FUTURAMA Wants You To Put Your Head In A Jar

Source: Comedy Central

Matt Groening, creator of the Emmy®-Award-winning series “Futurama,” today announced the launch of the “Futurama Head-In-A-Jar Creator” App during the show’s panel at Comic-Con. The free App – developed in a collaboration between COMEDY CENTRAL, the producers of “Futurama” and Rough Draft Studios – allows fans to design their own Head-In-A-Jar, a popular recurring feature of the show. The “Futurama” App was released simultaneously with Groening’s announcement and is now available for download on iPhone and iPod Touch.

“The ‘Head-In-A-Jar’ App is an interactive playground for fans,” said Michele Ganeless, president, COMEDY CENTRAL. “The new App truly celebrates the show and gives fans a great place to enter and experience the world of ‘Futurama.’”

"In the future, we'll all be heads in jars," said Groening. "But right now we can live this utopian fantasy in cartoon form."

The new App is loaded with a wealth of features. The “Head-In-A-Jar Creator” feature allows users to jump into the animated world of “Futurama” and create their own customized character. Users can choose from a male or female human, robot or alien, and customize many traits including the eyes, nose, hair, blemishes and background. Original artwork and sound design were created by the Futurama team specifically for the App. Additional features include “Futurama”-themed accessories, such as a foil hat, Flexo’s beard, Nibbler’s antenna and a customized name plate for each head designed. Once a Head is created, users can upload it to Facebook and Twitter and share with friends. Users can also save them to their photo gallery, set as their wallpaper or as an icon for one of their friends’ contacts.

“The Head Museum” is an innovative feature that allows fans to create customized exhibits of all their Head creations. Users can then curate various groups (e.g. family, friends, co-workers, favorite sports team) to display the Heads. Users can also share these Exhibits on Facebook and Twitter.

Additional App features include streaming clips from the current season of “Futurama” airing on COMEDY CENTRAL.

"Futurama," returned with 13 all-new half-hour episodes beginning Thursday, June 23 at 10:00 p.m. on COMEDY CENTRAL.

"Futurama," created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, is a Curiosity Company production in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television. Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is the animation studio.

20th Century Fox Television, a division of News Corp., is a leading supplier of entertainment.

Comedy Central Brings FUTURAMA And UGLY AMERICANS To Comic Con

Source: Comedy Central

COMEDY CENTRAL's animated series return to Comic-Con® with an "Ugly Americans" panel on Friday, July 22 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. and a "Futurama" panel on Saturday, July 23 from 12:15-1:00 p.m. Interviews with "Ugly Americans" talent and producers will be held in press Room 21 from 2:30-3:45 p.m. on Friday, July • Friday, July 22: "Ugly Americans" panel (Room 23ABC)

4:00-5:00 p.m. The panelists include Dan Powell (Executive Producer), Devin Clark (Producer and Series Creator), Aaron Augenblick (Director of Animation), Matt Oberg (voice of Mark Lilly), Kurt Metzger (voice of Randall Skeffington), Larry Murphy (voice of Lt. Grimes) and moderator Randy Pearlstein (voice of Leonard Powers). The session will feature a live, in-character table read, a behind-the-scenes look into the current second season, a sneak peak from an upcoming episode, a Q&A, a look at the highly anticipated downloadable game, "Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon" and more.

• Saturday, July 23: "Futurama" panel (Ballroom 20)

12:15-1:00 p.m. "Futurama" is back! Again!!! On stage will be Creator/Executive Producer Matt Groening, Executive Producer David X. Cohen and stars Billy West (Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg), Katey Sagal (Leela), John DiMaggio (Bender) and Maurice LaMarche (Kif Kroker, Calculon, Morbo). A sneak peek at never-before-seen footage of "Futurama" reincarnated as Japanese anime will be revealed along with a thrilling preview from this season currently airing on COMEDY CENTRAL. Plus more! Much more! The panel will be moderated by Bill Morrison.

"Futurama," the Emmy® Award-winning series, and "Ugly Americans" air as part of a weekly, one-hour “Thurs-Dimension” animation block on Thursdays from 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT on COMEDY CENTRAL with "Futurama" from 10:00-10:30 p.m. and "Ugly Americans" from 10:30-11:00 p.m.

