Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is set to hit Netflix on November 17 exclusively on Netflix, with the entire main cast of the 2010 live-action adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs The World set to return and provide the voices to their respective characters. Luckily, I had the opportunity to participate in round table interviews at this year’s New York Comic Con and was able to speak with the writer, BenDavid Grabinski, and get a little more insight on what fans can expect when the animated series hits Netflix.
How did you get involved with Scott Pilgrim Takes Off?
So, Brian [Lee O’Malley] had some talks with Netflix, and they let him know that Science Saru was interested in doing an anime of the show and they asked him if he was interested in doing the adaptation or being involved. I’ve known Brian for more than a decade – he’s one of my best friends and we always share each other’s work with each other. When we were having a discussion about how we could try to find a way to make the story new, I suddenly had a lot of ideas, and Brian really responded to them. So when he went back to Netflix, he said, I think I know what I want this show to be. My friend BenDavid has some ideas that I really like and I think we should do it together. Since then, we just were off to the races, we were just trying to find some ways to expand the story and spend more time with all the supporting characters, and we were completely on the same page about what the best version of the show would be – we just jumped into the deep end from there.
When did it start going?
it was a 24/7 process for 2-3 years. If we weren’t sitting and working together, we were texting each other 24/7. Some of my favorite stuff in the show would be like 11 o’clock, I text Brian and say, “hey, what if we *blank*”, and he’d usually respond, “That’s a really cool idea, let’s not annoy anyone else because it’s too late at night”, but then sometimes Japan’s day started at 3 pm, so we had a point in the show where our producers were in the UK, and everyone who’s making the show was in Japan. So in Brian’s office, he had three different clocks on the wall for LA time, UK time and Japan. So whenever we were sending an email from an idea or working on something, we’d be like, “Well, what time is it there? Is this a good time for business?” but we have had almost no time off on it in years, and we only just saw the finished last episode, like five days ago. So I like we’re even working over the holidays and stuff. But it was great. but because Brian and I wrote the whole season together, it’s been just an adventure for a long time now.
Seems almost unprecedented to get the entire cast back from the movie. How did that happen?
It doesn’t make any sense at all. I still like the only reason it makes sense is because it did happen. I was just really lucky that everyone had such a good time making the movie. Edgar did like a perfect job. I think it’s one of the best ensembles in movie history and when we reached out to them about doing the show, they’d had such a good experience that they just decided to do this as well. I never thought it would actually happen. It just didn’t make any sense to me, because I wasn’t going to use them unless we got everybody. Because it didn’t make sense for me to be like a mix and match of people. But everybody said yes, and I just feel very lucky about it.
Were there any problems with scheduling?
I mean, scheduling for everything you ever make is a nightmare, and has nothing to do with the people involved or their reluctance. Whether you’re the most successful filmmaker alive or the least successful, trying to get people to be available for when you need them, for the amount of work you need with like 15 or 16 people plus guest stars, and people who live all over the world.
Brian and I will be recording some actors at 5:00 AM LA time because that’s like in the afternoon in the UK and then New York people are at different times so our schedule on our end was crazy and it was totally worth it. We were really lucky that we found a way to get everybody recorded just in time. There are some actors who would get like the day before the mix of the episode, it became really, it was every part of it was an adventure, but I’m glad it worked out.
Animation as a medium is something that works really well with the source material. So I was just curious if there was an aspect of it being animated that you’re you were excited to realize?
Well, I love animation. I love Science Saru – I was a huge fan, I knew their work really well, and that was one of the things that made me feel like the show could be great. They were so respectful of Brian’s books, they went through every drawing he’s ever done of any of these characters ad when we met with them, and like when we went to Japan, they were referencing things he’d only posted on Instagram, where he had done kind of like his version of fan art of his own stuff. We said, “we’re using this design for the character based on this piece that you posted that one time” and they were just almost like experts on his aesthetic. They’re just geniuses in their own right. So we’ve just felt from the beginning that they were going to take everything he did and just turn it into something visceral and cool and new. Also just getting to do action scenes and anime was the thing I was the most excited about. You know, you can write something that is so unbelievably big, and you just know they’re gonna completely go for it.
Did you guys have any involvement with the music and the soundtrack?
We hired a lot – composer Joseph Trapanese and Anamanaguchi, whom Brian had a relationship with… I wrote a lot of it, like the original songs and some of them with Brian, some would show the Sex Bomb demos that we did. Brian sang all the parts – it was the music part of the show that was a huge undertaking, but it was maybe the most creatively rewarding because the show was really pushing the limits of what Scott Pilgrim’s music can be because we we have stuff from all kinds of different styles. We even have stuff that’s like Sondheim, it is a wild mix of music.
Is there a possibility of getting an animated version of the film?
I mean, the whole thing we always felt was just that anytime you do an adaptation of Scott, we should try to do something new if we’re lucky enough to get to make it. Who knows if you ever get to make another thing, and since the movie was already so cool, and the books were already so cool, and the video game is cool, and they’re all different versions of the story. Brian and I just have the preference that anytime fans can get something new is good. That’s our preference. Anytime we can get something new with the characters something unexpected, expand the world of it. That’s just as our approach, we just hope every time there’s something of Scott, it can just add more to the mix.
It’s great how familiar it was, yet, it’s not, things definitely changed throughout the season.
Well yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of new stuff in the show and that was always our goal. But every single element of every single thing I wrote or did I’m sitting next to Brian, and we always just have the rules like does this feel like Scott Pilgrim? Does this feel like the same voice? Does this feel consistent? Because we wanted it to all feel like the exact same tone. So we overthought everything, there’ll be like jokes that I came up with that we thought were really funny, but it didn’t feel right for the show, or like, dramatic elements, we just tried to do follow our gut and what felt like organically the same thing. It just should always feel like Brian could have written it, even if he didn’t, you know, so I think that the show does feel like as Scott Pilgrim is possible.
You nailed it, you could watch this and not know the film and then watch the film after and say “Oh” because they blend into each other so well.
From Day 1, when I came up with a new concept for this, Brian and I both agreed that this could be your first way to ever see Scott or the video game could be the first there’s no correct order to get into the Scott Pilgrim world. You just can pick anything and I think that they all kind of enhance each other if I think you watch the show, and then watch the movie afterwards, the movie will feel different and you’ll feel like you have a different perspective on the characters but the order doesn’t matter.
is there a chance for a video game sequel or following the line of the show?
No comment, but I would say we’d love to do something like that. No comment. Just the no comic book. Literally one of the greatest. I love the game so much. I, when I first played it, I started playing it like a sixth and I played it until like 10 AM the next day because I was so addicted to try and grind and get better with the characters. It’s great.
Were there any characters you were excited to explore more within the show?
For me, the biggest reason to do this show was to spend more time with the exes and more time with Ramona. Like, for me. The thing about the original version of the story. I just wish I got just a little bit more with each of the axes. I kind of wish some of these characters who never got to share scenes with each other would get to and that was the thing that Brian and we’re so excited about. It’s like, you know, for new viewers, and for fans of the thing. There are people who you never thought would be in the same room more mad at each other or love each other. We’re trying to create, you know, a lot of fun new dynamics.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off arrives on Netflix on November 17. Check out the trailer for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off below
