I started watching Futurama after it first came on the air in 1999.  I loved the show, but it was another one that FOX didn't treat very well.  After a few years of getting bounced around the schedule, the show was canceled.  I'm still annoyed by that.  The show did well once it started airing in syndication on Cartoon Network and a decision was made to make four direct to video Futurama movies.  I just watched the fourth movie, Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder.

Futurama was about a man, Philip J. Fry, who was frozen for 1,000 years.  Once he woke up in the future, he had to adjust to a very different way of life.  He made a few friends and tracked down a distant relative who gave him a job as an intergalactic delivery boy.  Fry and his friends all worked for Planet Express and ended up on several adventures while making deliveries.

The member's of the Planet Express crew were on Mars while Mr. Wong, Amy's father, was starting construction on New Vegas.  Mr. Wong was destroying the habitats of some endangered animals and was mildly irritated by the female protestors wanting to protect the environment.  Fry was injured, which resulted with him being able to read minds.  He also started wearing a foil hat, so his friends had some concerns about his sanity.  Bender was romancing a married fembot.  

Mr. Wong wasn't happy with the miniature golf course he'd built as part of New Vegas, so he came up with the idea of building a huge miniature golf course that spread across space.  In order to build the course, he was planning to destroy several planets.  Leela was horrified and joined the group of female protestors while Fry began a secret mission.

The plots of Futurama: Bender's Big Score and Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs were connected.  The second movie resolved something from the first movie and then moved on to tell a new story.  Those movies will make the most sense if they are watched in order.  The third movie, Futurama: Bender's Game, had a different plot that didn't deal with anything that happened in the first two movies, so it could stand alone better.  Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder had a completely different plot that wasn't directly tied to the previous three movies, so it could also stand alone fairly well.  Even thought nothing from the pervious movies was directly mentioned, this movie did still build on things that had been previously established in the Futurama world.  Because of that, certain things wouldn't make much sense to people who haven't seen Futurama before.

Unfortunately, Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder is the last planned Futurama project, so this could be the last fans see of the characters.  I am still irked that FOX canceled the show and then didn't give it a second chance like it did with Family Guy.  I like that show as well, but I don't think it is as good as Futurama.  I do still hope that someone will bring the series back or make more of these direct to video movies.  The fact that the future of Futurama isn't exactly clear probably played a part in the ending of the movie.  There was resolution to the plot of the movie, but things for left open for future adventures.  There was also some resolution to Fry and Leela's relationship.  

After airing on Cartoon Network for several years, Comedy Central bought the rights to air Futurama.  Comedy Central ordered new episodes as well.  The original plans were modified a bit and the new material was first released as direct to video movies and then would air on Comedy Central as individual episodes.  I think that is part of why the plots for these movies have had several things going on.  The plot for Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder worked very well as a movie and I think it should work well as individual episodes as well.  I didn't think things were too complicated even though a lot was going on.  There was a little bit of mystery tied to what was going on that I thought was resolved in a way that made sense.   

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder had a  Vegas theme throughout much of the episode.  It was even incorporated into the opening credits, having images from New Vegas replace the normal city images from the opening.  There was also a new song during the opening that even included someone singing.  As the movie progressed, more things started happening that were still connected to New Vegas and what Mr. Wong was planning.  The things that were happening all worked together well and made for an interesting movie.  There was an adventure feel to what was going on, which has happened in the other movies and even the series.  A few scenes did have a little bit of violence that wasn't graphic or that extreme.  Once again, there were some things said and done that were a bit more adult in nature, so parents should probably watch the movie before letting their children see it.

The same type of humor that has been used in previous Futurama projects was used again in Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder.  Some of what was done for humor was rather silly, but I thought it worked with everything that was going on.  Slap stick type of humor was used again in some scenes which did result in some character getting hurt in some way.  Many times that was Fry.  Bender also continued to say and do things that I thought were funny.  The humor won't appeal to everyone.  Fans of the series and the first three movies will probably like this one as well.

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder was created with the same type of animation that was used for the original series and the first three movies.  All the returning characters looked like they had before as did the few locations that had been shown before.  The Planet Express ship did end up with a slightly new look for a while, but that tied in directly with the plot.  The movie used the same bright, vibrant colors that were used in the other Futurama projects.  