Take New York City, add every horrifying beast, science-fiction freak and fantasy faerie, shake thoroughly, and you've got "Ugly Americans," an animated series that follows Mark Lilly, a social worker at the Department of Integration, as he helps new citizens both human and "other" adapt to hectic life in the Big Apple. There are easier tasks than soothing a vengeful mummy, being a slave in Satan’s dark army and trying to circumcise wizards, but Mark proves he’s up to the challenge, even if his co-workers are as incompetent as ever.

Mark's case load during the second season is heavy as always and his Department of Integration colleagues are less than helpful, including Twayne (Michael-Leon Wooley), a terrorizing demonic bureaucrat; Mark’s succubus co-worker and casual fling Callie Maggotbone (Natasha Leggero), who has some strange ideas about where to take their relationship; Leonard Powers (Randy Pearlstein), an aging drunken wizard and Mark’s office mate; and Lt. Grimes (Larry Murphy), a law-enforcement officer who despises non-humans. At least Mark still has his zombie roommate Randall Skeffington (Kurt Metzger), who doesn’t care what Mark does, as long as he covers his half of the rent.

In August, MTV Networks' "345 Games" division will release “Ugly Americans: Apocalypseggedon” (available for Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network), a four player co-op side-scroller shooter game that features an exclusive script written by the show’s writers – including a new character unique to the game and custom voiceovers from the show’s actors. Uniting the spirit and humor of the series with addictive game play, players of “Ugly Americans: Apocalypseggedon” will hit the streets to clean up the chaos and prevent the impending apocalypse by resolving case files and fighting otherworldly citizens.

"Futurama" focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life at Planet Express, an intergalactic delivery company. There he meets love interest Leela (Katey Sagal), a sexy cyclops with anger management issues, and best friend Bender (John DiMaggio), a beer-powered kleptomaniac robot. The series aired for five seasons on Fox (1999 to 2003) earning Emmy® nominations each season while winning three times, including "Outstanding Animated Program" in 2002.

See Also: New Episodes Of FUTURAMA Just Around The Corner! / Comedy Central Turns To Facebook To Promote New Season Of FUTURAMA /Futurama - The Only Good Human Is A Dead Human - Paper Giclee Print / 26 New Episodes Of FUTURAMA On Deck For Comedy Central / The Philosophy Of Fry / Futurama - Series 1 - Nibbler Plush Doll / Futurama - Rebirth Paper Giclee Print / FUTURAMA Hits The Century Mark! 100 Episodes And Still Going Strong! / FUTURAMA And Other Comedy Central Panels At Comic Con / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 3 - Video Montage! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 2 - New Images / Storyboards! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - New Images! / Four Brand New Images From FUTURAMA! / "We're Back Baby!" Futurama Cast Members Returning To Show! / Bad News Everyone! Futurama Voice Actors Unlikely To Return For New Series / Good News Everyone! Fox And Comedy Central Order 26 New Episodes Of Futurama / Wizard World Texas Scores The Premiere Of Futurama Bender’s Game / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs Trailer / Futurama Series 2 Action Figure Set / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs

New Episodes Of FUTURAMA Just Around The Corner!

Source: Comedy Central

Drunken robots! Lobster people! A very old man! Watch in terror if you dare as Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's brilliantly subversive animated sci-fi comedy, "Futurama," returns with 13 all-new half-hour episodes beginning on Thursday, June 23 at 10:00 p.m. on COMEDY CENTRAL. The all-comedy channel is kicking off the “Futurama” season in style with two new episodes airing back-to-back. Then, beginning on Thursday, June 30, COMEDY CENTRAL’s animated series, "Ugly Americans," premieres its second season at 10:30 p.m., making Thursday nights a one-hour “Thurs-Dimension” animation block.

"Futurama" focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life at Planet Express, an intergalactic delivery company. There he meets love interest Leela (Katey Sagal), a sexy cyclops with anger management issues, and best friend Bender (John DiMaggio), a beer-powered kleptomaniac robot. The series aired for five seasons on Fox (1999 to 2003) earning Emmy® nominations each season while winning three times, including "Outstanding Animated Program" in 2002.

In the premiere episode, “Neutopia,” the Planet Express crew crash-lands on an unknown world, where they encounter a bizarre alien who is unfamiliar with the concept of gender. The creature subsequently conducts a series of experiments, modifying the crew members' sexual characteristics in strange and wondrous ways.

