Warner Bros. and Disney Team Up For Their First Series ‘Right Now Kapow’—And It Looks Like This

By Amid Amidi | 09/02/2016 12:40 am | 46 Comments

What would happen if two historic animation powerhouses—Warner Bros. and Disney—collaborated on a TV series? Whatever you were expecting, it probably wasn’t this.

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, Warner Bros. Animation and Disney XD have teamed up to create the sketch comedy series Right Now Kapow, set to premiere on September 19, with additional episodes airing on September 20 and 21. The half-hour series (whose working title was Airline Earth) features various sketches, songs, and jokes showcasing the cast of characters pictured below: Dog, Moon, Ice Cream, Candy, Diamond and Plant.

Right Now Kapow is created by Justin Becker (MAD, Adult Swim Infomercials) and Marly Halpern-Graser (MAD, DC Nation) who both serve as executive producers with Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation. Mark Marek (MAD) serves as producer, and Devin Flynn (Y’all So Stupid) is supervising director.

Here’s the trailer:

Per Disney XD:

Containing a multitude of comedy sketches and quirky songs, each episode of the character-based sketch series takes audiences on a journey of endless comedic possibilities. The talented voice actors play multiple parts in every episode as their characters change with every sketch premise. The series features a talented voice cast of performers from the world of stand-up comedy and improv including Michael Blaiklock (Don’t Trust the B—in Apartment 23) as Dog, Alana Johnston (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) as Candy, Kyle Kinane (Those Who Can’t) as Ice Cream, Emily Maya Mills (Key & Peele) as Diamond, Betsy Sodaro (Superstore) as Plant and Baron Vaughn (Grace and Frankie) as Moon.

Perhaps the show is hilarious and entertaining. We’ll have to wait and see. But it’s hard to make sense of what Disney XD is trying to achieve with this current programming cycle of deliberately incompetent-looking animation, which is a stain on the Disney brand’s reputation for quality.

Maybe their latest focus groups showed that kids want cartoons that look like they were found in the trashcan of an elementary school art classroom; maybe the person greenlighting shows equates web cartoon-quality art with an “indie comic” vibe? Whatever the thinking, a consistent pattern has evolved at the network, and Right Now Kapow fits in well alongside similarly crude-looking Disney XD product like Two More Eggs and Future-Worm!