If they don't greenlight this show for 3-5 seasons, they are fools. This is the most important piece of science fiction to come out in the past 10 years. No cap.
Love the show. Amazing art and worldbuilding. Best TV this year IMO.
How did the ideas and themes change between the creation of the original animated short and the making of the show? Did you have to scrap anything?
We started from scratch on the characters and their story arcs, but we kept a lot of what already existed on the planet from the short. The short was a springboard for the nature and ecosystems that existed in the show. In telling a much larger, longer story, we wanted to elaborate on the themes we found most interesting. In a sense, the original characters were scrapped in favor of characters that were better equipped to explore those themes.
I don't really think thats even close enough time for them to understand the interactions of the creatures on that planet and the level of understanding they show.
The first epsiode has Sam inside of a creature pulling multiple organs around to get it to do something. How did they learn that?
I think it's safe to assume that spitting up the light orbs is a natural biological process that animal goes through. Sam and Ursula probably saw it spit them up once and realized there might be a way to force the process into happening. After that piece clicks it's just trial, error, and hoping you don't die really.
Honestly considering how often things get eviscerated in this show I wouldn't be surprised if previously some creature mauled one of those things Sam killed and he decided to take a closer (maybe hungrier at the time) peak inside
Yup. My personal head canon (I have to have one or I'd end up rolling my eyes and I loved this show) is that the planetary awareness/consciousness is in some way influencing the crew to make the correct choices.
Otherwise that type of skill and knowledge would take many generations to learn and pass down.
Like I said tho great show one of my favorites of the last few years.
During the sequence where Azi produces an adhesive to allow better grip for feet she sends like 3-4 species through a series of complex transformations...it seems like a stretch that she may have naturally learned something so intricate and specific to where they happened to be standing in any reasonable amount of time.
Those bugs were present all over the planet, not just in that environment. She'd probably observed them hunting in the past, she established with Levi earlier on that she was familiar with the activity of "these things" so she has some baseline understanding of their habits. Since they burrow underground she could've just watched what happened once one of those food sources hit the ground. It's a bit of a stretch for sure but I don't think any of the symbiotic interactions the characters pick up on are completely unreasonable for them to deduce over a couple of months.
Please for the love of god release an art book and include all of the sketches no matter how sketchy. I never buy them but would not hesitate. Especially if it was rendered as a field guide for the planet... Please!
Any chance your team will release the original pitch deck?
I'm sure a lot of folk in the industry are really curious about what the seed of such an ambitious show (that's unlike anything else on TV) might've looked like ESP since its storytelling relies on something as complex as the symbiotic relationships in the world & in how we relate to one another
It’s trippy, watch it! It definitely was the thing that got them the show, and they didn’t touch any of the plot points from the show, it basically shows Ursula and the other character just getting through a single day on the planet
Yeah, the short is incredible. I heard the concept for this show got kicked around & developed bc of how good the short was, then had trouble finding a home between Adult Swim, FX, & got caught up in the HBO MAX/Warner Discovery merger- In order for a show to move hands like that, there's typically a pitch deck shuffling around to give network execs broad bullet points, so I'm just v curious abt how wild that pitch deck must've been to contain this world (& also just love behind the scenes concept art)
Go for it. There are no spoilers in the short. I actually think you should watch it first because without, the first sequence in the series is incredibly jarring 😂
Yeah I guess I meant more like what the implied ecological function was. Most of the creatures we saw had some kind of symbiotic function within their ecosystem.
I think that moment is intended to be more metaphorical than literal, but in effect it's a distillation of the entire symbiotic life cycle of the planet. Everything on the planet is born to serve a specific ecological purpose, procreate, and die. The clone forest, the tentacle parasite, even the hunter ostriches exist to perpetuate the planetary ecosystem. Ultimately a creature being born just to accomplish one task and die is the base case of this whole environment.
I also think it serves to foreshadow how the planet works in terms of rebirth to prepare you for the back half of the season. The theme of life and death as a never ending cycle is ever present in the show, and ultimately is how >!Levi ends up getting to live and become robot Jesus.!< It also arguably reflects >!Hollow's journey throughout the show!<
So you all clearly put some effort into appropriately naming characters. I caught Levi as Hebrew for union, Kamen as Japanese for mask, or Hollow being an empty vessel literally and figuratively with Kamen. I was curious if you had any similar intentions with Azi, Sam, and Ursula?
Also curious about the leap from short to series. What was the rationale behind the change in character design?
Finally, I wanted to ask about your influences. I've heard mention of Ghibli, Moebius, Frank Quitely, etc. But are there any influences people seem to have largely missed?
Oh, one more thing, when and where can I get my hands on that soundtrack? And what can I do, as a viewer to see a second season?
Love the show and I was hoping you would do something like an AMA.
Thanks!
Great observations about the character names! Ursula was named after a good friend's daughter.
A couple of other influences were the film Koyaanisqatsi, the youtube channel Primitive Technology, the films of Satoshi Kon, Katsuhiro Otomo, Terrence Malick, and the film Sorcerer by William Friedkin.
And to answer your last question - please spread the word : )
Already caught the Otomo references, but amazing to see that Ron Fricke and primitive technology were inspirations as well. It's like you condensed my hyper fixations over the years into a show.
I'm watching the show with a biologist who studied spiders, insects, and bugs (but mostly spiders). Every other scene they're saying stuff like "oh, that's just a so-and-so type worm but with a different worm's parts" or "that's a mantid with dragonfly wings" until at one point she said - "I wonder who their bug person they consulted for the critters was?"
So I'll ask it here - did you have a consulting biologist, and if so, who was it (if you can share)?
It reminds me of [Caesars Palace without an apostrophe](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidschwartz/2018/09/04/the-story-behind-the-most-famous-missing-apostrophe-in-las-vegas/?sh=527e8e1d80b2).
Right, I had a hard time thinking of "reign" as a verb here instead of a noun being modified by "Scavengers" with an expected apostrophe: Scavengers' Reign
Look up the graphic novels by Leo, for example Aldebaran and Betelgeuze.
SR is *extremely* similar to those, in basically every aspect. (Animation style, coloring, design of technology and flora & fauna, the concept of alien worlds, stranded colonists, etc.)
https://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/leo-betelgeuse/
I thought the final confrontation between Levi and Hollow / Kamen was one of the most beautifully animated sequences in the show. In particular, the rapid evolution of the planet and all its fauna was breathtaking, and Levi's mind blast that melts most of Hollow away to reveal Kamen holding its smaller body was unforgettable; the gravity and tone of this last sequence reminded me a lot of the lighthouse scene in the Annihilation movie.
I'm really interested: what it was like to come up with this montage and animate it? What were your inspirations, animated or otherwise, when making it?
This sequence was inspired a lot by Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi etc. Our director for that episode, Vincent Tsui did a lot of the heavy lifting for that scene. Vincent is brilliant.
I'm so happy to hear about the Koyaanisqatsi inspiration! Definitely "life out of balance... WITH ALIENS!" What a timelapse cornucopia of life. There was music in Episode 9 that sounded very Philip Glass-ian too, I think it was from Nicholas Snyder? Was that a designed influence as well?
Hello team. I want to congratulate you on having made such an absolute masterpiece. You all have put in 110% effort and it shows in every frame. Thank you for one of the most memorable stories I've experienced.
My question: what's your favorite Vestan species?
For me the most impactful species and scene was the tiny flower child inside the wall who just lives for a few minutes to make the flower bloom and then dies.
Such a poignant moment.
Did you make a refference (or nod) to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind? Especially with that sound emiter that Azi used against those large creatures?
Also is there a production blog website or place where we can see all the concept art and model sheets and style guides for the characters and creatures? I'd love to see all the deep dives into anatomy and director/supervisor notes.
The Art of Scavengers Reign book when?
To answer your first question, no that wasn't the intention. But Nausicaä rocks. We love it.
Our team of artists have been posting a lot of that material on Instagram and X. If you search #scavengersreign, you will find a ton.
The mutually harmful symbiotic relationship between Kamen and his frog friend stood out to me as radically creative in this project full of inspired, bizarre, unique concepts. How did the idea of a telekinetic sludge-bearing memory frog come to be?
I just loved the show. Was great watching it in the dark, after work, at 1 in the morning, while laying on my couch. Terrifyingly, awe inspiring, refreshingly, tear jerkingly, well written/acted characters. Thank you!
What software did the U.S. team use for (what I assume is) the bitmap Cel animated segments? It's so beautiful & truly elevates so much of yr previous Photoshop work, & ofc I can't imagine you'd tackle such a large project primarily in PS
Most of the show. Like most of the figures & creatures moving.
"Bitmap" is industry jargon for raster (instead of vector) animation, which is just inside baseball pixel info. Cel animation is traditional animation where you hand draw each frame as opposed to (vector) rigging (archer, Rick & Morty, American Dad) where your character designers build puppets that the animators move like puppets & doesn't require any drawing.
It's part of why this show looks so incredible.
I \*assume\* (not entirely sure) things like the spaceships were done 3D & were NOT bitmap cel animated- though I could be wrong as I've seen some hand drawn spaceships floating around in behind the scenes concept art for the show.
Just wanted to say, that I watched the original Scavengers short film when it first aired after seeing your addition to the Off The Air episode Ghosts and falling in love with the few but impactful short videos you made. I’ve literally showed so many people Scavengers after smoking some weed and saying it’s my favourite video of all time. That short film has inspired me in ways you cannot understand, it’s propelled in a direction where i am now working with Nickelodeon in development for an IP of my own.
I have yet to watch Scavengers Reign, I’m waiting to watch it with one friend of mine and just get fried and blast through it. But I wanted to let you all know that the work you guys have made is literally the NUMBER ONE content that I want to exist in the world and that I am so unbelievably excited to watch it. This is why animation exists and what can be done with the medium.
I’d love to know the creative process behind your creature creation. I imagine it must be such a varied process, but does it start with a single cool elelment of a creature? An environment that needs to be filled? Is it a long process over several years that eventually became packed with ideas, or was it a focused assignment of the week endeavour? Keep on rocking in a free world boys.
Alex Pires
>I’d love to know the creative process behind your creature creation. I imagine it must be such a varied process, but does it start with a single cool elelment of a creature? An environment that needs to be filled? Is it a long process over several years that eventually became packed with ideas, or was it a focused assignment of the week endeavour? Keep on rocking in a free world boys.
It was a pretty long process over several years with many talented artists weighing in. From a writing perspective, if a creature needed to have a functionality in the story we would write it in the script and have our wonderful concept designers take a crack of how that creature might look, move and feel.
Absolutely fantastic show, and I hope we get more.
My favorite moment in the show was the little frog guy that Ursula wakes up. What was the inspiration behind that?
LOVE the show - everything from the story to the environment/character/creature design was enthralling.
As someone who's looking at transitioning from just drawing to full on animating, what would you consider to be the most important piece of advice to keep in mind?
>As someone who's looking at transitioning from just drawing to full on animating, what would you consider to be the most important piece of advice to keep in mind?
Timing is everything.
Can you both share one of your personal favorite scene/moment of season 1?
Also, which character do you most resonate with?
Can you please explain the symbiotic relationships that this show illustrates many times and how they differ from species to species? (ie: hollow, that fungus flower, and the parasite that was inside Sam)
Is this symbiotic nature a reoccurring theme of the show? How important would it be for the series overall?
In your opinion, who do you think has the best skill set/ mindset to survive on Vesta?
Joe: My favorite scene is the bush wall flower creature that Ursula witnesses in episode 3.
James: Kris and Azi's confrontation on top of the mountain from episode 9.
Charles: The montage when Hollow experiences the birth of the planet in episode 12.
I didn’t realize until it was over that I had been holding my breath during the montage. It was everything I love about the show in a flash of art and evolution. Thanks for that.
First of all, I love this show, it's one of the best I've ever seen in animation. Thank you for making it
My question is how did you come up with this very ambitious project for an animated series? It's very daring visually and narrative wise for western adult animation, specially for adult animation since most of them are just raunchy comedies
>My question is how did you come up with this very ambitious project for an animated series? It's very daring visually and narrative wise for western adult animation, specially for adult animation since most of them are just raunchy comedies
Thank you! It's truly just the type of show we would want to watch as viewers.
(1) Why did you let Kris live? ***Fuck Kris!***
(2) What music/scenes were inspired by unlikely sources? For example, in Episode 8 when Sam gets ultra-productive, the bouncy music sounds very reminiscent of the Rugrats theme of all things. And in Episode 9, there seems to be a distinct nod to Philip Glass by way of Koyaanisqatsi.
(3) What were your greatest creative challenges in making _truly alien_ lifeforms?
Was this a “script driven” or “board driven” show? I heard that Joe & Charles previously came from more of the art department side of things & James was more on the writing side of things (please correct me if I’m wrong) & I’m curious how those worlds intersected in the writer’s room. Was there drawing involved? What type of adjustments were needed to incorporate the language of twirly gooey, crumbly visual oddities of this planet to so seamlessly connect with the cast’s growth & challenges, with such concise, but impactful dialogue as if they melded together like the symbiotic relationships on the alien world? The dialog itself feels just as layered, textured, & interconnected & woven as the visuals
Thanks for making this incredible show. Can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like this :)
Q: Do you think Hollow is evil? Is Hollow a creature of instinct and habit — fish swim, birds fly, Hollow’s species forms a parasitic relationship with other life forms? Or does it seem like this creature is feeling things we only associate with humans: desire to hurt other beings for no gain, seeking revenge, feeling spite.
The idea of a psychically powerful apex predator is so freaking cool, but I could also see how it’s from a species that is technically way smarter than humans but is very bloodthirsty.
Hollow is in a codependent relationship with Kamen. As I understand it, he originally exists doing his little mind-control thing in a way harmonious with the life cycle of the entire planet. Then he finds Kamen, and Kamen's mental twistedness sort of infects him {symbolically seen in the bit where Kamen kills the other creature to get the fruit, and then Hollow *becomes* bloodthirsty}. While Hollow in turn kind of incubates Kamen's personal issues and magnifies them to spread havoc across the whole planet. Each feeds on the other. It's a juxtaposition to Levi, who is a *healthy* synthesis/symbiosis of Earth life & Vespa life. And contact with Levi then heals this horrible codependent thing they have going, and restores Kamen and Hollow to their more vulnerable and better selves.
The point is that creatures or humans themselves are neither inherently good nor evil - it's about their relationships with each other and the systems into which they feed.
There's a very studio ghibli quality about the show. Everything feels so lovingly crafted.
What can you tell us about the team behind this project? Was there an air of excitement every day for what they're making? What set them apart?
It was a very challenging show to make - everyday was certainly filled with excitement, but at times it felt grueling and arduous to find creative solutions when something was just not working. Our great team continually inspired and kept spirits high throughout the schedule : )
Can you talk a little bit about your philosophy regarding the relationship between humans and nature and our separate or not separate-ness? I feel that the show is so dense with these themes and I'm curious about your philosophical influences.
Is there anything you learned while doing Scavengers, production-wise, that you'd do differently in a potential season 2 or your next project?
Also I'd love to know who animated the mind trip/evolution scene in the final episode, that was gorgeous.
>Also I'd love to know who animated the mind trip/evolution scene in the final episode, that was gorgeous.
Vincent Tsui and our great team of animators.
How was it doing a full series compared to shorts? Like, obviously more people are gonna see it when it’s on HBO, but what themes, or how was telling your story different in episodes vs one short?
Loved it but I wish there were more butts. Like what if it was all about butts?
This is fucking HILARIOUS!! I’m working on a short series right now and when I got my animatics back, it was all butts lmfao…. I kept’em in there 🤣
hopefully it’ll find it’s way to you when it’s out and you will enjoy that. This comment gave me life, I really had questioned that decision 🤘🏽😂 made my day
Any shorts or projects you start, make sure you finish. If you have ideas, keep them to yourself until you've completed it. Don't be discouraged with similar ideas and stories that come out while you're working on your own projects, keep your blinders on and follow through. Become obsessed with whatever you are making!
Would you ever be interested in making an artbook for the show detailing concepts/concept art, creature names, species and character designs? Love the show!!!
The score was so moving and incredible through out the season (Kamen and Hollow’s leitmotifs were especially beautiful)— along with the ASMR qualities of some of the visuals, and the sound design, it seemed to build so harmoniously all together— could you speak to the process of developing the score with Nicolas? Were some of the themes developed early on, or did it follow a more conventional process of scoring to the locked picture?
Will there be any kind of merchandise or purchasable things to help support the show? I’d jump right on a soundtrack and an art book! Even better a coloring book of those gorgeous backgrounds.
It seemed like the salamander creature (hollow) was pretty smart and capable of intelligent communication to some degree. Is the species on the whole like that, or did it's telepathic bond with a human make it more cognitive than it was before?
Is there any special significance between the ship being named Demeter vs the planet being named Vesta? I always thought it stuck out that the man-made ship is named after the Greek harvest/seasonal cycle goddess, but the natural world of the planet is named after the Roman goddess of hearth and home.
What was the process to develop all the intricate interactions between Vespa's lifeforms and their uses as tools? Was a team in specific on charge of coming up with ideas, brainstorming sessions to pitch concepts, or a single genius mind imagining the whole ecosystem?
I absolutely adore this show, and this world that you've all crafted. Can you delve more into how you all developed the world, it's ecosystem, its inhabitants, and how you were able to think so out-of-the-box?
Loved the show, just have a few questions. (Answer as many, or as few, as you want)
1. How did you develop the complex interactions between the flora, fauna, and ecosystem?
2. Did you bring in ecologists and consultants to help you flush it out?
3. Are there more planets like Vesta in the universe, or is it specifically unique?
4. Anything you can say about a possible season 2 would be amazing.
I just want to reiterate that this is such a breath of fresh air, while animation has been going through a rough path for a while. I only wish there were more shows that showed this level of creativity, brilliance, world-building, etc. We congratulate you on this amazing show and will watch your career with great interest.
Any word on if this will be available on Canada’s HBO streaming service Crave? It was presumptuous of me but renewed my subscription to watch the show !!
It’s so inspiring to see gorgeous, thoughtful, adult animation coming out of an American studio! I love this show and everything it stands for ❤️
1. Hollow is one of my favorite creatures of all time, truly incredible work there! I was wondering though, why did it blow up Kris’ ship? Most of the things it does seem like misplaced biological directives, but I couldn’t figure that one out. Did it somehow perceive the ship as a threat?
2. I saw the panel at Lightbox (great panel btw!) and it was so cool seeing the progress from the first animation takes to the final, polished ones. I was wondering if you could talk more about that process? Was it hard to communicate the exact details you wanted to see? Did communication get easier as the production went on?
Thanks for doing this ama, and for making an incredible season of tv!
Hi! I just wanted to echo most of the other people here and say thank you for such a beautiful show. I’m going to be thinking about it for a very long time.
I also wanted to ask about Barry! He feels like one of the most genuine, lovingly depicted portrayals of a neurodivergent/autistic character I’ve seen in media, but he’s also a character I haven’t seen much discussion about in regards to this! Was this the intended read of his character? How was the process of developing him?
Thank you so much again; looking forward to a hopeful season 2 (but also appreciating the fulfilling end to season 1!) :)
Who animated the timelapse scene with the rotating camera in the last episode?
I have so many "who animated this" questions but this one is the most pressing for me lmao
My wife wants to know is Hallow unique to their species or would any of the others also be able to subjugate a human (is it typical for them to try that on species other than the lil green guys or no?)
She also asks what is the process like for designing a new alien species, what inspires you to think of a sequence like Azi getting goo for their boots?
1. Are there official names for any of the other creatures aside from Hollow?
2. Do you have a story planned if the show continues further on, or will you just figure it out as more seasons are greenlit? And followup, do you have an idea of how long you want this show to be?
3. How did you come up with so many creative creature designs and ecosystems? And will we get some sort of artbook or extra content giving us more information about the planet and life forms in any way? Id love to get more information.
4. How much has the show diverged from your initial creative vision? I know one thing you wanted was for the characters to not be able to speak, but is there anything else that got changed that significantly strayed from your creative vision that you would have wanted to do differently?
5. Is there anything that you wanted to explore in the season that you couldn't either for lack of time or any other reason? And is there a possibility to explore this in future seasons?
You guys did an insane job with this show. I loved the original short and almost had a heart attack when I saw this show announced, and it was more spectacular that I could have imagined. Thank you so much for everything!
What is the meaning of the flower after someone dies? Also what would you say goes through the psychic alien's head during the series, like does it think or its actions have motivations at all?
Absolutely amazing job! If I had to describe what you made, I would say it is one part nature documentary (The kind where you watch a dead fox decompose), one part Japanese art print melancholy and one part paranormal survival horror.
If you had to describe your work more much more briefly how would you do it?
How did this description change over the production process?
A lot of great questions here. Just wanted to add my appreciation. Been a while since I had a show that made me want to sit in contemplative silence after each episode to just digest it.
I've been recommending it to everyone I know as if driven by a Scavengers Reign parasite.
just upthread OP says she is named after a friend’s daughter. I had a pet hypothesis that Sam and Ursula were named after Chip Delany and Ursula K. LeGuin since Chip for some reason took a dislike to Ms. LeGuin’s material in the seventies and wrote some material specifically as answer books. I think he took against Left Hand of Darkness in particular and iirc Trouble on Triton is one of his ripostes. Anyway, a nice theory, seemingly debunked.
Love the show! I know Moebius is a strong influence on the style of the show. Are there any other big influences I may not realize at first? Hope you guys get a chance to check your chats and I can't wait to see more!
I'm a bit late to the party but is there any possibility of a narrated version or one with commentary? I would love to hear the thought process and some insider knowledge of the characters and creatures in the show, while watching it.
Loved the show so much, really gushed to Mr. Huettner on Twitter the night after the first three episodes premiered. I ADORED the soundtrack and was wondering if there's any plans to make that available on streaming sites in some form?
Why was Azi, a strong and stubborn character but with good character growth rendered helpless multiple times in a way that none of the other characters were? It felt a little out of place. Like she was being fettishized/objectified. Absolutely everything else was a masterpiece and I love Azi's character. Truly a timeless work or art. My buggest question is will there be another season and/or what will it take for that to happen?
It seems like this world is heavily influenced by ecological systems and I'm wondering who and what drove that and how that all came to be. Is it a life-long interest kind of thing or maybe I'm way off entirely! If not I'd be interested in some of your favorite books/resources on ecology or anything else like that. I love the show and the short and it's already a huge influence on my own work. Thanks so much for making such a beautiful thing exist.
Thank you guys for such an amazing show, fingers crossed for more seasons. The designs for the humans feel like the biggest change from the original short, and they feel really distinct from almost anything I’ve seen either on tv or the ligne claire indie comics the environment and creature designs seem inspired by. How did you end up landing on the current look for these characters?
Curious if you had inklings of the story of the show when you produced the short - or if the short opened the doors to think about how you could expand the scope?
In-universe, what happened when the.. horrible telekinetic panda baby tried to use the black goop on Levi? I get what it represents symbolically, but I'm curious what caused that reaction in-universe.
The show was amazing. The pacing was fantastic, the characters were interesting, and the characters felt isolated even when surrounded by many strange creatures.
I'll just spitball a question nobody has asked yet. Were the designs for the people who found Kris in the end inspired by Warhammer 40k?
hi! I'm a Media Studies/Fine Arts student who's a big fan- do you have any tips for people entering the entertainment business, for building connections and getting projects picked up? if you could talk a bit about how Scavengers went from a short to an HBO show, I'm really interested!
How does it feel to be reading the reviews for the show? Every one I’ve seen has all been glowing! Did you think your show would be so well received, or were you concerned that it would be too weird?
To add my own review, this is one of my all time favorite things I’ve ever watched. Thanks for making it!
Are there any major plot developments/twists about the story that haven’t been revealed in season 1? And if so, do you already have a plan for the show going forward if a season 2 is ever confirmed.
(Me and my friends have a lot of theories still hanging in the air so I’m curious)
Will there be other Projects within the universe? To see where Levi’s child ends up with the very 40k esque folks, or maybe hold that off for a long time and we see what happens?
Was Hollow supposed to be a reflection of Kamen? Like they were experiencing a similar life and then we're drawn to each other because of it? Or was Kamen just a horrible influence on our sweet little evil boy?
I really loved the show! I haven't seen anything quite like this before; the world felt like it was rendered with a ton of exacting consideration, and somehow managed to feel both alien, but also like a real functioning ecosystem that wasn't just bizarre for the sake of it.
Related to that, my question is - how much/what kind of prep work went into fleshing out the various biomes we saw throughout the show? When you were writing or storyboarding, did you have any world bible/reference document of how the various plants and animals in an area interacted, or a throughline about like... The kinds of animals that might be found in each area, or any commonalities in their behavior? It all feels so considered, and I couldn't help but wonder if there is some sort of prep work done to make it come alive, or if it's a trick of presentation.
How did you come up with inspiration for all the wild and wacky animals/creatures? Did they come to you in a dream or?
All of the life forms are so beautiful in their own way!
How much of a focus did your team have on the mechanisms/functionality of the ecosystem(s) displayed in the show compared to visually appealing, intriguing, or plot-functional design for flora and fauna? Also, is there any reason for the particular emphasis on symbiosis throughout the show?
I am such a huge fan of your show, and I firmly believe that the character animation and cinematic camerawork has set a new standard for excellency in the 2D animation world. Thank you so much for making the show and for this thread! I look forward to anything and everything that y'all make in the future.
EDIT: I would also like to ask if the planet was named 'Vesta' before the Demeter landed there or if that appellation was created by the survivors (I seem to recall Azi being the only character to ever use the name?). And, if you have the time, are oxygen rich atmosphere, life-bearing planets more common in the Scavengers Reign universe than in our own?
I'm in the middle of the show, and it's brilliantbrilliantbrilliant, thank you guys so much for creating this! Do you think we'll see an increase of "adult animation" any time soon?
I just watched the finale, y’all have really created something special. One of the most unique, beautiful, heartfelt shows I’ve ever seen.
What existing material inspired some of the ideas for the world and biome?
I love works that incorporate entirely unique/imagined environments. (*Out of The Silent Planet* kept coming to mind as I watched the show)
Absolutely fantastic show. I've been recommending it to everyone I know in the hopes they'll think I'm cool.
Not really a question but if you ever find yourself with infinite time and resources, perhaps due to future wild success of this show, there are two things that I would be the first in line to experience:
1. An immersive art installation that mimics the environment of the world you've created.
2. A Myst-like video game where you solve puzzles by carefully studying and influencing creature dynamics.
Thanks for the time, the show, and for doing this AMA!
Anything you can say about a possible season 2?
🤞
Do it
I need it
Oh god I fucking wish.
If they don't greenlight this show for 3-5 seasons, they are fools. This is the most important piece of science fiction to come out in the past 10 years. No cap.
Will there be an artbook?!!!
We're working on it! Hopefully we'll get to release it soon : )
I let off a barely audible squeal at work.
What about like a wikia or an encyclopedia explaining the creatures on the show?
YESSSSS
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *yiss*
I really hope they put out a field guide style art book, I would buy it with no hesitation lol
Same
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_(book) This book is a fantastic example of this type of thing.
Similarly, will Titmouse finally expand beyond t-shirts and pins so that we can get a Levi plush? @_@
Gimme a hollow! I need an emotional tauntaun.
I would love it if it was in the style of Ursula's sketchbook and we get to look at all of her notes and ideas about the planet itself.
Love the show. Amazing art and worldbuilding. Best TV this year IMO. How did the ideas and themes change between the creation of the original animated short and the making of the show? Did you have to scrap anything?
We started from scratch on the characters and their story arcs, but we kept a lot of what already existed on the planet from the short. The short was a springboard for the nature and ecosystems that existed in the show. In telling a much larger, longer story, we wanted to elaborate on the themes we found most interesting. In a sense, the original characters were scrapped in favor of characters that were better equipped to explore those themes.
How did the stranded crew know how to interact with the environment so well after only being there a short time?
Theyve been there months. Azi's been cultivating tomatoes, Kamen's been cultivating his hair and beard
I don't really think thats even close enough time for them to understand the interactions of the creatures on that planet and the level of understanding they show. The first epsiode has Sam inside of a creature pulling multiple organs around to get it to do something. How did they learn that?
I think it's safe to assume that spitting up the light orbs is a natural biological process that animal goes through. Sam and Ursula probably saw it spit them up once and realized there might be a way to force the process into happening. After that piece clicks it's just trial, error, and hoping you don't die really.
Honestly considering how often things get eviscerated in this show I wouldn't be surprised if previously some creature mauled one of those things Sam killed and he decided to take a closer (maybe hungrier at the time) peak inside
That was my one head scratcher about this show. Everyone seemed to know exactly how to use the flora/fauna.
Yup. My personal head canon (I have to have one or I'd end up rolling my eyes and I loved this show) is that the planetary awareness/consciousness is in some way influencing the crew to make the correct choices. Otherwise that type of skill and knowledge would take many generations to learn and pass down. Like I said tho great show one of my favorites of the last few years.
They could also have watched how the rest of the flora/fauna interacted with each other and deduced ways to take advantage.
During the sequence where Azi produces an adhesive to allow better grip for feet she sends like 3-4 species through a series of complex transformations...it seems like a stretch that she may have naturally learned something so intricate and specific to where they happened to be standing in any reasonable amount of time.
Those bugs were present all over the planet, not just in that environment. She'd probably observed them hunting in the past, she established with Levi earlier on that she was familiar with the activity of "these things" so she has some baseline understanding of their habits. Since they burrow underground she could've just watched what happened once one of those food sources hit the ground. It's a bit of a stretch for sure but I don't think any of the symbiotic interactions the characters pick up on are completely unreasonable for them to deduce over a couple of months.
