From the mind ofTony Hale, the DreamWorks animated seriesArchibald’s Next Big Thing is Herefollows the optimistic Archibald Strutter (voiced by Hale), a chicken who has learned how to deal with everything that life throws at him while he goes on his adventures. Things don’t always go as planned for Archibald, but he’ll still make the best of it, alongside his siblings Sage (voiced byAdam Pally), Finley (voiced byJordan Fisher) and Loy (voiced byChelsea Kane) and his trusty bee sidekick Bea (voiced byKari Wahlgren).
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, Tony Hale talked about why he loves this chicken so much, which Muppets character is a big inspiration for him, the various outrageous worlds he’s been a part of, the legacy of hisToy Story 4character Forky, what Archibald and Forky would think of each other, making children’s programming that everyone can enjoy, how he’d love to keep telling stories in this world, and getting to play twins in the upcomingThe Mysterious Benedict Society.
Collider: I love this character. He’s just so cute. What led to the creation of this character and how did it start as a book, before becoming a show?
TONY HALE: Years ago, when I was doingArrested Development, I was noticing that I was on a great gig, but I was still looking to my next gig. I was like, “Wow, if I keep looking to the next adventure, I’m going to miss the adventure that I’m on.” So, I did this book with my buddies, Tony [Biaggne] and Victor [Huckabee], and it was about this little chicken, who’s always looking to his next thing and missing where he is. Then, this bee comes along, who’s a sidekick, and says, “You gotta just be, man.” He learns the lesson of being present in the book. And then, working with DreamWorks, the series became about this chicken, who I’m obsessed with. He makes a lot of mistakes, but his attitude towards them is like, “Well, let’s just go with it.” They always have a bigger reason. He sees the best in everyone and the best in every situation. I’m telling you, after the year that we’ve had, this chicken is pretty much a role model. I just love working on this show because he’s so positive. He makes a lot of mistakes and he’s very quirky, but the way he sees people and the way he sees situations is something I really want to aspire to be. I just love it.
What was it like to see what he would look like, for the first time, and see how this character would be visualized?
HALE: I went to an art show back in 2009, maybe. It was a long, long time ago. I met this artist named Victor Huckabee, and he had created the character of Archibald, but it was a different version of what you see on the television series. I was a big fan of Beaker onThe Muppet Show. I love Beaker and he reminded me of Beaker a little bit, and I love the color yellow, so I really liked that character. Then, we became friends and talked, and that’s how the book came about. And then, as we were developing it, we wanted him to have siblings. My daughter’s name is Loy, so Archibald’s sister is Loy. And then, as we were doing the series with DreamWorks, all of these crazy characters came out, like Cousin Ashley, the newscaster, Wendy Powers, and all of these random, fun characters came out of it. They live in this town called Crackridge, and it’s just the best. The thing with animation is there’s nobody being like, “Nah, that’s too crazy.” you may do whatever you want. It’s so nuts. One time, Archibald and his family go to this camp with this big lake, but it’s not a lake it’s like. Rather than a lake, it’s a massive ball pit the size of a lake, where they water ski on it. You can just go to so many different places, so it’s an absolute blast.
I love that you mentioned Beaker because Beaker has always been one of the most underrated Muppets characters and I very much appreciate a Beaker fan.
HALE: If you look at some of the characters I’ve done, like Gary onVeepand Buster, there’s a little Beaker in them. Gary onVeepwas never allowed to speak. Selina never let him speak, so he could just live in the non-verbal, and Beaker is non-verbal. I get a lot of inspiration from Beaker.
What would you say has been the most outrageous show to work on it? Has it beenArrested Development, has it beenVeep, has it beenHarley Quinn, or is it something that we wouldn’t expect?
HALE: It’s been different versions of outrageous.Archibaldis just a creative wonderland, where we can go so many fun places. I love the joy of it, and that’s just an outrageous world to live in. WithArrested, my hand was bitten off by a seal, I dated the wonderful Liza Minnelli, and I had this really crazy relationship with my mother, and that was its own outrageous. WithVeep, we showed the behind-the-scenes of politics and how outrageous it got, but then when Trump was in office, the news became its own political sitcom, so we didn’t really needVeepanymore. That was its own version of outrageous. They all have different aspects of it, I guess.
Did working onVeepmake you swear more in real life? Did you ever find that rubbing off on you?
HALE: It was interesting because I’ve worked onArchibaldfor about four years, and I was working onVeepandArchibaldat the same time, which could not be more polar opposite. The great thing is that onVeep, the writing and how they wrote it, there were so many genius comedic turns. I learned so much from their writing and how many times my character, Gary, wouldn’t really say much, but would just make a noise. He would make these weird little noises behind Selina, and Archibald does that, every now and then. So, even though they’re polar opposites, I gleaned a lot fromVeep. Gary was in a place of fear all the time, as was Buster, but Archibald just lives in joy. It was fun to have that pendulum swing to the absolute other side. This story is very close to me and it means a lot to me. To have Jordan [Fisher] play my brother Finly, Adam Pally play my brother Sage, Chelsea Kane play Loy, Rosamund Pike as the Narrator, which is so great, and Kari Wahlgren play Bea, I feel very honored. When you do something very personal like that, you want it to be done the best it can be done, and with DreamWorks and this cast, it’s been a dream.
