Screaming Skull

A minor apparition in Futurama's crowded background universe, Screaming Skull is exactly what the name promises: a skull, and a scream. It exists for one sharp jolt of cartoon horror-comedy, popping up amid the show's parade of throwaway monsters, props, and sight gags rather than carrying any plot of its own.

Futurama's genius is often in its margins, and a shrieking skull voiced with full commitment by Tress MacNeille is that philosophy in miniature. MacNeille, a prolific voice of the show's background chaos, gives even a single scream comic texture, the kind of blink-and-you-miss-it detail that rewards rewatching.