'Futurama' Returns

Futurama Returns is a curious creature and doesn't really fall under any category.

Standing at around 9 minutes it's basically just a cast reading of a brief comic book created to celebrate the "Kind of" return of Futurama back in 2007 after they were cancelled by FOX.

They returned in the form of 4 feature length movies, none of which I found overwhelmingly good. So this motion comic is voiced by the original cast and the plot is a fourth wall breaking attempt at humor that satirizes the events that led to the cancellation and return.

It's not as clever as I think the creators thought it would be and though it's sweet seeing fan power bringing the show back from the dead I was never a fan.

The Good:

Interesting approach

The Bad:

Not exactly funny

Things I Learnt From This Short:

"Fan power" never brings back cancelled shows I like!

This short film on the DVD of the first Futurama movie is essentially a reading of the comic book in front of an audience of fans. Serving as an introduction bed to a series of clips and favourite moments, this offers limited value to the casual viewer – even if that casual viewer happens to be a Futurama fan. The problem with it is the same problem I had with the early moments of the proper film, that is that it is too knowing and clumsy in its humour. It does have one or two funny moments but mostly it doesn't quite cut the mustard. I imagine a lot of the fun is in seeing the people do the reading but on this short we don't get that – instead we only see the pages of the comic go by as it is read out. This is an OK idea but unfortunately it is too small to really appreciate the drawing and the effort going into it.

Overall then this is quite a disappointing short film that has some novelty value but nothing special and certainly not one you'll watch again after ticking it off as "seen".