Adult Swim, which is the Cartoon Network's night-time television line-up aimed at older audiences often features adult animation. Shows such as Rick and Morty, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and King Star King have called the station home for years.
Now the channel is gearing up to premiere a new series called JJ Villard's Fairy Tales, which kicks off on Sunday night. The brand new-quarter hour series is from creator JJ Villard, who is known for his work on films such as Shrek 4 and Monsters vs Aliens. As Villard also provided his King Star King and Uncle Grandpa work for the station, it is no surprise that Mike Lazzo and the rest of the Adult Swim team wanted to bring him on board for a new show.
JJ Villard's Fairy Tales features twisted takes on stories like Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, and Goldilocks. With a voice cast that includes names like Robert Englund (Nightmare Before Christmas), Jennifer Tilly (Liar Liar), Linda Blair (The Exorcist), and John Kassir (Tales from the Crypt), the new show has a lot of appeal for horror-genre fans.
When we spoke to JJ Villard about his new show, we got to pick his brain on a lot of things. One of the big points from our conversation is that the creator has offered to create an original drawing for the first fan to find all of the subliminal messages in his new show, which are essentially tantamount to easter eggs, as most film fans refer to them these days. Take a look at what he had to say below.
Joe: Which of the adaptations in the series proved to be harder to pull off?
JJ Villard: My main focus with this series was story. I really wanted a cohesive, funny story and something that you’ll care about the characters and have empathy for that is something I pushed harder than even the look of the show. The look of the show was second to having a good story and funny brain jokes.
Joe: Could you see the second season focusing on a different theme then, the way Supernatural does?
JJ Villard: I just feel like we won’t just be doing fairy tales, we’re really gonna try to branch out and do a lot more. I mean look, with the Korean animation studio that we use to do animation that did Dora The Explorer (that’s why I picked them is because they did my favorite cartoon of all time) they were telling me how Korean folklore and fairy tales are often used in Korea and we have no idea about what they are so I wanted to f*** with Korean fairy tales as well.
Joe: Did any of your previous work such as King Star King inform your work on this show?
JJ Villard: I mean King Star King was my first series ever and I felt like I overworked my staff. We had a great time, it ended up winning the first cartoon emmy for Adult Swim which was amazing but I swore if I ever got a show again that my characters and I won’t be that complicated and we’re gonna simplify a lot of things.
And I did and believe it or not drawing King Waffles from King Star King is a son of a b****. He’s got like the f***ing pattern on the top of his waffle head, butter spread on his jacket, and he’s got a lot going on. If you simplify your s*** you’re gonna make your whole staff happier and you’re not gonna get bad vibes from the 40 animators in Korea. Can’t go for that bad juju.
Joe: Is there anything else you would like to share with your fans?
JJ Villard: Yeah, Deathwish skateboards and Fairy Tales did a collaboration so it should be premiering along with the show, so you’ll see on social media that I’ll be representing Deathwish skateboards and Fairy Tales on my social media @jjvillard on Instagram.
Also, if you fans out there can catch every subliminal message in my cartoon - and there’s quite a few of them - I swear to God if I get a fan who can catch every one I will f***ing draw them an original drawing.
What do you think of these comments from JJ Villard? Do you think you'll be the one to get the personal drawing? Check out the trailer and synopsis for Adult Swim's JJ Villard's Fairy Tales below!
JJ Villard’s Fairy Tales is a new, twisted, fun take on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White. The charm and cuteness of the original stories remain, but now they've been updated and packaged into a ball of raw, visceral, gross weirdness.
The animated quarter hour series is created, and executive produced by JJ Villard (King Star King) and produced by Cartoon Network Studio.
JJ Villard's Fairy Tales premieres on Adult Swim Sunday, May 10th at 12:15 AM. (Sunday leading into Monday.)