Bender's Game
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''Futurama: Bender's Game'' is a 2008 American
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adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...
science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...
comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
and the third of the four ''
Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...
'' films that make up the show's fifth season. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 4, 2008. According to the '' Beast with a Billion Backs'' DVD commentary, the film, which spoofs ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'', was in production when ''Dungeons & Dragons'' creator,
Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...
, died. The film contains a post-credits tribute to Gygax in the form of a title card and a clip of him from the episode " Anthology of Interest I". Elements of
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
's ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'' and
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
' ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' are also parodied. The title of the film is a pun on the book ''
Ender's Game ''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they ...
'', by
Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...
, though the ''Futurama'' film has "very little to do with the subject material" of the book. Conversely, the 1985 book also used "Bender" as a mocking pun for "Ender", but
Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...
stated this is not the original inspiration for Bender's name.


Plot

Bender finds Cubert and Dwight playing ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'', but cannot join in since, as a robot, he has no imagination. Bender manages to imagine himself as a medieval knight named "Titanius Anglesmith, fancy man of Cornwood" and enters the game. He becomes lost in his fantasy and goes on a rampage, resulting in his being committed to the Hal Institute for Criminally Insane Robots. The crew learns that Mom, who controls the world's only
dark matter In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...
mine, is restricting the supply to drive up profits. The Professor reveals that while working for Mom, he discovered how to turn dark matter into fuel. The process created two crystals, with Mom keeping one for herself and Farnsworth hiding the other, "anti-backwards" crystal. If the crystals are brought together, they will render dark matter useless. Farnsworth, Fry, and Leela fly to Mom's mine with the crystal to neutralize the dark matter. When the crew sneak in, they discover it is actually a farm harvesting the dark matter feces from Nibblonians, including a captured Nibbler. When Nibbler asks why they are not surprised he can talk, they tell him that he forgot to erase their memories the last time. Encountering Mom and her three sons, Leela fends off Walt, Larry and Igner, while Farnsworth tries to bring his and Mom's crystals together; when Farnsworth is at risk of losing the anti-backwards crystal, he swallows it. The closeness of the crystals triggers a resonance in all dark matter and catapults the characters into Cornwood, the realm Bender imagines himself to be from. "Frydo" (Fry) and "Leegola" (Leela, now a centaur) encounter "Titanius" (Bender); no one in Cornwood has any memory of their real lives except for Fry and Leela. The three are attacked by "Waltazar" (Walt), "Larius" (Larry) and "Ignus" (Igner), who are trying to recover the anti-backwards crystal. While fighting them off, Frydo drops the crystal, which rolls like a die and magically banishes the sons. Frydo and company meet the wizard "Greyfarn" (Farnsworth), who explains that in this world, the anti-backwards crystal is known as the Die of Power. The evil sorceress "Momon" (Mom) molded a set of powerful dice, but lost this one and has been trying to locate it so she can tap its immense potential. The only way to stop Momon is to enter her lair at the Geysers of Gygax and throw the Die into the lake of molten plastic from which it was formed. As the group sets out, the intersex, pacifist centaur Hermaphrodite (Hermes) bars their passage; the centaurs oppose the violence that Frydo and company intend to do. Leela easily pushes past Hermaphrodite and leads the group to the Cave of Hopelessness. As they approach, "Gynecaladriel" (Amy), Queen of the Water Nymphos, joins their quest and seduces the guard, enabling them to enter the Cave. Inside the Cave, a horde of "Morcs" attacks, followed by a gigantic lobster creature (Zoidberg) which Leegola cuts to pieces in a rage, and the wormlike Tunneling Horror which Frydo defeats using the Die. As Frydo becomes obsessed with the Die, Leegola renounces violence and takes refuge among the centaurs. Frydo attempts to murder the other members of the party; when foiled, he flees with the die. The remaining travelers journey to Wipe Castle to raise an army against Momon, only to find that Roberto, its insane king, has sent his men on a suicide mission. The heroes defend the kingdom as Waltazar and Larius lay siege to it until Leegola regains her violent nature and rallies the centaurs to help her friends. Frydo makes his way into Momon's lair, aided by Zoidberg's still-living head; Frydo cannot bring himself to destroy the Die, so Zoidberg bites him to force him to drop it. Momon becomes a dragon and goes after the Die, but when it stops rolling, it turns Frydo into a dragon as well. The rest of the party arrives, along with Ignus, who reveals that he is Greyfarn's son. Overwhelmed by this revelation, Greyfarn inadvertently allows Momon to seize the Die. Cornwood collapses in on itself, hurling the characters back into the real world. The Professor requests a hug from Igner. As the Professor theorized, Igner swallowed Mom's crystal in defiance, and the hug brings the crystals in the two men's stomachs close enough to render dark matter useless. The crew harnesses dozens of Nibblonians to pull their ship home.


