”I have an amazing idea, follow me!"
"Noooo!"
Netflix’s new animated comedy 'Tuca & Bertie' - from 'BoJack Horseman' producer
Lisa Hanawalt - explores the friendship between two 30-something bird women, voiced
by comedians Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong. Haddish plays Tuca a carefree and
confident toucan, while Wong takes on the role of Bertie, an anxious and
repressed songbird. On Wednesday night Hanawalt, Haddish and Wong appeared after
a screening of the first two episodes of the series at Tribeca Film Festival to discuss how
the show came together with Hanawalt explaining that she just really wanted to make a
show about female friendship and drew on her own experiences when writing her
new show. Of the central dynamic, Hanawalt said,
“They’re kind of opposites...
and you can kind of see why they’ve been friends for so long."
Meanwhile, real life long time friends Haddish and Wong are over the moon to finally be
working together with Wong telling the audience,
Added Haddish, "Yep, I said next time I’ll be hosting and that’s that." True to her word,
the 'Girls Trip' breakout did indeed host the long-running sketch show in 2017.
”I lived in a lot of group homes... Trying to convince them that Dana Carvey is just as
funny as Damon Wayans was a problem. I got stabbed twice, y’all. In a bunk bed.“
The panel brought up the fact that 'Tuca & Bertie' is one of very few animated comedies
created by a woman — and “created by, not co-created by,” as Haddish pointed out.
It’s not all laughs though as the second episode of the animation involves a storyline
about sexual harassment.
Hanawalt elaborated on this comment later in an interview with 'The Hollywood Reporter'
For anyone who has watched 'BoJack Horseman' - Raphael's Bob-Waksberg's animated
series about a humanoid horse who is washed up 90’s sitcom star dealing with substance
abuse and self loathing - it may come as a surprise that there are restrictions as to what
the writers and producers can put on screen and also that 'Tuca & Birdie' takes place in
an entirely different universe. Says Hananwalt of Birdtown, the imaginatively designed
city in which Tuca and Bertie live, it’s a representation of all of the stuff she isn’t allowed
to do on the Will Arnett and Aarron Paul voiced series.
Asked what she hopes viewers will take away from the series, Hanawalt’s answer was
simple: “I hope people find it funny and relatable, and I hope women see themselves
in the characters.” When reviewing the new series, 'THR’s' Daniel Fienberg gives
Hanawalt perhaps the ultimate compliment in comparing her characters to the two
incredibly funny and relatable ones created by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobsen.
Writes Fienberg,
'Tuca & Bertie' is now available to watch on Netflix.
To read more on this story, head to THR.com.
For The Hollywood Reporter News, I’m Lyndsey Rodrigues.