I think Ursula, the natural scientist, is really the only one who figured out all the interactions.
I assumed they watched how everything there interacted with each other and they picked up how rudimentary things worked. Humans be smart yo.
Yes! Thank you
I assumed the flora and fauna are part of a greater collective mind, and the people got absorbed in it
Please for the love of god release an art book and include all of the sketches no matter how sketchy. I never buy them but would not hesitate. Especially if it was rendered as a field guide for the planet... Please!
On it!
Came here to say this -- a field guide would be amazing.
Please release the soundtrack!!! I want to inject the main theme song into my ~~veins~~ custom ringtones
Working on it!
11/10 score. Seriously kick ass
Any chance your team will release the original pitch deck? I'm sure a lot of folk in the industry are really curious about what the seed of such an ambitious show (that's unlike anything else on TV) might've looked like ESP since its storytelling relies on something as complex as the symbiotic relationships in the world & in how we relate to one another
I do know there’s a short they made prior. I’ve avoided it for spoilers. Edit: Thanks folks, spoiler free means fun for meee.
It’s trippy, watch it! It definitely was the thing that got them the show, and they didn’t touch any of the plot points from the show, it basically shows Ursula and the other character just getting through a single day on the planet
Yeah, the short is incredible. I heard the concept for this show got kicked around & developed bc of how good the short was, then had trouble finding a home between Adult Swim, FX, & got caught up in the HBO MAX/Warner Discovery merger- In order for a show to move hands like that, there's typically a pitch deck shuffling around to give network execs broad bullet points, so I'm just v curious abt how wild that pitch deck must've been to contain this world (& also just love behind the scenes concept art)
Go for it. There are no spoilers in the short. I actually think you should watch it first because without, the first sequence in the series is incredibly jarring 😂
What was the little raisin man that Ursula met actually doing? It was incredibly memorable moment but also uniquely incomprehensible.
Birth to death
Yeah I guess I meant more like what the implied ecological function was. Most of the creatures we saw had some kind of symbiotic function within their ecosystem.
I think that moment is intended to be more metaphorical than literal, but in effect it's a distillation of the entire symbiotic life cycle of the planet. Everything on the planet is born to serve a specific ecological purpose, procreate, and die. The clone forest, the tentacle parasite, even the hunter ostriches exist to perpetuate the planetary ecosystem. Ultimately a creature being born just to accomplish one task and die is the base case of this whole environment. I also think it serves to foreshadow how the planet works in terms of rebirth to prepare you for the back half of the season. The theme of life and death as a never ending cycle is ever present in the show, and ultimately is how >!Levi ends up getting to live and become robot Jesus.!< It also arguably reflects >!Hollow's journey throughout the show!<
To place the puzzle piece.
So you all clearly put some effort into appropriately naming characters. I caught Levi as Hebrew for union, Kamen as Japanese for mask, or Hollow being an empty vessel literally and figuratively with Kamen. I was curious if you had any similar intentions with Azi, Sam, and Ursula? Also curious about the leap from short to series. What was the rationale behind the change in character design? Finally, I wanted to ask about your influences. I've heard mention of Ghibli, Moebius, Frank Quitely, etc. But are there any influences people seem to have largely missed? Oh, one more thing, when and where can I get my hands on that soundtrack? And what can I do, as a viewer to see a second season? Love the show and I was hoping you would do something like an AMA. Thanks!
Great observations about the character names! Ursula was named after a good friend's daughter. A couple of other influences were the film Koyaanisqatsi, the youtube channel Primitive Technology, the films of Satoshi Kon, Katsuhiro Otomo, Terrence Malick, and the film Sorcerer by William Friedkin. And to answer your last question - please spread the word : )
Already caught the Otomo references, but amazing to see that Ron Fricke and primitive technology were inspirations as well. It's like you condensed my hyper fixations over the years into a show.
I would like to second every one of these questions. A lot of these have been discussed in depth on this sub scratching for answers.
I'm watching the show with a biologist who studied spiders, insects, and bugs (but mostly spiders). Every other scene they're saying stuff like "oh, that's just a so-and-so type worm but with a different worm's parts" or "that's a mantid with dragonfly wings" until at one point she said - "I wonder who their bug person they consulted for the critters was?" So I'll ask it here - did you have a consulting biologist, and if so, who was it (if you can share)?
We didn't! But that's cool to hear!
WOW, you didn’t?! You guys were just REALLY into ecosystems and biological processes that heavy?! I love it
The insight/intuition into this subject what makes the show special.
Is the title a statement -- "Scavengers Reign!" -- or does it denote that the titular reign *belongs* to the scavengers?
I think the title has multiple meanings, but we love the thematic irony that it implies.
It reminds me of [Caesars Palace without an apostrophe](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidschwartz/2018/09/04/the-story-behind-the-most-famous-missing-apostrophe-in-las-vegas/?sh=527e8e1d80b2).
Right, I had a hard time thinking of "reign" as a verb here instead of a noun being modified by "Scavengers" with an expected apostrophe: Scavengers' Reign
The art reminds me of Moebius. How did the style come about?
100% I thought the same. Coloring was gorgeous
Yes!! Every episode had me looking at World of Edena. Piggybacking on OP, what works/artists inspired this kind of style for you guys?
Look up the graphic novels by Leo, for example Aldebaran and Betelgeuze. SR is *extremely* similar to those, in basically every aspect. (Animation style, coloring, design of technology and flora & fauna, the concept of alien worlds, stranded colonists, etc.) https://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/leo-betelgeuse/
never heard of these, great rec
I thought the final confrontation between Levi and Hollow / Kamen was one of the most beautifully animated sequences in the show. In particular, the rapid evolution of the planet and all its fauna was breathtaking, and Levi's mind blast that melts most of Hollow away to reveal Kamen holding its smaller body was unforgettable; the gravity and tone of this last sequence reminded me a lot of the lighthouse scene in the Annihilation movie. I'm really interested: what it was like to come up with this montage and animate it? What were your inspirations, animated or otherwise, when making it?
This sequence was inspired a lot by Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi etc. Our director for that episode, Vincent Tsui did a lot of the heavy lifting for that scene. Vincent is brilliant.
I'm so happy to hear about the Koyaanisqatsi inspiration! Definitely "life out of balance... WITH ALIENS!" What a timelapse cornucopia of life. There was music in Episode 9 that sounded very Philip Glass-ian too, I think it was from Nicholas Snyder? Was that a designed influence as well?
My dad wants to know if you ever watched the french film 'forbidden planet' , he kept referencing it the entire time we watched scavengers reign.
Fantastic planet* la planet sauvage
Yes, we've watched Fantastic Planet. It also rocks!
Hello team. I want to congratulate you on having made such an absolute masterpiece. You all have put in 110% effort and it shows in every frame. Thank you for one of the most memorable stories I've experienced. My question: what's your favorite Vestan species?
https://preview.redd.it/yq0p5wii1s0c1.png?width=684&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ebc604d847603800510d0160caab3e710786e12
Was she planning to kill it and use its claws or just get it to scratch at the ropes??
She was going to ask it to politely untie her.
For me the most impactful species and scene was the tiny flower child inside the wall who just lives for a few minutes to make the flower bloom and then dies. Such a poignant moment.
Did you make a refference (or nod) to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind? Especially with that sound emiter that Azi used against those large creatures? Also is there a production blog website or place where we can see all the concept art and model sheets and style guides for the characters and creatures? I'd love to see all the deep dives into anatomy and director/supervisor notes. The Art of Scavengers Reign book when?
