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Author Topic: Where MG got Leela's name from  (Read 1419 times)
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rawcatslyentist

Crustacean
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« on: 03-22-2003 21:22 »

Well it's veeery close & really obscure.

Leela was the name of one of the main narration characters from the movie
Horror of the Blood Monsters..AKA Vampires from the Lost Planet. Undoubtably one of the worst Sci-Fi B movies ever spliced.
)BTW she was one of the Taganni tribe(
Turanga Leela \\\Leela Taganni
Soo bad its good!  Also the color schemes from Roswell {blue & red} are evident in this flick.
Prowla RX7

Starship Captain
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« Reply #1 on: 03-22-2003 21:33 »

Good work, rawcat!  Me learn something new everyday.  :)
Carbito

Starship Captain
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« Reply #2 on: 03-22-2003 22:43 »

How did you find that information?
rawcatslyentist

Crustacean
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« Reply #3 on: 03-23-2003 01:19 »

I was watching the dvd (actually listening while doing something else) when the character stated she was Leela Taganni. After seeing all the other sci-fi ripoffs 2+2=2.2.
  If you haven't seen this movie, it is half new color & half old B&W (the B&W was made in the Philipines). The B&W scenes were put through a color filter making it blue or red or yellow kinda like the opening of Roswell with the supernova & popcorn.  The opening of Horror is so overdone by the narrator it will have you hooked, just to see how much worse it will be.


"Let your anger be as a monkey in a pinata, hiding with the
candy , hoping the kids don't break thru with the stick"
  Master Tang   "Kung Pow Enter the Fist"
Teral

Helpy McHelphelp
DOOP Secretary
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« Reply #4 on: 03-23-2003 03:07 »

Seems rather obscure, I still think she is named after Oliver Messiaen's "Turangalila" symphony. The symphony is described by the author as an ode to beauty and joy.
Venus

Urban Legend
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« Reply #5 on: 03-23-2003 03:12 »

but she's not joyful
SpaceCase

Liquid Emperor
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« Reply #6 on: 03-23-2003 03:22 »

She's not joyful yet...
Tweek

UberMod
DOOP Secretary
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« Reply #7 on: 03-23-2003 04:49 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by Venus:
but she's not joyful
She brings us joy though  :love:

Action Jacktion

Professor
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« Reply #8 on: 03-23-2003 11:05 »

I checked the IMDb and it seems the character in question was actually called Lian, not Leela.

I think "Turangalila" is just too similar to be a coincidence, but maybe that's only where they got Turanga.  (That might explain why it's her "last" name even though it comes first.)
FrysGIRL

Bending Unit
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« Reply #9 on: 03-23-2003 17:17 »

Lila means purple in German and they pronounce lila like Leela - just found it interesting.
Smitty

Professor
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« Reply #10 on: 03-23-2003 17:30 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by Action Jacktion:I think "Turangalila" is just too similar to be a coincidence, but maybe that's only where they got Turanga.  (That might explain why it's her "last" name even though it comes first.)

That's probably some sort of Arabic-mutant connection. That or it's a nod the the Bajorans from Star Trek.
winna

Avatar Czar
DOOP Ubersecretary
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« Reply #11 on: 03-23-2003 17:43 »

The old horror movie, is just way off...  Besides the episode Roswell That Ends Well came way late in the series, if it were something significant and had to deal with Leela, don't you think it would have come earlier on?
Prowla RX7

Starship Captain
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« Reply #12 on: 03-24-2003 01:09 »

Well, seeing as it was a great episode.  Maybe they wanted to make it as good as possible.  And also find a way to make references to that old horror movie.  On another note, that "Turangalila" thing and lila meaning purple is also a strong coincidence, considering Leela's hair is actually purple also.
FudgeRock

Crustacean
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« Reply #13 on: 03-24-2003 02:17 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by Prowla RX7:... Leela's hair is actually purple also.

Hey I noticed that too!
Chanukah Zombie

Bending Unit
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« Reply #14 on: 03-24-2003 06:34 »

Turangalīla Symphony
Oliver Messiaen
1946-8

French title 'Turangalīla-symphonie'. Work for orchestra (not really a symphony) in ten parts.

Length 76 minutes.

Messiaen's huge and glorious work is an expression of love, inspired by the story of 'Tristan and Isolde'.

The title comes from Sanskrit. 'Turanga' means, in Messiaen's words, 'time that slips like sand through an hourglass or time that runs like a galloping horse'; 'līla' is love, life, movement, and the cosmic game of creation and destruction. 'Turangalīla' is also the name of a rhythmic figure in North Indian classical music, giving Messiaen further inspiration for his work: there are many subtle rhythms, some of great length, woven through the music.