The series established a group of main characters as well as a group of supporting characters, some of which turned up more often than others.  Fry, Leela, and Bender tended to be focused on most during the series and that wasn't changed in Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder.  Fry probably had the most to do since he ended up on a secret mission that was very connected to everything that was going on with Mr. Wong's plans for New Vegas.  Leela joined the group of protestors and she basically was in charge of their activities after that point.  Bender was involved in what was going on as well, though he was more of a supporting character than he's been in the previous movies.

The Professor, Dr. Zoidberg, and Hermes were all around without having much to do.  That has happened with those characters before, both in the series and the first three movies, so I really wasn't bothered by that.  Zapp and Kif were back after having been missing from the third movie.  Zapp is an arrogant idiot, but I do sort of miss him when he isn't bumbling around and screwing things up.  Amy's parents, especially her father, had a bit more to do this time because of what was going on with New Vegas.  Hermes wife LaBarbara was also back in a few scenes.  Some other minor characters, like Scruffy the janitor and the new announcers popped up every so often without having that much to do.  Some new characters were introduced, though none of them stood out that much to me.  Snoop Dogg, Penn Jillette, and Seth MacFarlane provided voices as well.

Main Voice Cast

John DiMaggio - Bender/Additional Voices
David Herman - Additional Voices
Maurice LaMarche - Kif/Clamps/Donbot/Additional Voices
Phil LaMarr - Hermes Conrad/Additional Voices
Dawn Lewis - LaBarbara Conrad
Tress MacNeille - Additional Voices
Katey Sagal - Turanga Leela
Lauren Tom - Amy Wong/Inez Wong/Additional Voices
Billy West - Philip J. Fry/Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth/Dr. Zoidberg/Zapp Brannigan/Mr. Wong/Nixon's Head/Additional Voices

Peter Avanzino - Director

DVD Information

The DVD for Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder has the widescreen version of the movie.  I don't think there is a full screen version available as well.  The case for the movie is the same type that has been used for the other three movies and I still don't like it.  There is something on the back of the case that says the case is carbon neutral.  That isn't why I don't like the case. The inner sleeve thing slides out very easily and there is just a little slot thing for the DVD to go in.  The DVD isn't very secure in that spot, and I've had the DVD fly out of the case and end up on the floor with one of the previous Futurama movies.

There is a commentary with Matt Groening, David X. Cohen and some of the voice cast.  There was a storyboard animatic for the first part of the movie that showed the sketches along with the audio track.  Docudramrama was done like it was a feature on the making of Futurama.  It was a joke though since it was done like Lauren Tom, one of the voice actors, did everything for the show - writing, drawing the animation, and doing every voice.  It was entertaining.  

Louder, Louder! featured Penn Jillette talking about providing a voice for this movie.  Golden Stinkers were five deleted scenes.  Some of them were just slightly longer versions of scenes that were in the movie.  Matt Groening and David X. Cohen in Space! featured the men talking about going up on one of the airplanes that cause zero gravity.  3-D models for some different things were shown along with audio of the animators talking about the designs.  Bender's Movie Theater Etiquette was just a cute little bit that featured someone talking about people not talking in movies or doing other things that would be disruptive to other people while Bender was shown doing the things being mentioned.  Zapp Brannigan's Guide to Making Love at a Woman was a short bit that had Zapp talking about his methods for getting women.

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder was a very fun, entertaining movie that fans of Futurama should enjoy.  

Futurama Reviews
Futurama - Volume 1 ~ Futurama - Volume 2 ~ Futurama - Volume 3 ~ Futurama - Volume 4 ~ Futurama: Bender's Big Score ~ Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs ~ Futurama: Bender's Game ~

Simpsons Reviews
The Simpsons - The Complete First Season ~ The Simpsons - The Complete Second Season ~ The Simpsons - The Complete Third Season ~ The Simpsons - The Complete Fourth Season ~ The Simpsons - Season 5 ~ The Simpsons - Season 6 ~ The Simpsons - Season 7 ~ The Simpsons - Season 8 ~The Simpsons - Season 9 ~ The Simpsons - Season 10 ~ The Simpsons - Season 11 ~ The Simpsons - Season 12 ~ The Simpsons Movie ~ The Simpsons Clue ~

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD