It’s still winter, but start early for wild summer adventures in Disney’s new animated series, Stogo. Creator and Executive Producer’s childhood was inspired by the abundant wildlife and vibrant energy of South Florida Ryan Gillis, Stogo It tells the story of six middle school students who are tricked by a mad scientist into attending a fake academic summer camp. Three months of school turns into an adventure of a lifetime on a tropical island filled with mind-reading manatees, giant fighting fungi, and fashion-forward mutants. Ahead of the show’s premiere this Saturday, beat Had the pleasure of chatting with Gillis and co-executive producers Sunil Hall. We talked about some of the inspiration for the show, the casting process, and more!
Taimur Dar: I’m not ashamed to admit that I racked my brain trying to figure out the meaning of the show’s title Stogo Until I realized it was the abbreviation for Student Union. Sometimes, coming up with a title for a show can be just as hard, if not harder, than the actual show itself. How do you lock the title? Stogo?
Ryan Gillis: This is a great question because I’m not good at naming things. While it was in development, it was called other names for a long time. As the idea developed, I just looked at it through pure research. I searched on Google and found StuGo. It’s catchy and fits the theme of the show. That stuck. There’s always room for change along the way, but this time it was smooth sailing.
Taimur Dar: I like to observe situational storytelling in animation, as opposed to linear or sequential storytelling. Even mix them together. For example, The strong ones Most of what Sunil produced was episodic, but took on larger ongoing plots in later seasons. Stogo It seems to be more accidental. Is that the case or is there a larger overall storyline?
Sunil Hall: Generally speaking, context is our focus. We wanted each episode to stand on its own without someone having to watch previous episodes to understand anything. same way like Strong ones, As the seasons go on, these stories and characters take on some lore and you start to build depth in this world. Some of these things will naturally come up later in the story. I think you’ll see by the end of the season that we’ll have more threads that continue or reference other episodes. But it’s designed to be episodic, which is the main focus of our show.
Ryan Gillis: Sunil is very good at finding rewards for people watching in order, like jokes that can come back, and if you know the characters, it hits harder. But yeah, we generally like to keep each episode separate.
Taimur Dar: I had the great pleasure of interviewing Chris Prynoski and Ben Kalina from Titmouse Studios at New York Comic Con. It is undoubtedly one of the best animation studios. They don’t have a house style, Prynoski said, but rather a house sensibility. So it’s not surprising Stogo Match their feelings. What is it like working with Titmouse?
Ryan Gillis: Fifteen years ago, I worked as an animator at Titmouse. So when the show moved production to that studio, it felt right. I think the studio is known for being irreverent and going against the grain. They feel like a wonderful home Stogo.
Sunil Hall: It’s an interesting studio culture. Chris and everyone who has been there is a huge fan of comics and cartoons and has been supportive of everything we do. This has been a great home for us.
Larry, Chipman Hands, Pliny, Merian, Sarah
Taimur however: Stogo There’s such a great voice cast. I find it interesting that people like James Gunn sometimes create characters based on specific actors. Other times, he has a general idea and is therefore involved in the casting process. for Stogowhich actors did you have in mind from the beginning, or were there any unexpected surprises during the casting process?
Ryan Gillis: Large casting process. Lots of unexpected surprises. I don’t have a specific person in mind. When we were making characters, it was kind of like cataloging people I knew and characters I’d met and then putting those together to make them feel real. Disney’s casting department put out a big call and got a lot of recordings. We would listen to them and put them together to see how they sounded. And then we got this cast that I’m really excited about.
Sunil Hall: Sometimes when we’re writing an episode, we’ll have a guest character appear in an episode. Often we think of someone we know as the prototype for the character.
Taimur Dar: Back in early 2024, I had the great pleasure of moderating a panel discussion on voice coaching, which Kristi Reed was kind enough to join. She is one of the best in the business. After reading StogoI can definitely see it having a lot of her own emotions in it, which I’ve observed from other shows she’s directed. How did you end up hiring Christie?
Sunil Hall: Like you said, she’s one of the best out there. I worked with her briefly on a pilot. We know who she is and she’s available. Again, this is a guy who is in sync with the vibe of the show. We worked really well with her. She is very efficient.
Ryan Gillis: Again, it was great working with Sunil because he has been down this road before. He was able to predict many twists and turns that I couldn’t have done on my own. When we interviewed Christy, she said the timing had been set, and he sent me a message from the sidelines: “Locked! Get her!”
Taimur Dar: Ryan, you mentioned your childhood growing up in Florida as an influence on the show. But I’d love to hear what inspired the animation?
Ryan Gillis: That was certainly the case with Ray Harryhausen. Jonny Quest. We’re digging up a lot of old adventure series and trying to pick out the parts that inspired us when we were younger and update them so that they feel like they’re in our voices. The old adventure series, of course.
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Taimur Dar: I remember hearing a comedian explain that trying to be funny will ultimately end in failure. while watching Stogosome of my favorite jokes that made me laugh out loud were pretty simple yet unexpected, like Dr. Lula’s character playing tic-tac-toe with the monster. What is your attitude towards comedy?
Ryan Gillis: I think my favorite joke is where we learn more about the character. At that moment, it’s the first time we see her work, but then you realize she has more interesting relationships. The joke was a surprise, but really the joke was about learning more about Dr. Lula. I mainly wanted to make Sunil and the other storyboarders laugh.
Sunil Hall: We were just joking with each other in the writers’ room. Whichever one gets the biggest response, we’ll use.
Ryan Gillis: Long production time. It’s nice to have other people you can trust. When you’re in the middle of it and there are so many options that make you think, “What was the thing that really made us laugh back then?” You can grab those little north stars.
Larry, Chipman Hands, Sarah, Merian, Francis, Pliny
Taimur Dar: Finally, is there any particular episode that excites viewers or makes you proud?
Sunil Hall: I don’t want to pick any particular “baby” as my favorite. [Laughs]. Especially for me, it’s been really interesting as the series continues with this particular batch of pieces. Everyone starts to gel as a team. These characters become separate creatures from when we started. I’m a big fan of the evolution of the series.
Ryan Gillis: Stealed the answer right out of my mouth! The thing started to gain momentum and people started to take ownership. By the end, things start moving at an interesting pace.
Stogo Premiering with two episodes on Saturday, January 11 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on Disney Channel, with new episodes following every Sunday at 9:00 AM ET/PT