The ten parts of the work don't tell a story or map out a programme, but are a series of contemplations on life-force and death.
 http://www.artsworld.com/music-dance/works/s-u/turangal-238-la-symphony-oliver-messiaen.html

LittleMiss

Starship Captain
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« Reply #15 on: 03-24-2003 20:57 »

That`s so interesting!  I never knew that!  How cool!  :]

--Missy
SpaceCase

Liquid Emperor
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« Reply #16 on: 03-25-2003 02:38 »

Thank you C.Z. I knew about the Turangalīla Symphony by Oliver Messiaen (never heard it though), but your description adds more depth.
Chanukah Zombie

Bending Unit
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« Reply #17 on: 03-25-2003 03:53 »

Has anyone here ever heard of "Camelot 3000" by Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland?  It is a graphic novel that collects the twelve-issue maxiseries from DC Comics.  This edition was published in 1998 but the comics first appeared on the shelves several years before that.  It is a story about the Court of King Arthur who are reincarnated in the year 3000.  He and his Knights of the Round Table must band together once again to save humanity.  One of the most important sub-plots is the the love between Tristan and Isolde because they were both reincarnated as women and couldn't figure out how to make their love work.  Futurama also takes place in the year 3000.  Turanga Leela is apparently named after the Turangalīla Symphony.  The Turangalīla Symphony is a musical composition about the love of Tristan and Isolde.  Both Leela and Fry are slightly androgynous people.  C'mon.  It's true.  They are.  Could this be the missing link in the connection?  Could Fry and Leela represent Tristan and Isolde, particularly as they are portrayed in Camelot 3000?  I read the book as a kid and loved it.  I would recommend it. 

Check out the page at DC Comics: 
 http://www.dccomics.com/directcurrents/comics/0-930289-30-7.htm   


While you're at it, check out the post I put in PEEL Human Resources Department under "Jewush Humor."  Yes, I know I mispelled the title.  There's nothing I can do about it now.  I advance a theory there that Leela's name, as well as her character, also derive partially from the figure of "Lillith" in Midrashic literature.  Heady stuff. 


One more thing, the Turangalīla Symphony makes use of the Ondes-Martenot, which is described as "...an early electronic instrument which makes a strange whooping noise... whose ecstatic swan-whistle swoops make this work instantly recognisable."  If I am not mistaken, this is the very same instrument (the one that sounds like a mutant church organ) heard in Psyche Rock / the Futurama theme song. 

See the description here:
 http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/martenot/   

You can listen to an excerpt of a solo demonstrating its glissando effect if you have Apple QuickTime. 

Kryten

Space Pope
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« Reply #18 on: 03-26-2003 01:13 »

I think you're reading a little TOO deeply into things there.
Chanukah Zombie

Bending Unit
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« Reply #19 on: 03-26-2003 02:30 »

You might be right.  But when it comes to probing for deeper meaning in things, and not just in Futurama, I'll gladly get it wrong most of the time in order to get it right occasionally.  For example, check out the next post (it's a doozy) where I really go to town on trying to tie all these concepts together.  It's all speculation and the worst case scenario is that I'm wrong. 
Chanukah Zombie

Bending Unit
***
« Reply #20 on: 03-26-2003 02:31 »

What is reincarnation?  It's the dead coming back to life.  What is being frozen in a cryogenic tube for 1000 years and then revived?  It's essentially a dead man coming back to life.  What is the Turangalila Symphony about?  It's about death and rebirth.  What is Camelot 3000 about?  It's about the dead returning for a second chance at life.  What was Matt Groening's biography like?  He had a miserable existence until he suddenly became wealthy, succesful, famous, respected and influential.  Why do you think his first creation was called "Life in Hell"?  During one low point, he ran the cash register in a record store, probably earning minimum wage off the books.  To a large extent, he is Fry.  The Simpsons was a second chance at life for him.  No doubt he feels extremely fortunate and has said so on numerous occasions.  Why shouldn't he create a work of fiction dedicated to this idea?  Futurama is his "child of old age," as it were, the story he always wanted to write.  He can do things here he could never do in any other forum.  It's an opportunity for him to really convey the messages that are important to him. 

"You know, I'm the luckiest guy in the whole future.  I've been given a second chance, and this time I'm not going to be a total loser."  That's what Fry says when he is being debriefed from his resuscitation in the very first episode... and that's what it's all about basically. 

There is a recent school of thought in theology that maintains Biblical prophecies about the Resurrection of the Dead will take place via scientific means such as cloning and cryogenics.  Ripped from tomorrow's headlines indeed.  Quantum Theology attempts to reconcile religion with the sciences.  Should these phenomena not be considered miracles just because we understand how they work?  "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."  Did you ever notice how much the snow resembles a big fingerprint when that statement is made in the final scene of "Godfellas"?  Watch as the camera pans out for a bird's eye view.  There's a lot more going on in this show than meets the eye.  A lot more.  Those poor monks... they might have found what they were after had they but set their sights a little closer to home. 


