Learn all about the wild world of Simpson creator Matt Groenig’s Disenchantment. We hear from comedy legends Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, and Nat Faxon who voice Dreamland’s quirky characters. The trio gives us a sneak peek into the wacky antics and chaotic offscreen dynamic that bring their animated characters to life. It’s a wild ride complete with fake falls, true friends, and a lot of laughter.
Learn all about the wild world of Simpson creator Matt Groenig’s Disenchantment. We hear from comedy legends Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, and Nat Faxon who voice Dreamland’s quirky characters. The trio gives us a sneak peek into the wacky antics and chaotic offscreen dynamic that bring their animated characters to life. It’s a wild ride complete with fake falls, true friends, and a lot of laughter.
Have you ever thought what it would look like if you mixed The Simpsons with Game of Thrones? But add in an extra dose of feminism?
CLIP: Quick! After the dragon! May the best man slay it! Or woman! Let's not ignore women here!
Then you’d have something resembling Disenchantment, a fantasy animated series created by Matt Groenig. That’s right, the guy whose brain is responsible for shows like The Simpsons and Futurama.
Disenchantment is set in a medieval kingdom called Dreamland. Bean, the princess of the realm, is not your traditional royal daughter. Bean constantly rebels against her family--ruining her own wedding, trying her hand at execution, or getting drunk at the most inopportune times.
CLIP: Ladies and gentlemen, I am the Honorable Ambassador Tiabeanie Mariabeanie de la Rochambeau Drunkowitz.
If the voice of Princess Bean sounds familiar, then you’re probably a fan of Broad City. Bean is voiced by none other than Abbi Jacobson!
And that’s not the only familiar voice in the Disenchantment universe. Princess Bean is followed around by Luci, a personal demon who’s always trying to make her do bad things.
CLIP: Do it, do it, do it. Do it.
That terrible influence is voiced by Eric Andre of The Eric Andre Show. He’s done voices on Robot Chicken and played one of the Hyenas in the 2019 version of The Lion King, and you’ll hear plenty of Eric laughing throughout this interview.
The main cast of Disenchantment is rounded out by Nat Faxon, who’s done voices for Family Guy, Robot Chicken, and The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants where he played, you guessed it, Captain Underpants.
In Disenchantment, Nat voices a naive, 18-year-old, candy-obsessed elf named Elfo from Elfwood.
CLIP: I’m drowning! I’m Elfo!
Together, they roam around the kingdom, causing mayhem along the way. If you like a show with fast-paced comedy, then you’ll love this series.
CLIP: Wow. My God, you guys, we should start a band. Yes, we sound amazing. We'll fix up an old carriage and tour the country playing what we want to play. Never selling out. Never splitting up. Elfo, you're out of the band. What the hell?
I’m your host Brandon Jenkins and this is Behind the Scenes: Animation. And today, we’re diving into Disenchantment.
When you consider the chaotic friendship the three main characters have in the series, it should come as no surprise that in real life, these three actors have their own silly, mischievous chemistry. Don’t believe me? Listen to this.
Abbi Jacobson: I can’t handle Eric right now. For the listener, Eric has superimposed the woman from Tiger King on his face.
Eric André: Carole Baskin!
We caught up with Abbi, Nat, and Eric over video call. A note for listeners, Eric took his call outside, so you may hear some street noises or the occasional plane in this episode. Buckle up, because you’re about to go on a wild — sometimes weird, sometimes confusing ride—with the stars of Disenchantment!
Nat Faxon: Hello, my name is Nat Faxon, and I play the character of Elfo.
Eric André: Hey, I'm Eric Andre, and I play Luci.
Abbi Jacobson: Hey, my name is Abbi Jacobson, and I play the role of Bean:
Eric André: Queen, La Reina, Abbi Jacobson.
Brandon Jenkins: Abbi, how would you describe your character like appearance and personality?
Abbi Jacobsoni: I mean, she's gorgeous.
Eric André: Hell yeah!
Abbi: She's a little insecure, kind of overcompensates a lot. She's definitely come more into her own with having these two as her best friends. I think what I love about her is she's like definitely finding herself through these adventures. And I feel like there's definitely a growth from the beginning of the show to now. And yea, she's down to clown. She's a drinker.
CLIP: I promise to never have another drink. You’re drinking right now. Where did that come from?
Brandon Jenkins: Okay Nat, your turn.
Nat Faxon: I think Elfo is just happy to be part of the group. He wants to be listened to. He wants his opinions to be validated. But I think most of all, he's just in it for the friendship and in it for the loyalty and for the adventure. He lays in sort of subtle, slightly bitchy comments at times.
CLIP: I'm kinda not always happy. But we're singing. Yeah. Singing while you work’s not happiness, it's mental illness.
Brandon Jenkins: And Eric, what about Luci?
Eric André: I'm going to change my background. I don’t like the flat cinder blocks, there’s no depth. I need some like, plants.
Abb Jacobsoni: This is a podcast, but it's just for us.
Eric André: Oh, this--this is just audio? This is just audio I’m sorry.
Brandon Jenkins: It's just I didn't want to say anything when I saw you like adjusting your hair, I was like, if he needs it, let's just let him go, you know?
Eric André: Ok. Well, good to know. So I'm Eric. I play Luci, literally the devil on Bean’s shoulder.
Luci (clip): First up. Not a ghost. Ghosts are losers that got murdered. I am a demon.
Eric André: And Elfo’s foil at times. But they're all dysfunctional best friends. Bit of a smart alec.
Luci: Well, good night, everybody. I'll be entering your dreams tonight in the form of a laughing skull. Yeah, that's me. That's me. I’m sorry. I’m sorry about that.
Brandon Jenkins: Do you all feel like you relate to your characters, like actually in real life, or are they very different from who you are?
Eric André: I relate. I'm a, I'm a bit of a black devil. You could say. Woo!
Abbi Jacobson: I do feel like the insecurity of it all is something that I really relate to. She's like a way younger version. She's not that much younger than me, but she's younger than me. But yeah, I relate to that. I relate to the like, scramble and the hustle with your friends.
CLIP: What a naughty night we had. I drank so much, I can't even remember if I drank anything. I might not have. You know it’s a great night when we’re still up to see the plague patrol. Morning, Princess.
Brandon Jenkins: So Nat, what’s up with you and Elfo? Do you feel like you connect with him, do you feel like you two relate?
Nat Faxon: Yeah, there are parts of Elfo that I connect with. I also love candy. So that's something that we really share in common.
Abbi Jacobson: Also the temper.
Nat Faxon: The temper. Yes. Going like, you know, going from zero to like a hundred and twenty in a second.
Abbi Jacobson: Yeah, Nat is full-on psychotic.
Eric André: Loco ese.
Nat Faxon: That's right. I'd like to be tickled to a certain amount. And then I get real mad, real pissed off and patted on the bum bum all the time.
Bean: I think he looks cute, like the mayor of Babyville.
Elfo: Why do you always have to compare me to a cute baby, I’m a cute man!
Bean: Oh yes, you are.
Elfo: [laughs] That’s enough. Stop! [laughs] That’s enough!
Nat Faxon: Yeah. There's a certain optimism, I think, in Elfo that I hopefully can identify with most of the time.
Brandon Jenkins: Nice. If you guys can think back to growing up, like what animated shows were you really into? Like what was the thing back when there was appointment television? You had to sit down and make sure you saw it.
Eric André: Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butthead.
Brandon Jenkins: Yes
Eric André: For sure. And it's an honor to work with Billy West on Disenchantment who voiced both Stimpy and ran after John K. left.
Socerio (clip): Oh, we can spout crazy theories all day but science suggests a more logical explanation, that Bean is possessed by a demon!
Brandon Jenkins: Damn, I did not know that. That’s sick.
Eric André: The man’s a legend. He's a legend.
Abbi Jacobson: Beavis and Butthead was huge for me. The Simpsons, obviously.
Brandon Jacobson: Yup.
Abbi Jacobson: Also Daria.
Eric Andre: Abbi, I thought you'd lead with Daria, not to judge.
Abbi André: I love Daria, yeah.
Nat Faxon: Yeah, I was like a huge Jem guy. Really loved Jem. I was a Jem guy. Not afraid to admit it.
Eric André: Jem, tan laundry, am I right?
JEM theme song : Jem is my name, no one else is the same. Jem is my name.
Brandon Jenkins: Okay so, thinking back to shows like The Simpsons, like Matt Groening’s crown jewel? What's it like working with someone who’s essentially cartoon royalty?
Abbi Jacobson: It's pretty incredible to work with Matt.
Eric André: Yes. We're all shocked that we haven't been fired yet. That's how we feel going into work every day. I'm a Simpsons superfan, so Matt is like my Obi Wan Kenobi. So it's totally surreal getting to work with him. He's the master. Like The Simpsons started when I was five years old and now I'm twelve. So, I literally grew up watching it and it did shape the way I think about comedy. So he's a legend. Legendary.
Nat Faxon: Yeah. I mean, I think all of us were pretty flabbergasted at the fact that we got this gig and that they hired us and that we could get to work with him. It's still, I think, kind of surreal. It's really fun. It's very supportive and collaborative. And I think anytime you're you know, you work with people that you've always admired and looked up to, it's always kind of a surreal experience, even when you're in it. So I would say that's still the case for us.
