Episode to be animated in 3 different styles

An upcoming episode of the U.S. comedy science-fiction series Futurama will contain an extended parody of anime. Comedy Central posted a preview of the episode on its website.

According to an article on the Wired magazine's website, the episode, titled "Reincarnation," will be animated in three different styles. The article noted that the first style will be "reminiscent of Fleischer Studios," the second style will emulate "lo-res 1980s" video games, and the third will evoke "the tropes and traps of Japanese anime, including Bender's proud proclamation, 'Mighty Merchandise Robot!'" The animation of the U.S. company Fleischer Studios was a strong influence on the style of Osamu Tezuka.

The episode is slated to air on Comedy Central later this year.

Created by The Simpsons' Matt Groening, Futurama debuted in 1999 on Fox; it was later syndicated by Adult Swim and now runs on Comedy Central. The Simpsons series has also made anime jokes in the past, including a 1999 episode that parodied an incident two years earlier when a Pokemon episode caused epileptic seizures in viewers.



Sources: Wired, Comedy Central