Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon
Below!
Title:
Futurama: Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection
Region:
One
Genre:
Animated Sci-Fi Comedy Series
Episodes:
“Hell Is Other Robots”, “Anthology Of Interest I”, “Roswell That Ends
Well”, “The Sting”
Starring
The Voices Of: Billy West, Katy Segal, and John DiMaggio
Writers:
Eric Kaplan, Eric Rogers, Ken Keeler, David X. Cohen, J. Stewart Burns, and
Patrick M. Verrone
Directors:
Rich Moore, Chris Loudon, and Brian Sheesley
Created
By: Matt Groening
Executive
Producers: Matt Groening and David X. Cohen
Feature
length: 88 minutes
Extras:
Special Introduction By Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, and Futurama Cast and
Crew, Additional Optional Introductions For Each Episode, Full Length Animatic
Of “Hell Is Other Robots” With Optional Commentary By Matt Groening, David
X. Cohen, Claudia Katz, Rich Moore, John DiMaggio, and Billy West
Languages:
English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions and English and French Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 5 Per Episode/20 Total
Sound:
Dolby Surround Sound
Years
of Television Broadcast: 1999/2000/2001/2003/DVD Release: 2005
Home
Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
In
1999 Fox premiered two new animated series that developed cult audiences, but
did not crossover into the mainstream right away. One was “Family Guy” and
the other was “Futurama.” Eventually both series would become hits as a part
of Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” block of programming as well as their
respective DVD set releases. “Family Guy” was so successful that new
episodes have aired on Fox and a straight to video film will be hitting the
shelves soon. “Futurama” is a bit more polarized since it definitely
requires a certain amount of appreciation for the genre “Futurama” lovingly
pokes fun at. I always felt Fox should have kept the show as a part of a
programming block immediately following “The Simpsons,” but the timeslot of
the show was changed and then there were long breaks between seasons. In fact
the series’ fourth season was split up in half so that there would five
broadcast seasons when it originally aired on Fox. Since then the episodes have
now been presented in the manner in which Executive Producers Matt Groening and
David X. Cohen had intended and the entire series thus far is now available in
four DVD volume box sets. I have read rumors of the possibility of
“Futurama” returning to television or perhaps a direct to video release, but
as far as I know these are just rumors and nothing more.
“Futurama:
Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection” is not unlike some of the single disc
compilation DVDs that Fox has released over the years for “The Simpsons”
though this collection features an optional audio commentary recorded on January
13, 2005 for the animatic version of “Hell Is Other Robots” (26:01), which
runs about four minutes or so longer than the completed episode that is also
included on this disc. The animatic version gives the viewer an opportunity se
see deleted scenes where they would have been placed had the episode been
produced with the extended running length and broadcast. The optional commentary
includes Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Claudia Katz, Rich Moore, John DiMaggio,
and Billy West. John DiMaggio frequently goes into his role as “Bender”
while Billy West does a few of his character voices from the series that include
Fry, Kip, the Professor, and Dr. Zoidberg. In addition one can hear West’s
voice talents on the opening interactive menu, which is a standard interactive
still frame style otherwise and is easy to navigate. There is also an optional
audio introduction for the DVD (1:42) as well as four short optional audio
introductions that each run less than one minute. The episodes can be viewed
individually or using a “Play All” feature too.
The
selection of episodes are among the most memorable from the series that include
the Emmy Award® winning show “Roswell That Ends Well” and the Emmy®
nominated episode “The Sting.” All four episodes are presented in their
original (1.33:1) broadcast aspect ratio and they all look great. Clear English
as well as French and Spanish Language Dubbed Dolby Surround Soundtracks are
encoded onto the dual layered DVD along with English Closed Captions and English
and Spanish Language Subtitles as options.
“Futurama”
is one of the only animated shows to truly integrate traditional cell animation
with CGI seamlessly. The only other series to have come close was “Star Wars:
Clone Wars.” John DiMaggio, who provided the voice of “Bender” on
“Futurama” provided the voice of General Grievous in the second season
finale of the epic animated micro series “Star Wars: Clone Wars.” That
episode is available on DVD-Video as Volume One from Twentieth Century Fox Home
Entertainment. I am unsure if DiMaggio provided the voice for Grievous in the
third and final season that aired on Cartoon Network this past Spring and will
hopefully be released later this year to DVD as Volume Two of “Star Wars:
Clone Wars.”
As
a sampler of this hilarious series, “Futurama: Monster Robot Maniac Fun
Collection” is perfect and it will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, August 23,
2005 at retailers on and offline courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home
Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon
Below!