Futurama's Billy West Combined Some Classic Voices To Find Dr. Zoidberg's Sound

In the style of his beloved character Troy McClure, prolific voice actor Billy West begins his voice role breakdown to Vanity Fair, "You may recognize me as both Ren and Stimpy, or Fry and Farnsworth on 'Futurama.'" Indeed, West has a foothold in the generation-spanning memories of millions, from his early radio days to his '90s Nickelodeon cartoon run, all the way up to his highly-quoted voice work on Matt Groening's sci-fi laugh-fest "Futurama."

Conceived by Groening during his time working on "The Simpsons," the animated sitcom observes the oafish Philip J. Fry (West) emerging from an accidental thousand-year cryogenic preservation to navigate the universe of 2999. Fry gets a job with an interplanetary delivery company, working alongside the one-eyed Leela (Katey Segal), accountant Conrad (Phil LaMarr), and rude robo-roomate Bender (John DiMaggio doing his best drunk robot impression) under the employ of mad scientist Dr. Farnsworth (also West). Fry and the good doctor are just two of the roles West lends his vocal talents, and other memorable characters include the vain Zapp Brannigan (a role originally written for Phil Hartman) and the dumpster-diving Decapodian creature Dr. Zoidberg.

As the staff physician for Farnsworth's Planet Express, Dr. Zoidberg gesticulates with lobster-like claws and shows an alarming ignorance of human anatomy. He means well; in fact, he's one of the show's kindest characters (at one point, he's the sole crewmember to make Santa's nice list). But no matter how often he sheds his outer shell, Zoidberg is routinely bullied by those around him, the Meg to everyone's Peter Griffin.

Looking back on his most recognized roles, West divulges that the inspiration for Zoidberg's voice came not from out of this world but from luminaries of the vaudeville stage.

As /Film's Whitney Siebold writes, the "Futurama" writers had a habit of shaping the characters in the spiritual image of their respective voice actors; an off-the-cuff impression between takes may work its way into the plotline of a future episode, for example. For West, born in 1952, there are decades worth of classic comedians to buttress the likes of Zoidberg with.

For the crustacean-esque doctor, West tells Vanity Fair that he pulled from, among others, 1940s Hollywood star George Jessel, whose dinner speeches and sharp delivery earned him the nickname "Toastmaster General of the United States." The throaty depths of Jessel's voice fused with the rhythmic timbre of "Irma La Douce" star Lou Jacobi and, finally, a garble that would naturally come from Zoidberg's anatomy. West says to Vanity Fair:

"This character, they said, 'What do you think he would sound like?' I said, 'Well, he's got all that cool meat hanging off of his face, so his speech is [unintelligible].' I kept thinking of a vaudevillian — before there was television, the master of ceremonies, his name was George Jessel, and he was a comic and he was an actor. He'd have jokes like, 'You know the definition of a smart***? A fella that can sit on an ice cream cone and tell you what flavor it is.' Then there was Lou Jacobi from the 'Arthur' movies where he leans into Arthur and goes, 'What's it like to have all that money?' So I used the two of them, cold-fused them to get Zoidberg."

Though the series ended in 2013 after seven seasons (plus a handful of DTV films), fans can let out a triumphant warble as creators Groening and David X. Cohen have announced a 20-episode revival coming to Hulu. As the doc assures and threatens with equal measure, "You still have Zoidberg."