Mom (Futurama)

Mom
Futurama character
First appearance	"A Fishful of Dollars"
Last appearance	"Meanwhile"
Voiced by	Tress MacNeille
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Occupation	CEO and majority shareholder of MomCorp
Spouse(s)	Dr. Ogden Wernstrom
Children	Walt (son) Larry (son) Igner (son)
Origin	Earth

Mom, real first name Carol, is a character from the animated television series Futurama. She is voiced by Tress MacNeille.

Character

Mom owns and manages 99.7% of MomCorp, a large, multi-billion dollar industrial complex with numerous subsidiaries and a monopoly on robot production. In public, Mom appears to be a sweet grandmotherly figure who wears antiquated clothing that makes her look larger and friendlier. She speaks in a low, soothing tone and when pressed about something she or her company has done wrong will often deflect the question. Privately, she is malevolent and foul-mouthed, and is often shown smoking. She is both physically and emotionally abusive to her sons and is extremely narcissistic. In the episode "Mother's Day" and again in Bender's Game, it is revealed that some of her bitterness originates from several ill-fated romances with Professor Farnsworth. Farnsworth has repeatedly struck up their relationship after forgetting why he previously left her, only to dump her again when he realizes how evil she really is. Mom is sometimes shown attending charity functions as a way of boosting her public image, but in reality she 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". In the episode "The Tip of the Zoidberg", it is revealed by Dr. Zoidberg that her first name is Carol.

Sons

Mom's sons, left to right: Igner, Larry and Walt, in the episode Future Stock.

Mom has three sons who are almost always at her side; Walt (Maurice LaMarche), Larry (David Herman), and Igner (John DiMaggio). She employs them to carry out her schemes against others, often with disappointing results. Her sons own a 0.1% share of the company and all wear matching uniforms. They are portrayed on the show as a spoof of the Three Stooges, complete with Stooge-style slapstick abuse of one another. Walt is the oldest and is implied to be Mom's successor, he refers to her as "Mother" and is usually the one physically abusing the other two brothers. Larry is the middle son, and usually the brunt of Mom and Walt's abuse. He stands with a slouch and can often be seen cowering when Mom flies into a rage. Igner is the youngest son, he addresses Mom as "Mommy" and is the least intelligent of the three brothers. Igner is usually assigned the worst jobs by his brother, and even Mom admits to being disgusted by his stupidity. Igner usually parrots what other people say to him and doesn't show much understanding. In Bender's Game it is revealed that Professor Farnsworth is Igner's illegitimate father. 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.

In Bender's Game, Farnsworth comments that his last relationship with Mom was "Thirty-something years ago". Nibbler later on adds that it was 36 years ago when Mom started mining dark matter. Mom was carrying Igner at this time but showed no signs of pregnancy (having only recently fired Farnsworth), making Igner approximately 35 years old, and his brothers a year or two older - in the movie, Larry is seen as a toddler not much older than a year, while Walt is seen at about three years old. It is suggested—though never expressly stated—that Professor Farnsworth's nemesis Professor Wernstrom is the father of Walt and Larry.

Movie appearances

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, she 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 seen dancing with Yivo and later is briefly seen in the audience of Fry's church sermon to Yivo. Mom serves as the primary antagonist in Bender's Game. She is briefly seen again at the end of Into The Wild Green Yonder when Fry reads her thoughts; she is silently gloating about how much money she has.

Games

In Futurama: The Game Mom appears as the main antagonist where she buys out Planet Express, which results in her owning 50% of earth, effectively making her Earth's ruler. She then plans to make Earth into a warship, but needs Farnsworth in order to help with the giant engine. Her plan succeeds, however the crew of Planet Express, having managed to escape earlier, travel back in time before the takeover, foiling Mom's scheme (the crew dies in the process). Angry at the fact that Mom killed his crew, the Professor refuses to sell Planet Express. This prompts Mom to bribe him with a sombrero, after which the senile professor does sell, again setting in motion the events that started the game.

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] Time named her one of the top ten worst moms ever.^[3]

References