Star Wars
Star Wars is a science fiction media franchise best known as a series of seven films, with the original Star Wars debuting in 1977. Created by George Lucas, it has gone on to become one of the most well-known and financially successful film franchises in history, spawning books, video games, and television series which comprise its "Expanded Universe". Futurama, being a comedy science fiction TV show, is bound to make references to the Star Wars series, while Star Wars has also made references to Futurama several times. Following is a complete list of connections between Futurama and Star Wars. Most references are to the original trilogy, though there are some to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
(Image) : Indicates that it has a picture to the right.
Note: Most of the external links go to Wookieepedia, The Star Wars Wiki
Crew
There have been a number of people who work on both Star Wars (primarily Star Wars: Clone Wars, it being an animated TV series) and Futurama:
Voices
- John DiMaggio: Provided voice for Grievous and Sha'a Gi for Chapter 20 of the Star Wars: Clone Wars. He has done many (namely Bender) voices for Futurama.
- Phil LaMarr: Provided voices for Gadon Thek & Additional Voices in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Riiken & Additional Voices in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and Kit Fisto in "Lair of Grievous", an unknown Tactical droid in "Blue Shadow Virus", Amit Noloff in "Mystery of a Thousand Moons", Orn Free Taa in "Liberty on Ryloth" and "Hostage Crisis", Bail Prestor Organa and Philo in "Hostage Crisis" of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (3D). He has done many (namely Hermes) voices for Futurama.
- Mark Hamill: Best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the Original trilogy, though has done the character in other works. He voiced Chanukah Zombie in Bender's Big Score. (Image)
- Beatrice Arthur: Portrayed Ackmena in The Star Wars Holiday Special. She also provided the voice for the Femputer in "Amazon Women in the Mood" for Futurama.
- Frank Welker: Provided voices for Jorak Uln, Sunry, Gar, Swoop Fan & Additional Voices in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Outpost commander in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (video game) and Pekt, Sith Master & Utric Sandov in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. He has done many (namely Nibbler) voices for Futurama.
Other
- Nathan Hamill: Cameoed in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace as Rehtul Minnau, illustrated sketch cards for the Topps Star Wars Galaxy Series 4 trading card set and made a Death Star for The Empire Muggs Back. He is also the son of Mark Hamill and was born during the filming of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. He has colored 15 comics for Futurama. (Image)
- Bill Morrison: Made Leia Robotika for The Emipre Muggs Back. He was the co-founder for Bongo Comics and has been editor for all The Simpsons and Futurama comics.
- Gabriel Calderón: "Digital Camera & Composite" for Star Wars: Clone Wars and Futurama.
- Mun Jeong Yu: "Supervising Overseas Animation Director" for Star Wars: Clone Wars. "Assistant Director" and "Overseas Supervisor" for Bender's Big Score.
- Chad Katona: "Digital Camera & Composite Supervisor" for Star Wars: Clone Wars and Futurama.
- Claudia Katz: "Producer" for Star Wars: Clone Wars and Futurama.
- Conan Low: "3D Animator" for Star Wars: Clone Wars and Futurama.
- Paul Mahotz: "Digital Camera & Composite" for Star Wars: Clone Wars. "Assistant Editor" for Futurama.
- Scott Vanzo: "Director of Computer Graphics" for Star Wars: Clone Wars. "Director of Computer Graphics" and "3D Director" for all Futurama episodes and Bender's Game, "Composite Supervisor" for Bender's Big Score and "Camera Composite" for A Terrifying Message from Al Gore. (Image)
- Eric Whited: "3D Animator" for Star Wars: Clone Wars and Futurama.
Star Wars in Futurama
Star Wars has appeared in Futurama on many occasions:
Season 1
- A sign on the street says "AKBAR." Admiral Ackbar is a character in Star Wars. Though, it is more likely to be a reference to Akbar, a character in Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" comic strip.
- The part where Fry gets hit in the head by the remote door is a possible reference to the scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, where one of the stormtroopers accidentally bumps his head into a similar gadget.
- A guy on a jet bike is wearing a helmet like Leia wore in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi on the Speeder bike.
- When the policemen are beating Fry with their lightsaber clubs Leela says: "There is no need to use force" as a reference to The Force in Star Wars.
- A Dianoga appears in the Old New York waters.
"Love's Labours Lost in Space" (1ACV04)
- The Hologram of Vergon 6 looks like the hologram for Endor in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Both are green, translucent, and orbit slowly.
