The Big Picture
- Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the upcoming Netflix anime series, has exceeded fans’ already high expectations, according to showrunner Bryan Lee O’Malley and co-executive producer BenDavid Grabinski.
- The Japanese animation studio Science Saru’s work on the series was so impressive that it influenced the story and prompted changes, leading to a constantly expanding and visually stunning experience.
- The anime series holds great potential to capture the same innovative and ahead-of-its-time spirit as the original Scott Pilgrim vs. The World film, while staying true to the story’s anime-esque elements and featuring the return of the original voice cast.
To say that Scott Pilgrim fans are extremely hyped up for Netflix anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is an understatement. However, it seems like there’s still room to raise those expectations even higher after we found out what showrunner, executive producer and franchise creator Bryan Lee O’Malley talked about with Entertainment Weekly regarding the series’ production.
O’Malley championed the work of Science Saru, the Japanese animation studio that recently rose to prominence after being responsible for animating two episodes (“T0-B1” and “Akakiri”) from critically acclaimed Disney+ series Star Wars: Visions. During the interview, O’Malley and his fellow showrunner and co-executive producer BenDavid Grabinski suggested that Science Saru’s work was so good that it actually influenced the story and made them change several things because they just kept bouncing ideas around and it never stopped:
“We would write a fight scene and encourage them to do whatever they wanted with it. Next thing you know, you would get thousands of storyboards that would blow our mind with stuff that we never expected, and we would start rewriting based on their boards. Everything just kept on getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Each one of these episodes, if they were live action, would cost $100 million.”
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ Will Look Great
It certainly sounds like they pushed the limits of animation with Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and that’s not hard to believe when you consider what Scott Pilgrim vs. The World director (and anime series producer) Edgar Wright was able to do with a live-action movie. Scott Pilgrim was hailed as being ahead of its time when it was first released, and now the animated series has the potential of generating the same feeling when it finally premieres.
It also makes perfect sense that Scott Pilgrim would be turned into an anime series, since the story’s structure has many elements that are commonly found in anime productions, from characters with vividly-colored hair to a slate of enemies controlled by an all-powerful villain. We’ll now get to see how the story plays out in the media that it thrives, and the chances of it being remarkable are good.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will not be a remake of the story we already know, but details of the plot are still unknown. The expansive cast has all agreed to return to voice their characters, which is another reason for fans to celebrate. The voice cast features Michael Cera as Scott, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers, Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells, Ellen Wong as Knives Chau, Brie Larson as Envy Adams, Mae Whitman as Roxie Richter, Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram, Anna Kendrick as Stacey Pilgrim, Aubrey Plaza as Julie Powers, Chris Evans as Lucas Lee, Johnny Simmons as Young Neil, Satya Bhabha as Matthew Patel and Jason Schwartzman as Gideon Graves.
Netflix premieres Scott Pilgrim Takes Off on November 17.
You can watch the trailer below:
