(Read Chapter 1 here)
(Read Chapter 2 here)
(Read Chapter 3 here)
(Read Chapter 4 here)

Chapter 5: Behind The Scenes with Disney XD

“My kids are five and three and pretty much still on Disney Jr.” I told Ryan Quincy the creator and executive producer of an upcoming Disney XD show as he autographed and illustrated a tin lunchbox for me. “It’s probably going to be a while before they graduate to Disney XD.”

He chuckled as he penned a bearded worm I still didn’t quite understand.

“Oh yea?” He said, sounding completely understanding. “Well hopefully Future-Worm is still on when they’re a little older.”

There I was standing inside DisneyToon Studios, where countless direct-to-DVD Disney animated sequels came to life; ranging in quality from pretty awful to decent, yet I’ve seen and own them all because, well… We all have our guilty pleasures, this is just one of mine.

We had completed our interviews with The BFG cast (though I have one more to finish writing to share with you tomorrow) and were now getting to see some of the other things Disney has brewing at their studios.

They fed us breakfast and provided us with early-morning entertainment which was a screening of a new Disney XD show called Future-Worm.

Being the nosey stalker researcher I am, I watched a clip beforehand and was left a bit confused. I’m still confused after the screening but I think it’s because I don’t have a 9-year-old son. A lot of moms who had sons around that age seemed to really enjoy it and totally understand everything that went over my head, or maybe I was just trying too hard (Read: Maybe I’m getting really old).

I perked up when I heard Neil deGrasse Tyson’s voice and saw his animated face on the screen during the show. I don’t know if you’ve watched all of the Cosmos series like I have, but goodness, astrophysics is remarkably fascinating. I couldn’t believe it but there he was! Now on the silliest show I’ve ever seen.

“So you found a way to get a little education in there,” I teased the creator as he finished signing my lunchbox.

Ryan Quincy is an award-winning director and producer and during the interview, he said Neil deGrasse Tyson has been amazing and game for everything, he just wanted to make sure there was a little science education in there.

“But he always corrects it,” Quincy told us in an interview earlier. “There was one time we had a line there, it’s in the other episode where it’s, we talk about some galaxy that’s like, three million light years away. He says, ‘You know, that’s, that’s pretty close.’ He’s like, ‘you might want to add a couple more zeros on to that.'”

I asked Ryan how he came up with the ideas for these episodes, which seem so random and he said that in the writers room there are no rules. The backdrop of the show is time travel and Danny and Future Worm are two best friends who go on these adventures together. He said once they had the characters developed it’s pretty easy to write from there, but sometimes their creativity even catches him by surprise.

“There’s some of this stuff that I’m like, yeah, how did we come up with that?” Quincy laughed. “It’s like, what? What were we, what were we thinking? But, it’s fun.”

That was one of the big reasons he joined Disney after working years on cartoons like South Park, for adults. He wanted to create something his kids could watch with him.

“A lot of times growing up, they’re like, ‘Dad, we want to see what you’re working on,'” Quincy recalled. “We can’t, no. We’re not showing any South Park episodes to the kids.”

Future-Worm is absurd and silly, and everything Quincy hoped it would be.

“It’s the most fun I’ve had in animation,” he said. “I love the crew. I love the cast, and I can’t wait to share this with you guys.”

If you or your kids like totally random humor cartoons without profanity or inappropriate jokes, this could totally be your thing.

Despite the show going completely over/under my head I was so touched meeting the creators. I met young animators working for Disney. Animators who could some day be working on the next big Disney movie or directing their own shows.

Their passion and quirky personalities were so addicting. You could tell they really loved what they were doing and are so excited for this new adventure, and I’m excited for them. I felt like if I was 10 years younger or had a 9-year-old son I could have stayed there all day getting brain freezes while sipping on slushies and laughing about borderline inappropriate jokes.

I truly wish them well on this new and exciting project!

If you have a quirky kid and/or a better sense of humor than I do, you should definitely check out Future-Worm on Disney XD August 1st and let me know what you think!

More info: “Future-Worm!” is an animated series about an optimistic 12-year-old who invents a time machine lunch box through which he meets and befriends a fearless worm from the future (one with titanium-enforced abs). Created and executive-produced by Emmy Award-winning director Ryan Quincy (“South Park”), the comedy follows young Danny Douglas and Future Worm (also known as Fyootch) as they embark on adventures through space and time. The characters were introduced last year in a popular “Future-Worm!” short-form series on Disney XD and Disney XD’s YouTube Channel.

Tags: disney, Future-Worm, Ryan Quincy