Reincarnation (Futurama)

"Reincarnation"
Futurama episode
Left to right: Bender, Hermes, Leela, Dr. Zoidberg, Fry, Professor Farnsworth and Amy drawn in an anime style.
Episode no.	Season six
Directed by	Peter Avanzino
Written by	Aaron Ehasz
Original air date	September 8, 2011
Episode features
Opening caption	Reincarnation

"Reincarnation" (originally entitled "Resurrection") is the 26th and final episode of the sixth season of the animated sitcom Futurama. It originally aired on Comedy Central on September 8, 2011. The episode is non-canon and features three different segments, each segment showcasing Futurama "reincarnated" in a different style of animation. The plot of each segment form part of an overall story arc, revolving around the discovery and subsequent destruction of a Diamondium comet. A running joke for the episode involves a key plot point in each segment being obscured by the specific animation style, though the characters themselves express amazement over what they see.

The episode was written by Aaron Ehasz and directed by Peter Avanzino. Stephen Hawking guest stars during the second segment. David Herman voices Professor Farnsworth in the third segment, in place of regular voice Billy West.

Plot

Prior to the episode's triptych structure, a brief introduction is given by the God entity from the 2002 episode "Godfellas".

"Colorama"

The first segment is animated in a black-and-white "Fleischer and Walter Lantz style". Professor Farnsworth discovers a comet made of Diamondium, the hardest substance in the universe, and sends the crew to gather diamond dust from the comet's tail to polish a doomsday device. Fry sneaks onto the surface of the comet and finds a large gem, which he hopes to give to Leela as an engagement ring. Fry plants the Professor's doomsday device on the comet and brings Leela to the balcony of the Planet Express building, thinking the resulting explosion will dislodge the gem and send it flying to land on her finger. It instead splits the comet in half, with one half flying towards the sun and creating a rainbow, and the other half flying into the rainbow and creating an entirely new color. Leela marvels at the beautiful sight, depicted entirely in grayscale. Before Fry can propose to Leela, the comet crumbles to dust that falls onto the Planet Express building, crystallising and trapping Fry and Leela in a giant diamond. One billion years later, an alien proposes to his alien girlfriend with a ring containing the diamond in which Fry and Leela are trapped.

"Future Challenge 3000"

The second segment is shown in the style of a low-resolution video game reminiscent of the 8 bit video gaming era. Using the debris from the Diamondium comet from the previous segment, Professor Farnsworth creates a microscope lens powerful enough to find the smallest unit of matter, which is described as extremely intricate but is depicted as a single black pixel. The Professor forms a scientific equation explaining the mysteries of the universe from this single unit, only to become depressed upon realizing that there are no further scientific questions to answer. Fry cheers him up by saying that he has yet to solve why the laws of the universe are what they are and not something else, thus giving scientists a reason to keep looking for answers about the universe.

"Action Delivery Force"

The third and final segment is drawn in the style of anime, with a clear nod to the Voltron series in the introduction. A race of gelatinous aliens who can only communicate through body language is angered by the destruction of the Diamondium comet, which they worship as a god, and attack Earth in retaliation. The Planet Express crew attempt to relay a message of peace, but cannot communicate with the aliens properly due to both the humans' and aliens' inability to understand the other's language. Doctor Zoidberg successfully persuades the aliens to leave by shedding his shell and performing an intricate dance universally symbolizing peace, which is depicted as Zoidberg merely posing his body and standing still while the camera pans across his body per anime action sequence conventions.

External links

• "Reincarnation" at the Infosphere, the Futurama Wiki.