After adapting the acclaimed Lincoln Peirce‘s Big Nate comics and book series into an acclaimed animated series, it only made sense for Nickelodeon to do the same with Peirce’s other popular middle grade books series, Max and the Midknights. Premiering this week, the show follows 10-year-old aspiring knight named Max who embarks on an epic yet humorous quest with her newfound friends to save the Kingdom of Byjovia from ominous forces.
During New York Comic Con, we had the opportunity to sit down with the Max and the Midknights cast and crew including not only Peirce but also co-executive producers David Skelly and Sharon Flynn, as well as voice actors Blu del Barrio (Max), Caleb Yen (Kevyn), and Zeno Robinson (Simon). Check out what they had to say about what’s in store and also be sure to visit our YouTube channel for our virtual press coverage.
Taimur Dar: As the producers can attest, I picked up on the Monty Python influence on the Max and the Midknights animated series almost right away. Even the original books had some Monty Python and the Holy Grail vibes. I’m curious Lincoln, if Monty Python inspired the books in any way?
Lincoln Peirce: Of course, I was familiar with Monty and the Holy Grail but I cannot say it was at the front of my mind when I was writing the book. I made up an entirely new cast of characters when I wrote the first book. I think I was just focusing on sketching the characters as finely as I could and making sure that the story arc was going to make sense. When I wrote the first one, I thought it was just going to be a one-off. I didn’t realize there were going to be Books 2 and 3.
Dar: Sticking with Monty Python, they were no strangers to breaking the fourth wall. In books and even in the animated series, you do have some fourth wall breaking gags. How did you approach the meta humor for the Max and the Midknights animated series?
Sharon Flynn: Max is the only character in our show who talks to the audience. That was by design based on the book and how it works in the book. For us in the show [it’s] how we get Max’s inner life and real fears. Outwardly Max is so brave and daring and always has a plan and improvising. But we wanted Max to be able to talk about her self-doubt and everything going on internally and make that connection with the audience. That’s a key element of the show.
Dar: Even before the pandemic, it seems like voice recordings were shifting towards solo records. However, there is a magic when you have everyone together whether in-person or virtually. I didn’t realize that the voice actors were able to record together. Could you discuss the experience and if you felt it helped your performances?
Caleb Yen: A lot. For me it was most of the time I’d have at least Blu and sometimes also Zeno. It was cool because they’re really good and I’m way better when they’re there. I’m good at all times. Don’t fire me!
[Laughter]
Yen: It’s great to have that environment and live performance vibe.
Zeno Robinson: Agreed. It makes the whole process a little more immersive and easier to inject myself into the world. And it makes it easier to play on particular jokes and improvise that Caleb or Blu can follow. When we’re all together working together to make those things happen, it makes it an easier and more fun process.
Yen: Zeno’s improv is killer!
Blu del Barrio: It’s amazing. It brings a really different kind of life to the script for all the reasons you just mentioned. I think we’re quite lucky with the amount we got to record together.
Dar: The way the animated series fleshes out the characters reminds me a bit of what the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon did with the original Mirage comics. While traces of the turtles’ personalities were there, the cartoon made it more clear as exemplified by the theme song, “Leonard leads, Donatello does machines.” In the case of Simon, he becomes an ostler in the books so I was not surprised to learn at the panel that he is all about animals. Can you elaborate on fleshing out Simon’s character?
Flynn: A huge part was Zeno as the voice. It was this synergy of [his] personality and take on the character and then what we were developing in the script. We knew Simon’s character is very connected to Millie so that fed how we developed Simon because of this bond he had with his adopted sister. We knew we wanted to take him to ostler eventually, as you mentioned, in the books. It was stretching that journey and digging into what that means. Like all the characters, boys follow their fathers’ footsteps and girls their mothers’ footsteps. Being an orphan, what does that leave for Simon? [For him] it was finding family and then your purpose and stretching that out over 20 episodes.
Robinson: It was very evident from the page that Simon was a very openhearted and sensitive character. What Sharon said, with his connection with Millie and how much he loves animals, it fed into him being a little more in touch with his emotions and he cares deeply. Like you said, him being an orphan when you’re in that situation you cling to the things that you care about because they’re all you have. It gave me this idea that Simon is a very openhearted and sensitive person who has a strong sense of justice because of what he’s been through. It translates to the rest of the world because of his empathy and extending that to animals.
