Hannah Myers has seen the growth of adult animation from the inside, acting as a producer on the beloved Netflix show Big Mouth, which recently wrapped its run this past May with season 8, and its spin-off, Human Resources.
Coming from a producing background outside of both comedy and animation, Myers says she treated her time on Big Mouth as “comedy grad school”. Mark Levine, one of Big Mouth’s creators, says that Myers “arrived with a world of experience in producing live events, and she’s brilliantly been able to translate her skills into animation.”
Meyers talked to THR about her time on Big Mouth and how she would like to see adult animation grow.
How have you seen adult animation grow and change during your time working in the space?
I came into adult animation at an interesting time. I came onto an established show and then had to move everything remote because of the pandemic. Every show was helping everyone figure out how to make television from home. Throughout the time I’ve been here, there have been so many more animated shows that have come into the broader zeitgeist. There was always The Simpsons, but I think adult animation has become more mainstream. It has continued to live on during a time when we haven’t seen as many live-action comedies.
What was one scene you produced where you thought, ‘I can’t believe we are doing this?’
HANNAH MYERS There is a lot. One that I remember we were making and thinking, ‘this is crazy,’ is a in Christmas special episode there’s a sequence about Santa Claus and at Santa’s workshop and there’s an elf orgy. I remember we were watching it, and we were like, ‘This is wild that we’re able to do this.’
What is one episode you worked on that still sticks with you?
MYERS We did an international episode for Big Mouth. It was a sketch episode, so it’s a bunch of small stories in one, and we recorded each sketch in the language of the country where it took place in. In terms of producing, it was a whole new undertaking. We had to cast actors who spoke the native languages and then record in a language you don’t speak. I think the stories are incredible, the writing is awesome, and it showed the breadth of the show. No matter where we’re from, no matter who we are, we all go through puberty. We had consulting producers from different countries help us with the episodes to make sure we were getting the tone cracked and telling authentic stories to those communities.
Where would you like to see adult animation go?
MYERS Something that excites me is and something I am always pushing for is animation that also incorporates female stories. Traditionally, animation has been seen as a medium for young men. And that’s fair, but I just think there’s whole market that is untapped, like we have seen with the success of KPop Demon Hunters. There’s a lot of room for female stories in the genre. Big Mouth did a really good job of incorporating female stories. It’s a show about puberty, and we were able to explore that through all genders, all identities. I hope we can continue doing that, because there’s an audience for it.