Futurama Initially Wasn't Allowed To Recruit Animators From These Rival Shows

Matt Groening first started thinking about making "Futurama" as early as 1990, when "The Simpsons" was still only in its second season. "The Simpsons," recall, was an instant hit when it debuted in 1989, and it rattled the zeitgeist enough to invite comparisons to "The Flintstones," the last primetime animated sitcom of major note. Little did Groening know at the time that it would outstrip "The Flintstones" in duration and popularity several times over.

Also, just as "The Flintstones" spawned its own sci-fi "sister series" in "The Jetsons," Groening felt that "The Simpsons" should have its own comedy/sci-fi counterpart. Groening has long been a fan of old science-fiction movies, and he long had an interest in starting his own sci-fi series. He wouldn't get his wish for another nine years, but "Futurama" debuted on March 28, 1999, finally fulfilling the process. It wasn't as big a smash as "The Simpsons," but the series has still refused to die, with "Futurama" having been canceled and resurrected many times in the 25 years since it premiered.

From 1990 to 1999, Groening idly prodded at "Futurama" from time to time, forming an idea in his head. It wouldn't be for many years that Groening would have a solid enough idea to call Rough Draft Studios, then best known for the MTV animated series "The Maxx," to announce that he wanted to work on a new show. Rough Draft was founded by Gregg Vanzo, and future "Futurama" creatives Claudia Katz and Bret Haaland were there at the time. They were thrilled to work on a Matt Groening project, and they agreed.

However, it seems that Fox, which was also handling "The Simpsons," wanted to lay down a few mandates. According to the new book "The Art of Futurama," Fox required that "Futurama" use all-new talent, and it wasn't allowed to borrow animators from "The Simpsons," "King of the Hill," or "Family Guy."

The mandate came from a seeming insistence that "Futurama" rise or fall on its own power. Katz recalled that she, Vanzo, and Haaland, while being the first to be offered the "Futurama" job, were almost instantly taken off the project because of a skittish Fox exec. Furthermore, Katz remembered being told by the Fox exec that Rough Draft didn't yet have a proven track record, and that's not the kind of studio that typically handles a high-profile studio animated series like "Futurama." "I think there's a slight chance of you failing," Katz recalled him saying, "and I'd rather not take that chance."

Naturally, they were "crestfallen," Katz explained. She, Vanzo, and Haaland, however, were confident that they were the right studio for the job, so much so that they decided to make a 90-second "Futurama" demo reel on their own. They wanted to prove to Fox and to Groening that they could do what the job required. Katz also noted that they were in communication with the same Fox exec who turned them down, but that she got "a really weird vibe" from him. Something was up.

Eventually, the trio surprised Groening with their demo, and he was eager to see it. They went to Groening's home to look at it, and Groening adored it. He then panicked and ran out of the room to make a phone call. Katz would learn later that Fox was going to offer "Futurama" to another studio that very afternoon. Katz, Vanzo, and Haaland beat their competitors by a matter of minutes. To quote Katz directly:

"If we'd got there an hour later, we'd have been sunk. Fortunately, we get the show. Then, Fox says, 'You can't hire anybody from 'The Simpsons,' 'Family Guy,' or 'King of the Hill,' even if they want to work with you.' A whole list of rules we needed to abide by."

Strange rules, but Rough Draft abided.

Groening also recalled the rules Fox had for "Futurama," including the no-poaching rule:

"We had a lot of blockades putting the show together. I was called by producers for one of the other shows threatening that if we stole any of their animators there'd be hell to pay. And the sad part was that so many animators working on some of these other shows really wanted to work with Rough Draft. There was also hesitation about working with Rough Draft Studios from some executives at Fox, since Rough Draft was run by animators. They compared it to 'letting the Inmates run the asylum.' All this was just baffling to me."

One can see why other animated shows would want to keep their talented animators on board, but Groening was correct in his assessment that Fox's mandate was indeed a little baffling. One can only assume that Fox wanted to instill a "prove yourself" mentality to the makers of "Futurama," forcing Rough Draft to make quality work without relying on already-established animation teams. It seems Fox had no faith in Rough Draft, and rumors even began to circulate that everything was chaos behind the scenes. It wasn't. Everyone knew what they were doing.

Katz recalled, a few years later, hearing from the above-mentioned Fox exec that "Futurama" was one of the better shows the network had ever put out, so Rough Draft proved themselves nicely. Katz also loved that Groening had their back. "To me," she explained, "It's always bonded us with Matt in an extra-special way because, if he hadn't gone to bat for us, who knows what would have happened."

I guess "Futurama" would have been shipped off to another animation studio.