Flynn: His sarcasm, we developed that more once we heard your voice and saw how funny that was when you interact with the other Midknights. Simon is bighearted but also sarcastic.
Robinson: I think I played into the sarcasm because he’s an orphan. There’s a sort of way you have to protect yourself to deal with trauma and stress. That’s where the sarcasm comes from. I’m glad we found that.
Dar: Much like Big Nate, Max and the Midknights has an impressive ensemble of characters. But even with Big Nate you had to create some new characters who weren’t in the original source material. Any new characters exclusive to the Max and the Midknights animated series?
David Skelly: Of course, we used Lincoln’s characters but it’s such a collaborative process. We had some extraordinary character designers on our team. [They] brought such life to rough sketches of things like guards we would see in the castle. There were a couple of sketches of a really tall guard and a really short guard next to each other who looked like they were friends. It just sparked something in all of us and we decided maybe we should focus on those characters and see who they were. They became Bean and Barley who we’ll see more as the series goes on. That was a discovery just because of a great sketch.
Flynn: Same for Doris the sheep.
Dar: Voiced by David!
Flynn: Yes! Voiced by David. It was just supposed to be an element of that episode. But then Simon’s relationship with Doris and the personality the sketch had just snowballed into her being a really important character in the show.
Skelly: I think it was a sketch of Simon hugging Doris. We all said, “That’s not just a sheep. That’s someone he has a relationship with. Who’s that sheep?” That was the beginning of Doris.
Dar: During the panel, David mentioned sticking to the canon when it came to designs, particularly regarding the colors. With the exception of the covers, the majority of the characters are in black and white. Thus, I wasn’t expecting Fendra to be green. Lincoln, did you have certain colors in mind for the characters?
Peirce: I’m a product of my past in that I grew up drawing and reading newspaper comics that were in black and white. I think I still really think in black and white. I knew from the start when I was working on the first Max book that it wasn’t going to be in color. The only spot that would be in color would be the front and back cover. I think that’s a great jumping off point for the design team. I don’t have any preconceptions about what the colors are going to be. Like David was talking about, finding inspiration in that German cover, I think works perfectly. Bruce the dragon was green. Not all that imaginative probably. There were also some similarities between the colors that some of the characters were wearing. I think the palette is much more expansive in the show than we were thinking about in the books.
Dar: As I mentioned, I read and devoured the books because I was so eager to find out what was to come. The third book is particularly focused on Max’s origin. Whether or not that plays a part in this first season, I’m curious Blu if you looked ahead at the books to see what was coming for Max?
del Barrio: I looked at the first one while we were recording. I didn’t want to spoil it for myself. I do the same with any other scripts I get of not reading ahead and not knowing what I’m not supposed to know. But I really liked being able to go back and look at it while I was recording. Even having the images as references was very special. It made me feel really passionate about it.
Dar: I can’t say enough how much I love the songs. You showcased a couple during the panel one for King Ghastley and a beautiful song with Max riding a dragon. How did you approach the songs and music for Max and the Midknights?
Flynn: That’s all Matt Mahaffey and Tish Wolf. They’ve written all the lyrics and music. What I think what was exciting was we could do different types of music. We have our score and these songs where our characters are singing so we get to tell some story and move through dialogue but to song. That Ghastley song we get a lot of his backstory and his thinking. And it’s just fun to watch. We also have these soundtrack songs where we get to feel the emotion. With the dragon song it’s all about Max’s joy and this exuberant feeling of flying on a dragon. We use them for story to move the plot along, and to use them to get into the characters’ emotional state. We have the most amazing team doing all of it. They pour their heart and soul. It’s incredible.
Dar: I myself am completely tone deaf. For the actors, what was your level of singing experience prior to the show and was singing for the show something found comfortable?
Yen: I don’t sing very often in the show. I can sort of sing a little bit. It was fun and different. I liked it a lot. The recording process for songs is different than when we do the dialogue. It was fun to get to do that and a different vibe and energy.
