ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Thelma the Unicorn co-directors Jared Hess and Lynn Wang about the animated movie. The duo discussed the star-studded voice cast and how fun it is to parody social media and influencers. The film is set to release on Netflix on May 17.
“Thelma is a small-time pony who dreams of becoming a glamourous music star. In a pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma is transformed into a unicorn and instantly rises to global stardom,” reads the film‘s synopsis. “But this new life of fame comes at a cost. Thelma the Unicorn is a quirky, hilarious, and heartfelt ride from directors Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Lynn Wang (Unikitty!).”
Tyler Treese: Jared, what was it about the original children’s book that really inspired you and your wife and writing partner to expand upon that story while putting your own stamp on it and making it into this lovely movie musical that we got?
Jared Hess: We were big fans of Aaron Blabey’s other books like Pig the Pug and Bad Guys, and a common friend of the author that we have, this guy Damon Ross, connected us with Aaron. Aaron reached out to see if we’d want to develop it into a feature. We read the book, fell in love with it, and knew that it needed to be expanded beyond just what was in the book. It’s a very short book, but it’s beautiful and amazing — and the themes. And I think all of the storytelling is so concise and strong, and we decided along with Aaron that it makes the most sense to turn Thelma into a music star, even though it was kind of alluded to, the fact that she is in the book, but never really super clear.
So it was like, “Yeah, let’s do it about that.” As Lynn and I were developing it, it was like all of the oddball characters that are in the book, all those themes of being insecure in your own skin and overcoming self-doubt, is something so relatable, and we really wanted to infuse all the visuals. And each character, you feel like, has experienced that in some way, whether it’s Vic or Nikki or any of the characters, really.
Lynn, how did you get on board in this collaboration? You’ve done a lot of great animation work, and you were coming off of Unikitty, so how’d you get involved in the film?
Lynn Wang: Well, I read the script and I was already a big fan of Jared and Jerusha [Hess, co-writer], because I think they did this really great job of being really funny and off the beaten path and delivering jokes and characters that we haven’t really seen before, but then still really resonating with everyone.
As Jared said, I think the oddball characters always really resonate with everyone. So I was already really drawn to what they’ve done in the past. Already, that got me on board. Then, once I read the scripts, I really related to Thelma’s journey and her story that we were telling in the movie, with the journey of self-acceptance and believing in herself. So I really related to that and wanted to jump on board and help tell that story because I wish it was a film that I had when I was younger, and it’s still something that I am doing today and trying to figure out how to accept and be confident in myself and all that stuff. [Laughs].
Jared, I’m a real Flight of the Concords fan, so it was fun enough just hearing Jemaine Clement perform and get to sing a song in this film. But then when I looked at the credits, I saw Bret McKenzie actually wrote several songs here. How did that come together? That’s such a fun reunion, seeing them both involved.
Hess: Yeah, it was amazing. We’ve been friends with Bret and Jemaine for a long time, so I reached out to Bret during the pandemic when we started making this movie, and we’re like, “Hey, man, you want to write some jams?” So Bret wrote so many funny songs. The one that you mentioned — Vic Diamond’s “Three Cs of Success” — but he also wrote Nikki’s “Blubber Trouble” track, “Here Comes the Cud,” and then that heartfelt, kind of low moment song for Thelma, the “Only Unicorn on the Rainbow” song. He’d even written other ones that we weren’t able to squeeze into the film, bu it was just amazing. Again, his comedic sensibility just totally lined up for what we were trying to do and kind of lampooning, I think, some of the shallow type of songs that you can find out there in the world when you get corrupted by showbiz. [Laughs].
Wang: I’ll say watching Bret and Jemaine working together in a room was amazing, also. Just riffing off of each other and seeing what’s going to be funny. That was really amazing, to watch them work together.
Lynn, I was blown away by Brittany Howard voicing Thelma. Obviously she’s a talented vocalist, but her voice acting was so impressive as well. Can you speak to getting her for the lead role? Because obviously you needed a singer, but she wound up being the whole package.
Wang: She really was the whole package, I think. She was already so comfortable in front of the microphone, so I think that helped a lot. She was game to really try everything and anything, and she would bring ideas and her own attitude into it too. And I think that helped us find who Thelma was. A lot of times, Jared and I would have her read the scripted dialogue and then she would read it and we’d both be like, “I don’t know, that doesn’t sound quite right.” And so then we would ask her, “How would you do this, Brittany, in your own way?” And she would do that, and that would more likely than not end up in the movie.
Hess: Yeah. That’s wonderful. She brought so much personality. It was amazing. “Brittany, you just do it. Our writing sucks. You’re going to crush it.” [Laughs]. “Just pull something out of your head. Here we go.” Yeah. Yeah. She, she’s incredible.