How do you feel Archibald represents you and how does he inspire you?
HALE: He mainly inspires me. I hope that he, more and more, represents me. With the year that we’ve had and just life in general, sometimes our default can go to living in anxiety or living in the what if or living in the fear, but Archibald just has a totally different perception. There’s one episode where there’s a Bigfoot type of character, called Crackerfoot, and the whole town is afraid of him. Archibald just doesn’t have that perception of him, and so he gets to know him. Through building that bridge with this character, you learn this whole story behind Crackerfoot and his humanity. Just the way he sees situations and his positivity, if I could become more and more like Archibald, then I’ll be going in the right direction.
I will always love Forky as a character. What is the legacy of Forky? Do you feel differently about Forky now that he’s been out in the world?
HALE: I remember being invited up to the Pixar headquarters when they were interested in me forToy Story, and they said, “We’re thinking of making you a spork.” And I was like, “A spork? That’s not what I was expecting.” But then, they started talking about how he sees himself as trash. He comes into the world, he helps people eat chili, and then he goes to the trash. That’s his life goal. And then, Woody comes along, who’s pretty much everybody’s father figure, and he says, “No, you’re made for more than that. You’re made to be loved and love, and to have purpose and value.” I mean, come on, who doesn’t want to hear that? It was such a beautiful message. It was the first toy that a child had made, and it was a very simple toy, at that. It was a spork, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes. The simplicity of that message, I think was really beautiful.
Did you also have conversations though about introducing the concept of existential crisis to a kid’s movie?
HALE: Well, when I was doing it, I was like, “How is this going to go over?” I just walked around and went, “I’m trash.” It did resonate because we all have those moments where we’re just down on ourselves, especially when we feel like life is upside down. It’s that reminder that there is a bigger purpose to you and to your value, and you’re very loved and you deserve to love. That resonated with people, and it resonated with me.
What do you think Archibald would think of Forky, and what do you think Forky would think of Archibald?
HALE: I think they’d be great buds. Forky has got a little more New York sass about him, where Archibald is more like, “Hey, let’s go! It’s a new day!” I could see Forky wrangling Archibald in a little bit. He’d be like, “Okay, let’s just settle Arch. We’re going to do that, but let’s take a step back and just chill out for a second.”
What would you say is the secret to making fun and entertaining children’s programming that everybody can enjoy?
HALE: We were very specific. It is a kids’ show, so you’re obviously not going to put out the jokes that you put onVeep, or anything like that, but it’s the same comic timing. You’re not trying to dumb down the humor. You’re making a quick turn on a joke and you have to get the timing right, and you want to make it smart and something that parents enjoy, as well. That was a real goal of ours. Hopefully, we followed through with that.
When you voice a character that’s as physical as Archibald is, do you move around while you’re recording, or are you not able to do that?
HALE: I move a lot. For me, that helps convey things. I move as though I were acting out Archibald. I don’t go as crazy as Archibald, but I’m definitely very physical and I try to stay close to the mic. You learn how to move your body while staying close to mic. That’s where you get the most authentic read for these characters, and it’s just more fun that way. I have to watch it with Archibald because he screams a lot, not in a harsh way, but in an excited way. This chicken can scream, so I can probably do two episodes a day, and then I have to watch my voice.
When it comes to Archibald, what do you still hope for, with him and these characters and his world? Do you hope to keep telling stories about him?
HALE: Yeah, it’s always really fun to just mine new stories. This world that we’ve thankfully created is so full of all of these wonderful characters. It’s wild because when all of this started, you think, “Wow, how can we have all of these stories?” But then, when you get a bunch of people in a room, and there are all of these crazy characters and places and locations, there’s one episode where he’s helping make a wedding cake for this bride and groom, and he makes a big mistake and the icing floods all over the room. It comes out of brainstorming and it’s really fun to come up with stuff. I’d love to keep mining different stories from it because I love the world.
You also didThe Mysterious Benedict Society, which sounds like awesome fun. What was the appeal of that project for you? Was it just impossible to pass up the opportunity to play twins?
HALE: That was a big part of it. Playing polar opposite brothers was a challenge that presented itself, that I’ve never done. Benedict is very much like Archibald. He’s very open and loving and has a lot of empathy, where his brother Curtain is very closed off and cold and not maniacal, but incredibly manipulative. It was fun to play that Jekyll and Hyde of it. But also, the show talks a lot about just the noise in the world, how much noise there is, and how much distraction there is, and to try to break through that by seeing people and having empathy and stopping the noise and getting back to simple truths. I loved that. The books are by Trenton Stewart, and they’re beautiful books. I was thrilled to be asked. I was in Vancouver for about five and a half months. It was a real journey, but it was really fun. All of the care that’s spent on the production design, which was stunning, and the costumes and hair and make-up — when actors do these shows, a lot of times, they’re the ones talking about them in the press, but it is a massive team effort. The actors are just a slice of the pie. The amount of work that goes into a show like this is just crazy.
Archibald’s Next Big Thing is Hereis available to stream at Peacock.