"OMNIA MVTANTVR NIHIL INTERIT"  (Everything changes but nothing is ever truly lost.) 

That's from the Sandman by Neil Gaiman.  Pick up a copy if you get the chance.  You'll be glad you did. 


Camelot 3000 was extremely important to the comic book industry and medium when it came out in 1982.  It was the first comic book in the modern era specifically written for adults.  It was the first "maxiseries," being twelve monthly issues in a finite series with a definitive ending.  It was the first book released through the direct sales market.  It made Frank Miller's "Dark Knight Returns" possible.  "Dark Knight Returns" made the Batman movie possible.  The Batman movie made a resurgence of superheroes possible for television and movies.  That made a general interest in animated programming possible.  That made it possible for the Simpsons to leave the Tracy Ullman Show vignettes and stand on its own.  That made it possible for us to have Futurama today.  So I guess we owe a lot to Camelot 3000.  Groening probably recognizes this debt and wishes to repay the comics medium by producing the Futurama comic book. 

My reason for mentioning the Ondes-Martenot was that it's an extremely rare instrument.  Assuming my guess was right, Turangalila Symphony and Psyche Rock are probably the only songs many of us will ever hear featuring it.  It is probably the "missing link" connecting those two songs.  Invented in 1928, it is one of the first electronic musical instruments ever made and may be the only one from its era still in use today.  As such, its music may be considered among the first true science fiction music ever made.  Like the little speech Groening had Fry give to Leela about the first Lunar Landing of 1969, Groening probably thought that fans of science fiction ought to remember and appreciate the things that inspired our imaginations and made sci-fi possible as a literary genre.  In that same episode, we see Luna Park's mascot, "Craterface," a character taken from the very first science fiction motion picture ever made for the silver screen.  "Le Voyage dans la Lune" (A Trip to the Moon), was made in 1902 by Georges Melies and based on the novel "De la Terre ą la Lune" (From the Earth to the Moon) written by Jules Verne in 1868!  It was a black & white silent film, 14 minutes in length, shown to audiences between Vaudeville acts.  It was the Neanderthal of sci-fi but it got the ball rolling.  It also evinces a heavy influence of H. G. Wells.  Bender's robotic sweetheart might have been a tip of the hat to "Die Frau im Monde" (The Girl in the Moon).  This book, written by Thea Von Harbou in 1929, is possibly the first science fiction novel to have been written by a woman. 

An excellent resource is Zvi Har’El's Jules Verne Collection at:
 http://jv.gilead.org.il/   

In "A Clone of My Own," the Professor explains to Cubert about the wonder and mystery of science and how it can accomplish almost anything if given the chance.  Groening apparently subscribes to the school of thought that says the difference between science and science fiction is a timeline.  "Science" is merely the science we have in our posession now and "science fiction" is the science we wish we had now, or to put it another way, the science we will have in the future if we just keep working at it.  Isaac Asimov once said that magic is just science that is currently beyond our grasp. 
In that episode, the Professor sums it all up by saying, "Nothing is impossible, not if you can imagine it!  That's what being a scientist is all about!"
Killerfox

Professor
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« Reply #21 on: 03-27-2003 20:32 »

wow, where do you guys get all that info?,
it all sounds too coincident, we would have to ask matt to know the truth.
VelourFog

Space Pope
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« Reply #22 on: 03-27-2003 21:36 »

Wow! Now us futurama fans can be as academic as Buffy fans. Let's hold a symposium.

Isn't it ironic that Chanukah Zombie can come up with such obscure ideas and yet can't spell half his thread titles correctly?
rawcatslyentist

Crustacean
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« Reply #23 on: 03-27-2003 22:29 »

Well I guess that shows whut I knows. But this only imposes a bigger Chicken Vs. the Egg question....

(1) Did Matt hear the symphony while working in the record store?
(2) Read about it in the Camelot 3000 comic?
(3) Read the comic book while listening to the symphony while working at the record store?

I would bet on #3. 
Never had Matt figured for that deep of a person, but who am I to judge the character of others (I have a hard enough time keeping track of my own character).
  Can't wait till season 3 dvd gets released!!
Futurama Rules!!!!
Spice Weasel

Liquid Emperor
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« Reply #24 on: 03-27-2003 22:46 »

There was a strong ass kicking female character on the old Dr. Who shows called Leela.
VelourFog

Space Pope
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« Reply #25 on: 03-28-2003 00:01 »

If i had to bet i would say that MG didn't come up with Leela's name. everyone knows he's not the brains of futurama.
Spice Weasel

Liquid Emperor
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« Reply #26 on: 03-28-2003 00:19 »

^MG originally called her Leila
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