Wang: She had so much fun. Recording “Here Comes the Cud,” I remember, she had so much fun doing that because it was so out of her realm of what she usually does.
Hess: [Laughs]. Yeah. She loved being auto-tuned. That was new territory for her. It was great.
Jared, there are a lot of familiar voices in the cast here — John Heder, Zach Galifianakis — and you’ve worked with Jemaine before, obviously. How great was it getting all these old friends involved in this new film?
Hess: It was so fun. It was like, “Hey, I know you guys are bored during the pandemic at home with your kids. Do you want to get on Zoom and record some voices?” [Laugh]. So we just went through our rolodex of friends that were all trapped at home, and, luckily, they were willing to come be a part of this fun movie. So, yeah. But it was such a great experience because I hadn’t seen them all in a long time. And it was just fun to be able to get silly with them.
Wang: We were always laughing in those rooms, in all of the records.
Hess: Oh, yeah. It was so much fun.
Lynn, I want to just talk a bit about the themes at play. There’s a really wonderful message here, and the main character is a farm pony with much bigger aspirations. After becoming famous, she has to learn the hard way about what’s really important to her. Can you speak about how those themes resonated with you and what you really liked about the script there?
Wang: I think, growing up, it was something a lot of kids and a lot of people struggle with — being told, especially now with social media, what you should be, what you should look like, what you should talk like — whatever. I think it’s a very universal theme, even for adults now. I think it’s really powerful to have a movie like this out there.
Jared, this was your first animated project since the Napoleon Dynamite TV show, correct?
Hess: Correct.
How was it getting back into that medium and getting to have fun with film in a different way?
Hess: It is so much fun. It feels like home for me, just being able to constantly iterate and it’s so malleable. You can keep reinventing things until you get it where it needs to be. And you can keep working on a joke as long as you need. I mean, it takes, what, four years to make an animated feature? You really get to keep having fun with it, and it’s a dream come true to be able to work in animation. For me, it’s been a long time coming, I think.
Lynn, what do you like most about working as a co-director, having that collaborative working relationship with Jared, and getting to go back and forth on these ideas? What was most unique and rewarding about being co-directors?
Wang: Well, I think part of it is being able to get inside of Jared’s brain. [Laughs]. And really understand where the jokes are coming from and where his characters are coming from. I think that’s always such a treat, to be able to be right there next to that. I don’t think a lot of people get to do that. [Laughs]. So I feel very lucky to work with Jared.
Hess: Well, it goes both ways. Lynn is as weird as it gets. [Laughs]. So it was fun diving into her brain as well. [Laughs].
Jared, I did want to ask, since I saw Jason Momoa mention that Minecraft’s production wrapped …
Hess: Well, he wrapped — I haven’t yet. [Laughs]. Lynn texted me this morning too and said, “Congrats on wrapping.” I’m like, “Well, I got a week left, but big Momoa’s is out there on a Harley somewhere celebrating. [Laughs].
You have such a great cast for that film. What was most exciting about reuniting with Jack Black? Nacho Libre was a great collaboration in the past.
Hess: It’s a complete joy. That guy, we’ve been friends for a long time and wanted to join forces again. And the stars finally aligned for this one, and he’s just … oh man, he’s so fantastic. So funny, dream to work with. It’s fun to be able to work with friends.
Lynn, I loved all of the influencer culture that gets parodied throughout the film and Danny Stallion in particular. It’s so funny how we see that he’s this very intelligent person that has to act in a very crude, dumb manner to get these views. How is it mocking that and showing that these people that we see on social media are probably not what they put out?
Wang: It’s always fun to just poke lighthearted fun at those things. Because I think people have to present themselves a certain way on social media, or they think they have to present themselves a certain way on social media. That was really fun to dive into, what Danny’s second personality could be. Jared and I threw ideas as we were coming up with that, but brain surgeon’s pretty … yeah.
Jared, Napoleon Dynamite is celebrating a big anniversary this year. What has been most rewarding about seeing how this film has continued to resonate so much with fans 20 years on?
Hess: It’s wild. It’s so much fun to just see that this small film that you made is still being discovered by new generations of kids going to high school and that it still holds a place in people’s hearts. They had the 20th anniversary screening up at Sundance this year, and it was just an amazing experience — the cast and so much of the crew that worked on it, being able to come out for that and experience it again.
And it was wild that at those screenings, there were some people that were watching the film for the very first time, which was really thrilling and kind of shocking. I remember at one of the Q & A’s, Jerusha asked, “Who’s seeing this film for the first time?” And it was a shocking number of people. But it was super fun. It kind of felt like the very first screening of Napoleon Dynamite, being able to experience it with some fresh eyeballs. But yeah, Napoleon … it’s just a joy.
Wang: Napoleon Dynamite is universal.
