Was that the kiss of death then?
Yeah. I remember thinking that they didn’t have an interest in cultivating this. But I just said to myself, “This can’t be something that’s permanent. I mean, the show is too good. On every level.” I’ve often said that if I had nothing to do with the show personally, I would have still been a fan.

What happened then?
I think that it was just a lot of fighting going on, that’s what I heard. Behind the scenes stuff. About control over the show I imagine, it’s always about that stuff.

Do you feel that Futurama always got the shaft from Fox?
Yeah. I think it did. But I can’t be a person that drives myself to distraction trying to find the rhyme or reason in Hollywood. They seem to think that if you put a celebrity in a cartoon movie then it’s a surefire hit. And it’s not, and we all know it, but you can’t make yourself go mental going, “Why did they do this?” Imagine being in a business where you do that for a living, and there’s this weird Area 51 that you can’t enter because you’re not a celebrity. To me it’s so elitist and non-productive.

Does it bother you that you’re not a celebrity?
No, I hate celebrities. I’m telling you the honest truth: I hate celebrity. I can’t stand it. To me there’s a big difference between being an artist and being a celebrity. If you can fart the national anthem, you can be a celebrity. I’ve spent my whole life perfecting [my talent], and now I’ve got to compete with people who are entry-level.

Do you think you can be a celebrity and an artist at the same time?
Of course you can. But the idea of putting celebrities in places where they absolutely don’t belong defies all rules of creativity. You can never make the best movie you can make if you use so-and-so celebrity. But the thing is that if CGI [movies] are so successful, and they’re the only ones that are making any money, that’s all they’re gonna make. And we can’t lose our precious star system, you know? They’ve gotta star in something.

Have you seen Bee Movie?
No.

Isn’t that the prototypical “Dear God, what were they thinking?” movie for you?
[Groan] Do you know how many times I say that and just, like, get on my motorcycle and take a ride? [Laugh] I don’t understand the ultimate goal with this stuff. Even audiences are hip to the trip now. They say, “If I hear one more goddamn celebrity voice…”

So will Hollywood ever wise up?
Yeah, but the thing is that you can’t shake it off otherwise you lose your star system. It’s unfortunate for voiceover people who want to go into animation. I used to go into auditions where they knew who they were going to cast for the role, yet they would bring in an A-list voice person to lay their tracks down. Then they would grab the best of it and play it for the schlub celebrity who doesn’t know how to live in a sonic world, you know? I’m very serious about this, it happens to a lot of people I know. They wind up using your little inventions and your little turns of phrases and your wording of things.

Have you ever said anything about it?
What can I say, you know?

Is there a fear of getting blacklisted?
Oh no. I’ve stood up plenty; I’m nothing but vocal about this. And as far as getting blacklisted, that’s a joke to me. I’m 56 years old and I ain’t scared of nothing. You wait your whole life to call another guy “Son.” Then you’re finally the guy who goes, “Okay look son, I ain’t scared of you.” I don’t have to explain shit to anybody. That’s the beauty about being an adult: I don’t think about that crap.

Are you bummed that the Futurama movie’s not getting a theatrical release?
No…People will find what they think is good. They will always find it. People are so desperate for stuff that’s good…anything that’s slightly cool becomes a cultural phenomenon. I believe that people wanna be their own programmer, and that they’re tired of getting force-fed stuff, which is why YouTube probably gets watched more than television. I’d rather watch the Little Loca show [on YouTube] than most stuff that’s in prime time. And I love it [because] Hollywood is going out of their minds going, “How can we co-opt this?” And you can’t. You can’t.

Travel to Futurama: Bender’s Big Score Tuesday 27. Be on the lookout for West’s puppet-fueled on-demand cable program in the near future.