The following contains spoilers for Futurama season 12 episode 9, “The Futurama Mystery Liberry,” now streaming on Hulu
One ofFuturama’sbest ever parodies pokes fun at a classic comic. The sci-fi comedy has been poking fun at genre conventions and iconic stories for over two decades, with several episodes dedicated to poking fun at the classics of other genres. Some of the show’s best riffs on popular media has included aStar Trekparody that brought back most of the original show’s cast, a movie-length parody of fantasy tropes, and plenty of gags about famous sci-fi likeStar WarsandThe Matrixfranchises.
These parodies are especially common inFuturama’s anthology episodes. Typically happening once a season, the anthologies have steadily become more satirical, poking deliberate fun at specific shows and films. This carries over to theFuturamaseason 12 episode"The Futurama Mystery Liberry," which uses a parody ofReading Rainbowas a framing device to set up three satires of literature. One of these segments even utilizes a slight animation shift thatonly improves on a rock solid parody. Here’s whyFuturama’s take on a classic comic works so well.
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Futurama Season 12 Episode 9’s Tintin Parody Explained
HowFuturamaReinvents Itself As Hergé’s Classic Comic
Futurama’s Tintin parody might be one of the best examples ofFuturama’s ability to poke fun at other properties while staying true to its own bizarre and dark comedy. “The Futurama Mystery Liberry” features distinct parodies of children’s book characters, including Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Encyclopdia Brown.The most well-executed of these parodies is the riff on Tintin, which recasts the Planet Express Crew as some ofTintin’s most iconic characters in a word designed to resemble the originalTintincomics.
Dr. John Zoidberg
Snowy
The story of the segment sees the group embarks on a trek around the world to reunite Farnsworth with his lost love, this world’s version ofFuturama’s perpetual villain Mom. This reflects theTintinseries' habit of sending the characters on global adventures, reflecting historical themes and scientific ideas.It’s all filtered throughFuturama’s design and sense of comedy, leading to plenty of dark jokes and silly turns (especially once Bender, Hermes, and Amy appear as the equivalents of Thompson and Thomson). The short goes so far as to directly mimic the art style of Tintin creator, Belgian cartoonist Hergé.
Tintin’s Parody Feels Surprisingly Natural In Futurama’s Sci-Fi World
Tintin’s Sense Of Adventure Fits Neatly IntoFuturama’s Inventive Universe
Futuramahas parodied all sorts of films and shows before, but their riff onTintinfeels like a particularly clever fusion. The outlandish adventures of bothTintinstories andFuturamaepisodes allow for clever globe-trotting adventure. Both benefit from a keen sense of humor that can hop between satisfyingly silly to surprisingly dark (althoughFuturamadoes take things further than most in that regard). They both feature perpetually optimistic lead characters, allowing Fry to slot into his role as Tintin with ease.The nature of the adventures Tintin and Planet Express also work really well alongside one another.
This is especially true as the plot brings the Planet Express Crew across the world. There’s even a mysterious artifact that plays into the plot, playing on the common trope of Tintin discovering some historical item that plays into his adventures. WhileFuturamapokes fun at the concept by having it sold to Fry by a salesman who invents its importance on the spot to earn some cash, it’s still an important part of the story and sets up a fantastical approach to science thatfeels likeFuturamabut retains enough ofTintin’s adventurous spiritto be authentic to both.
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Tintin Makes For One Of Futurama’s Best Ever Parodies
FuturamaHas Parodied A Lot Of Sci-Fi, But Never As Well As It MocksTintin
It reflects the dark humor at the core ofFuturama’s silly take on sci-fi. There’s a hint ofFuturama’s commitment to romance and love with Farnsworth’s pining for his lost love.There’s even some goofy sci-fi nonsense, such as when the story allows Fry to accidentally reform Pangea. The segment feels true toTintinas well, mimicking the distinct cartoon style of Hergé and bringing a bright sense of adventure to the segment. It’s a great parody, working well as a bizarre stand-aloneFuturamastory and as a satire ofTintinat the same time.
Futurama
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Futurama is an animated science fiction series that follows Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from late-20th-century New York City. He is accidentally cryogenically frozen for a thousand years and becomes an employee at Planet Express, a delivery service in the retro-futuristic 31st century.