To answer your first question, no that wasn't the intention. But Nausicaä rocks. We love it. Our team of artists have been posting a lot of that material on Instagram and X. If you search #scavengersreign, you will find a ton.
The mutually harmful symbiotic relationship between Kamen and his frog friend stood out to me as radically creative in this project full of inspired, bizarre, unique concepts. How did the idea of a telekinetic sludge-bearing memory frog come to be?
Good question! Hollow was inspired by several things - most notably the zombie-ant fungus, Baloo from Jungle Book, and vore.
Oh nice those are some interesting influe-*wait what?*
https://preview.redd.it/4393pu60tr0c1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=172769b03127cdefc63c91e706f25eb9fe1caaea
LMAO Hollow is Hypno Toad
No question. Just wanted to say that I fucking loved the show and you guys rule.
That's awesome, thanks so much!
I just loved the show. Was great watching it in the dark, after work, at 1 in the morning, while laying on my couch. Terrifyingly, awe inspiring, refreshingly, tear jerkingly, well written/acted characters. Thank you!
Thank you so much for watching! We really appreciate the support.
What software did the U.S. team use for (what I assume is) the bitmap Cel animated segments? It's so beautiful & truly elevates so much of yr previous Photoshop work, & ofc I can't imagine you'd tackle such a large project primarily in PS
Mostly TVPaint : )
What are the bitmap Cel animated parts?
Most of the show. Like most of the figures & creatures moving. "Bitmap" is industry jargon for raster (instead of vector) animation, which is just inside baseball pixel info. Cel animation is traditional animation where you hand draw each frame as opposed to (vector) rigging (archer, Rick & Morty, American Dad) where your character designers build puppets that the animators move like puppets & doesn't require any drawing. It's part of why this show looks so incredible. I \*assume\* (not entirely sure) things like the spaceships were done 3D & were NOT bitmap cel animated- though I could be wrong as I've seen some hand drawn spaceships floating around in behind the scenes concept art for the show.
Was the original “Scavengers” short always meant to be a pitch for an eventual show, or if not, when did you decide to pitch it as one?
It originally was not meant to be pitched as a show, but once it was completed, the world felt too rich not to explore as a potential series.
Just wanted to say, that I watched the original Scavengers short film when it first aired after seeing your addition to the Off The Air episode Ghosts and falling in love with the few but impactful short videos you made. I’ve literally showed so many people Scavengers after smoking some weed and saying it’s my favourite video of all time. That short film has inspired me in ways you cannot understand, it’s propelled in a direction where i am now working with Nickelodeon in development for an IP of my own. I have yet to watch Scavengers Reign, I’m waiting to watch it with one friend of mine and just get fried and blast through it. But I wanted to let you all know that the work you guys have made is literally the NUMBER ONE content that I want to exist in the world and that I am so unbelievably excited to watch it. This is why animation exists and what can be done with the medium. I’d love to know the creative process behind your creature creation. I imagine it must be such a varied process, but does it start with a single cool elelment of a creature? An environment that needs to be filled? Is it a long process over several years that eventually became packed with ideas, or was it a focused assignment of the week endeavour? Keep on rocking in a free world boys. Alex Pires
>I’d love to know the creative process behind your creature creation. I imagine it must be such a varied process, but does it start with a single cool elelment of a creature? An environment that needs to be filled? Is it a long process over several years that eventually became packed with ideas, or was it a focused assignment of the week endeavour? Keep on rocking in a free world boys. It was a pretty long process over several years with many talented artists weighing in. From a writing perspective, if a creature needed to have a functionality in the story we would write it in the script and have our wonderful concept designers take a crack of how that creature might look, move and feel.
Absolutely fantastic show, and I hope we get more. My favorite moment in the show was the little frog guy that Ursula wakes up. What was the inspiration behind that?
There's a version of this little guy that appears in the Scavengers short : )
Is there any chance to watch this series from Japan with subtitles someday? For example, by releasing a Blu-ray.
We would love that. Haven't heard any plans yet, but we'll keep pushing.
LOVE the show - everything from the story to the environment/character/creature design was enthralling. As someone who's looking at transitioning from just drawing to full on animating, what would you consider to be the most important piece of advice to keep in mind?
>As someone who's looking at transitioning from just drawing to full on animating, what would you consider to be the most important piece of advice to keep in mind? Timing is everything.
Can you both share one of your personal favorite scene/moment of season 1? Also, which character do you most resonate with? Can you please explain the symbiotic relationships that this show illustrates many times and how they differ from species to species? (ie: hollow, that fungus flower, and the parasite that was inside Sam) Is this symbiotic nature a reoccurring theme of the show? How important would it be for the series overall? In your opinion, who do you think has the best skill set/ mindset to survive on Vesta?
Joe: My favorite scene is the bush wall flower creature that Ursula witnesses in episode 3. James: Kris and Azi's confrontation on top of the mountain from episode 9. Charles: The montage when Hollow experiences the birth of the planet in episode 12.
I didn’t realize until it was over that I had been holding my breath during the montage. It was everything I love about the show in a flash of art and evolution. Thanks for that.
With a dope ass Interstellar type score
First of all, I love this show, it's one of the best I've ever seen in animation. Thank you for making it My question is how did you come up with this very ambitious project for an animated series? It's very daring visually and narrative wise for western adult animation, specially for adult animation since most of them are just raunchy comedies
>My question is how did you come up with this very ambitious project for an animated series? It's very daring visually and narrative wise for western adult animation, specially for adult animation since most of them are just raunchy comedies Thank you! It's truly just the type of show we would want to watch as viewers.
(1) Why did you let Kris live? ***Fuck Kris!*** (2) What music/scenes were inspired by unlikely sources? For example, in Episode 8 when Sam gets ultra-productive, the bouncy music sounds very reminiscent of the Rugrats theme of all things. And in Episode 9, there seems to be a distinct nod to Philip Glass by way of Koyaanisqatsi. (3) What were your greatest creative challenges in making _truly alien_ lifeforms?
How many unique creature designs ended up getting made for the show?
A ton! Seriously, soooo many.
Was this a “script driven” or “board driven” show? I heard that Joe & Charles previously came from more of the art department side of things & James was more on the writing side of things (please correct me if I’m wrong) & I’m curious how those worlds intersected in the writer’s room. Was there drawing involved? What type of adjustments were needed to incorporate the language of twirly gooey, crumbly visual oddities of this planet to so seamlessly connect with the cast’s growth & challenges, with such concise, but impactful dialogue as if they melded together like the symbiotic relationships on the alien world? The dialog itself feels just as layered, textured, & interconnected & woven as the visuals
Script driven, but we relied on our directors and board artists to flesh out all the super imaginative visual sequences.
Thanks for making this incredible show. Can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like this :) Q: Do you think Hollow is evil? Is Hollow a creature of instinct and habit — fish swim, birds fly, Hollow’s species forms a parasitic relationship with other life forms? Or does it seem like this creature is feeling things we only associate with humans: desire to hurt other beings for no gain, seeking revenge, feeling spite. The idea of a psychically powerful apex predator is so freaking cool, but I could also see how it’s from a species that is technically way smarter than humans but is very bloodthirsty.
Seconding this!
