Yesterday on the last day of New York Comic Con, Nickelodeon’s Max & the Midknights creator, voice cast, and co-executive producers appeared on stage to give fans a first look at the upcoming CG-animated series. The Max & the Midknights panel consisted of by creator and best-selling author Lincoln Peirce, co-executive producers David Skelly and Sharon Flynn, as well as voice actors Blu del Barrio (Max), Caleb Yen, and Zeno Robinson (Simon) who also moderated the panel.
Peirce revealed the idea for Max & the Midknights came after the release of the 8th Big Nate book and wanted to a story involving adventure in the vein of the Sword in the Stone. During a fundraising event in Oklahoma with other cartoonists such as Stephan Pastis, Jeff Kinney, and Dav Pilkey, it occurred to them that the vast majority of their comic work showcased preadolescent boys and discussed putting a girl at the center. As some point out according to Peirce, “Girls will read anything but boys won’t read a girl’s book.” Wanting to get more girl readers to his work, Peirce hit upon the idea of keeping the gender of the titular character (Max) a secret until 50 pages in so it could be a surprise to readers.
When it came time to adapt the books into animation, producer Sharon Flynn was immediately drawn to the tone and comedy and relished doing a medieval fantasy story with a girl at the center. This first season consists of 20 episodes adapting the first book in the series. The panel showed off a map from the series based on the one Peirce drew in Book 3. He credits his love of books like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for including a map to the world.
For the voice of the titular character resonated greatly for Blu del Barrio who revealed that they dealt with some difficulties in their childhood. This animated series is something they wish they had growing up and is honored to be a part of it.
Joining Max are her friends the eponymous Midknights. Caleb Yen described his character Kevyn as cute and round like a snowman. Mostly comfortable reading books, Kevyn will experience adventure for the first time and get outside his comfort zone. Robinson described his character Simon as a sensitive person with a big heart who is not only protective of his adoptive sister Millie but also animals. The panel then showed a clip of Simon’s love of animals on display and the introduction of breakout character Doris the sheep voiced by producer David Skelly.
Skelly explained the 3 step process of translating Peirce’s characters from comic page to animation. Above all else, it all starts with Peirce’s art and staying true to the canon of the story. For instance, the dragon in the book is colored green. But Skelly stumbled upon a German edition of the Max & the Midknights books that featured a different colored version so they went with that.
Something quite unique for the series in the design process, specifically the clothing, is that they utilize the talents of of Mary Vogt, a costume designer whose credits includes Batman Returns and Men in Black. The final designs in 3D come together through Sang Jun Lee the character designer for the series.
As a cartoonist, Peirce’s work life is predominately solitary. So being part of collaborative nature of animation that began with Big Nate is something he appreciates and which is why he felt good going into Max & the Midknights. Nevertheless, he knew there would be challanges going into adapting it for animation, in particular since the the art is fairly simple. Peirce praised the team for amplifying not only the art but also the themes. Each character is on a journey of discovery and will discover something new about themselves by the end of the season.
Since this first season consisted of 20 episodes to adapt the first book, the team quickly realized there wasn’t enough content to fill the entire season. Thus they ended up creating new things that don’t appear in the books but still stay true the spirit while also fleshing out the characters. For Flynn, it was important to honor what was there. While the story is set in medieval times times, Max is definitely a modern girl. Rather than depict an aspirational character, Flynn felt it better to make Max relatable and show kids it’s okay to make mistakes.
Having worked on Big Nate, Skelly was influenced by the look of classic stop-motion animation and wanted to continue that vibe with Max & the Midknights. Apprently, the series utilized Unreal Engine software was Skelly said was inspired by witnessing his sons play video games. As an avid gamer himself, Robinson was quite impressed.
The Max & the Midknights panel then showed a clip featuring the team trying to escape a horde of zombies.
The panelists then revealed their favorite aspects of the show
Lincoln Peirce: Seeing the characters. As someone who isn’t an animator, he has great admiration for the art of animation and praised the series for its cinematic feel.
Caleb Yen: While many voice recordings are done individually or remotely, Yen loved being able to do ensemble sessions with the voice cast in the same room.
David Skelly: Having worked on many major projects during his animation career, Skelly believes this is his favorite so just enjoyed day-to-day work
Zeno Robinson: During a callback audition, Skelly recognized the Astroy Boy character on Robinson’s shirt. Robinson was quite keen to get cast so he could work with someone who shared fandoms.
Blu del Barrio: As they mentioned earlier in the panel, del Barrio encountered difficulties growing up. So being part of this series allowed them to the opportunity to relive childhood and be a kid again. They found it quite healing especially since not everyone is fortunate for that opportunity. They felt incredibly lucky and honored to be part of this series.
Sharon Flynn: A major aspect of the series is the music, most especially the rock and roll inspired original songs. Flynn praised the work of musicians Matt Mahaffey and Leticia Wolf.
On that note, the Max & the Midknights panel ended with the announcement that Nickelodeon and Republic Records Kids and Family will release the soundtrack album, Max & the Midknights (Music from the Series), the same day as the series premiere on Wednesday, October 30. The album is available to pre-save HERE.
English (US) · 