Cast

*
Billy West William Richard Werstine (born 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor, comedian, radio personality, impressionist and musician. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'', the title characte ...
as Philip J. Fry / Frydo, Professor Farnsworth / Greyfarn, Dr. Zoidberg / Monster, Additional voices *
Katey Sagal Catherine Louise Sagal (born January 19, 1954) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Peggy Bundy on '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997), Leela on '' Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present), Cate He ...
as Leela / Leegola *
John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the ''Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
as Bender / Titanius Anglesmith, Igner / Ignus, Additional voices *
Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...
as Mom / Momon, Nurse Ratchet, Additional voices *
Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...
as Walt / Waltazar, Dr. Perceptron, Additional voices *
Phil LaMarr Phil LaMarr is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV'', where he stayed for five seasons. His voice acting roles in animated series include the Sam B of ' ...
as Hermes Conrad / Hermaphrodite, Dwight Conrad, Additional voices *
Lauren Tom Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. She began her career on stage, winning an Obie Award, and gained recognition for her role in '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993). On television, she is known for her roles in the NBC sitcom ''Fri ...
as Amy Wong / Gynecaladriel, Additional voices * David Herman as Larry / Larius, Roberto / King of Wipe Castle, Additional voices *
Kath Soucie Kath Soucie (, ). is an American voice actress, known for voicing Phil, Lil and their mother Betty DeVille in '' Rugrats'', Lola Bunny in the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise, Fifi La Fume and Li'l Sneezer in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Maddie Fent ...
as Cubert Farnsworth, Additional voices *
Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...
as Nibbler, Additional voices *
Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...
as himself (archive footage taken from " Anthology of Interest I") * Rich Little as himself *
George Takei George Takei ( ; born April20, 1937), born , is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS ''Enterprise'' in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. Takei was born to Japanese-American parents, with w ...
as himself * David X. Cohen, Paul D. Calder, Danik ThomasAudio commentary of ''Bender's Game'' as Die of Power ''(uncredited, singing harmony)''


Features


Opening sequence

The opening subtitle of the DVD and the first part of the broadcast version is "The flames in your TV are not part of the show". The cartoon on the Jumbotron is '' Quasi at the Quackadero''. Similar to the previous film, instead of the ship crashing into the Jumbotron as in a regular episode, it gets absorbed through the screen, whereupon the opening sequence becomes a parody of the 1968 animated film '' Yellow Submarine''. The crew flies by bits of the number e then smashes back out through the screen and into the real world.


DVD

The DVD features an Audio Commentary, Storyboard Animatic, Futurama Genetics Lab, ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and Futurama featurette, How to draw ''Futurama'' in 83 easy steps Featurette, Deleted scene, 3D Model with Animator Discussion, Outtakes, Bender's Anti-Piracy Warning and sneak peek at '' Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder''. Easter Eggs show David X. Cohen displaying a collection of different Polyhedrons, and extra outtakes of Billy West. The Blu-ray also exclusively features Picture-in-Picture video footage of the commentary.


References


External links

* * * * '' Bender's Game'' at ''The Infosphere''. {{20th Century Fox Animation 20th Century Fox animated films 20th Century Fox direct-to-video films 20th Century Fox Television films 2000s American animated films 2000s English-language films 2008 comedy films 2008 direct-to-video films 2008 films 2009 American television episodes Adult animated comedy films Adult animated science fiction films American adult animated films American animated comedy films American animated science fantasy films American animated science fiction films American direct-to-video films Animated films about parallel universes Animated films based on animated series American science fiction comedy films Direct-to-video animated films Dungeons & Dragons English-language science fantasy films Films about quantum mechanics Films directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill Films produced by Claudia Katz Films set in the 31st century Films with screenplays by Eric Kaplan Fox Television Animation films Futurama films Futurama season 5 episodes Middle-earth parodies Rough Draft Studios films The ULULU Company films Works by David X. Cohen