July 24th, 2020 
Jackson Murphy 
San Diego Comic-Con @HOME is in full swing. Here are the highlights of some of the major animation-related virtual panels from Friday:
With Warner Bros., Cartoon Network and Adult Swim animation content all under the HBO Max umbrella, the streaming service is assembling quite a lineup. But instead of debuting new clips or making major announcements, creators of popular series decided to look back at some of their favorite SDCC, fan and celebrity experiences. Robot Chicken’s Seth Green and Matthew Senreich admitted they’ve each been to San Diego Comic-Con at least 20 times. “1996 was my first year,” Senreich said. For Green: “The first time I went was in ’94 or ’95, and then I’ve only missed two, I believe.”
Genndy Tartakovsky from the HBO Max panel
Genndy Tartakovsky, the man behind Samurai Jack and Primal, talked about some of his favorite fan interactions. “Because of the time that Samurai Jack and Dexter’s Laboratory and Clone Wars and Powerpuff Girls have been on the air, there have been generations. More recently I’ve been getting feedback where people come up and they go, ‘Oh, I’ve been watching the show with my dad or my mom’, and it’s something that they’ve bonded over. That’s been really amazing to see – and more of it. And the other thing is: whenever somebody comes-up to me and says that my shows have inspired them to get into animation or comic books or drawing… that’s huge. That’s exactly what happened to me. I wish I could’ve told some of my heroes, like Tex Avery or Chuck Jones or Bob Clampett, how much their cartoons inspired me.”
When asked to reveal a major “fanboy” moment, The Boondocks co-executive producer and Black Dynamite: The Animated Series EP and writer Carl Jones shared a great story about meeting Stan Lee at a bank in Beverly Hills. “I was standing in line with my little Boondocks check, and he was in front of me at the teller, probably cashing a very, very big Avengers check. And then he turned around and walked right towards me. And I said, ‘Hey!’ And he said, ‘Hey!’ And then he kept walking. And I went home and cried because that was a very touching moment for me.”
Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard moderated a panel featuring fellow crew and cast members of the FOX animated series, which will begin broadcasting its 11th Season on September 27th. “Yes, we have episodes. We are in production. Bob’s Burgers is in production and never stopped being in production. We are all working from home. It’s quite a miracle. It’s an accomplishment that I think is only matched by a few other animated shows.”
Bouchard mentioned that there will be new Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes. And the 200th episode is called “Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids”. “There are three levels of guilt that pertain to a disastrous event… and music.” Two clips debuted as part of the BB presentation from the episodes “Worms of In-Rearment” and “Copa-Bob-bana”.
Bouchard is amazed at the artwork, both on the show and in the upcoming, long-awaited theatrical movie. “If you look at earlier seasons: we’re lucky enough to have made it this far, and now you can look back and see that the art team has just been challenging themselves at each stage. We just keep getting more texture and detail into the show, and it’s really incredible to see where they’re at now.” As for the movie, here’s what Bouchard can say about it right now: “We work on it so much, and I want to let the fans know that it’s coming and we’re really looking forward to bringing it to them.”
Archer is also heading into its 11th Season, premiering Wednesday September 16th at 10pm on FXX. Executive Producer (and moderator) Casey Willis shared that cast members “recorded the last two episodes while under quarantine.” Actor Chris Parnell (who voices Cyril) said, “It was not a big deal given what we do. I just went into the studio, and they had these safety protocols. I didn’t have to touch anybody… ‘cause I usually touch a lot of people when I go into a session.” The other panelists laughed.
The Archer panel
“I was trying to figure out how to record from home and it was becoming a giant pain in the bum,” said Judy Greer (the voice of Cheryl). “And then somehow I found out that you guys had gone in the studio. And I was like, ‘Can I just go in the studio?!’ I feel like it was definitely clean and safe, but it wasn’t any different because I always basically go in the front door and then right into the recording studio.”
Willis and Greer also revealed that Golden Globe winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis has a recurring role on this new season. Greer and Curtis previously worked together on the 2018 Halloween movie. Curtis is a big fan of Archer, and Greer told her: “Jamie, you know, 100% I could get you on the show.” And she did!
And SYFY is amping up its TZGZ block of programming: ‘The Twisted Animated Side of SYFY’. Original adult animated shows are airing on Saturday nights at ‘Midnight-ish’. Moderator Baron Vaughn welcomed the ‘unofficial mascot’ of TZGZ: “High Wizard”. Together, they provided sneak peeks of three new series and Season 2 of an existing show – all coming soon. And they are:
Devil May Care, created by Robot Chicken’s Doug Goldstein. According to Vaughn, “The Devil is re-branding Hell and enlists the help of a newly dead guy millennial to manage social media.” Alan Tudyk voices the Devil. When asked who his Devil character would want to meet – out of all the characters Tudyk has voiced over the years – his response: “Maybe Heihei [the chicken] from Moana.”
Wild Life is “set in a post-apocalyptic world where animals are now the ruling class. They’ve bonded together, just trying to live their lives in a sense of normalcy, but it’s pretty much impossible in an upside-down world.” According to creator Adam Davies, “Most of the show is actually a hangout show, and the flaming buildings in the background are more of a backdrop to contrast this paradise that these animals are now living in.”
On Magical Girl Friendship Squad, “two directionless twenty-something women suddenly find themselves with super magical powers and are charged with saving the universe.” Kelsey Stephanides is the creator and showrunner: “Daisy [one of the main characters] in particular is definitely an amalgamation of a lot of my friends, both in personality and also in the way she looks. So I think a lot of it was probably influenced by the dynamic I have with a lot of my friends in a lot of my life.”
And there’s the second season of Hell Den. “We’ve got a group of monsters and misfits weathering the uber apocalypse by watching twisted old cartoons [and some live-action clips as well] that the cast riff over.” The characters are voiced by the members of the comedy troupe Dr. God. Zabeth Russell, a performer and writer on the series, loves “the idea of getting to play any and every different type of character. I can be a mean couch or a very sexual cow. It’s really nice to be able to be truly unlimited in what you’re doing. I think we’re so influenced by sketch comedy but also bringing in that animation mentality of ‘The Sky’s the Limit.’”
Two days down and two more to go! Check back here on Animation Scoop for more coverage of SDCC@Home.
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