions that there are no children present. In the DVD commentary, producer David X. Cohen
David X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
notes that Rough Draft Korea, Futuramas overseas animation studio, charged a significant premium because of the difficulty of animating this scene.
In the final scene of the movie, Amy and Kif are reunited after being estranged. After years of Fry trying to win her over, Leela finally returns Fry's love in full; Cohen notes that there was considerable debate among the Futurama writers about how to end the movie, and that Futurama creator Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
himself pushed for the actual conclusion.
The movie was initially intended to end the series. After Futurama was renewed, its creators were unsure if the storylines in the film would be continued. Groening stated that he wanted to ignore the film's ending and move on with the show. Cohen felt differently, stating that the revelations at the end should be resolved, even if the resolutions were brief, which they were in the premiere of the new season.
Production
The Futurama staff began working on the movie in 2006, and at two different points labor issues affected the production process. According to producer Lee Supercinski, the Futurama studio realized that they were going to receive the animatic of the movie from Rough Draft Studios two weeks before the deadline for the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. As a result, the writers were forced to make revisions to the script without having completely reviewed the animatic; no writing was done during the strike. The Futurama studio then received the colored film in June 2008, weeks before a proposed Screen Actors Guild strike deadline, again forcing the writers to revise the script without completely reviewing the picture.Aware that Into the Wild Green Yonder could have been the final Futurama episode at the time of writing, the writers inserted numerous references to that fact. The title screen displays the message "The Humans Shall Not Defeat Us" in Alien Language 1; according to Cohen, the message is a defiant statement regarding the possible end of the series. Midway through the movie, a shot of the exterior of the Planet Express building draped with a banner reading "Going Out Of Business Forever! Again!" is shown, a reference to the original series' previous cancellation in 2003. The scene where Professor Farnsworth removes Zoidberg's and Hermes's career chips and the countdown scene at the violet dwarf implosion ceremony both reference events from the pilot episode, "Space Pilot 3000
Space Pilot 3000
"Space Pilot 3000" is the pilot episode of Futurama, which originally aired in North America on March 28, 1999 on Fox. The episode focuses on the cryogenic freezing of the series protagonist, Philip J. Fry, and the events when he awakens 1,000 years in the future...
" and also "The Cryonic Woman
The Cryonic Woman
"The Cryonic Woman" is the nineteenth and final episode of production season two of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on December 3, 2000, as the third episode of the third broadcast season with a plot incorporating a cryonics theme...
". The cliffhanger nature of the final scene in the movie was devised so that it could conclude the series on an emotional note but also provide a point of departure for a series renewal, according to Cohen.
The script contains several detailed scientific references, such as the Keeler Gap in the rings of Saturn, the asteroid 2261 Keeler
2261 Keeler
2261 Keeler is a main-belt asteroid discovered on April 20, 1977 by A. R. Klemola at Mount Hamilton. It is named for the astronomer James Edward Keeler, who also discovered two asteroids...
and the Keeler crater on Mars, all named after astronomer James Edward Keeler. In the movie the violet dwarf star is located at "galactic coordinates
Galactic coordinate system
The galactic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system which is centered on the Sun and is aligned with the apparent center of the Milky Way galaxy. The "equator" is aligned to the galactic plane...
167.84, -58.03, Mark 948", and Cohen mentions in the DVD commentary that the first two coordinates refer to another astronomical object. In addition, the Martian muck leech is given the scientific name
Binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...
Cyprinodon martius. Writer Ken Keeler adapted the name from Cyprinodon salinus, the scientific name of the Death Valley pupfish
Death Valley pupfish
The Death Valley pupfish, Cyprinodon salinus salinus, is found in Death Valley National Park.-Description:The Death Valley pupfish is a species of fish that is the last known survivor of what is thought to have been a large ecosystem of fish species that lived in Lake Manly, which dried up at the...
, which like the Martian muck leech lives in the desert and is nearly extinct.
The opening musical theme is a Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
-style number sung by Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
and American Dad!
American Dad!
American Dad! is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane and owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions. It is produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television...
creator Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
as the Planet Express ship flies around the casinos of Mars Vegas.
Reception
Overall the film has received mixed reviews. Alynda Wheat of Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a grade of B, saying that it catered to established fans. Scott Collura of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
rated the movie itself 5/10, praising the use of both major and minor characters from the series and the science-fiction content, but criticizing the movie for being disjointed and for its "underwhelming climax" and concluding that it "never fully captures the greatness of the original series." Collura rated the DVD 7/10, noting the high quality of the video transfer, the image detail and depth, and the use of surround sound and low-frequency effects. Martin Liebman of Blu-ray.com rated the movie 2.5/5 and the Blu-ray release 3.5/5 overall. Liebman praised the film for its development of the primary characters in a way that would appeal to longtime fans and new viewers, but criticized the messy plot and haphazard pacing of the movie. Liebman lauded the Blu-ray release for its crisp images, resolution of detail in the animation, lossless soundtrack and use of surround sound. Movie Critic Bruce Kirkland of Sun Media Corporation wrote that the movie was "just as good as Bender's Big Score", praising its send-ups of Las Vegas and science fiction themes and writing that it "nicely handles its environmental message with trenchant wit". Jeffrey Kauffman of DVD Talk rated the movie four stars out of five, calling it a "a fun and frenetic windup to a perhaps undervalued television gem".
According to the-numbers.com, the DVD sold approximately 83,000 units for a total of $1.6 million during its initial week of release, placing it 20th in sales across the USA. As of April 19, 2009, estimated DVD sales in the USA stand at approximately 159,000 units for a total of $3.03 million. Comedy Central cited sales of the DVD as one reason it decided to renew the Futurama television series.
External links
- Into the Wild Green Yonder at the Infosphere.