With Hulu having further developed its base of original adult animation content, the question can permeate of how much of a presence does the streaming service have in overseeing the content it distributes. Luckily for the creative teams behind the likes of Solar Opposites and the upcoming Koala Man, the Disney majority-owned platform appears to have a strong tolerance for what can be included in these shows. Murphy’s Multiverse had the opportunity to sit down with the head creative figures of these two shows during San Diego Comic-Con last week, and they offered some insight regarding their working relationship with Hulu. Justin Roiland, co-creator of Solar Opposites and executive producer on Koala Man, even went on to discuss his fortune when it comes to this dynamic.
I’m really lucky to have partners at Hulu, and all the folks I’m working with, and even at Adult Swim. Everyone that believes in it and is chill. Obviously, Rick and Morty was the foot in the door to get us to Solar Opposites. And then our relationship with Hulu… we’re all friends with the network executives, it’s really a magical thing that is not always the case. There’s certain places where the executives, there’s a very adversarial line. But they (Hulu) trust us and on Solar, we get to do what we want to do. We get notes here and there, but they will let us address them how we feel best to address.
Justin Roiland
This concept was further confirmed by specific members of creative team members on both of the series respectively. Specifically, a theme permeated in the writer’s rooms trying to push the boundaries of what they could get away with, only to learn that Hulu was fully on board with keeping the creative process unfettered. Solar Opposites co-creator Mike McMahan and Koala Man executive producer Dan Hernandez both addressed this topic.
Sometimes we’re like ‘Can we try to piss Hulu off?’ And then we never do, but the episodes come out like we were trying to, which I really like…We’ve tried to get Hulu to tell us ‘no,’ and they just won’t do it.
Mike McMahan
There were a few times where we got to ‘Could we do that?’ And Hulu was like ‘Sure, sounds good.’ And I was like, ‘I can’t believe they let us do that.’ It’s been amazing to be at Hulu where there’s nothing that’s holding us back from telling the funniest, best stories that we can think of.
Dan Hernandez
Ultimately, this seems to be a good sign that Hulu will remain a strong home for the high concept and daring projects that creative minds such as Justin Roiland and Michael Cusack can concoct. This is certainly the case as seen with the consistent success of Solar Opposites and the high anticipation that has built for the upcoming Koala Man.
This interview was done in conjunction with Saturday Morning Cereal, Pixelated Geek, and JVS Media & Productions.
