Cartoon Network and Adult Swim are premiering the first episode of their brand new quarter-hour series JJ Villard's Fairy Tales next Sunday, May 10th. From creator and executive producer JJ Villard, the show is also being produced by Cartoon Network.
Villard is known for his work on his first series King Star King which earned him the first cartoon Emmy that Adult Swim had received. He is also praised for Uncle Grandpa as well as his contributions to films such as Shrek 3, Shrek 4ever After, Monsters vs Aliens, and Sherman and Peabody.
The punk aesthetic and raw visceral tone that JJ Villard is known for bleeds into Fairy Tales and sets the series up to be as fantastical as it is strange. Bringing twists to classic stories like Rapunzel, Goldilocks, and Red Riding Hood, there is plenty to go around for fairy tale fans.
We were lucky enough to chat with JJ about his new show and pick his brain about what to expect. One of the things discussed was how he managed to assemble such a wide variety of horror-genre actors and actresses such as Robert Englund, Linda Blair, John Kassir, Finn Wolfhard, and more. Take a look at our conversation below!
Joe: How were you able to assemble such an amazing cast of familiar horror genre actors and actresses?
JJ Villard: Any way as a creator that helps to get you out of bed and work your a** off. I mean, you’re doing 12 hour days six days a week so anything you can do to help move you and get you going and shit is a good thing. So I thought to myself, why not just get my favorite f***ing actors of all time. Starting with Linda Blair and Robert Englund, Freddy Kruger, you know? And both of them said yes.
And by the way, Linda Blair interviewed me. I didn’t interview her. She switched it all up and I was so f***ing nervous from that interview and I was nervous before every recording like these are icons in the horror genre and every single person we had meant so much to me. Like John Kassir, the voice of the Cryptkeeper. That is my favorite f***ing voice of all time. And to have him in front of me, I felt bad because I try to hold out my excitement and try to be professional but it was very difficult.
I mean Corey Feldman, Doug Bradley, and Kevin Van Hentenryck, I mean have you ever seen Basket Case? It is the weirdest f***ing movie and to have Kevin as an actor in my show, it was a dream come true.
Joe: Yeah, I was looking at the list of names when I initially got the first press release, and I was just amazed at all of the people you have in the same place. I mean, you have Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things, Keith David from Gargoyles, Warwick Davis from The Leprechaun. You have everybody from all over the place.
JJ Villard: I mean Edwin Neal, the hitchhiker from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - he’s one of the only surviving cast members and he looks so good and healthy, I was so happy and to have him as three of the seven dwarves, and Alan Oppenheimer is f***ing 91 dude! He is so good! He’s just fabulous.
Joe: Is there any interesting trivia about the show you can share?
JJ Villard: There were a lot of actors that said no. We even had actors cancel the morning before the read. I can’t give their names but there were quite a few actors that said no in the very end in the horror genre that we all know very well. Other than that though, to run a show it takes a lot out of you but it was so much fun that it didn’t even feel like work. I know that sounds cliche as f*** but it was so much fun doing it.
What are your thoughts on these comments from Villard? Take a look at the trailer below and let us know your thoughts on this new series in the usual spot!
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.)