- The crew escaping as Vergon 6 self-destructs is similar to the first Death Star's destruction in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
- In the deleted scene, the Killbots lasers have the same sound as Blasters from Star Wars.
"Fear of a Bot Planet" (1ACV05)
- Hermes shows up in the form of a hologram, much like Princess Leia in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
- Chapek 9 was colonised by radical robot separatists.
- The entire scene in Little Neptune seems to be a somewhat vague reference to Chalmun's Cantina scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Both seem seedy, have a menagerie of robot and alien denizens, and both feature the main characters going into a place that sell food. Also, the scene where Fry is saved by Leela from the Organ Dealer and his accomplice is similar to when Obi-Wan Kenobi saves Luke from Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba.
- Trisol's three suns and desert climate is similar to Tatooine.
"Hell Is Other Robots" (1ACV09)
- The Robot Hell is somehow reminiscent of the Robot holding area in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when C-3PO and R2-D2 are captured by the Jawas and see several Droids/Robots being tortured.
- The lasers emitted by the moth-like robots who serve the Robot Devil have similar noises to those in Star Wars.
"A Flight to Remember" (1ACV10)
- When the crew rush to an escape pod, the Professor is seen on the back of Fry, a reference to Yoda on Luke's back during his training in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
- Fry wears a Rebel Alliance X-wing starfighter Pilot's helmet while flying the Planet Express Ship. (Image)
- The battle planning session, the battle and it's destruction is based on the scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
- During the attack on the mother-ship, you see a turret swivelling while trying to shoot down a fighter. This is exactly the same as a small scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, during the attack on the Death Star. (Image)
"Fry and the Slurm Factory" (1ACV13)
- The translation of the AL1 is:
- The following species are ineligible: space wasps, space beavers, any other animal with the word 'space' in front of it, space chickens, and the elusive yak-face.
- Yak face is a rare Star Wars figure of Saelt-Marae not released in the USA. Mint figures have sold for thousands of dollars. It was added because David X. Cohen owns one.
Season 2
"Brannigan, Begin Again" (2ACV02)
- At the start of the episode, Fry and Bender can be seen playing Dejarik, a game played by C-3PO and Chewbacca in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
"The Lesser of Two Evils" (2ACV06)
- Star Wars 9 -- Yoda's Bar Mitzvah appears in Past-O-Rama. (Image)
- When the crew goes to the movies, Fry suggests that they see a historical documentary called "Galaxy Wars", an obvious reference to Star Wars, most likely Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. (Image)
- Its movie poster also appears in "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" and "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".
- Gorgeous Gonks name could be a parody of the "gonk droid" from Star Wars.
"A Bicyclops Built for Two" (2ACV09)
- The Professor's head appearing as a giant blue hologram could be a reference to Palpatine's appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. (Image)
- The hologram is based on Princess Leia's hologram in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, especially the way Farnsworth turns it off.
- Near Death Star parodies the Death Star. (Image)
- The high-speed chase draws from each film of the Star Wars Original trilogy:
- The start is based on the chase on the Moon of Endor in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
- The central part echoes the dramatic stories on the surface of the Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
- The end parallels the escape from Cloud City in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
- When the camera zooms in on Fry and Bender's bunks before Fry first talks to Umbriel, we see several things propped up against the wall. In the lower right corner, Fry's Rebel Alliance X-wing star-fighter Pilot's helmet appears, it was previously seen in "When Aliens Attack" (see above).
- The Piñata lightsaber scene parodies the scene where Obi-Wan Kenobi trains Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. (Image)
Season 3
"The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz" (3ACV05)
- After being thrown by the orca, Bender makes the same sound as R2-D2 from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back after being spit out of the water by a creature in a swamp on Dagobah. His subsequent landing in the ice references when R2 got stunned by Jawas.
- Leela puts on a heavy jacket and goes searching for Bender on an ice planet in the midst of falling temperatures, a parody of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
"That's Lobstertainment!" (3ACV08)
- Some of the main characters are riding a tour bus in Hollywood with the name Star Tours (a real-life Star Wars-themed Disney theme park attraction). Under the bus logo, a disclaimer reads "Note: Bus Does Not Leave Earth." (Image)
- The head (in a jar) of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace character Jar Jar Binks is in the audience of the Oscars.