Robinson: I took singing lessons as a kid when I first started acting. Even in voice acting throughout my career, I started off being adamant about not singing in shows. I’ve never been the best singer. Overtime as I did more music in other shows, I got more comfortable. Because I sung in Big City Greens a few times and I did a singing/rap session in Animaniacs, it prepped me for a lot of the songs in Max and the Midknights. Those songs gave me confidence especially [singing] within that range with Remy [from Big City Greens]. Even though I still don’t consider myself the best singer, it’s not something [I’m] as hesitant as I used to be.
del Barrio: I really like singing but Max’s whole deal is not wanting to be a troubadour!
[Laughter]
del Barrio: There’s a lot of moments of Max having funny quips within a song or being the person who says, “Please don’t sing.”
Dar: One of my favorite moments from the series is the first appearance of Mumblin and everyone screaming at the sight of a half-naked wizard. I have no doubt the best is yet to come. So, I’d love to know if you have a favorite comedic moments you can’t wait for viewers to see?
Flynn: My favorite would be a spoiler so I won’t say it. But I’m just excited for people to go on the whole journey and watch all 20 [episodes] because we take you on a roller coaster ride.
Skelly: I’ll add to that by saying so much of the humor in in Max and the Midknights is character based and situational. It’s less about a setup and a gag as it is how this character would react to this situation naturally and it’s funny. That’s what we planted our flag in. It’s funny but comes form the heart.
Robinson: Agreed. I can’t think of one particular moment. I can but it’s a spoiler. There’s one moment that I think is absolutely flat-out hilarious. The humor is so deeply rooted into the characters, like David said. Jeremy [Rowley] is absolutely laugh out loud hilarious as Uncle Budrick. Any scene with him in it I’m looking forward to everyone seeing. I have to stay focused in records because he’s so freaking funny. He just does it naturally. Even in the preview [with the line], “I hate this bridge.” I remember doing it in ADR and I was so happy we kept it.
Flynn: I loved it! Everything you all do, we keep.
Robinson: I’m looking forward to everybody trying to figure out which ones were scripted and which ones were actor choices.
Flynn: There are so many that were not scripted, I will say that.
Skelly: For me, a lot of the best lines were what you all said in the moment because you were living in that space and character and it just came out. It was perfect and hilarious.
Yen: One involves vegetation and one involves vegetables. Both are great times.
[Laughter]
Yen: They’re much more entertaining than vegetables in real life. I do not really care for vegetables. I will eat them. Fiber is good.
Robinson: You just talked about celery earlier. So we’re not team celery anymore?
Yen: I like celery as a concept.
Robinson: I don’t like it in practice.
Yen: It’s a good butter delivery system.
Skelly: See, we could never have written, “I like celery as a concept.”
Flynn: And we would circle that!
del Barrio: There’s a running gag that involves a baby.
Flynn: That’s also my favorite.
del Barrio: Every time I would read it, it would make me laugh so hard. Just the idea of it going to be fully animated makes me so excited.
Skelly: It’s in the first episode.
Flynn: That’s true! We do meet the “well baby” in the first episode.
del Barrio: It is in the first episode! It’s the funniest thing to me and makes me laugh.
Skelly: Even “well baby” has an arc.
Robinson: Is the arc getting out of the well?
[Laughter]
del Barrio: My favorite thing is we don’t talk about the “well baby.”
Flynn: “Well baby” will not be taking questions at this time!
Skelly: That’s a testament to Sharon and the writers. Every single character, even “well baby,” has an arc in this show.
Peirce: I will just add that we have some great cliffhangers in this show. I almost wish I could be a fly on the wall of some family that is watching this show and them seeing the way a certain episode finishes. I love the fact that we are telling the show, even though it’s very modern and contemporary, in this old-fashioned TV format where you’ve got to wait a week to find out what happens. There are some great moments that coalesce at the end of some of our episodes. I just love the fact that people are going to be talking about that.
Skelly: We think people who follow all the way through are going to be very satisfied with how many things were setups and you don’t even know until the very end.
Flynn: Stay tuned until the end!
Max and the Midknights premieres Wednesday, October 30 at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.
