Regarding Hubert Dreyfus as the basis for Dr. Hubert Farnsworth on the television show Futurama
Having taken one of Professor Dreyfus' class at Berkeley, entitled "Man, God, and Society in Western Literature", I can say as a primary source that the likeness of their mannerisms and speech patterns is stunningly similar (that slight slight warble, the tonal rising and falling, the voice when surprised, etc.).
This has oft resulted in me sitting in lecture thinking of nothing but how amazing it is. If you'd like to hear Professor Dreyfus's voice and compare the two:
- Hubert Dreyfus (go to lectures, then click on a file to download): http://socrates.berkeley.edu/%7Ehdreyfus/6/index.html (technically, I probably shouldn't give this out ... but I'll leave it up for a few weeks at least).
- Futurama: Try a downloading program (like Morpheus, for example).