Thelma The Unicorn: Director Lynn Wang Opens Up About Her Feature Film Directorial Debut
Thelma the Unicorn hits Netflix on May 17th.
Thelma the Unicorn is coming to the streaming screen. Based on Aaron Blabey's fan-favorite children's book series, Thelma the Unicorn tells the tale of the titular pony's (Brittany Howard) efforts to become a world-famous singer, which accelerate dramatically after she accidentally disguises herself as a unicorn. Netflix wasted no time in adding top talent to the animated adaptation, bringing in Jared and Jerusha Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) to pen the script. Jared also occupied one-half of the director's chair, sharing that title with Lynn Wang.
"They were working with Netflix for about a year, I believe, before I came on, just working on script and working on story and writing and stuff like that," Wang recalled to ComicBook when asked about her production timeline on Thelma the Unicorn. "Once they got to a place where they felt like it was in a pretty solid form where we could kind of take it and start putting visuals to it, that's when I came in. I had just come off of show running for Unikitty! at Warner Brothers, which is another unicorn property. I was primed for this one."
Thelma the Unicorn represents Wang's feature film directorial debut. Prior to this project, Wang had worked on numerous animated television installments in a variety of different roles, from character designing on Spongebob Squarepants to guest directing an episode of Teen Titans Go!. While this movie was a bit of new territory for Wang, she praised the Hesses for welcoming her in with open arms.
"I think it is always hard to have someone come in and who has opinions and thoughts of their own on something that they've already been working on, but they've been so great at welcoming me in," Wang mentioned. "I mostly worked with Jared on the day to day, and then Jerusha would come in at crucial moments to help write and give notes during specific times in the pipeline. Those two people are so nice and so sweet and they're just ready to hear any idea and throw spaghetti against the wall."
Some of those ideas are inspired by the some of the most cherished films in both the animated and live-action space.
"I love Chris and Phil Lord's movies. I think they are really high energy and super funny. And also when they hit emotionally, they really hit emotionally. Stuff like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was my general influence," Wang detailed. "For Thelma specifically, we had musical biopic influences from A Star is Born. We also had Sing Street, which is really fun and also high energy and also big emotions. Then of course, I think Jared's own library of work. His movies like Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite really showcase how silly and funny he can be, but then are also grounded in human emotions and human wants. I think all of that went into Thelma."
Wang also had the luxury of a stacked vocal cast behind Thelma the Unicorn. Beyond Brittany Howard in the titular spot, the ensemble features iconic comedic voices like Zach Galifianakis, Fred Armisen, Will Forte, and Jon Heder.
"They're such pros at what they do, and this is a comedy of course, and so they're like comedy geniuses," Wang applauded the ensemble. "Jared's really good friends with a lot of them, which I think also really helps to make the recording room feel casual, which I think is always really conducive to comedy."
It might not be long before that ensemble is back in the booth either. Blabey has multiple Thelma the Unicorn stories in his archive, meaning there is framework for sequels should Netflix pursue it.
"I hope so," Wang said of a possible Thelma the Unicorn 2. "That would be amazing to get the team back together."
Thelma the Unicorn hits Netflix on May 17th.
