Production edit
Al Gore, an environmental activist and former Vice President of the United States, guest starred in "Crimes of the Hot" as the voice of his own preserved head. In the episode, he is introduced as "the inventor of the environment and first emperor of the moon" at the convention where the world's top scientists gather to find a new solution to global warming. Gore commented on his role in an interview with the Associated Press: "I think I may have a future as a disembodied head. I'm not sure that any political calculation would have steered me toward this part, but it was great fun doing it." This was Gore's second guest appearance on Futurama, as he had previously appeared in the "Anthology of Interest I" episode (May 2000).[1] Gore's daughter, Kristin Gore, was a long-time writer on Futurama and got to work on "Crimes of the Hot". Gore commented that the writers normally sit around a table and write as a team, but since Kristin had seen her father's slide show about global warming since she was very young, she became an integral part of the writing team that worked on "Crimes of the Hot".[2]
Legacy and reception edit
The retro-style public service announcement shown to the Planet Express employees at the beginning of the episode was later used in Gore's documentary film An Inconvenient Truth to humorously explain how global warming works. Gore wanted an animated sequence for his film, and since his daughter had worked on Futurama, he chose this clip. Gore added that "it was a lot of fun to be able to use her work in the movie."[2]
References edit
- ^ Associated Press (2002-11-10). "Gore to be guest on ' Futurama '". Amarillo Globe-News. Amarillo, Texas.
- ^ a b Dougan, Andy (2006-09-14). "Simpsons creator adds spice to Gore". Evening Times. Glasgow, Scotland.