Exclusive Interview: Peter Browngardt Creator Of Uncle Grandpa On Cartoon Network

 

For years, Cartoon Network has been the bastion for all things animation. Even if we considered Adult Swim as its own entity, Cartoon Network has brought us a stellar lineup featuring both home grown and licensed acquisitions like Regular Show, Adventure Time, and MAD.

On September 2nd at 8pm EST (check your local listings), Cartoon Network is adding a new series from Peter Browngardt called Uncle Grandpa. So who is Uncle Grandpa? According to Browngardt, “Uncle Grandpa is a magical man. He’s extremely positive. He’s like Santa with a GED.”  The premise for Uncle Grandpa is simplistic enough; wherever the lovable, helpful oaf’s magical RV crashes is where the story begins. Once ingrained in the story, Uncle Grandpa and his group of traveling companions like Pizza Steve (Adam DeVine), Mr. Gus (Kevin Michael Richardson), and Belly Bag (Eric Bauza) will do whatever is in their power to help out their new found friends. Most of the time this will lead the gang on some sort of zany adventure, but akin to say Phineas and Ferb  the world resets itself after each episode, meaning all the misadventures of the episode before are gone before the next begins.

One of the first things that will stick out about Uncle Grandpa is the artistic style, merging the standard 2D animation of the world and all of its characters with a giant, paper cut out of a tiger that leaves a rainbow vapor trail wherever it flies. (Boy, even typing that sounds silly!) When asked about the artistic style, Browngardt had this to say: “The art is very organic. I was looking for something different, so I started searching Jpegs of tigers. I tossed it in and it got a huge response! For some reason, most people thought it was homage to Cringer/Battle Cat from He-Man. Totally unintentional.” The art on the show is very vibrant and colorful and is broken up nicely by Giant Realistic Flying Tiger much in the same way that the realistic fish/TV reporter breaks up the artwork on say a Spongebob Squarepants.

Another important aspect to Uncle Grandpa is the voice acting. The cast developed a great chemistry while recording this first season, often recording in the same booth to feed off or each other’s voice riffs. This is very apparent when you see the characters interact on screen. “We were like kids in school. So many laughs,” said Browngardt. With laughs like that happening in the booth, one would hope that the humor transcends the fourth wall and reaches our TV screens. Speaking of the vocal booth, when asked if there would be any guest stars coming in to record for season one, we were told that they are being kept under lock and key for now but to expect an announcement in the near future. This begs to question, what famous celebrities would mesh well with the Uncle Grandpa universe? Once we are able to obtain that information we will pass it along to you.

I think that the morality and ability to be a role model is something rather unique about Uncle Grandpa. His ability to come into any situation with a positive attitude and willingness to help is a endearing quality that hopefully the viewers pick up on and begin practicing in their own lives. These character traits are taken directly from Browngardt’s personal beliefs. “I got into animation to achieve the impossible [because] the animated world, anything is possible.” It’s that type of positive influence that could possibly propel Uncle Grandpa into the annuls of Cartoon Network lore with all of the other Monday Night stalwarts.

Keep it locked here on Bubbleblabber.com for reviews and news regarding Uncle Grandpa pretty much as soon as they happen and not a minute later!

(@chefrichBB) wants a giant paper tiger that farts rainbows.

Uncle Grandpa is all new Monday Night @ 8pm EST, only on Cartoon Network. Check your local listings!

http://youtu.be/vGXXeLbNtEE