INTERVIEW: Voice actors sound off on Adult Swim’s subversive ‘Mr. Pickles’

Mr. Pickles, the warped new animated comedy from Adult Swim, is set to premiere Sunday, Sept. 21 at 11:30 p.m. The show, featuring a great deal of subversive comedy, follows a suburban family in small-town America.

In Old Town, nothing is what it seems. Tommy Goodman, the 6-year-old main character, gets into many mishaps with his dog, Mr. Pickles, and the little boy has no idea that his puppy is a murderous villain behind his back.

In addition to Brooke Shields as Mrs. Goodman, there’s Frank Collison, who offers the voice of Tommy’s grandpa. Jay Johnston plays Mr. Goodman, and Kaitlyn Robrock plays Tommy. Several of the voice actors pull double or triple duty on the 15-minute comedy.

Collison, speaking in a joint phone interview with his co-stars, said the content of the new show can be a little, well, out there. “I generally put on some rubber gloves and a mask before I read it,” he said. “It’s pretty toxic, I’ll tell you. I find myself laughing out loud.”

It took Johnston a little time to come around to the unique humor. “I found that when we did the first couple of scripts before I saw the show put together, I was not as amused by the scripts,” Johnston said. “But now that I’ve seen what they’ve done with it and where they can go with it, I think it’s really very entertaining.”

Robrock echoed their comments. When she first picked up a script, there was a feeling of shock that she had to say some of these strange lines out loud. “And then I get in there, and it’s just like flipping a switch,” she said. “It’s so much easier once you’re there because you’re in the group, and you realize everyone’s there with you as well. Everyone agreed to this.”

Robrock has the interesting challenge of voicing a 6-year-old boy, a character who always has a smile on his face no matter what the world (or his dog) throws at him. “My godson is 6 as well, and he’s happy all the time. So I try to think like how does Ben act, not so much in these situations, but just kind of like when he wakes up, it’s a fresh start everyday. And then he gradually melts down, but Tommy is perpetually always that happy, that innocent. If he’s down or sad or angry, it’s only for a brief minute because then he turns around and finds the next best thing. I just keep a smile on my face the whole time in the booth.”

There’s a similar sense of happy-go-lucky attitude for Johnston’s Mr. Goodman. The father figure tries to put a positive spin on whatever calamity is in front of him. “He kind of holds everything together,” Johnston said. “And, of course, takes one for the team often because that’s his role and his lot in life unfortunately. But it’s all about keeping the family together and just doing the best he can, which I think plays really good with some of the situations because they are so absurd and just so out there that it’s fun to treat him as just another day at the office.”

Collison’s grandpa is the only character who knows the true identity of the murderous Mr. Pickles. But, his family thinks he’s too feeble-minded to be believed, so he’s often left with empty stares and crazy looks.

“I’m the old man who cries wolf,” Collison said. “There’s a lot of subversive stuff in it, but for my character it’s that seniors are disregarded, shut inside, not believed. They gripe and complain all the time, so that nobody wants to hear about your pains anymore, grandpa. And that’s why Mr. Pickles can get away with showing his true nature to me openly without any fear that I’m actually going to be taken seriously, so that’s interesting and fun to play.”

The show, created by Will Carsola and Dave Stewart, will be paired with the eighth season of Squidbillies on Adult Swim.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Click here for more information.