Futurama's Oldest Mystery SOLVED: Was Nibbler's shadow in the FIRST AIRING of Space Pilot 3000?

Most Futurama fans know that Nibbler's shadow can be seen in Space Pilot 3000, the show's first episode. It appears just before Fry falls into the cryogenic chamber. The reason why was revealed in the season 5 episode The Why of Fry. One question remained: was the shadow visible the FIRST time Space Pilot 3000 aired, suggesting that Futurama's creators had Nibbler's role planned from the beginning? Or was it added later on for re-airings and other releases? This question has been debated for decades. Both sides have reasonable arguments and adamant supporters, but actual evidence was elusive...until now. Welcome to the Nibbler's Shadow Saga.

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CREDITS

VIDEO: Written, voiced & edited by Ash K. Ryan. Find me at these links:

[Sceneometry]

I'm blown away by all the love for this video! I wish I could respond to every comment, but — I just did some quick math — as of posting this, about one-third of the comments on my channel are on this video alone. And it's only been out for a day! Thank you all so much. If you're new to my content, I hope you enjoy what you find here!

[ClampEEGEE]

I genuinely can't believe this was a controversy in the first place. I was actually on the internet in 1999 when Futurama first aired, and as early as episode 4 airing (the one where NIbbler gets found on the doomed planet) people were already pointing out that he looked like the shadow under the desk in the first episode.

[mfuturek]

I had taped the first episode when it first aired. After The Why of Fry aired I went back to the tape to see the shadow was there. My mind was blown, but unfortunately no one I knew cared.

[stigmaoftherose]

The tape must be fake, it doesnt meet my preconceived ideas about what should be on the tape.

[leodepew]

I always felt so clever pointing out Nibbler in the corner of the first episode, I’m so glad that they really were planning ahead. Futurama is one of my favorites.

[DeviantOllam]

Wow I had no idea that folk were debating this. My online rip group, ANiVCD, was the team that released all episodes of Futurama on the nights that they aired.

I could have provided you with this episode easily... but your acquisition of the screener is awesome!

[ronvlaarsvar]

Im glad they didnt stick with the original name "Main Title Missing" and went with Futurama

[Faniwa]

Fun fact: Did you know that in the what-if episode where Fry doesn't go to the future, Nibbler's shadow is noticeably absent?

[petoperceptum]

To be fair we have no evidence that the Futurama team doesnt have access to a backwards time machine and would use that extreme power simply to change the pilot to fuck with people.

[andrewhedstrom]

watching this 5 days after release, nothing censored by the copyright bots and the shadow is there. no cuts between showing the tape to the camera and the scene in question. excellent video!

[michaelmachiavelli]

I hope all of those people in the comments who were insulting and berating people who said he shadow was there, have the mental strength and decency to AT LEAST admit that they were wrong, and should probably also apologize to the people they berated.
It would be nice for us to start admitting when we are wrong as it would help restore people's faith in basic humanity.

[Visuwyg]

I remember the writers being incredibly proud of the Nibbler easteregg in the Audio commentaries.

[NineHundredDollarydoos]

4:50
Man, that guy wrote a giant paragraph of crap as 'proof' of something that turned out to be total headcanon.

[Cole_MacGrath]

It would be really cool to get the entire unedited video on the internet archive, especially a copy of it converted to digital for preservation.

[PredictedCyborg]

Sweet. You answered a curious question, AND got a rare piece of what could be considered previously-lost media out of it! Because you have a pre-release version of the pilot episode, minus titles and credits!

[enderpal]

The shadow of Nibbler is also present in the workprint for "Space Pilot 3000", so I'm surprised people disputed the shadow's existence in the original version

[lernreed]

If it was a retcon, I feel like Nibbler’s shadow would look more like him or move a little more. The fact that it’s still and a little off model makes it more authentic, not that I ever doubted it.

[TomSFox]

The shadow is in an early animatic with extended scenes. People denying it was there are straight-up delusional.

[Mr.Toast]

I never knew this was a debate among futarama die-hards, but the level of execution and the effort to be as transparent as possible to settle the issue is simply beautiful. Gonna go check out some more of your vids now!

[martinagniss]

Insane commitment to solve this mystery. Great job!! Also so cool that they planned that from the beggining. Fun fact about the changed line: I originally watched this in spanish and the line (although it's obviously translated) remained unchanged.