Hollow is in a codependent relationship with Kamen. As I understand it, he originally exists doing his little mind-control thing in a way harmonious with the life cycle of the entire planet. Then he finds Kamen, and Kamen's mental twistedness sort of infects him {symbolically seen in the bit where Kamen kills the other creature to get the fruit, and then Hollow *becomes* bloodthirsty}. While Hollow in turn kind of incubates Kamen's personal issues and magnifies them to spread havoc across the whole planet. Each feeds on the other. It's a juxtaposition to Levi, who is a *healthy* synthesis/symbiosis of Earth life & Vespa life. And contact with Levi then heals this horrible codependent thing they have going, and restores Kamen and Hollow to their more vulnerable and better selves. The point is that creatures or humans themselves are neither inherently good nor evil - it's about their relationships with each other and the systems into which they feed.
There's a very studio ghibli quality about the show. Everything feels so lovingly crafted. What can you tell us about the team behind this project? Was there an air of excitement every day for what they're making? What set them apart?
It was a very challenging show to make - everyday was certainly filled with excitement, but at times it felt grueling and arduous to find creative solutions when something was just not working. Our great team continually inspired and kept spirits high throughout the schedule : )
Can you talk a little bit about your philosophy regarding the relationship between humans and nature and our separate or not separate-ness? I feel that the show is so dense with these themes and I'm curious about your philosophical influences.
Is there anything you learned while doing Scavengers, production-wise, that you'd do differently in a potential season 2 or your next project? Also I'd love to know who animated the mind trip/evolution scene in the final episode, that was gorgeous.
>Also I'd love to know who animated the mind trip/evolution scene in the final episode, that was gorgeous. Vincent Tsui and our great team of animators.
How was it doing a full series compared to shorts? Like, obviously more people are gonna see it when it’s on HBO, but what themes, or how was telling your story different in episodes vs one short? Loved it but I wish there were more butts. Like what if it was all about butts?
>Loved it but I wish there were more butts. Like what if it was all about butts? We're going to have to give this some thought.
This is fucking HILARIOUS!! I’m working on a short series right now and when I got my animatics back, it was all butts lmfao…. I kept’em in there 🤣 hopefully it’ll find it’s way to you when it’s out and you will enjoy that. This comment gave me life, I really had questioned that decision 🤘🏽😂 made my day
Any advice for entrepreneurs and creatives interested in finding their voice with storytelling?
Any shorts or projects you start, make sure you finish. If you have ideas, keep them to yourself until you've completed it. Don't be discouraged with similar ideas and stories that come out while you're working on your own projects, keep your blinders on and follow through. Become obsessed with whatever you are making!
What cartoon shows from your childhood or recent years gave you inspiration for the overall look and tonal approach of this show?
Was it intentional that Hollow looks like Bobby Hill, or just a happy accident?
Happy accident!
Would you ever be interested in making an artbook for the show detailing concepts/concept art, creature names, species and character designs? Love the show!!!
How did you all learn how to animate?
Self-taught, baby!
The score was so moving and incredible through out the season (Kamen and Hollow’s leitmotifs were especially beautiful)— along with the ASMR qualities of some of the visuals, and the sound design, it seemed to build so harmoniously all together— could you speak to the process of developing the score with Nicolas? Were some of the themes developed early on, or did it follow a more conventional process of scoring to the locked picture?
No questions here, just wanted to say the show was absolutely incredible and I hope you get greenlit for a s2!
Thank you!! 🤞
Will there be any kind of merchandise or purchasable things to help support the show? I’d jump right on a soundtrack and an art book! Even better a coloring book of those gorgeous backgrounds.
I’d also 100% buy a baby Hollow plushie!
Yes please. Sometimes you need to crawl inside an emotion tauntaun.
It seemed like the salamander creature (hollow) was pretty smart and capable of intelligent communication to some degree. Is the species on the whole like that, or did it's telepathic bond with a human make it more cognitive than it was before?
Is there any special significance between the ship being named Demeter vs the planet being named Vesta? I always thought it stuck out that the man-made ship is named after the Greek harvest/seasonal cycle goddess, but the natural world of the planet is named after the Roman goddess of hearth and home.
What was the process to develop all the intricate interactions between Vespa's lifeforms and their uses as tools? Was a team in specific on charge of coming up with ideas, brainstorming sessions to pitch concepts, or a single genius mind imagining the whole ecosystem?
I absolutely adore this show, and this world that you've all crafted. Can you delve more into how you all developed the world, it's ecosystem, its inhabitants, and how you were able to think so out-of-the-box?
A lot of the symbiotic relationships and ecosystems were inspired by things that exist in nature on earth. We watched a LOT of nature documentaries.
Loved the show, just have a few questions. (Answer as many, or as few, as you want) 1. How did you develop the complex interactions between the flora, fauna, and ecosystem? 2. Did you bring in ecologists and consultants to help you flush it out? 3. Are there more planets like Vesta in the universe, or is it specifically unique? 4. Anything you can say about a possible season 2 would be amazing. I just want to reiterate that this is such a breath of fresh air, while animation has been going through a rough path for a while. I only wish there were more shows that showed this level of creativity, brilliance, world-building, etc. We congratulate you on this amazing show and will watch your career with great interest.
Any word on if this will be available on Canada’s HBO streaming service Crave? It was presumptuous of me but renewed my subscription to watch the show !!
What’s your favorite creature you created that made it into the show? Any that you loved in concept art but didn’t make the cut?
It’s so inspiring to see gorgeous, thoughtful, adult animation coming out of an American studio! I love this show and everything it stands for ❤️ 1. Hollow is one of my favorite creatures of all time, truly incredible work there! I was wondering though, why did it blow up Kris’ ship? Most of the things it does seem like misplaced biological directives, but I couldn’t figure that one out. Did it somehow perceive the ship as a threat? 2. I saw the panel at Lightbox (great panel btw!) and it was so cool seeing the progress from the first animation takes to the final, polished ones. I was wondering if you could talk more about that process? Was it hard to communicate the exact details you wanted to see? Did communication get easier as the production went on? Thanks for doing this ama, and for making an incredible season of tv!
Hi! I just wanted to echo most of the other people here and say thank you for such a beautiful show. I’m going to be thinking about it for a very long time. I also wanted to ask about Barry! He feels like one of the most genuine, lovingly depicted portrayals of a neurodivergent/autistic character I’ve seen in media, but he’s also a character I haven’t seen much discussion about in regards to this! Was this the intended read of his character? How was the process of developing him? Thank you so much again; looking forward to a hopeful season 2 (but also appreciating the fulfilling end to season 1!) :)
Are the Cult and Company going to become major antagonists in the coming seasons? If so, will it be simultaneous or staggered
Who animated the timelapse scene with the rotating camera in the last episode? I have so many "who animated this" questions but this one is the most pressing for me lmao
My wife wants to know is Hallow unique to their species or would any of the others also be able to subjugate a human (is it typical for them to try that on species other than the lil green guys or no?) She also asks what is the process like for designing a new alien species, what inspires you to think of a sequence like Azi getting goo for their boots?
1. Are there official names for any of the other creatures aside from Hollow? 2. Do you have a story planned if the show continues further on, or will you just figure it out as more seasons are greenlit? And followup, do you have an idea of how long you want this show to be? 3. How did you come up with so many creative creature designs and ecosystems? And will we get some sort of artbook or extra content giving us more information about the planet and life forms in any way? Id love to get more information. 4. How much has the show diverged from your initial creative vision? I know one thing you wanted was for the characters to not be able to speak, but is there anything else that got changed that significantly strayed from your creative vision that you would have wanted to do differently? 5. Is there anything that you wanted to explore in the season that you couldn't either for lack of time or any other reason? And is there a possibility to explore this in future seasons? You guys did an insane job with this show. I loved the original short and almost had a heart attack when I saw this show announced, and it was more spectacular that I could have imagined. Thank you so much for everything!
