Hamster and Gretel is the new animated superhero buddy comedy from the mind of Dan Povenmire. It follows the titular pair who are granted powers by aliens. They are joined by Gretel’s normal older brother, Kevin, who serves as support and drives the two to school and their extracurricular activities. During D23 Expo, Povenmire was joined by his daughter, Meli, Michael Cimino, Carolina Ravassa, Brock Powell, Karina La Voz, Thomas Sanders, and Joanna Hausmann during the panel.
The discussion was heavily focused on the villains of the series; three of the panelists voiced some of the bad guys we’ve seen so far. Hausmann talked about how they developed the antagonists. In the writers’ room, they always ask the question, “Is this dumb enough?” Some of them are pretty outlandish and they try to make a dumb villain then make them well researched and thought out.
La Voz plays La Cebolla, a former telenovela star that can communicate with onions to do her bidding. Hamster and Gretel likes to incorporate music in each episode and for La Cebolla’s, she sings a Tango, the first song Povenmire wrote in that style. La Voz felt comfortable because she was a former pop star in her native Venezuela.
Sanders plays the half horse half man, Neighsayer. When coming up with his character’s maniacal laugh, he made a concerted effort to include horse sounds into it. Gretel and Neighsayer have an unconventional confrontation because at the time of their encounter, the superhero pinky promised her brother she would not physically fight anyone for one day. Instead, they have an entertaining rap battle.
Povenmire’s favorite baddies are Destuctress played by Alyson Stoner and Powell’s FistPuncher. They first appear at the end of the pilot and they help drive the bigger mystery of Hamster and Gretel.
For the second half of the season, Povenmire and Hausmann teased what fans can expect. We’ll learn more about the mysterious aliens that are giving all these people different powers. Also, someone else accidentally discovers that Gretel has powers and it will lead to certain repercussions.
Find out more about the show with our interview with the casts and creatives during SDCC.
New episodes of Hamster and Gretel drop Saturdays on Disney Channel.
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