It’s no exaggeration to say that Robert Scull and Jonny Belt have established themselves as a powerhouse duo in children’s entertainment. For the past 25 years, the creative partners have been involved in some of Nickelodeon’s most successful preschool programming including The Backyardians and Bubble Guppies. Their trademark humor appealing to both kids and adults continues to be seen in their latest animated project, Super Duper Bunny League.
Based on the kids’ comic book series by cartoonist Jamie Smart, the 2D-animated adventure-comedy series follows the titular team of bunny friends who work together and use their unique powers to protect their beloved city. The Beat had the pleasure of chatting with Scull and Belt about the development of Super Duper Bunny League and working with the impressive voice talent.
Taimur Dar: You’ve both been at Nickelodeon for quite some time working on various acclaimed programs such as the preschool show Bubble Guppies which wrapped up after a decade. How did you become involved in Super Duper Bunny League? Was this a property you were already aware of or something Nickelodeon approached you about?
Robert Scull: Nickelodeon brought it to us. We’re working on all sorts of our own IP. We always want to develop our own IP and have no interest in anyone else’s. Ramsey Naito [President of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation] loved the early reader comic and brought it to us. We said, “We’ll take a look.” We immediately liked it and were both surprised. It looks and feels like a cartoon. Jamie’s sensibilities are terrific.
Jonny Belt: It felt like us and our humor. We knew we could adapt it in a way that didn’t feel like just taking a job.
Robert Scull: You didn’t have to do any character designs either.
[Laughter]
Jonny Belt: Jamie’s stuff felt different enough that the appeal was really there from the beginning. We just had to not mess it up.
Taimur Dar: Speaking of Jamie Smart, I know having something he created adapted for animation is a dream come true. What kind of involvement did he have in the animated series?
Robert Scull: What was pretty great about it is we would come up with a character or villain that we were thinking about and say, “Hey Jamie, we’ve got this character.”
Jonny Belt: Just a short description.
Robert Scull: And a day later he would have drawn three pages of sketches in his hilarious style. Then we would use Gigglebug, the animation studio, and their artists would translate it into something that would fit into the existing universe.
Jonny Belt: Every time I opened my email and I see one, I kind of hated him a little bit more because they were so great and quick and prolific. He was very generous with his time. He continued to create volumes and volumes of work on his own but made time for us. He was very encouraging. You also hope that the original author loves this stuff. I think he was very pleased. That was helpful to us.
Taimur Dar: The voice cast is pretty stellar with quite a number of notable names like Janelle James from Abbott Elementary and guest stars like Patton Oswalt, Patrick Warburton, and Danny Trejo. Did you have any actors in mind from the get-go or what did the casting process entail?
Jonny Belt: One of the things that we look for in the main cast and the villain stars are people who have such an individual tone that they can’t pretend to be anyone else. Each of our main cast definitely has that. Janelle has a very recognizable voice. She’s not going to be able to put a “princessy” voice on. It’s just going to be Janelle. The same with Patton Oswalt or Danny Trejo. Those people are famous because they’re individuals. They’re not chameleon actors wo pretend to be somebody else.
Robert Scull: And they’re great inspiration because you write with them in mind, even if you don’t know it. When you say, “Somebody who sounds like Patton Oswalt.” And then they get Patton Oswalt. We couldn’t be more thrilled.
Jonny Belt: We’re celebrating the vocal oddities in the world that come and became famous for their individuality. We really want to push that.
Robert Scull: With casting, we say distinctive and we know it when we hear it. We have something in mind, but frequently people come along and they’re perfect. Each of our entire cast, as soon as we heard them, [we said], “That’s the one!”
Jonny Belt: I always think back to Mr. Grouper on Bubble Guppies where Tino Insana came in and he was putting on a bunch of voices. He would be like, “How was that one?” And we said, “Just use your regular speaking voice. It’s excellent.” So that’s what we go for.
Taimur Dar: The voice director for the series is Sirena Irwin. She’s without a doubt one of the best in the business having been mentored by the legendary Andrea Romano. I had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time when I hosted a panel about voice directing last month at WonderCon. What can you say about having her involved in Super Duper Bunny League and what she brings to the table?
Robert Scull: She’s another dream come true on this project. She picks the takes that we are thinking. In a session we’ll think in our minds, “What it needs to sounds like is…” And she’ll suddenly say [the same thing].
Jonny Belt: It was creepy actually.
Robert Scull: Maybe she’s secretly telepathic!
Jonny Belt: She’s incredibly funny and warm. I can tell when you have a VO director that the actors really respect and like. She gives them the time they need and gets a lot done. She keeps it lively and fresh. Absolutely, she had an uncanny ability to pick up on what we were going for. I miss her and her voice sessions daily because they’re a lot of fun. She’s great. I would work with her again in a second.
Taimur Dar: The beauty of animation voiceover is thanks to modern technology, you can record remotely. I’m curious if you recorded actors in the studio or remotely and if you were able to do any ensemble recordings?
Robert Scull: It was mostly ensemble. We bought them all together on Zoom. A lot of them are at home. Some of them come into the studio.
Jonny Belt: Three or four [of the actors] were L.A. based. So those folks went into Nick Studios in L.A.. Sirena is L.A. based so she was there with them in a room. Miles [J. Harvey] who plays Stumpy was here in New York. Latrice [Royale] was traveling around doing shows. They would do wherever they could. We would send them a VO kit and they would [record] in a hotel room.
Robert Scull: It’s funny to watch them get amped up by each other. The temperature would rise in a funny way and we would have to say, “Don’t get too crazy!”
Jonny Belt: Sirena had such a friendly vibe in the room that they actually became friends. They would go on hikes together and she would laugh because they kind of played out their actual characters in real life.
Robert Scull: They turned into them not because of us!
Jonny Belt: I’m not gonna say what happened where. It all came through. We’re here in New York City and we would be silent and be able to talk to Sirena. We would be listening and give Sirena specifics. But she would really work with the actors. They were great and we were so pleased. When the sum of the parts create something bigger, you feel very humble and lucky when that happens. That happened here. Immediately going into that first episode she was like, “We have something special here.”
Taimur Dar: Finally, any particular episode you’re excited for people to see or you can tease?
Robert Scull: There’s something to love about every episode.
Jonny Belt: There’s some that I think play really well to the preschool humor. We have one about dust bunnies that come alive and take over headquarters. There’s one about Stumpy’s cape that he doesn’t want to wash and it becomes the villain. Those sort of play to preschool problems and humor I think are the funniest and have a good slice of life of how the bunnies interact with each other.
New episodes of Super Duper Bunny League air Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.
