Storyboard:The Problem with Popplers

Some of the storyboard for "The Problem with Popplers" was made public on 7 September, 2011. It covers some of Act I, and is dated 18 October, 1999. The artist is Aaron Rozenfeld, and both David X. Cohen and Patric M. Verrone signed the storyboard.

The storyboards were made known by reddit user "glitterbones", through a post entitled "A friend of my mother's worked on 'Futurama', here is some of that work". The post linked to the Imgur account of Annika Holland, where the storyboards were visible.

The storyboard differs slightly from the final version of the episode. For each storyboard, there is a notation indicating which scenes are in it. In addition, a brief summary of each sections storyline is provided.

Scenes 1-23

 * Scenes 1-9: The Planet Express ship is flying away from the Planet of the Moochers. After Fry and  Leela reject Bender's inedible meal of baking soda and capers, Bender proposes a fight to the death with the loser being cooked.
 * Scenes 10-14: Fry notices a planet and believes it might have food. Leela advises him not to get his hopes up, but she lands the ship on the planet anyway.
 * Scenes 15-20: They begin scouring the Type M planet. Leela believes it should have roddenberries, while Fry describes his prowess at mushroom foraging.  Bender finds some rocks, but even sautéing them in mud doesn't interest Leela.
 * Scenes 21-23: Fry finds something that looks like a ditch full of fried shrimp, while Bender thinks it looks like a hole filled with fried prawns. Leela picks one up.

Scenes 24-47

 * Scenes 24-30: Leela scans the item under her wristlojackimator, which says they aren't poisonous. She tastes one, and then begins rapidly eating from the pit.  Fry tries one.
 * Scenes 31-33: Fry finds them delicious, and Bender begins telling them what they would go great with.
 * Note: Missing scenes 34, 35, 36, and part of 37.
 * Scenes 37-38: Bender starts stuffing his chest with the items, but Leela says to stuff the ship.
 * Scenes 39-40 : Leela, Bender, and Fry return to Planet Express. Hermes guides them in while Leela eats while driving.
 * Scenes 41-43 : The rest of the crew begins eating and enjoying the food. Zoidberg asks what they are called, but no name has been decided.  Bender notes that they are tasty.
 * Note: Missing scenes 44, 45, and part of 46.
 * Scenes 46-47 : Leela rejects Bender's name choice because it sounds too similar to "test-sicles".

Scenes 51-76

 * Note: Missing scenes 48, 49, and 50.
 * Scenes 51-53: Fry is pleased with himself. Zoidberg is happy he is getting a free meal, but Bender can't stand to see poor people getting free food.  He proposes that they sell them, and everyone (including himself) congratulates Bender.
 * Scenes 54-57: They begin selling "Live Popplers" on Wall Street. Fry notes that business is doing great.  Bender believes that "great" is OK but "amazing" would be great.  Bender then spots a hot dog vendor across the street.
 * Scenes 58-64: Bender walks across the street and asks the vendor where he wants that dog crap he ordered. The customers disgustedly walk across to the Poppler stand, and the vendor realizes that Bender isn't the guy who delivers the dog crap.
 * Scenes 65-70: A man walks up and tries the Popplers. He loves them, and introduces himself as Joe Gilman, owner of Fishy Joe's.  Bender tells Joe that the restaurant's kiddie slides won't support an adult robot, but Joe isn't interested.  Joe is interested in selling Popplers.
 * Scenes 71-74: Fry says they are selling Popplers a dollar a dozen. Joe offers to sell them for two dollars a dozen, and pay them a dollar.  Bender is excited that he will be rich, and less excited that Fry will be rich.
 * Scenes 75-76: Fishy Joe begins singing "The Poppler Song" as a montage begin, starting with a "Over 1 Popplers Served" sign on a Fishy Joe's restaurant.

Scenes 77-81

 * Scenes 77-79: The montage continues. While people and aliens are enjoying Popplers, the bisque guy steals one from Horrible Gelatinous Blob, and H.G. eats him instead; the Planet Express ship carries a crate of "Live Popplers" on the roof rack; the Fishy Joe's sign turns over to "ONE MILLION Popplers served".
 * Scenes 80-: Continuing montage. A tube-thru window at Fishy Joe's is manned by the Teenbot, but Zoidberg shows up and can't pay, so the teen closes the window and people get angry with Zoidberg; the Planet Express ship flies through space and returns with a U-Yank trailer full of Popplers.
 * Scene 82: The ship flies through Manhattan as it does in the opening sequence, but crashes through the billboard that says "Over 3.8 x 1010 Popplers Served", and safely continues onward.