‘Hey A.J.!’: How NFL Vet Martellus Bennett and Jeff ‘Swampy’ Marsh Built A Playground For Black Imagination

When Hey A.J.! premieres on Disney Jr. next week, it will arrive with the bright colors, bouncy songs, and imaginative whimsy expected of a preschool series co-headed by the creator of Phineas and Ferb.

What may be less immediately visible, but is equally part of the show’s foundation, is the decade-long journey that led former Super Bowl champion and children’s author Martellus Bennett from picture books at his kitchen table to a fully realized animated world, guided by Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, one of television animation’s most celebrated collaborators.

Inspired by Bennett’s children’s books and executive produced by Bennett, Marsh, and songwriter-producer Michael Hodges, Hey A.J.! is a music-filled family comedy about a young girl whose imagination transforms everyday moments into wild adventures. The series debuts January 13 on Disney Jr., with episodes streaming on Disney+ the following day.

But the show’s origins stretch back more than ten years, to the birth of Bennett’s daughter and his realization that children’s publishing did not reflect her upcoming life experiences.

“It’s been about 10 years since the genesis of A.J. being born on paper,” Bennett told Cartoon Brew in a recent interview. “There weren’t a lot of children’s books that represented her as a kid. So we read all the books, and were like, ‘Oh, there ain’t no more for you in the bookstore.’”

Bennett’s solution was to make those kinds of stories himself, first as books, then as apps, then animation shorts created while he was still playing professional football. After retiring, he moved to Hollywood, opened a studio in Burbank, and began knocking on doors. That path eventually led him to Hodges, and through him, to Marsh.

Marsh recalled an immediate connection to Bennett’s work. “Michael brought me the books… and they’re gorgeous and beautiful, and the message in them is fantastic. I was like, yes, absolutely, I’m in,” he said. What resonated most was a shared philosophy of play. “The parents being included in the kids’ imaginative play… not a separate world for kids. That was what was wonderful about these books.”

That philosophy marks a notable and ironic contrast with Marsh’s most famous work. As the co-creator of Phineas and Ferb, he helped define a comedic structure where parental obliviousness was one of the show’s main punchlines. In Hey A.J.!, the parents are present, participating, and emotionally engaged, an intentional shift that both creators embraced.

For Bennett, partnering with an established animation veteran required evolving creative habits picked up through his previous solo work.

“My creative background wasn’t collaborative. I always made everything in-house by myself,” he said. Working with Marsh, however, became something like joining a well-run football franchise. “Being around Swampy made me a better creator… it’s like, anytime you get a veteran on your team, you watch them, and you learn.”

Marsh, for his part, saw that openness as essential. “He genuinely wants to learn what you’re doing… It made it much easier for us to bring the stories that Marty wanted to tell,” Marsh said. “He wasn’t embarrassed or bashful about asking questions or letting us know when something didn’t feel right.”

That dynamic proved especially important because Hey A.J.! is not just adapted IP, it is semi-autobiographical. The show reflects Bennett’s family life, including a former football player father adjusting to being a stay-at-home dad while the mother pursues her own career. “The idea was that it mimics my real-life story,” Bennett said. “Dad’s retiring… and then mom, it’s your turn.”

Handing such personal material to a large creative team was not easy. “My work is rooted in the Black imagination,” Bennett said. “And then it’s like, oh, I’m handing it into white hands as well… that was something I had to really talk about.” Trust came through philosophical conversations and time spent working in close quarters. “I realized, oh, these were good hands for us all to carry this character, this world together.”

Marsh understood the stakes. “This is Marty’s book that is his baby, and it’s about his family and his child,” he said. “You go into this with a sense of like, we can’t mess this up. But you can’t treat it as too delicate either. You have to push it, bend it till it breaks, figure out where that point is.”

The result is a series that is culturally specific without being exclusionary, which was one of Bennett’s main goals from the very beginning. “I wanted to make a family show where the family just happens to be Black,” he said. “A lot of times when people label things as Black shows, you don’t think it’s for you… So I wanted as many people as possible to be able to play in my Black imagination.”

Bennett describes the show’s world as a playground. “It may have been built in a Black neighborhood, but every single person from every part of the globe was welcome to play on this playground with us.” That inclusivity extends to the creative process itself. “Sometimes I tell Swampy, ‘Hey, we can’t do that because in our culture, this won’t happen.’ And he’ll work around it.”

As is to be expected from any “Swampy” production, music plays a central role. Marsh has long said he “can’t do a show without music,” and Hey A.J.! continues that tradition with energetic songs designed for shared family enjoyment. The series features an eclectic slate of guest voices, from Jhené Aiko and Meghan Trainor to Bootsy Collins and retired astronaut Leland Melvin.

Marsh, an industry veteran with a now legendary resume, said the project was creatively reinvigorating. “It was the first time in a long time that I had been really uncomfortable,” he said. “I loved being out of my element.” That discomfort, he noted, led to breakthroughs in the form of late-night realizations, emotional clarity, and a renewed sense of purpose.

As a result, Hey A.J.! became a collaboration defined not by Disney’s polished branding machine or the novelty of an NFL celebrity, but by mutual respect for narrative, culture, and imagination. “As long as everyone on the team is doing what’s best for the idea,” Bennett said, “and we put story in front of every ego, then we will be okay.”

For a preschool series built on play, family connections, and imagination, that may be its most serious commitment of all.