Into The Wild Green Yonder (Nibbler's Shadow?)

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Edit on the 27/06/2009 Link> http://theinfosphere.org/Nibbler%27s_shadow


I've seen ITWGY, and I both loved and hated the ending. What happens next!?

Could that be which I've circlesed in yellow and pointed at with red arrows be Nibbler's shadow?

Or am I just an attention seeking nerd?  

And I watched the Audio Commentary and it didn't say one word on that shadow, so this shouldn't be considered a spoiler. Right?

[#1 :]

Well spotted, it could just be coincidence but it seems too coincidental.

That said I'm not sure why they had to hide him away - unless it's a nod to his shadow being in the first episode.

[#2 :]

I suppose it could be Nibbler's shadow, but the head is too ovally and the third eyeball is too short.  (Compare here.)

[#3 :]

i dont know it could be but i looks more like fanny

[#4 :]

Link

David X. Cohen: ... There is a little secret towards the end of the movie, a very subtle visual, I don't want to give anything away, but it harkens back to something we did in the pilot. There was a real subtle secret thing that we stuck in the pilot that a lot of fans noticed and we've kind of done a related thing here at the end of this movie...

Ok, it's almost certainly intentional.

[#5 :]

If they come back I bet Nibbler will have saved them from the Black hole somehow.

[#6 :]

Wormhole, Igner.

I see what you mean, although I had to brighten the image so I can see what your on about, It does look a little similar but his head is kind of further up from where it normally is.

[#7 :]

Other nods to the first episode in the finale (lets just call it "last movie until the next movie"):

- An opening pan of outer space (Monkey Francis and the dwarf star)
- A giant gorilla (the video game and mini-golf, minus barrels in the latter)
- A countdown (new years eve 3000 and the explosion)
- Nibbler's shadow as a bookend (as you've mentioned)

[#8 :]

Other nods to the first episode in the finale (lets just call it "last movie until the next movie"):

- An opening pan of outer space (Monkey Francis and the dwarf star)
- A giant gorilla (the video game and mini-golf, minus barrels in the latter)
- A countdown (new years eve 3000 and the explosion)
- Nibbler's shadow as a bookend (as you've mentioned)

What's strange is in both instances, they went in that order. Well, maybe not strange.

[#9 :]

The question now isn't so much is it Nibbler (it almost certainly is) but what is Nibbler doing there in the first place? What is particularly puzzling is the lack of a proper appearence in ITWGY for Nibbler.

[#10 :]

The question now isn't so much is it Nibbler (it almost certainly is) but what is Nibbler doing there in the first place? What is particularly puzzling is the lack of a proper appearence in ITWGY for Nibbler.

Given that the Nibblonians foresaw the need for Fry to save the universe 1000 years in advance, it's not a stretch to say that Nibbler may have stowed away intentionally.

[#11 :]

His head looks too much like an oval. Maybe it's another Nibblonian???

[#12 :]

I'm sure Nibbler's shadow was just put in as a nod to his shadow in the first episode. Nothing more.
If the series DOES continue, that little inclusion is always there to use but I'm sure it was put in as just a nod.

[#13 :]

It does look a lot like Nibbler, but then again it could be a mechanism with a joystick off-screen on the ship. But if Nibbler was really there, you think he'd be in the picture.

[#14 :]

It is Nibbler and he is there to blank everyone's memory after they go through the wormhole.
They will most likely come out of the wormhole near Nibbler's home planet.  Once Nibbler blanks eveyone's memory the show can go back to normal.

[#15 :]

i dont know maybe its a cross between fanny and nibbler

[#16 :]

It is Nibbler and he is there to blank everyone's memory after they go through the wormhole.
They will most likely come out of the wormhole near Nibbler's home planet.  Once Nibbler blanks eveyone's memory the show can go back to normal.

That'd be incredibly lame. I get the feeling Nibbler's presence was there for the sake of showing that he's going to be with them when they get out the other side.

I get the feeling that at least the first episode will be dedicated to them getting back to Earth.

[#17 :]

That or the first few episodes.

[#18 :]

Sci-Fi things where they're on a ship lost in space and always searching has been done to death I couldn't stand a whole season of that let alone a few episodes, I want them to go back to New New York and get up to their usual shenanigans.

[#19 :]

At this point I don't really remember what their "usual" shenanigans are. The last few episodes have all been epics, so it'll be weird to have to get used to the 22-minute format again.

[#20 :]

I agree, it is going to be weird adjusting back to it after six years.

