KwanzaaBot, a character voiced by the late Coolio, will return in the upcoming Hulu revival of Futurama. The Grammy-winning rapper and actor, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 59, recorded dialogue and Futurama-themed music for the futuristic animated sitcom just a few weeks ago.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Futurama producer David X. Cohen offered his condolences to Coolio's loved ones, and noted that Coolio "looked and sounded great when we saw him in the studio." Cohen added that Coolio was "one of our favorite guests, always upbeat and enthusiastic". At their last recording session, after Cohen thanked him for returning, Coolio told him "Everybody loves KwanzaaBot."
KwanzaaBot, a robot designed to promote and explain the African-American holiday Kwanzaa, is part of Futurama's extensive Rolodex of surreal recurring characters. He first appeared in the 2001 episode "A Tale of Two Santas," and later returned in the 2007 follow-up film Bender's Big Score, and again in 2010's "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular", an episode of the Comedy Central Futurama revival. The show made use of Coolio's memorable voice, as well as his rapping skills; in Bender's Big Score, he rapped alongside Robot Santa (John DiMaggio) and the Hanukkah Zombie (Mark Hamill), and in "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular", he outlined the principles and traditions of Kwanzaa in song.
In addition to his extensive Grammy-winning discography, Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., had a prolific acting career. He made memorable appearances in Dear God, Batman and Robin, and 2003's Daredevil movie, and guest-starred on Space: Above and Beyond, The Nanny, and Charmed. In addition to Futurama, he also contributed his voice to Static Shock and Gravity Falls. He died this week at age 59, much to the shock of the music industry; tributes from collaborators, friends, and fans have poured in from all over the globe.
Futurama has had a rocky broadcast history; the Matt Groening-created series debuted on Fox in 1999, then was canceled in 2003. Comedy Central revived it with four straight-to-video films in 2007 and a follow-up series in 2008, before canceling it again in 2013. Now it is returning on Hulu with its entire original cast. The revival will be produced by 20th Television Animation, a division of Disney Television Studios; it will be animated by Rough Draft Studios.
The upcoming Futurama episode featuring Coolio's performance as KwanzaaBot will be released in 2023, and the episode will be dedicated to Coolio.