Why Futurama Was Fined By Korean Animators For Into The Wild Green Yonder
The fourth of four "Futurama" movies, "Into the Wild Green Yonder," came out on DVD in 2009, and it was assumed to be the final word on the series. "Futurama" would eventually return in the ensuing years, but for the moment, it looked like "Green Yonder" was the final appearance of the beloved sci-fi series. As such, the story was appropriately sprawling, involving an evil, unknowable, galaxy-wide force of evil in the universe — the Dark Ones — and their attempt to snuff out a mysterious new planet that just appeared out in space. The planet will later be revealed to be the egg of an Encyclopod, an outsize space-faring creature that catalogs and stores the DNA of all species in the galaxy.
At the end of "Yonder," Leo Wong (Billy West) aims to obliterate the violet dwarf star that hosts the Ecyclopod planet, as he wishes to build a galaxy-wide golf course. The event attracts an enormous crowd similar to the way a Las Vegas building implosion attracts onlookers. Because this was ostensibly the final climax of all of "Futurama," the crowd incorporated every single character — hundreds of them — that had ever appeared on "Futurama." Every side alien, guest star, and one-off joke character could be seen in a single massive wide shot. "Futurama" put all its Easter eggs into one basket.
Of course, an animator will instantly be able to tell you that such an effort is probably one of the most difficult things one can draw by hand. Indeed, in a 2009 interview with IGN "Futurama" co-creator David X. Cohen recalled that the "all characters" shot was so labor intensive that he received an extra bill from Rough Draft Korea, the studio the scene was sent to for animation.
How many can you name?
The above picture is not even the entire shot, but "Futurama" fans will likely begin scanning the image, naming all the characters they can identify. Some of the characters are regulars on the series (Leela's parents are in there, as is the Professor's longtime rival Ogden Wernstrom), while others only ever appeared in one scene (do you recognize the yarn people of Nylar IV?).
Rough Draft Studios was formed by "Futurama" animator Gregg Vanzo, and had offices in Glendale, California, as well as Seoul, South Korea. The series would do its penciling in the United States, and the coloring and animation labor would be handled by a team of animators in Korea, overseen by Gregg's wife Nikki Vanzo. The final scene of all those characters in a single shot was drawn and mailed to Korea. Cohen recalls the scene well:
"We had the big climax where the grandstand is filled with basically every character in 'Futurama.' The script actually called for the appearance of every Futurama character ever and the animators turned to us and said 'Really? Really?' and we said 'Yes. Yes. Every character'. The animator who pencilled that scene with every character — hundreds of characters, around 250 or something like that. And there are a few that admittedly aren't in there."
But, there was too much line mileage. Cohen continued:
"[T]hey send this pencil version off to Korea for coloring and the interstitial animations and they in turn said, 'Hey – what is this thing you're giving us!?' They balked and they levied a monetary fine against us."
It seems drawing all those characters for only a few seconds of film was considered beyond what was reasonable. The Korean animation team did the right thing.
Too many eggs
Cohen clarified: "They said it was beyond the normal and expected labor to be done per frame of animation," which is fair. "You forget that at some point," he said, "you'll feed it into 'the machine' and there are real, talented people behind every one." He then joshed about his temporary inability to recognize the humanity behind all of the show's artistry and creativity. "It's the damn humans," he said, "that are holding things up! If it was a machine, there wouldn't be a problem!" Which, of course, is more something that Bender the alcoholic robot might say, and not the showrunner of a long-running animated sci-fi sitcom.
Cohen, naturally, paid the fine, and the animators turned out an amazingly complex shot that incorporated everyone from the Hypnotoad to the Crushinator. Even die-hard, long-term "Futurama" fans will likely not recognize everyone.
"Futurama," of course, did persist after "Into the Wild Green Yonder," running for 52 episodes through 2013, broadcasting on Comedy Central. After being canceled again, "Futurama" was renewed again in 2023, and new episodes are currently available on Hulu. The fine-inducing shot in "Yonder" may have meant to be a "finale" for fans, giving them a final glance at their favorite characters, but it seems that the number of amusing supporting players has only grown since then. At this late date, the "Yonder" group shot may now serve as a "taking stock" moment for fans and the show-runners. Where were we in 2009? Now there's a visual record.