"Where the Buggalo Roam" (3ACV10)
- When the Martians take out bow and arrows, the arrows look like lightsaber blades (with similar sound effects). (Image)
"The Route of All Evil" (3ACV12)
- The dog chasing Dwight and Cubert (Awesome Express) as they fly through an asteroid field is eaten by a giant space slug extending from a Asteroid, a parody of a scene in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, in which the Millennium Falcon flies out from inside a similar beast as it tries in vain to re-eat the ship. (Image)
"A Pharaoh to Remember" (3ACV17)
- While being carried shackled to a pole, Fry says to Leela "Call it a hunch but I've got a bad feeling about this." In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, on Endor, Han Solo says almost the exact same thing while he and his friends are in a similar situation. "I have a bad feeling about this" is a line used in all the Star Wars films and some Expanded Universe.
- Helmut Spargle teaching Bender to peel a hover-potato with an energy blade is a modeled after a scene from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, when Obi-Wan Kenobi was teaching Luke to feel The Force and use a lightsaber using a training device. (Image)
- Spargel’s character and subsequent death are a parody of Yoda
- Spargel also mentions the "Dark side of cooking".
Season 4
"Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" (4ACV01)
- Zapp says he "feels a very sensual disturbance in the force".
- One of the first robots Farnsworth designed at Mom's Friendly Robot Company was based on the droid C-3PO from Star Wars. It offers to kiss the professor on the forehead, then the professor destroys it by crushing it. As it is being crushed, it says "Oh Dear" several times. (Image)
- Later in the episode, the professor says "Ooh, the Jedis are going to feel this one..."
- When the mirror is being readied to fire the laser, the tracking system looks like the Death Star's tracking system.
- The medal ceremony is very reminiscent of the scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
"Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" (4ACV09)
- The race was inspired by Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace's Podracers.
- The Infosphere resembles the Death Star from Star Wars. (Image)
- The mission to destroy the Infosphere (and destruction of it) is reminiscent of the mission to destroy the Death Star.
- Nibbler states "maybe she is the other" in reference to Leela, however nothing more about this statement is explained. It is likely it's a reference to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where Yoda mentions that "there is another" which too is never explained. It is also likely to assume he is referring to Princess Leia, however, it is doubtful that the writers of Futurama are trying to suggest that Fry and Leela are siblings.
- Nibbler also says "Knows not does he!" Again, this seems to be a reference to Yoda messing up grammatical structures in Star Wars movies.
"Where No Fan Has Gone Before" (4ACV11)
- When discussing the "Star Trek Wars," Zapp asks, "You mean the vast migration of Star Wars fans?" and then Nichelle Nichols answers, "No, that was the Star Wars Trek."
- When Hermes sees that Leela is awake, he exclaims, "Sweet Three-toed Sloth of Ice Planet Hoth! She's awake!", referring to the ice planet from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
- As Leela and Fry escape the Bee Hive a bee hits a wall, then explodes; the ensuing scene is similar to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi when the Millennium Falcon escapes from the second Death Star.
"Obsoletely Fabulous" (4ACV14)
- While Bender is playing with the scratch post, in the foreground we can see R2-D2 from Star Wars.
"Three Hundred Big Boys" (4ACV16)
- Kif defeated the Spiderians with a double-ended fly-swatter weapon. This is similar in design and the manner in which he uses it to Darth Maul's Double-bladed lightsaber in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. (Image)
- A vehicle resembling a Sandcrawler from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope can be found in the parking lot.
Films
- The magnifier Farnsworth uses to zoom in on Fry's butt has the sound of a lightsaber.
- The Scammer Aliens have bought several Remote-controlled solid gold Death Stars. (Image)
- Nixon says, "The Force is with us, but that is about it."
- R2-D2 appears among the pile of valuable objects. (Image)
- Chanukah Zombie's ship is a TIE/ln starfighter. (Image)
- The fight between The Great Wizard Greyfarn and Ignus is a reversed parody of the duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. (Image) Even the quotes are similar:
Star Wars:
Vader: Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.
Luke: He told me enough! He told me you killed him.
Vader: No. I am your father.
Luke: No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!
Vader: Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Luke: No! No! No!
Futurama:
Ignus: Mommy never told you about my father.
Greyfarn: She said he was a foul He-demon.
Ignus: Exactly. You are my father.
Greyfarn: No. No, that's impossible.
Ignus: Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Greyfarn: No! No!
- The Feministas use a lightsaber-like device to cut a hole to get into the Planet Express Ship.
- The Legion of Mad Fellows and the Dark Ones abilities are similar to a Jedi and Sith's force powers.
- When the Dark One kills Frida Waterfall, it is similar to Force Choking.
- Both the Dark One and the League of Mad Fellows can read minds, like most Force-sensitive beings.
- The Dark One can persuade people to do things, such as Leo Wong, which is similar to Force Persuasion.
- Chi is similar to the Force.
Season 6
- The Safety sphere is similar to the Personal energy shield used in Star Wars.
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (6ACV02)
- The V-GINY resembles the Death Star from Star Wars. (Image)
- The infiltration of the V-GINY is reminiscent to Death Star's invasion, including a mention of the Force and a voice similar of Obi Wan Kenobi.
"Proposition Infinity" (6ACV04)
- The Forbidden Planet Hollywood is showing Chewbacca's feet.
- The Sith Overlords are based on Star Wars Siths and Darth Sploder looks similar to Darth Maul. (Image)
- Cubert tells Zoidberg he's "some kind of dumpster Jedi", after Zoidberg has showed him how to fend off bullies.
- An R2 unit can be seen in the Museum of Natural Robo-History.
"Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences" (6ACV11)
- The Comic-Con give a free admission with an Ewok pelt.
- At the Comic-Con, Leela is wearing a Princess Leia costume, and a fat girl is wearing the Slave Leia costume.
Season 7
- The club in the beginning of the episode is a parody of the famous Mos Eisley Cantina, first seen in the Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
- Lightsabers from Star Wars were used to play pool.
- The scene with the dancing hologram in the club is a parody of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special.
"Forty Percent Leadbelly" (7ACV14)
- Dr. Brutalov is unfrozen from carbonite, a reference to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Specials
- In the opening sequence, there is a billboard for The Krusty the Klone Show with Mr. Teeny 1,521 and Sideshow Maul.
Video game
- In the end of Act I, the chicken walker is a reference to the All Terrain Scout Transport from Star Wars.
- The initial meeting with Adoy (Image) on Bogad is a reference to a similar scene in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, when Luke Skywalker meets Yoda on Dagobah.
- Additionally, the character and planet names in the game are the Star Wars names backwards.
Comics
"Slaves of New New York!" (US#X03)
- Comic Book Guy mentions wanting a "metal slave bikini like Princess Leia's from Return of the Jedi."
- The first delivery the Simpsons tag along on is to "an ice planet in the Lucas galaxy", which turns out to be a parody of the Hoth sequence in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
- Yoda is parodied as a crane operator who lifts the ship out of the water, a reference to the scene in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. (Image)
"Attack of the 50-ft Amy" (US#033)
- Bender took on the personality of Yoda when he ate the pirated movie collection.
"The Fry and the Furious!" (US#044)
- The Millennium Falcon, Alderaan and R2-D2 appear.
"Anthology of Interest II" (US#045)
- Fry and Leela's date montage has references to Star Wars during it.
Other
- The police use sticks that resemble the lightsaber from Star Wars. See its page for more info. (Image)
- The character of Elzar is a reference to Gormaanda from The Star Wars Holiday Special.
- Mom's sons are dressed the same as Darth Vader's Imperial Officers from the original trilogy. (Image)
- In the opening sequence, New New York is set out like Coruscant. The Planet Express Ship's entry, also seems to be a parody of the Millennium Falcon's entrance into Cloud City in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
- January, in the 2001 Calendar, depicts Fry wearing a Slave Leia costume and has the Slurm Queen as Jabba the Hutt. (Image)
- Alien Language 1 is similar to the Star Wars writing, Aurebesh.
Futurama in Star Wars
Futurama has appeared in Star Wars (though no where near as much as Star Wars in Futurama) on several occasions:
- The droid HK-47 and other droids from the Star Wars expanded universe have been known to use Bender's phrase of "Meatbag".
- In the Comic book Skippy the Jedi Droid, Bender is seen making fun of Skippy.
- A droid with the name "Probulator" appears in the online game Star Wars Galaxies.
- The clip in "War Is the H-Word" appears in the "The Birth of the Lightsaber" featurette on the 25 anniversary trilogy DVD
- Bender is also seen in the comic Junkheap Hero as a scrapped droid. (Image)
- The "Bender Droid" also appeared in the novel Death Star. It is unknown if they are related.
- Bender was seen in the Star Wars parody Family Guy: Blue Harvest in the Chalmun's Cantina scene.
- Bendu Fry's name was probably derived from Bender and Fry.
- There are a few characters in the Star Wars galaxy with names shared in Futurama:
- Jedi Master Xamar's species, Khil, has been jokingly referred to as being the same species of Zoidberg, Decapodian.
See also
- Category:Star Wars for more articles to do with Star Wars.
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