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Futurama's Kif is the mutant amalgamation of Truman Capote and an infamous SNL veteran, just the way Simpsons creator Matt Groening wanted it

You start with Leonard Nimoy, but as voice actor Maurice LaMarche revealed at MCM x EGX 2024, it's only a matter of time before Jon Lovitz ends up in the equation

News by Graeme McMillan, Editor

Published on Sat Oct 26 2024

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Sure, Futurama is set a thousand years in the future, but when it came to creating the voice of one of the show’s most beloved characters — the oh-so-dry Kif Kroker, the perpetually beleaguered first officer of Zapp Branigan — show co-creator Matt Groening has his sights set firmly on the past.

Speaking at the Futurama Reunion panel at MCM x EGX 2024, Maurice LaMarche talked about what it took to come up with his voice for the character, and his close collaboration (and trial and error) in doing so.

“Matt worked really intensely with me on developing the voice of Kif,” LaMarche explained. “He really wanted Kif to have, you know, a certain quality. So we stopped the recording, and Matt and I went off into a corner. He said, ‘I want him to sound […] like if Spock had to deal with William Shatner instead of Jim Kirk.”

(Sorry, William Shatner.)

He continued, “So the test line was, ‘Sorry, I think the rest of the crew doesn’t share your passion for velour.’ Well-known line, it’s one of the first things Kif says. So, I did it as Leonard Nimoy and I went, ‘Sir, it seems the rest of the crew doesn’t share your passion for velour,’ and he said, ‘Okay, good Nimoy, but it doesn’t sound like it would come from that mouth. I want him to sound tired.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I always thought Truman Capote sounded exhausted, so I did it [like that] and he says, ‘okay, alright, but I want him to sound pissier, like Jon Lovitz.”

This was manna from heaven for a man who’s spent years working with Lovitz on The Critic, as it turned out.

“So, Kif became an amalgam of Jon Lovitz and Truman Capote,” LaMarche concluded. “I don’t know if Matt ever heard Kif in his head the way I did it, but I think I molded myself to the directions that Matt [gave], and I he was very happy with it.”

Catch up with all out MCM/EGX 2024 coverage here.

About MCM / EGX

MCM is back at ExCeL London this Halloween Weekend – and this time we’re teaming up with EGX for the UK’s biggest pop culture weekend all under one roof and one ticket.

Dates

Oct 25 - Oct 27

Location

ExCel London
England

Visit the event page

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.