Abbi Jacobson: Yeah. Like even now I kinda catch myself whenever he's giving me a note or like if he laughs at me, like if I go off on something. It's just so surreal. It's like there's no one else that's as prolific as him. There's something that's so small that he always gives me notes on because I'm terrible at like, sounds where you have to -- we have to fall a lot. It's such a Simpsons thing to me, like the effort noises. It just snaps me back into like, oh my gosh, he's giving me, like, effort, noise, notes.
Brandon Jenkins: Can we hear an effort noise right now?
Eric André: Oh, God. It’s Abbi's nightmare, isn’t it? You hate giving efforts.
Abbi Jacobson: I don't hate it. No, I just I feel like I often don't get them right. It's like, oh
Eric André: That's good.
Abbi Jacobson: He’ll be like, no. Do more like “uh.”
Eric André: Oh that's good. You're good at it. Don't beat yourself up about it. This is my effort. [gargles] That's Luci drowning. Casually. That's Luci casually drowning.
Abbi Jacobson: That's good. There are hundreds of falls as a group. We are falling at least once in every episode together. Right?
Nat Faxon: I just have to do a lot of screaming,
Abbi Jacobson: Same.
Brandon Jenkins: Let's hear it.
Nat Faxon: [yells]
Brandon Jenkins: I didn't expect it to be that far of a fall. But--
Nat Faxon: There's father. That was I guess that was a quarter fall.
Eric André: It's basically the Three Stooges, Disenchantment. Yeah. It's just like... [blubbers]
Clip: falling sounds
Brandon Jenkins: So you guys get the script, and then what happens? Do you immediately go to record, do you all, is there table teads? How does this happen from the moment you see what your characters are supposed to do?
Abbi Jacobson: I don’t know about you two, but like I get the script and then I have a really long call with the producers about the character choices and then we usually have a lunch, and then — I'm kidding. I think we all get it and we go into the booth and then we have an opportunity to like bring our thoughts to the recording and if we’re lucky, before COVID, it would time up so we’re able to record together. That can be rare sometimes.
Eric André: Those days are behind us.
Brandon Jenkins: Is it there a benefit in being in the same room together and getting a chance to riff?
Nat Faxon: Yes, it's way better to record together, I think, being able to sort of feed off each other and I think some of that, you know, the physicality of the characters probably is, I think, happens maybe whether you're with other people or whether you're not. I think it's — it is a very sort of physical show. There's always a lot of, like, action that the characters are doing. So you can't help but kind of use some of that. Like while you're recording, you know, if you're running or, you know, doing anything physical, um you're kind of sort of quasi-performing it while you're recording.
Brandon Jenkins: So that kind of brings me to my next question. I’m wondering is there a physicality to actually recording. It’s not just talking through a microphone, but creating these efforts, to create these personalities that we get to hear while we’re watching these characters.
Abbi Jacobson: When people do voiceovers, they either sit or stand. I think we’re all standers. We’re all like in it. I feel like, exhausted sometimes.
Eric André: Yeah. John DiMaggio's the only one that's like a sister that exerts that much energy.
Abbi Jacobson: Yeah.
Eric André: He’s like a master.
Nat Faxon: And Tress. Yeah, Tress sits.
And just so listeners know, John DiMaggio plays King Zog, Bean's father. And Tress MacNeille voices Queen Oona, Bean’s stepmom.
Nat Faxon: But they're also like legendary voice actors who probably don't need to like have the crutch of what we do.
Queen Oona (clip): Your daughter feel useless because she is useless.
King Zong: But she’s hurting.
Queen Oona: Her purpose is to be married off to unite kingdoms, like we do.
Abbi Jacobson: We're like yah! Like truly like going for it. They're like, yeah, we can do the same here.
Nat Faxon: Yeah, same. I can run. My character can run and I can still be sitting. Whereas like I'm fully jogging in place when I'm doing it..
Eric André: Totally.
Abbi Jacobson: Me too
Brandon Jenkins: Is there a scene, where your characters interact in a way that’s been very memorable?
Nat Faxon: I feel like there was a scene where we did a three-way fight.
Eric André: A ménage-à-punch.
Luci (clip): You want to come at me about some pointy ears. Have you ever seen your reflection?
Elfo: Oh my god, I’m a freak!
Bean: Stop it! Stop! You both have super weird ears. Ugh!
Nat Faxon: Yeah, I mean I think we often are in scenes together, where we are on adventures and so forth but mostly it's kind of, we have fun when we’re like all sort of ribbing each other.
Brandon Jenkins: And now that you all are -- you know --everyone’s quarantined, I imagine, are recording sessions sort of like this, are you all on Zoom, still getting a chance to interact with each other, just not in real life, or is it like a solo experience basically?
Nat Faxon: Yeah you know some know, sometimes you get the benefit of hearing what, you know, the others have done. Sometimes they've done that with me where it's like, well, let me play you and Eric and Abbi did or something so you can get an understanding. If we're all doing if we're all talking at the same time or something, or there's like a rhythmic thing, you know, but it's a solo experience, which, again, is kind of less ideal.
