Review: Futurama “A New New York Yankee in King Elfo’s Court”

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After years of background Easter eggs and temporal teases, Matt Groening’s animated worlds have officially crossed paths. The Futurama Season 11 milestone event, titled “A New New York Yankee in King Elfo’s Court,” delivers a full crossover with Disenchantment, bridging the gap between Planet Express and the Kingdom of Dreamland.

Written by Josh Weinstein and directed by Andrew Han, the episode brings back core Disenchantment stars Abbi Jacobson (Bean), Eric André (Luci), and Nat Faxon (Elfo) alongside the familiar Futurama cast for a time-bending medieval mashup.

Sideways Time Travel and Dreamland Chaos

The narrative engine kicks into gear when Professor Farnsworth reinstates his time machine to power Planet Express’s new “Previous Day Delivery” service. A mid-air temporal near-miss sends Fry violently messing with the controls, causing the ship to crash “sideways” through time.

Upon landing in Dreamland—and instantly crushing Freckles the puppet under the ship in classic Wizard of Oz fashion—Fry finds himself phase-shifted, suspended in a pretzel shape, and revered as a hero by King Elfo and Queen Miri. Armed with simple modern trinkets like Slinkys and flashlight keychains, Fry is hailed as a wizard.

However, Fry’s signature well-intentioned stupidity strikes when he misinterprets Queen Dagmar’s imprisonment as an injustice, inadvertently freeing her. Dagmar hijacks the time machine to alter the past—preventing Bean, Elfo, and Luci from ever meeting—forcing the Planet Express crew to dive into Fry’s state to reset the timeline.

Crossover episodes often run the risk of feeling like cheap promotional stunts, but “A New New York Yankee in King Elfo’s Court” works because it leans into the shared thematic DNA of Groening’s multiverses.

“A New New York Yankee in King Elfo’s Court” succeeds as both a hilarious episode of Futurama and a sweet, unexpected curtain call for Disenchantment. By balancing sci-fi temporal mechanics with medieval comedy, it stands as one of Season 11’s strongest and most inventive entries.