Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder arrives on Blu-ray, the fourth of a planned quartet of direct-to-home-video releases centered on Matt Groening’s (The Simpsons: The Movie) FOX animated television program, Futurama. Featuring a similar animation style seen on The Simpsons, Futurama is set in a future where robots walk and talk, a purple-haired female cyclops roams about, alien creatures live among man, and pop culture and historical references somehow find a way to become entwined with the crew of characters that inhabit the future world. Into the Wild Green Yonder sticks to the quirky sense of humor that has made the series so popular.
Continuing the environmentally-driven themes of Bender’s Game, the story revolves around Amy’s dad Leo Wong (who is so rich, he owns Mars), and his environmentally unfriendly business practices. Not satisfied with the size of his miniature golf course, Leo decides to destroy a large arm of the Milky Way to construct a much larger one. A group of eco-feminists led by Frida Waterfall protest the resulting destruction of the environment, leading to an accident where a piece of Frida’s jewelry lodges inside Fry’s brain. As a result of the injury, Fry suddenly has mind reading abilities. Always the goofball, Fry decides to use this newfound ability to win at poker–and with the help of a tin-foil hat, to block out the voices when needed–Fry competes against Bender and a group of eager gamblers. In the meantime, Leela departs to join the feminist protesters. It’s around this time we’re introduced to “The League of Mad Fellows” and a it turns out, the fate of the Universe depends on Fry and friends, even though they don’t realize it yet.
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder no doubt will be a hit with the show’s established fan base, but how will newcomers experiencing their first taste of Futurama react? Thankfully, this film develops and introduces its main characters all over again so as to allow those with minimal to no exposure to them to become easily acquainted while not leaving the longtime fans with a sense of déjà vu. While it may take the uninitiated a third of the film or better to figure out who everyone is, their relationships with one another, their temperaments, character traits, strengths, and weaknesses, Into the Wild Green Yonder does well to establish the trio of primaries sufficiently and succinctly in the context of the plot, and does so, seemingly, without alienating the faithful audience that should find in the film a series of events that build on what they already know about their favorite characters, particularly Bender, Fry, and Leela.
However, the “four-episode formula” is still problematic. A few arguments and plot points feel a bit old and overused; regardless many fans (myself included) are bound to find Into the Wild Green Yonder the best feature length project yet.
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder comes to Blu-ray with a pristine 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. Colors are vibrant, rich, and accurate, with seemingly the entire spectrum making an appearance on the disc. Lines are sharp and well-defined. There are no apparent problems to be seen, including banding. The image maintains a crispness; the 1080p resolution brings out the finest details of the animation. Backgrounds are nicely rendered and clear. Futurama has doubtlessly never looked better.
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder sports a robust DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack that compliments the pristine visuals nicely. This soundtrack is immersive and packs every speaker with future-centric sonic goodness. The voices Fry hears in his head flow from every speaker, creating a sense of panic and disillusion at the odd sensation. Likewise, sounds pan nicely across the soundstage, taking advantage of every speaker to immerse the listener in the action. Dialogue reproduction is strong. Bass is used to fine effect, with the subwoofer rattling on more than a few occasions; explosions and weapons fire thump with authority, and the roaring of jet engines across the screen or the slow movement of a rumbling starship through space pack plenty of power.
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder arrives on Blu-ray with a large helping of bonus materials. A feature-length audio/video commentary track with Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, John DiMaggio, Maurice Lamarche, Patric W. Verrone, Michael Rowe, Lee Supercinski, and Peter Avanzino is first. The track, obviously, features a hodgepodge of the creative talent that brought the film to life, both major crew and voice actors. The track is available as a traditional audio commentary track as well as a picture-in-picture track where the participants appear via video in a small box on the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
Storyboard Animatic: Into the Wild Green Yonder, Part 1 (480p, 22:26) is a series of storyboards representing approximately the first third of the film, complete with voice work and sound effects. Docudramarama: How We Make Futurama So Good (1080p, 5:09) is a mock mini-documentary from the people that make “DVD Bonus Features That No One Bothers to Watch.” The piece takes viewers behind-the-scenes of the scriptwriting, voice work, and more, showcasing the extra-hard work of Lauren Tom. ‘Louder, Louder!’ The Acting Technique of Penn Jillette (1080p, 2:08) takes viewers behind-the-scenes of the man behind the voice. Golden Stinkers: A Treasury of Deleted Scenes (1080p, 2:52) is a collection of five excised scenes from the film. Matt Gorening and David X. Cohen in Space! (480p, 4:23) looks at a real-life journey into weightlessness. How to Draw Futurama in 10 Very Difficult Steps (1080p, 11:10) shows budding artists how to draw several of their favorite Futurama characters. 3D Models With Animator Discussion (1080p, 4:19) looks at the 3D computer modeling that helped the artists construct the film. Bender’s Movie-Theater Etiquette (1080p, 1:16) features the robot being a less-than-considerate movie theater patron. Finally, Zapp Brannigan’s Guide to Making Love at a Woman (1080p, 2:49) features the character sharing his romantic tips. Aside from the on-disc supplements, four Futurama-themed postcards are included in the Blu-ray case.
