Bender's Big Score

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The film represents a pivotal moment in the franchise's history, proving that the Planet Express crew could sustain a longer narrative arc without losing their comedic edge. It introduced the concept of time paradox duplicates being doomed to die prematurely, a rule that drives the tragic reveal of Lars as the Fry duplicate who survived Bender's attack in 2012 and froze himself to return to the future. The plot hinges on a time code tattooed on Fry's buttocks, which three alien scammers—Nudar, Fleb, and Schlump—exploit after infecting Bender with an obedience virus. Nibbler warns the scammers against using the code but is ignored. The film also features special appearances including Coolio as Kwanzaa-bot, Al Gore as himself, Mark Hamill as Chanukah Zombie, Tom Kenny as Fry's older brother Yancy, and Sarah Silverman returning as Fry's ex-girlfriend Michelle.

In Their Own Story

Two years after Box Network executives cancel Planet Express's contract, the executives are fired and Planet Express is back "on the air." During a delivery to a nude beach planet, Leela discovers a tattoo of Bender on Fry's buttocks. Three alien scammers obtain the crew's personal information and infect Bender with an obedience virus, allowing them to seize control of Planet Express. The scammers discover that Fry's tattoo has a code that allows time travel into the past. They have Bender use the code to steal valuable objects from Earth's past and a doomsday device from Professor Farnsworth. Once the scammers have history's treasures, they decide to eliminate the time code by killing Fry. Fry uses the code to escape to January 1, 2000, just after he was frozen. The scammers send Bender after him. Bender arrives before Fry, creating a duplicate of himself when he has to use the bathroom. Another Bender from "way at the end" appears, opens Fry's cryogenic tube and puts the tattoo on his butt. The original Bender spends twelve years hunting Fry before seemingly killing him by blowing up his apartment. The crew holds a memorial for Fry, but he suddenly appears, having created a duplicate of himself. The Fry duplicate spent the years before Bender's attack working at Panucci's Pizzeria, then at an aquarium caring for Leelu, an orphaned narwhal. The scammers trick Earth President Richard Nixon into giving Earth to them. Exiled to Neptune, the population assembles a fleet. Hermes has his brain wired into the ship's battle computer, allowing him to destroy the scammers' fleet. When the scammers threaten to destroy the Planet Express ship with the doomsday device, Bender reveals he had stolen the device back. Leela fires the device, destroying the scammers' ship. Fry arranges for Leela and Lars to reconcile at the cryogenic lab. Having survived the attack, Nudar ambushes them. Lars tricks Nudar into approaching the Bender duplicate on self-destruct and holds them down as the duplicate explodes, killing them. The explosion reveals the Bender tattoo on Lars, revealing him as the Fry duplicate who survived Bender's attack in 2012 and froze himself to return to the future. Bender removes Lars' tattoo and travels to 2000 to place it on Fry in the cryogenic tube so that the events that transpired "make any sense at all."

Reader's Guide

The film opens with Planet Express getting back "on the air" after Box Network executives are fired. Hermes is decapitated, causing his wife LaBarbara to leave him. His head is placed in a jar while his body is repaired. Lars, who performs the procedure, flirts with Leela, much to Fry's chagrin. Key characters include Bender, who is infected with an obedience virus by the alien scammers Nudar, Fleb, and Schlump; Fry, whose buttocks tattoo contains a time travel code; Leela, who dates Lars; and Lars, revealed at the climax to be the Fry duplicate. The film contains two original "movie musical" style songs by Ken Keeler: "I May As Well Jump" (also referred to as "Street Song") and "This Trinity's Goin' to War" (also referred to as "This Toyshop's Goin' to War"). The movie also contains a cover of Scott Walker's "30 Century Man" performed by The Jigsaw Seen. The film was broken into four separate episodes which served as the first part of Futurama's fifth season, followed by The Beast with a Billion Backs, Bender's Game, and Into the Wild Green Yonder. The voice recording finished on July 3, 2007. An official trailer was released on October 10, 2007. The DVD sold 222,036 units in its first week, for a total of $3,994,428.

Did You Know?

• Bender's Big Score is the first carbon-neutral DVD released by 20th Century Fox, with the studio working to reduce the carbon impact of DVD manufacture and distribution.
• The film features a 22-minute full length episode of "Everybody Loves Hypnotoad" as a bonus feature on the DVD.
• The voice recording for the film finished on July 3, 2007, and an official trailer was released on October 10, 2007.
• The film contains two original "movie musical" style songs by Ken Keeler: "I May As Well Jump" and "This Trinity's Goin' to War".
• In its first week, the DVD sold 222,036 units, for a total of $3,994,428.