[#21 :]

Maybe it would be weird, but the New New York shenanigans is a good part of the reason we love them in the first place, right?  I do not think it will be too terrible to adjust to the format again.

And as much as I love to speculate, I think nibbler's shadow may have just been intended to be a homage to the pilot, but maybe now that the show is coming back they may very well try to play it into the first few episodes.

[#22 :]

The way I see it, once they decided Leela should confess her love for Fry, they also said they had added in the shadow aswell and they're going to use the shadow of nibbler as an excuse to blank their memory's and start the bullshit all over again.

It's like, Here have some candy and you go to take it and then pull their hand away
they won't ever stop doing it.

[#23 :]

The way I see it, once they decided Leela should confess her love for Fry, they also said they had added in the shadow aswell and they're going to use the shadow of nibbler as an excuse to blank their memory's and start the bullshit all over again.

It's like, Here have some candy and you go to take it and then pull their hand away
they won't ever stop doing it.

I'm as jaded as any shipper out there, but I really doubt that Nibbler is going to erase the crew's memories. I think the writers realize that the fans are sick of the chase; either get Fry and Leela together, or forget about that storyline entirely.

'Course, I'd prefer the former. And I think that's the direction in which the writers are leaning, too. Matt Groening seemed to be deeply affected by the woman who, at Comic Con, begged him to give Fry and Leela some closure at the end of ItWGY. And, though DXC gives some indication, in the movie's commentary, that the writers were afraid to go that far with Fry and Leela--I still think they're gonna man up and deal with the fact that they've reached the point of no return. Fry and Leela have said the "I love you"s and done the smoochin', and a ret-con of that will just serve to piss off and alienate a large portion of the audience (even those who aren't shippers, but are frankly getting fed up with the will-they/won't-they crap).

[#24 :]

It does seem like a very lame and cheap way of hitting the reset button with memory blanking and I'm sure they know it themselves that it would be like a punch in the face to the viewers but I just know they are going to do it.
(and if they don't I will be pleasantly surprised, I always assume the worst so when I'm proven wrong the result can only be positive.)

Also, Leela had time to change her pants between running into the ship, then flying it away?

[#25 :]

Also, Leela had time to change her pants between running into the ship, then flying it away?

Well, y'know, she could've, uh, had some help...

And that costume changin' also applies to Fry and Kif. Just a contrivance for the final scene, I guess.

[#26 :]

I guess they wanted their possible final moments to be in their original clothing, kind of like how I put Frank West's normal garb on before the helicopter comes in Dead Rising.

[#27 :]

Is there anything to suggest that Nibbler will blank everyone's memory aside from idle speculation? He was probably only there to a/ show that he'll be present with them wherever they end up on the other side of the wormhole and b/ as a nod to the pilot episode where you see his shadow under the table.

I'm 99% certain that nobody will have the events of ITWGY blanked out of their minds. The writers are better than that.

[#28 :]

I know they are smarter than that but I just know they're going to do it anyway.

[#29 :]

How do you know this? Is a little faith in this writing staff that has given us so much awesome in the past too much to ask?

I'm... pretty sure it was really just an homage to the pilot.

[#30 :]

I would love to be proven wrong.

(I'm not saying you can't, I actually want somebody to prove me wrong)

[#31 :]

The only way to prove you wrong is to wait and see what happens.

I'm pretty sure you will be wrong though.

[#32 :]

It is just too easy of a way out for the writer's to blank everyone's memory, I just cannot believe that they would do that just to make things "go back to normal", like every sitcom does at the end of the episode!

[#33 :]

Is it just me, or does Nibbler scare the everliving crap out of you guys too?  Maybe they'll do something with this later. 

[#34 :]

No, I think Nibbler is cool. I think it's cool when the vulnerable-looking small creature is actually pretty smart and strong.

[#35 :]

i think its pretty obvious its nibbler, and david X's comments mentioned earlier in this thread only solidify that obviousness. Should the series make a return he will probably somehow be involved in the next plot.

[#36 :]

i think its pretty obvious its nibbler, and david X's comments mentioned earlier in this thread only solidify that obviousness. Should the series make a return he will probably somehow be involved in the next plot.

Where have you been?

[#37 :]

This just in someone said this.

it looks to me as much like the shadow of the planet express building as it does the shadow of nibbler.

Maybe the wormhole just took them home.

Indeed, it does. But I'm not sure about the whole thing.

[#38 :]

They hadn't yet gone through the wormhole though.

[#39 :]

That's goes to be the stupidest speculation I've ever heard.