In the second episode, “Benderama,” Bender gains the power of infinite self-replication, producing a vast horde of smaller and smaller Benders. Comedian Patton Oswalt guest-stars as "Unattractive Giant Monster," a repulsive alien who is extremely sensitive about his appearance. When the giant's feelings are hurt by the people of Earth, it is up to Bender and his minions to fend off the giant's attack in an epic battle of Good vs. Ugly.

Special guest stars this season include Patton Oswalt, Dan Castellaneta, Stephen Hawking, and Buzz Aldrin. The show's entire original voice cast will be returning, including stars Billy West, Katey Sagal and John DiMaggio.

The "Futurama" Web site features episode previews, highlights and mash-up videos of some of the funniest moments from the previous seasons. The site also features exclusive interviews with the show’s cast, as well as with Matt Groening and David X. Cohen and the making of an episode mini-documentary. Starting on Monday, June 6, the site will feature bi-weekly collections of five “Futurama” full episodes selected by the cast and crew, beginning with the “5 Nerdiest Episodes” selected by David X. Cohen. The “Futurama” Facebook fan base has grown from one million “likes” prior to its return last summer to close to 14 million “likes” today, making it one of the top television sites on Facebook. On Wednesday, May 4, COMEDY CENTRAL launched the “Countdown to Futurama” on Facebook that features an exclusive sneak preview of season 6B content each day, including sneak peek clips, episode stills, storyboards, character designs and more.

"Futurama," created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television, with Rough Draft Studios, Inc. contributing the animation.



See Also: Comedy Central Turns To Facebook To Promote New Season Of FUTURAMA / Futurama - The Only Good Human Is A Dead Human - Paper Giclee Print / 26 New Episodes Of FUTURAMA On Deck For Comedy Central / The Philosophy Of Fry / Futurama - Series 1 - Nibbler Plush Doll / Futurama - Rebirth Paper Giclee Print / FUTURAMA Hits The Century Mark! 100 Episodes And Still Going Strong! / FUTURAMA And Other Comedy Central Panels At Comic Con / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 3 - Video Montage! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 2 - New Images / Storyboards! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - New Images! / Four Brand New Images From FUTURAMA! / "We're Back Baby!" Futurama Cast Members Returning To Show! / Bad News Everyone! Futurama Voice Actors Unlikely To Return For New Series / Good News Everyone! Fox And Comedy Central Order 26 New Episodes Of Futurama / Wizard World Texas Scores The Premiere Of Futurama Bender’s Game / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs Trailer / Futurama Series 2 Action Figure Set / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs

GODAIZER - A Giant Robot And Monster Orgasmotron

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Hillary Yeo

Last December I posted an article about a great new animated giant robot short called "Godaizer" which has been a three year labor of love for film maker Hillary Yeo. Today, thanks to Yeo, I was able to view the finished product and let me tell you I was left nearly speechless. What Yeo has been able to capture is the pure essence of both the giant robot and giant monster genre in one amazing 20-minute film.

Think of "Godaizer" as "Tetsujin 28-go", "Mazinger", "Ultraman: The Next" and "WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3" all assembled together to mash up in a perfect union with a bow on top.

There is no way that any fan of either Japanese anime or Tokusatsu could walk away from this one without feeling totally satisfied. The animation is beautiful and seamless, the robot design for "Godaizer" is timeless, (as if it jumped off the screen from a 70s Japanese cartoon) the monster is a nasty looking as can be and the combat sequences look pure Tsuburaya/Tanaka/Honda.

Here is a short synopsis of the plot:

An independent computer animated short about a robot repair warehouse run by a old man and his grandson where old decommissioned giant robot Godaizer is kept.

When a giant monster is awoken, its time for Godaizer to rise again and defeat it. But at what cost is it going to take to take down the monster?

At this time Yeo has entered "Godaizer" in a few festivals, including the Long Island International Film Expo. The film maker is also trying to get the word out there about his short film, which I am more than happy to aide him with, and has found the process to be a little harder than he first anticipated. True, it is hard to get noticed in this modern age where entertainment is literally at your fingertips, but I am more than confident that when people are able to see "Godaizer" the word will spread like wildfire.

Yeo has created something special here so don't be surprised if his career takes a major step forward after this.








