In the impending Futurama resurrection on Hulu, KwanzaaBot, originally voiced by the late Coolio, will make a comeback. Late on Wednesday, the 59-year-old Grammy-winning rapper and actor passed unexpectedly. He had just recorded lines and music with a Futurama theme for the animated comedy series. David X. Cohen, the producer of the animated series Futurama, expressed his sympathies to Coolio’s family and friends in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. He said that Coolio “looked and sounded terrific when we saw him in the studio.” Cohen continued, calling Coolio “one of our favourite visitors, always energetic and excited.”
Cohen congratulated him for coming back to the studio, and Coolio responded by saying, “Everybody likes KwanzaaBot.” As part of Futurama’s huge Rolodex of strange recurring characters is KwanzaaBot, a robot created to promote and explain the African-American holiday Kwanzaa. He initially appeared in “A Tale of Two Santas” in 2001, then again in “Bender’s Big Score” in 2007 and “The Futurama Holiday Spectacular” in 2010 (both episodes of the Comedy Central Futurama revival).
Coolio’s distinctive voice and rapping talents were put to good use on the show; he performed with Robot Santa (John DiMaggio) and the Hanukkah Zombie (Mark Hamill) in Bender’s Big Score, and he explained the tenets and celebrations of Kwanzaa in “The Futurama Holiday Spectacular.” Coolio, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr., had an active acting career in addition to his Grammy-winning music. Guest starring on Space: Above and Beyond, The Nanny, and Charmed, among others, he built a name for himself in films like “Dear God,” “Batman and Robin,” and “Daredevil” (2003). He did voice work for several shows, including Futurama, Static Shock, and Gravity Falls.
The music business was shocked by his death this week at age 59, and condolences have been pouring in from colleagues, friends, and fans all across the world. The broadcast history of Futurama, created by Matt Groening and premiering on Fox in 1999 and being cancelled in 2003, has been turbulent, to say the least. In 2007, Comedy Central brought it back with four VHS movies, then in 2008, they aired a sequel series, but by 2013, they had cancelled it again. Currently, you may watch it on Hulu with the original cast.
The revival is being produced by Disney’s 20th Television Animation, with animation by Rough Draft Studios. Coolio will have a special appearance as KwanzaaBot in the 2023 episode of Futurama that will be released in his honour.