In an intergalactic world full of bounty hunters, robots, laser fights and characters with crazy names and looks (like Blobby,) Netflix’s latest animated action/comedy series has a lot more to offer than what first meets your eye. ‘My Dad The Bounty Hunter’ was created by Everett Downing and Patrick Harpin, and the show centers on a family going through normal struggles with an out-of-this-world adventure.
Lisa (Priah Ferguson) and Sean (JeCobi Swain) end up sneaking off to work when their Dad (Laz Alonso) is called in again last minute. And when they do, they discover his job is actually as a planet-hopping bounty hunter and he’s one of the toughest in the galaxy. From there on out, the story takes many turns and galactic antics ensue, but deep down, the story hits home in an honest way—and that’s exactly what the creators were looking for.
To discuss the heart behind the project and why it’s such a great watch for families and all ages, Everett Downing and Patrick Harpin sat down to dive a little deeper into ‘My Dad The Bounty Hunter.’
Where did the idea for this series come from?
Harpin: We’ve got our boiled-down origin story—basically, we were both working at Sony animation as story artists [and] we were talking about the kind of what kind of project we wanted to do. We knew we wanted to do sci-fi, both being big sci-fi heads, and we knew we wanted to do something with a Black cast in sci-fi because we felt like people weren’t really serving that enough. And Everett was kind of dealing with Dad stuff—
Downing: — Yes, at the time [I] was working really hard at animation and not getting a lot of time to spend with my family, and I felt like I was missing out on these formative years. I really wanted to talk about that and the idea of wanting to provide a better life… But then at what cost?
Harpin: And I was pulling from the kid POV, because when I was growing up, a lot of times we didn’t have a babysitter. My dad would say, all right, you and your sister, you’re rolling with me and we would hop in his work van and go help him out. And we loved it. It was the spending of time that mattered, you know? So we sort of mixed that together and wanted to tell a story about a dad who’s really trying, but who’s also feeling external pressures on him. That’s where the source of conflict in the story comes from.
And how do you take a story that deals with these adult themes and put it into a format that families can watch together?
Downing: That’s actually really important to us because one of the foundations of us even [making something] together was that we wanted to make something that kids would enjoy and be along for this ride, but also, parents—we want them to be just as engaged as the kids and have everybody get something out of it.
The story takes viewers on a wild ride, especially in the world of sci-fi. In that genre, is the sky the limit or are there rules per se for how far you can push the story?
Harpin: We can do a lot as long as we don’t break the reality of human characters—they are still human and they’re still from Earth. It’s almost kind of like on the ‘Muppets’ where there’s a human celebrity and they can’t fall from a building, but Kermit can. So just a little bit of demarcation there.
For the characters, I’d have to imagine that casting for animation is different than something live-action. What do you look for when searching for the voices?
Downing: For me personally, a lot of it is that you have a really good picture in your mind of what the character is like and what they’re all about. And with Pat, it’s let’s make sure we’re aligned and once we are, we close our eyes and really think what is the best voice?
And speaking of, don’t you both voice some characters in the series?
Downing: Yes [laughs] Pat though—he’s a scratch guy. So he’s been in the studio, and he’s the guy when you say oh, we need someone to read these lines, they’re bringing in Pat.
Harpin: I did that for a long time while I was working as a story artist. I would just do that to help them out. You wouldn’t get paid, but your voices would be in the screening when they were deciding if they were going to make the movie or not. Doing that for a long time, you get good at it. And then when this show came around, there were a couple of roles we didn’t have filled out and I said, hey, I’ll take a crack at them.
The other sound aspect comes from the soundtrack, which was incredible. What went into creating the score?
Downing: That’s our music guy, Joshua Mosley. He’s amazing. Netflix gave us a list of composers, and Pat and I went through them separately, and I remember I texted him right away. I’m like, dude, I know who I like and he said I know who I like too. We [both] said Joshua Mosley. I think Pat came up with the term that sums it up—hip-hop John Carpenter. And Joshua, his stuff just nailed it.
‘My Dad the Bounty Hunter’ as a series shows a lot of growth with all of the characters, from the kids to the parents and everyone in between. How did you construct such an emotional ride within this adventure series?
Harpin: The internal stuff has to match the external conflict. Those conflicts have to mirror each other in some way or compound each other. I think that once we connected that and then even connected where characters are having to come to terms with their role in this universe and it’s putting stress on their character relationships, that’s the stuff where we can really sink our teeth into. That’s a show that I would actually watch to the end and it not just be fun and games. We have a lot of fun and games, but there’s a little bit of a gear shift halfway through the season I’ll say without giving too much away.
And why is ‘My Dad the Bounty Hunter’ a great option for families to watch together?
Downing: I think we’re just being honest. We’re just trying to tell a truthful story. We want to tell a story where there are real stakes and real investment. Nobody’s right and nobody’s wrong… Everyone has their point of view. Dad is right about Lisa, Lisa’s right about dad, and they’ve got to figure out the compromise and where’s that middle ground?
Harpin: And I would say our whole crew that was making this are all people who’ve worked on a lot of kids movies. And with this show, we tried to basically say hey, you know what? We’ve had to water down our product for a long time. Let’s not do that here, let’s actually do what makes us laugh. Kids are so much smarter than people think and I think a lot of times in animation, we do a disservice to them. They’re little adults and that was you once figuring things out.
‘My Dad the Bounty Hunter’ is now available to stream on Netflix
