Mom (Futurama)
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| Futurama character | |
| Mom | |
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| Species | Human |
|---|---|
| Planet of Origin | Earth |
| Job | CEO & Majority shareholder of Moms's robot company & Mom's Motherly Baby Food Co |
| First Appearance | "A Fishful of Dollars" |
| Voiced by | Tress MacNeille |
Mom is a fictional character in the animated series Futurama, voiced by Tress MacNeille. Mom is one of the show's two main antagonists, the other being Zapp Brannigan. However, unlike Brannigan - who is simply an idiotic, comic opera buffoon - Mom is much more threatening and Machiavellian.
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[edit] Character
Mom manages and owns 99.7% of MomCorp, a large, multi-billion dollar industrial complex with numerous subsidiaries and a monopoly on robot production. Publicly, she retains the corporate image of a sweet, bustling old woman who often slips into the stereotype of a Deep South grandmother (she wears antiquated clothes that greatly accentuate her bust and general figure, while using rustic metaphors such as 'squeaking like an old screen door').[1] Behind the scenes, however, Mom is a malevolent, foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, deeply bitter, cruel and narcissistic gravel-voiced crow with an almost anorexic physique, who routinely abuses her terrified sons (see below) into submission, treating them like dogsbodies. In the episode "Mother's Day", it is heavily implied that at least some of her bitterness originates from an ill-fated romance with Professor Farnsworth who, while reformatting the basic robot design, terminated their affair following savage rows about his work. According to Bender's Game, this happened three consecutive times.
She occasionally attends charity functions as a way of boosting her public image, but really has no empathy for any of the people she's supposed to be supporting (in "A Fishful of Dollars" she describes one such gathering as 'some charity BS for knocked up teenage sluts').
According to the DVD commentary for the aforementioned episode, Mom 'basically became Doctor Laura' when her character was decided.
[edit] Sons
Accompanying Mom are her trio of sycophantic, petrified sons: Walt (Maurice LaMarche), Larry (David Herman) and Igner (John DiMaggio). They all wear matching uniforms and own a 0.1% share of MomCorp, indicative of the way she treats them all like grunts instead of family. She frequently resorts to violence and emotional abuse as a way of enforcing discipline, incessantly slapping her sons' faces (sometimes hitting all three with one swing of her hand) and insulting them in an often incoherent way ("Jam a bastard in it, you crap!"). When working together, their antics often mimic the Three Stooges.
The most intelligent and oldest son, Walt, as Mom's second in command, occasionally exacts his own punishments on his brothers. He has deeply devious, malevolent tendencies and speaks with a voice reminiscent of Vincent Price; he also exhibits disturbing symptoms of the Oedipus complex, possessing as he does an unhealthy admiration for his psychotic mother (in "Mother's Day" he disconcertingly revealed his intention of marrying a woman just like her).
The second, Larry, is slightly less intelligent than Walt but still appears to be more normal than either of his brothers. However, he is a totally docile wimp who apologizes for everything, being described by Professor Farnsworth as "the snivelling middle child." On one occasion, Walt and Mom laugh evilly, and Larry joins in nervously. Mom slaps him and asks what he is laughing about. He then comments: "...er, your laugh. Its so infectious." Mom snaps back "So is herpes, now shut up!"
The youngest and most pitiful son, Igner, borders on mental retardation and speaks in a stereotypically moronic voice; as such, he usually finds himself assigned the worst jobs, including being forced into Mom's brassiere for the purposes of a demonstration. He habitually addresses her as "Mommy" instead of "Mom."
The one act of collective rebellion perpetrated by Mom's sons, albeit without her knowledge, happens during the aforementioned "Mother's Day" episode when they try and stop her robot rampage against humanity, by re-uniting her with her long-lost love, Hubert J. Farnsworth, thus theoretically quenching her bitterness.
In Bender's Game, it is revealed that Igner is Farnsworth's illegitimate son, thus making him a nephew - many generations removed - of Fry himself. The commentary on the film hypothesizes that the other two may be the sons of Farnsworth's rival and Mom's ex-husband, Professor Wernstrom, but does not confirm anything. However, Farnsworth may also be Walt and/or Larry's father based on his statement that he had a relationship with Mom three times. Near the end of the film, Igner rebels against Mom by swallowing a crystal that allows dark matter to be used as starship fuel; his action ultimately causes all dark matter in the world become totally worthless in this respect.
On the DVD commentary track, the vowel at the end of Igner's name is specifically identified as an "E," with the writers and director commenting on how often the spelling used online is incorrect.
[edit] Movies
Although Mom has appeared in all four Futurama movies her role is only expanded in the third; in the others she appears only briefly.
In Bender's Big Score Mom is briefly seen hiring inter-galactic hit men to fight for her in the final battle. In the following film The Beast with a Billion Backs she is briefly seen in the audience of Fry's church sermon to Yivo.
Mom has a much larger role in Bender's Game where she becomes the film's main antagonist. Here she tries to use one of two dark crystals to monopolize the dark matter industry. The Professor tries to prevent this, however, using the second crystal as a counterbalance to Mom's crystal that will render the dark matter unusable as a fuel supply. During the ensuing order of events the characters are all transported into a Middle-earth-like dimension that is an obvious spoof of The Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons. In this universe, Mom is known as "Momon" (a spoof of Lord of the Rings antagonist Sauron), a sorceress with a Medusa-like head of snakes. The crystal in this reality is a mystical twelve-sided die Momon created in a set of five that she lost and desires to get back (acting as the parallel to the One Ring) for its power. At the film's climax, Momon retrieves the magic die and uses it to obliterate the fantasy world as well as sending everyone back to the proper reality. Upon returning to the correct dimension, Mom is defeated when Igner (who had swallowed the positive crystal) and Prof. Farnsworth (who had likewise swallowed the negative crystal before being sent to the fantasy world) touch stomachs in mid-hug and cause the crystals to react, rendering her dark matter fuel useless.
Mom is briefly seen at the end of Into The Wild Green Yonder when Fry reads her thoughts; she is silently gloating about how much money she has.
[edit] Cultural impact
Mom was included in the 2007 Forbes list of the richest fictional characters. She was ranked at #4 with an estimated net worth of $15.7 billion.[1] MomCorp was also included in the list of "The 25 Largest Fictional Companies" which estimated its sales at $291.8 billion.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Michael Noer and David M. Ewalt (2007-12-11). "The Forbes Fictional 15". Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/11/mom-futurama-money-oped-books-cx_de_fict1507_1211mom.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
- ^ Michael Noer and David M. Ewalt (2007-12-11). "In Pictures: The 25 Largest Fictional Companies". Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/10/largest-fictional-companies-oped-books-fict1507-cx_mn_de_1211company_slide_7.html?thisSpeed=15000. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
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