Poll of the Day > Voice Actor for BENDER has REFUSED to return to FUTURAMA cause he wants MONEY!!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

As news that Disney was reviving the popular animated series from Matt Groening, Futurama for Hulu, which would be its third revival, fans were delighted to hear it's making its return..and all cast members were returning except for one, John DiMaggio who played the popular character, BENDER!!

A source claims through DiMaggio's reps that he is refusing to return because he is being lowballed the offer and wants to get paid MORE than the 2 other voice actors, Billy West who voiced Phillip Fry, Dr Zoidberg and Professor Farnsworth and Katey Sagal who voiced Leela.

Tress MacNielle, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman will also return but they have hit a standstill with DiMaggio for the popular character despite him wanting to return

The show follows Fry, a pizza delivery guy from NY who accidentally gets cryogenically frozen and woken up 1000 years in the future and his only descendant, Professor Farnsworth takes him and puts him to work on his delivery crew

Hulu announced it has ordered 20 new episodes to air in 2023.

They went out to West, Sagal and DiMaggio last year to begin negotiations where they sought to pay all 3 the same wage.

West and Sagal accepted byt DiMaggio's team did not and saw it not as competitive to the market or the legacy of the show and it fell apart after West and Sagal took the offer without consulting him.

They side counter offered with more competitive quotes and both sides couldn't come to an agreement as his offer would be bumped up more than the other 2.

A search for his replacement is still ongoing while the offer for him to return remains on the table as Disney does not want to pay him more than West and Sagal

Fans were not happy and have been calling for his return to voice the popular character as he is still willing and available to return assuming an agreement is reached..

Do you think he deserves more than West and Sagal?

https://i.imgur.com/6HLUF4b.jpg
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Dat's funny.

Sure there are a few side characters he plays that might end up sounding different or just end up being cut from speaking roles, but his primary role is the one character in the show they could reasonably replace with an in universe explanation very easily.

Mom finds out that she is paying royalties for whoever's voice is used in her bending robots so she force upgrades all bending units with a newer, cheaper voice.

If they were feeling especially nasty, they could make it a temporal update and then re-release all the old episodes with the new voice actor.

I respect the hell out of John as a voice actor

But not moreso than Billy fuckin West
Or Maurice LaMarche or Tress MacNeille for that matter

Good for him. If Disney doesn't want to pay what he wants for the role, they can find someone else.

Full Throttle posted...

A source claims through DiMaggio's reps that he is refusing to return because he is being lowballed the offer and wants to get paid MORE than the 2 other voice actors, Billy West who voiced Phillip Fry, Dr Zoidberg and Professor Farnsworth and Katey Sagal who voiced Leela.

Do you think he deserves more than West and Sagal?

If that is the totality of their roles, I would say the pay should be:

West >> DiMaggio > Sagal

West is the main role and bunch of major side characters.
He and Sagal are just one character and not even the main one, with his I'd say being a bit more important.
West is the one who should make more.

John did a a few reoccurring roles like Fry's old pizza boss Mr. Panucci, Celebrity Chef Elzar (BAM!), and any of the bending units like Flexo, as well as various minor characters when it didn't fit the other actors to play them. But he pretty much does just the one voice for all of them.

he will be called the villain, but he's really the savior.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

All of this.

Honestly, I'm surprised Futurama is still around.

Billy West is a voice acting legend. There's no one on that show who should command more money than him. I guess you could make the argument for Segal due to her success as an actress, but as far as straight voice acting goes Billy West is one of the all-time greats

Is he going start a better Futurama with Blackjack and hookers?

he can demand whatever he wants as a wage

they are free to walk away and say no

KodyKeir posted...

Dat's funny.

Sure there are a few side characters he plays that might end up sounding different or just end up being cut from speaking roles, but his primary role is the one character in the show they could reasonably replace with an in universe explanation very easily.

Mom finds out that she is paying royalties for whoever's voice is used in her bending robots so she force upgrades all bending units with a newer, cheaper voice.

If they were feeling especially nasty, they could make it a temporal update and then re-release all the old episodes with the new voice actor.

Yeah, as iconic as DiMaggio's voice is for Bender, there's no need to hope nobody notices him being replaced because the show can very easily provide an explanation for it without even having to actually break the fourth wall.

I mean, it's just a voice, there are many voice actors that could imitate his voice, probably well enough to never even notice the difference.

If it's the hill he wants to die on it's his right and his income.

Dimaggo is a legend he can get paid for whatever he want imo.

I am not really familiar with anyone besides him.

Loved him in Adventure Time as Jake the Dog.

That being said I dont really care about futurama, I never really could get into it.

wolfy42 posted...

I mean, it's just a voice, there are many voice actors that could imitate his voice, probably well enough to never even notice the difference.

That too. He's a very good voice actor who does a ton of stuff, but emulating another actor's voice is pretty common for VA's. He's far from irreplaceable.

https://youtu.be/cHaXdl20Prg

That hurts to hear that
The offer can't be lower for work he did on Disenchanted or Adventure Time, can it?

.. maybe Billy and Segal got offered a loooooooot

It sure is a shame that Bender died in that boating accident

There are a few ways to go with this, all of which are true:
1) If this prevents a few more lame episodes, fine and good
2) As with MLB and the current players' union, I don't really care who gets the money. I just find it disappointing they don't care more about their art than they do about dollars...and gross that they appeal to public complaints for support.
3) DiMaggio absolutely has the right to do whatever he wants. And I have the right to think less of everyone involved.

Eh.

I love Futurama but they need to stop rebooting it, eventually it'll suck if they keep making them

wpot posted...

I just find it disappointing they don't care more about their art than they do about dollars..

bro this is another futurama reboot, I can see why not everyone would consider it a passion project

TheSlinja posted...

bro this is another futurama reboot, I can see why not everyone would consider it a passion project

See comment #1 above....I agree.

...but he's disagreeing about dollars, not "I'm done with that character"...which shines a different light on it.

He deserves a fair wage, but not more than West and Sagal. The fact that everyone else is on board makes it seem like they are probably offering a fair rate.

Maybe he's just tired of playing the character

Or being typecast as the obnoxious guy

Futurama without Bender is even more limp than the live action Bebop.

John DiMaggio is great, but he's not worth more than Billy West or Katy Sagal. Billy also contributes a number of different voices, and arguably has a more important role. You might be able to do Futurama without Bender at all, but the same couldn't be said for Fry. Also, John DiMaggio might end up being a victim of his own success here: his body of work has inspired imitators eager to replace him. They might not be able to match him on versatility, but maybe they'll learn. That's a risk you take when you turn down a prominent role.

i agree that he shouldn't be paid more than billy west, and yeah they can replace him pretty easily in universe, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be weird and off putting.

the show has ended on a good note like 3 times now, they're really pushing their luck with this. especially now that the main cast isn't all on board to come back. would rather it go out on a good note than come back in worse quality and have its legacy tarnished. hate that people can't just let good shit end, enjoy what's there and move on to something new.

that's what he's doing. he knows Futurama shouldn't come back for a 93rd time, because that's fucking stupid

Futurama is the mcrib at this point

Bulbasaur posted...

that's what he's doing. he knows Futurama shouldn't come back for a 93rd time, because that's fucking stupid

Futurama is the mcrib at this point

yeah, honestly i kinda support dimaggio here. i get that the others want money or have fun doing this but it's not like they're freakin broke and untalented. i hate the way disney does shit like this to literally everything.

except the muppets for some reason, i guess.

Bulbasaur posted...

Futurama is the mcrib at this point

That's actually pretty funny