What is the meaning of the flower after someone dies? Also what would you say goes through the psychic alien's head during the series, like does it think or its actions have motivations at all?
Did Ursula die and get replaced by a fugus doppelganger?
Absolutely amazing job! If I had to describe what you made, I would say it is one part nature documentary (The kind where you watch a dead fox decompose), one part Japanese art print melancholy and one part paranormal survival horror. If you had to describe your work more much more briefly how would you do it? How did this description change over the production process?
A lot of great questions here. Just wanted to add my appreciation. Been a while since I had a show that made me want to sit in contemplative silence after each episode to just digest it. I've been recommending it to everyone I know as if driven by a Scavengers Reign parasite.
Will there be some mobile and/or desktop wallpapers released for the show? It's gorgeous!
Is Ursula named after the terrific Ursula K. Le Guin?
just upthread OP says she is named after a friend’s daughter. I had a pet hypothesis that Sam and Ursula were named after Chip Delany and Ursula K. LeGuin since Chip for some reason took a dislike to Ms. LeGuin’s material in the seventies and wrote some material specifically as answer books. I think he took against Left Hand of Darkness in particular and iirc Trouble on Triton is one of his ripostes. Anyway, a nice theory, seemingly debunked.
Just finished the last episode. Love the show. Hope you all get a second season!
Love the show! I know Moebius is a strong influence on the style of the show. Are there any other big influences I may not realize at first? Hope you guys get a chance to check your chats and I can't wait to see more!
I'm a bit late to the party but is there any possibility of a narrated version or one with commentary? I would love to hear the thought process and some insider knowledge of the characters and creatures in the show, while watching it.
The show has enthralled me, it's so creative and amazingly done!
Can’t wait!!
Loved the show so much, really gushed to Mr. Huettner on Twitter the night after the first three episodes premiered. I ADORED the soundtrack and was wondering if there's any plans to make that available on streaming sites in some form?
Why was Azi, a strong and stubborn character but with good character growth rendered helpless multiple times in a way that none of the other characters were? It felt a little out of place. Like she was being fettishized/objectified. Absolutely everything else was a masterpiece and I love Azi's character. Truly a timeless work or art. My buggest question is will there be another season and/or what will it take for that to happen?
It seems like this world is heavily influenced by ecological systems and I'm wondering who and what drove that and how that all came to be. Is it a life-long interest kind of thing or maybe I'm way off entirely! If not I'd be interested in some of your favorite books/resources on ecology or anything else like that. I love the show and the short and it's already a huge influence on my own work. Thanks so much for making such a beautiful thing exist.
How did you decide on who would live and who would die in the story?
Great show, incredible animation and mechanics with the creatures
Thank you guys for such an amazing show, fingers crossed for more seasons. The designs for the humans feel like the biggest change from the original short, and they feel really distinct from almost anything I’ve seen either on tv or the ligne claire indie comics the environment and creature designs seem inspired by. How did you end up landing on the current look for these characters?
What is your opinion about the relashionship between humans and nature in the show and outside ?
Also throw technology into the mix! because Levi
So…why all of the parasites? Lots of parasites to go around on this planet. Creative parasites though!
Curious if you had inklings of the story of the show when you produced the short - or if the short opened the doors to think about how you could expand the scope?
In-universe, what happened when the.. horrible telekinetic panda baby tried to use the black goop on Levi? I get what it represents symbolically, but I'm curious what caused that reaction in-universe.
Is there any piece of fiction you would love to adapt as an animated show?
The show was amazing. The pacing was fantastic, the characters were interesting, and the characters felt isolated even when surrounded by many strange creatures. I'll just spitball a question nobody has asked yet. Were the designs for the people who found Kris in the end inspired by Warhammer 40k?
Not directly, but can see the similarity now that you mention it.
hi! I'm a Media Studies/Fine Arts student who's a big fan- do you have any tips for people entering the entertainment business, for building connections and getting projects picked up? if you could talk a bit about how Scavengers went from a short to an HBO show, I'm really interested!
I just want to say thank you. It's a beautiful show.
How does it feel to be reading the reviews for the show? Every one I’ve seen has all been glowing! Did you think your show would be so well received, or were you concerned that it would be too weird? To add my own review, this is one of my all time favorite things I’ve ever watched. Thanks for making it!
Are there any major plot developments/twists about the story that haven’t been revealed in season 1? And if so, do you already have a plan for the show going forward if a season 2 is ever confirmed. (Me and my friends have a lot of theories still hanging in the air so I’m curious)
>And if so, do you already have a plan for the show going forward if a season 2 is ever confirmed. Yes! We would love to do a season 2.
Will there be other Projects within the universe? To see where Levi’s child ends up with the very 40k esque folks, or maybe hold that off for a long time and we see what happens?
How and where did you learn how to animate? (I know u probably get this question a lot but still) and how did you get ur show greenlight?
Whats the situation for the theme song and soundtrack? Do you know when/if they will be released?
When creating a lifecycle for your many creatures, what aspect do you start with?
Was Hollow supposed to be a reflection of Kamen? Like they were experiencing a similar life and then we're drawn to each other because of it? Or was Kamen just a horrible influence on our sweet little evil boy?
I really loved the show! I haven't seen anything quite like this before; the world felt like it was rendered with a ton of exacting consideration, and somehow managed to feel both alien, but also like a real functioning ecosystem that wasn't just bizarre for the sake of it. Related to that, my question is - how much/what kind of prep work went into fleshing out the various biomes we saw throughout the show? When you were writing or storyboarding, did you have any world bible/reference document of how the various plants and animals in an area interacted, or a throughline about like... The kinds of animals that might be found in each area, or any commonalities in their behavior? It all feels so considered, and I couldn't help but wonder if there is some sort of prep work done to make it come alive, or if it's a trick of presentation.
How did you come up with inspiration for all the wild and wacky animals/creatures? Did they come to you in a dream or? All of the life forms are so beautiful in their own way!
What software did you use ?
How much of a focus did your team have on the mechanisms/functionality of the ecosystem(s) displayed in the show compared to visually appealing, intriguing, or plot-functional design for flora and fauna? Also, is there any reason for the particular emphasis on symbiosis throughout the show? I am such a huge fan of your show, and I firmly believe that the character animation and cinematic camerawork has set a new standard for excellency in the 2D animation world. Thank you so much for making the show and for this thread! I look forward to anything and everything that y'all make in the future. EDIT: I would also like to ask if the planet was named 'Vesta' before the Demeter landed there or if that appellation was created by the survivors (I seem to recall Azi being the only character to ever use the name?). And, if you have the time, are oxygen rich atmosphere, life-bearing planets more common in the Scavengers Reign universe than in our own?
When will you release it in th EU?
I'm in the middle of the show, and it's brilliantbrilliantbrilliant, thank you guys so much for creating this! Do you think we'll see an increase of "adult animation" any time soon?
I just watched the finale, y’all have really created something special. One of the most unique, beautiful, heartfelt shows I’ve ever seen. What existing material inspired some of the ideas for the world and biome? I love works that incorporate entirely unique/imagined environments. (*Out of The Silent Planet* kept coming to mind as I watched the show)
Is it Azi Narine or Narene?
Absolutely fantastic show. I've been recommending it to everyone I know in the hopes they'll think I'm cool. Not really a question but if you ever find yourself with infinite time and resources, perhaps due to future wild success of this show, there are two things that I would be the first in line to experience: 1. An immersive art installation that mimics the environment of the world you've created. 2. A Myst-like video game where you solve puzzles by carefully studying and influencing creature dynamics. Thanks for the time, the show, and for doing this AMA!