WondLa, the upcoming animated series from Apple TV+ and Skydance Animation, is based on the sci-fi fantasy book series The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi. The show is developed by Bobs Gannaway (Timon & Pumbaa, Hercules, Inside Out), who serves as the showrunner and executive producer. The series follows Eva, voiced by Jeanine Mason, who lives underground in a sanctuary with Muthr, a robot caretaker voiced by Teri Hatcher. It’s a lonely but peaceful life until an alien threat attacks her bunker, thrusting her on an adventure into the outside world known as Orbana.

“I would put the role of Muthr, in my own personal life as an identity that I hold, right at the top of the list,” Hatcher tells Nerd Reactor. “You know, I love being a mother, I think that’s been a very important part of my life. So it makes sense to me that many of the roles I gravitate to are roles of mothers. I think imagining what a robotic mother would be like in the future and what her capabilities might or might not be, but also, this question of like, ‘Is being with this human underground for such a long time, as the only caregiver, does this germ of a human emotion get planted in her that then evolves beyond her roboticness? Where she really does have the complexity to feel love in a way that even surprises her. And I thought all of that was really interesting. I think the story is beautiful.”

Mason voices the lead role of Eva, and she talks about seeing her character come to life for the first time thanks to the animation department.

“It was emotional the first time I’d seen original renderings and things like that,” Mason said. “But it started to look like me, and they started to give her my likeness. And so the first time I saw her, I walked into the booth, and I was just like, ‘I couldn’t believe it.’ Was like, ‘took my breath away.'”

The books are inspired by The Wizard of Oz, and Gannaway talks about its influences in the series.

“I actually hid some yellow bricks in the first few episodes, if you look really hard,” Gannaway revealed. “That’s something I haven’t told anyone. But I think it’s the idea of sort of falling down the rabbit hole into a world that doesn’t make sense to you and you have to figure it out. Tony tapped into those. [We] didn’t really tap into anything else because we wanted to make sure we weren’t being derivative of other projects. There’s so much science fiction out there and looks of worlds, it gets harder and harder to do something that the audience hasn’t seen before. So we tried our best. Mostly been inspired by Tony’s art already, which is pretty unique.”

About WondLa

Synopsis: WondLa centers around Eva, voiced by Jeanine Mason (Roswell, New Mexico), a curious, enthusiastic and spirited teenager being raised in a state-of-the-art underground bunker by Muthr, a robot caretaker, voiced by Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives). On her 16th birthday, an attack on Eva’s bunker forces her onto the Earth’s surface which is now inhabited by aliens, covered with other-worldly fauna, and no other humans to be found. In fact, it’s no longer called Earth but Orbona. Otto, a loveable giant water bear with whom Eva shares telepathic powers voiced by Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Rovender, a cantankerous alien with a troubled past voiced by Gary Anthony Williams (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows) join Eva as she leads the team on a dangerous quest to find humans, her home, and her true destiny.

Joining the cast are Chiké Okonkwo (“The Birth of a Nation,” “La Brea”) as Besteel, D.C. Douglas (“Sharknado 2: The Second One,” “Black Ops”) as Omnipod and Alan Tudyk (“Resident Alien”) as Cadmus Pryde.

The first installment of the “WondLa” trilogy will premiere all 7 episodes globally on Friday, June 28, 2024 on Apple TV+.