As the first Futurama straight-to-DVD movie, Bender's Big Score, begins airing on Comedy Central (they'll air the movie as a four-episode blok on Sunday night), Fox has announced the name and release date of the second straight-to-DVD epic.AnimationMagazine.net reports that Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs will be released on June 24, and they note that Fox calls it "the most tentacle-packed Futurama epic." Since it's a continuation of Bender's Big Score, I'll talk about the plot of the new movie after the jump, for the benefit of those who haven't seen the first movie yet.
Remember at the end of the last movie, when Bender's shenanigans caused a large hole in the universe to tear open? Well, on the other side, the Planet Express folks find a huge disgusting monster who happens to fall in love with entire planets. Guess where it's going next?
When I interviewed executive producer David X. Cohen before the first movie was released, he gave me a little preview of The Beast With A Billion Backs:
"But I will say for anyone who sees the first DVD, it kind of leaves off at a point were you might think we're either going to come back and deal with a couple of unanswered questions or we might just let it go without ending it. But I reassure you that we're going to pick up the second one where the first one leaves off and your questions will be answered.
The second one guest stars David Cross as a giant, disgusting planet-sized alien from another universe. (He has a romantic interest) in every single living being in our universe. Yes. It's another touching and disgusting story to look forward to."
Romantic planet-loving beasts? Tentacles? David Cross? How can it lose? June 24 can't come fast enough.
[via Slashdot]
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-21-2008 @ 11:10AM
Brian said...
My on screen guide (at least last night) had Sunday's comedy central showing of the movie as a 2 hour block... I'm assuming they'll be showing the whole thing as a premiere, and will show the 4 mini episodes in their normal rotation.
And don't forget, the TV episodes supposedly had "new material" from the original DVD release. It will probably be minor but I'm recording it anyway.
Reply
3-21-2008 @ 11:50AM
Joel Keller said...
Brian, you're right; they're airing it as 4 separate episodes, but all in one block, if that makes sense. I fixed the reference.
David Cohen did mention extras to me when I interviewed him. Not sure if there's enough there to record it, but if you're a Futurama completist, you might want to do it anyway.
3-21-2008 @ 2:17PM
metz said...
As much as I love Futurama I was very underwhelmed by Bender's Big Score. I think they would have been better off releasing 4 unique episodes than these "movies". I can't say I'm that excited about "the Beast" if they are going to continue with a single story line.
Reply
3-21-2008 @ 3:20PM
Oreo said...
Yeah, this has been known for weeks now...
I just hope it's better than the last movie, it already has a much cooler "bad guy".
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 2:37PM
Eludium-Q36 said...
Needs to be Better
The first DVD was so-so, kind of recapping the series for newbies. Also, the artwork was downright poor by today's standards. The color saturation is astoundingly dull and the flat-animation is so '90s. I'd have like to have seen them graduate to 3D solids with vibrant color ala Jimmy Neutron or Tak and the Power of JuJu. Compared to these, "Benders Big Score" was really bland.
So, the second DVD needs to improve upon its visual esthetics otherwise it's simply a bland continuation of the v1.0 of the series. And we've seen enough of that animation style via all the reruns.
Reply
3-28-2008 @ 3:54PM
Dan said...
I don't watch cartoon shows for the quality of the animation, I can see Pixar movies for that. Futurama is great for the plot lines, the intricate writing and mature comedy. I thought the animation was superior to the TV show was a few years back, and it looked basically the same, which is more important for continuity than modernization of animation techniques. I loved Bender's Big Score and can't wait for the next DVDs.