June 11th, 2019 
Jackson Murphy 
“T.O.T.S” is Disney Channel’s latest animated series. The story centers around two buddies — a flamingo and a penguin — who join a baby animal delivery service. Vic Cook, fresh-off Netflix’ Stretch Armstrong, was given the duty of bringing this show to life.
Jackson Murphy: What initially attracted you to this project?
Vic Cook: This show has been in development for a few years. It was created by Travis Braun – a very talented writer and producer. What I [first] read was a made-for-TV movie script. It had all this heart, humor and comedy, and a fantastic story. It seemed great for kids but appealing to all ages. And that’s what initially got me on board.
JM: So then how did it go from a made-for-TV movie to a series?
VC: Before I read that script, that decision was made by Disney Junior, and they thought, “Wow – this would make a great TV show. It’d be great for it to come into kids’ homes every week and really get to know these characters on a daily basis.
JM: And Braun recently signed an overall deal with Disney Channels Worldwide doing many different projects. He clearly has a strong vision when it comes to content. How have you seen that in working with him?
VC: The heart you see in the show really comes from the heart of Travis Braun. It’s his world view. One of the themes of the show is that no matter what your feathers, you can achieve your dreams. He’s a fantastic writer, but he’s involved in every step of the process. His feelings of what he wants to present in the show, we make sure it’s reflected in the animation, the storyboards and the music, as well as the scripts.
JM: And I’m sure one of the things you and Travis really had to go through was figuring out what “T.O.T.S.” would stand for. It is officially Tiny Ones Transport Service. Was it difficult figuring out what that would stand for?
VC: No – it was just meant to be. That’s what it stands for.
JM: That’s cool.
VC: When things are in development, they have different titles a lot of times along the way. But “T.O.T.S.” just seemed so perfect.
JM: I love watching Pip the Penguin and Freddy the Flamingo. You could pick from all kinds of animals. What made them the perfect two animals and characters to be the central focus of the show?
VC: Well, they are birds that in real life would contrast each other. Flamingos come from a warm climate and penguins, obviously, from a cold climate. You can have contrasting personalities. And penguins have a great sense of smell, which helps them with their direction. So that’s why Pip is the guy who knows where to go. He does all the mapping. And Freddy is a flyer. So that’s why we picked those two birds, in particular, to represent these characters.
Victor Cook, Executive Producer of Disney Junior’s “T.O.T.S.” (Disney Junior)
JM: I really enjoyed when Freddy says in the first episode, “When it doubt – order more pizza.” Because it’s true. Kids will relate to that. I related to that. I think everybody can.
VC: (laughs) As you watch the show, you’re going to find that Freddy has a real fondness for cheese. It’s a real comfort food for kids, as you know too.
JM: Still a comfort food for me. And you’ve got star-power on this show, too. Vanessa Williams voices Captain Beakman and Megan Hilty is K.C. How has it been working with the two of them?
VC: It’s fantastic. Vanessa just has that perfect combination of warmth and authority, which totally fits Captain Beakman. She’s the boss. She’s in charge. She runs T.O.T.S. It’s her responsibility to make sure that operation runs on time. But she is also very nurturing to her workers. She wants them to succeed. And so she’s always there behind them and encouraging them. That combination of warmth and authority: Vanessa really comes through. And Megan, as K.C., is also perfectly cast – so energetic; all this “get up and go”. They’re just perfect. They’re fantastic to work with. I love watching them in the booth.
JM: The first part of the series premiere is called “You Gotta Be Kitten Me”. Speaking of coming up with what things would stand for – these cute titles of each episode!
VC: (laughs) That credit really goes to Travis and Guy Toubes and the team of writers. They are an amazing group. I have the great fortune to sit in on a number of breaking stories and read throughs. I love seeing it all come together with this group.
JM: This episode explores the parent-child emotional attachment. Did that element… hit home for you and many of the people working on this show?
VC: It does hit home, being a parent myself. My kids are grown but it seems like yesterday that I brought them home as babies. Working on the show is bringing back all these memories.
JM: And the second part of this first episode is called “Whale Hello There”. And it includes a young voice for Baby Wyatt.
VC: We have a lot of different kids who are guest starring, voicing various characters on the show. The little girl who voices the kitten in Part A is sort of a semi-regular on the show. And when she came into the recording booth, she announced to us, “I’m the baby expert!” She really is – and she was really able to pull off all those great sounds.
JM: And these have to be amazing opportunities and experiences for these kids to voice characters on a Disney animated series (and for their parents).
VC: Oh, yeah. They seem really thrilled. The process is that we bring them in for the initial record. A few months down the line, sometimes we have to bring them back for pick-ups or ADR, and then they get to see it in storyboard form and sometimes rough animation form. And it’s really fun to see their eyes light up when they actually see the characters – and their voices coming out of the characters.
JM: And I think that’s why kids have been attracted to animation for so long: the warmth you feel from the look of characters. And here – they’re bright, round and wholesome. What was the overall vibe you wanted to go for with the look of this show?
VC: Well almost everything you just said. From the initial promo image [released], you’ll notice there are some slight tweaks and differences. They’re younger now and cuter. And we just wanted a bright, vibrant world. We really wanted that to come through in the colors. And we wanted our shapes to have a round, friendly feel to it. If you look at T.O.T.S. headquarters and the container crates and a lot of their technology, it’s rounded shapes. We carry that motif all throughout. And we just wanted really classic, squash and stretch animation. We really wanted to bring that to CGI animation.
The animators we have working on the show are truly amazing. I’ve been so lucky to be a part of this through every stage. You see the drawings, an then you see the drawings turn into these sculpted models. And then before the animators can animate, they do something called rigging. And that’s all the different points of articulation. Besides the animator himself, I think the amount of rigging is the true key to get that squash and stretch animation. If they’re only rigged like an action figure, then they can only pivot at certain limited points. So you can have a great animator, but the character can’t really move. They rigged this all over the place. So that’s why we get all these fantastic facial expressions, body movements, and the animators can really go to town bringing these characters to life.
JM: You mentioned “younger” for Pip and Freddy. Were they originally going to be a little older than they are?
VC: They were a little bit older in the early development. And when we started the show, we brought them to this age.
JM: I think it works… for kids: hearing young voices and the youthful energy of the two of them. And this is a show with a big theme of teamwork. How have you seen the teamwork of you and your crew in putting this all together?
VC: This is one of the most fantastic crews I’ve worked with. Not only is everybody super talented, but we all seem to find ourselves on the same page with what we want to do creatively in telling the show. Everyone from our lead character designer, John Jagusak to our writers, to our composer, Rob Cantor, to our animators. It’s been a fantastic process of true teamwork. We’re all on board for this vision, and we’re all working towards it.
JM: What are some of the other storylines and adventures we’ll be seeing on this first batch of “T.O.T.S.” episodes?
VC: I don’t want to spill the beans too much on particular plots, but we are going to go to different parts of our world. And we are going to see a variety of different, cute babies. It’s going to be a lot of fun. And sometimes there are obstacles along the way for Pip and Freddy to overcome in order to get the babies to where they’ve got to get to. But they always manage to get their job done.
JM: My favorite animal has always been an elephant. What is your favorite animal, and have you seen that animal be brought to life somewhere in “T.O.T.S.” so far?
VC: I really like cheetahs because they run really fast. And maybe you’ll see a cheetah on this show that runs really fast!
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