It's May and with the issues with the current epidemic seemingly slowing down, fans can look forward to new media again. In Adult Swim's case, the station is already prepared to roll out some fresh content for the viewers and lovers of adult animation.
Shivering Truth will make its second season debut this month, along with the second half of Rick and Morty Season 4. In addition to those, there is a new series that will be launching from creator JJ Villard (King Star King, Uncle Grandpa, Shrek 3, Shrek 4ever After, Sherman and Peabody, Monsters vs Aliens) which is aptly titled JJ Villard's Fairy Tales.
Adapting all sorts of stories from Rumplestiltskin to Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood to the Seven Dwarves, no fairy tale is safe under the raw and visceral vision of Villard. The show has assembled quite the cast of horror-genre legends such as Linda Blair, Robert Englund, Corey Feldman, Jennifer Tilly, Alan Oppenheimer, Warwick Davis, Keith David, John Kassir, and more.
Given the opportunity to chat with creator JJ Villard, we were able to pick his brain a bit on what this new show will entail and exactly how it came into existence. Take a look at what he had to say in the comments below!
Joe: Where did the initial idea for the show come from?
JJ Villard: Mike Lazzo saw a scene that I did with my sketchbook pages. And there was this one drawing I did that had Snow White, a rabbit, and some robot cast in it, and he called my executive and say “hey, I want JJ to do a show with me based off this drawing and we’re gonna call it Fairy Tales and we’re gonna base it off fairy tales.
Joe: What was your initial reaction to that?
JJ Villard: I was like f***ing hell, I draw in this sketchbook all the time and I put a lot of passion into those drawings but I didn’t think it would ever get me a development deal or a show.
Joe: Does the series follow main characters through different story arcs or is it episode by episode?
JJ Villard: My favorite show is Tales From The Crypt, and this one has no recurring characters besides the forest critters. But it takes place in a small town, so there’ll be some of the other characters in the background but for the most part there are no recurring characters or anything.
Joe: Okay, so they’re all self-contained?
JJ Villard: They’re self-contained, yeah. (Laughs) That’s the long way of answering that.
Joe: Which story tales are being adapted in the series, and which ones didn’t make the cut?
JJ Villard: Well the ones we did were Pinnochio, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, we call it Boypunzel but it’s based off of Rapunzel, Goldilocks, and Rumplestiltskin. And the ones that didn’t get in - there’s a lot of fairy tales. We were also thinking about doing American folklore as well as bible stories, but for the first season we stuck to what was requested which was straight up fairy tales and with the success of the show hopefully we’ll get a second season and continue on doing more than just fairy tales.
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.)