Brandon Jenkins: I’m curious, how much do you all get to ad-lib when you're recording? It sounds like Matt is very much a part of that process. Do you all get to sort of go off the cuff. Eric, I'm just going to assume the answer is yes for you all the time.
Eric André: Yes, I feel much more comfortable off the cuff. Improvisation is encouraged. Fo’ show.
Nat Faxon: Yes, I would say they're open and encouraging of it. Matt, I think is always trying to like, figure out if there's another layer or element or something funnier that can be added while we're recording, you know. So, it's fun to play around.
Brandon Jenkins: Has there ever been anything you've all done, that sort of addlibed that actually took the story in another direction, like not just changed that scene the way it's animated, but actually the way the episode progressed?
Eric André: That would be cool, if you just change the plot from within your improvising and be like, “Bean died. What? Yeah, she died, dude.”
Abbi Jacobson: Yeah, it’s just fun. When I watch the final product where it's like, oh, I love that they let us go on there for longer. I think it makes the friendship feel more authentic too, because that's what friends do.
Eric André: I was kind of nervous when we started recording like the three of us together. I was like, oh, I can't fuck up like Abbi and Nat are here I have to, like, be good at this. I was, like, shy around you guys when I started recording.
Abbi Jacobson: Oh my god. Are you kidding? They're like the best improvisers.
Nat Faxon: I'm glad you felt that way, both of you. Because that was sort of my intent was to kind of come in and--
Eric André: --intimidate.
Nat Faxon: Yeah, kind of intimidating. I felt like--
Eric André: Be the alpha.
Nat Faxon: Yeah, just kind of assert myself a little bit. Kind of be the guy. The Alpha guy.
Abbi Jacobson: Yeah. He's psychotic. He's psychotic.
Brandon Jenkins: So you all have like a ton of experience with live action comedy, both onstage in standup and TV film, like all the different sort of iterations. But then you have comedy for animation. What challenges does that present?
Eric André: It's just a different medium. It's a different technique. You can really ham it up when it's just your voice. In fact, you want you can go to the moon, but when you're on camera and there's a camera this close to your face, you gotta like to internalize your emotions a lot more. So for me, voiceover is more fun and less stressful.
Abbi Jacobson: I guess I rely on certain things with my facial expressions so much in live action that you have. I have to shift to be like, I can't use any of those things. So before this, I think like all three of us, we're most known for stuff where we're like doing all the things. And this is like, not a challenge, but like an awesome thing about this is like I get to come in and do this part and then it's really good.
Eric André: You don't gotta edit.
Abbi Jacobson: Yeah it’s pretty awesome.
Eric André: You don’t have to do rewrites. You're not in casting sessions. You just come in and you go, [blubbers] and you’re like see you in five weeks. Byeeee. And later, we are on easy street, going all the way to the bank, baby. Cha ching!
Brandon Jenkins: I hope they keep all this. This is great.
Abbi Jacobson: This is this is not good for us to send to Netflix. They're like — they, thhey do not take this seriously.
Brandon Jenkins: I'm curious. Can you all do each other's character voices?
Erin André: Yeah. That's easy. Hey, I'm Bean, what's up, yall? Just Beaning around. Hey, yeah, I'm Elfo. I’m the Great Cornolio.
Nat Faxon: It's uncanny how well he does that
Abbi Jacobson: He's always trying to get us fired, by doing us.
Nat Faxon: He’s going to get me fired.
Eric André: Boom. They don’t even need you guys anymore.
Brandon Jenkins: Is no one going to try their hand at Luci?
Abbi Jacobson: I would do Eric as like, “Bean,” --like it's low. And Elfo’s like, “Bean, I just want to--let me in!”
Nat Faxon: It turns out I am a lot like my character. Abby, Eric, let me in. I want to hang out.
Eric Andre: Beautiful.
Elfo (clip): He’s making fun of my dreams. That’s what friends do.
That’s all for this episode of Behind the Scenes. Next week, we’re talking to the people behind Castlevania. We get a crash course in how Castlevania went from a video game to an anime-influenced series. And how lighting gives the show it’s gritty, grounded look.
Sam Deats [00:16:55] I don't know that it's so all that different from adapting just about anything else. You have you have a story to tell and you have the characters that you want to have in that story. And you kind of build it around that.
Adam Deats: There's a lot of pitfalls that people want to fall into to kind of beat the audience over the head at this video game. Remember how this is a video game? And you just don't do that.
Adam Connaroe: And since then, that moment as sparked so many like fanfics. // So in a way that lighting can enhance moments and change their flavor. I think that was one that gave me particular pleasure.
Behind The Scenes: Animation is a Netflix and Pineapple Street Studios production. I'm your host, Brandon Jenkins. If you liked what you heard, please subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. Thanks for listening.