See Also: More Robot Mayhem In Hillary Yeo's GODAIZER

The Flintstones Say "Smoke Em If Ya Got Em Kids"

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Cartoon characters smoking? WTF!

It is hard to fathom that a cigarette company would use cartoon characters to sell it's product to children, but that is exactly what Winston Cigarettes did back in the early 1960's.

During the original run of The Flinstones the show was sponsored by several different companies, one of them Winston Cigarettes. To showcase the sponsor's products Hanna-Barbera (the animation company that produced The Flintstones) produced several add spots featuring their beloved characters using the products ..... even smoking cigarettes.

Today such a advertising campaign would be strictly taboo .... but back in 1961 nobody thought twice about it and the adds aired on prime-time television for the whole family, including youngsters, to see. It is pretty damn obvious that these adds, though made for adults (The Flintstones, though animated, was considered adult viewing), were really designed to get kids to take up smoking.

Screw you Joe Camel .... we got Fred and Barney!

I actually think that there was an add with The Great Gazoo reading a Playboy and drinking Coors beer ..... but I may be mistaken.

All jokes aside these adds did air at the end of every episode of The Flintstones back in the day.

Here are an example of some of these commercials:



There are just soooo many things that are not PC about this one! "Hey Barney let's sit on our fat prehistoric butts while the women folk do all the hard work .....". Forget the fact that they are smoking for a minute and think about how much of an uproar there would be today for Betty and Wilma being portrayed as female servants to their male husbands alone.

You've come a long way baby!



This is the kinda stuff that you will never see on Boomerang!





Okay, the last one is a Jelly add .... which would be okay .... except for the fact that it promotes obesity in children. Which is now a big no-no! In fact Fred and Barney are a bit on the heavy side so maybe the whole show should be banned?

Sounds crazy right?

You never know? Things are getting kinda weird around Washington.

Just saying ....

See Also: Travel Back In Time With Clips From Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Man Called Flintstone (1966)

Comedy Central Turns To Facebook To Promote New Season Of FUTURAMA

Source: Comedy Central

COMEDY CENTRAL is taking “Futurama” fans on a 50 day multi-platform journey leading up to the season premiere on Thursday, June 23 at 10 p.m. The "Countdown To 'Futurama'" launches on Facebook on Wednesday, May 4 – every day for 50 days, the network will release a new piece of exclusive content including preview clips, character designs, episode stills, story boards and much more. For the kick-off, COMEDY CENTRAL will post a sneak peek clip from the season premiere episode. "Futurama’s" Facebook page has over 12 million fans and ranks among the Top 5 animated television show pages.

In addition to Facebook, COMEDY CENTRAL will feature the "Countdown To 'Futurama'" on-air and online, including a daily feature on CC Insider, the COMEDY CENTRAL blog and on mobile with SMS messaging.

"Futurama" focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life and a "diverse" new group of friends including Leela (Katey Sagal), a tough but lovely one-eyed alien and Bender (John DiMaggio), a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws. The series aired for five seasons on Fox (1999 to 2003) earning Emmy® nominations each season while winning three times, including "Outstanding Animated Program" in 2002.

"Futurama," created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, is produced by twentieth Century Fox Television, with Rough Draft Studios, Inc. contributing the animation.

20th Century Fox Television, a division of News Corp, is a leading supplier of entertainment content domestically and around the world.

Futurama

See Also:Futurama - The Only Good Human Is A Dead Human - Paper Giclee Print / 26 New Episodes Of FUTURAMA On Deck For Comedy Central / The Philosophy Of Fry / Futurama - Series 1 - Nibbler Plush Doll / Futurama - Rebirth Paper Giclee Print / FUTURAMA Hits The Century Mark! 100 Episodes And Still Going Strong! / FUTURAMA And Other Comedy Central Panels At Comic Con / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 3 - Video Montage! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 2 - New Images / Storyboards! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - New Images! / Four Brand New Images From FUTURAMA! / "We're Back Baby!" Futurama Cast Members Returning To Show! / Bad News Everyone! Futurama Voice Actors Unlikely To Return For New Series / Good News Everyone! Fox And Comedy Central Order 26 New Episodes Of Futurama / Wizard World Texas Scores The Premiere Of Futurama Bender’s Game / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs Trailer / Futurama Series 2 Action Figure Set / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs