Cartoons, particularly those shown on television have always been rather tame fair suitable for the youngest members of the family. Sure, if you listened carefully you could possible catch a few more adult phrases with Popeye or Mr. Magoo but usually they were kid friendly. That has been the case until some folks realized that animation can be used for a much more mature audience. It began slowly and started to take on in the seventies with animated feature length films like ‘Fritz the Cat’. On television cartoons changed from the ‘Flintstones’ to the ‘Simpsons’ and after that ‘South Park’. These new shows pushed the limits not only beyond any previous animated series but far past what a network could get away with on a live action show. ‘The Simpsons’ was created by the imaginative and bizarre minds of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. He swiftly went on to a second series ‘Futurama’. Unlike the first show set in a small American town this series took place in the 31^st century. The future presented here is nothing like anything we could have possibly imagined. This world of the future is strange, warped, often deadly and always hysterically funny. The series originally ran on the Fox network for four years starting in 1999 after which it moved over to Comedy Central. The series has been cancelled there but lives on in a set of made for video movies. Actually this is a back door way for another season since the flicks are structured in such a way that each film can be easily broken up into separate episodes. First there was ‘Futurama: Bender's Big Score’ followed shortly by ‘Futurama: Beast with a Billion’ Backs’ and then ‘Futurama: Bender’s Big Game’. The last of the set ‘Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder’ is now out and available on DVD and Blu-ray. This may be the official end to the series but considering the popularity it has maintained even after cancellation there is sure to be more stories to come. It is unusual for a cancelled series to live on like this but the fans of this series are the kind that is persistent and able to provide a lot of incentive for subsequent incarnations. As was the case with the other three movies this one is given the full treatment of high quality video and audio as well as a number of fun extras to keep you going for a long time. Even if you are not a fan of the show this film can stand on its own as a witty, irreverent and many times truly twisted.

Like the setting of the other Groening and Cohen series this one is set in a peculiar location. Instead of the small town of ‘The Simpsons’ here the action mostly takes place in ‘New’ New York. It is a bustling metropolis where humans and aliens mix for purposes of business and pleasure. A millennium from now there will be a little business in that city called ‘Planet Express’ that will specialize in transporting just about anything to just about anywhere in the galaxy. A great thing about this series is there is no need to try to explain how the advanced new technology works. The characters barely know the science or mechanics behind anything. The main character here is Philip Fry (voiced by Billy West) who was born in the twentieth century and worked as a pizza delivery guy. He is the ultimate slacker always looking for the easiest way out of any situation or job. In the past he took a nap in a cryogenics device and was frozen for a thousand years. He now works for his distant ancestor Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (voiced by Billy West) who is one of the oldest men alive and considered one of the galaxy’s craziest mad scientists. The other employees of Planet Express form a highly dysfunction family of sort. The only one with a modicum of common scene is Leela (voiced by Katey Sagal). She is intelligent, hard working, dedicated and a Cyclops. Technically her job is as the pilot of the space ship but she is the voice of reason and den mother to the rest of the motley crew. Her complete opposite is Bender the robot (voiced by John DiMaggio). He gives all metallic life artificial life forms a bad name. Bender is an alcoholic, gambler, lazy, self centered and greedy. These are basically the better qualities he has exhibited over the course of the series. Dr. Zoidberg (voiced by Billy West), a lobster like creature, physician and ultimate coward, at the smallest sign of danger he runs off, sideways, to safety. Keeping the books seems to be important for a company that can’t seem to make ends meet so they have Hermes Conrad (voiced by Phil LaMarr) who loves rules, numbers and order. Lastly there is their intern Amy (voiced by Lauren Tom). She comes from an extremely rich family on Mars and is slumming with her job here but it is a rebellion against mommy and daddy.

In this story Amy’s father has arranged for Mar Vegas to be destroyed to make room for an even more lavish New mars Vegas. Amy’s dad has no concern for such trivia matters as the effect this will have on the local ecology and is picketed by a group of eco-feminists lead by a woman named Frieda. An accident happens that lodges a bit of her jewelry in the head of Fry. He begins to hear voices and discovers others with the ability. Fry is a telepath and joins the group and begins to wear a tin foil hat to block out the thoughts of others. Amy’s father bribes the group arranging for Fry to play in a big poker tournament and Vegas vacations for the rest. Meanwhile Bender starts an affair with a beautiful female robot but there is trouble to be found there. Her husband is Don-Bot, the boss of the robot mafia. He warns Bender to stop the relationship but Bender was never strong on common sense. Amy’s father has devastating plans for his New Vegas that include destroying part of the galaxy to make room for the largest miniature golf course in history. On a small asteroid Leela finds a teaming ecosystem of lower life forms and is intent on saving them but the professor has been bought off to okay the demolition. Fry’s new group, the Legion of Mad Fellows, have been working towards finding a life giving force called Chi that can revive extinct species and form the foundation for a new green age.

There is a lot going on here and all of it is immensely funny. Just beneath the surface is some of the best social satire around. Everything you can think of is lampooned here from the current trend of ecological concern to the superior attitude of the rich and privileged. This is not a cartoon that is targeted to the younger members of your family so just be warned. For the grownup though you will laugh throughout the movie. The Blu-ray version of the flick is fantastic. Even for an animated feature like this the 1080p video makes a big difference. The colors are more vivid than you could have ever wanted. The DTS HD audio will fill the room although the sub woofer is only used on occasion. For the die hard fans there are more than enough extras to keep you occupied for a long time to come. This may be the last of Futurama for awhile but at least they are going out with a bang.