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The Unexpected Goodness of Koala Man: Interview with Michael Cusack, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit
‘Koala Man’ created by Michael Cusack, is an adult animated series you shouldn’t ignore. At first glance, I thought the show would just be another mean-spirited crude humor series. However, I should know by now not to judge a show by its cover because I absolutely love ‘Koala Man’.
Michael Cusack says, “Koala man is an Australian middle-aged man who is tired of kids’ graffiti, littering, loud cars, and improper things going on in his suburbs.” So he decided to take matters into his own hands and stop petty crime as a superhero!
One thing I enjoyed is the tone of this show! I’m a sucker for families who love each other despite their differences.
Executive producer and writer Dan Hernandez said, “What we tried to do with ‘Koala Man’ is create a very optimistic and loving show.”
The ‘Koala Man’ crew knows there’s a lot of cynicism in animated comedy shows, and they just wanted to avoid that.
Hernandez continued to say they wanted to create a family who continued to love each other despite their issues.
The more I learned about the animated town, the more I laughed. The comedy grew on me as the series continued. If you’re a big fan of Cusack’s other show, ‘Smiling Friends’ don’t go into ‘Koala Man’ hoping to get the same humor.
Cusack said, “‘Smiling Friends is a different beast, and that’s got a different tone. So I try to make them internally kind of different from each other.”
I really enjoyed all the characters that surround the family because they add more to the story. For example, Hugh Jackman’s character Big Greg is like Steve Irwin on steroids.
Executive producer and writer Benji Samit said, “this character of Big Greg, we wrote him as the most Australian man in existence.” The casting of Jackman was a dream come true to Samit and Hernandez.
They said Cusack and Hugh Jackman hit it off instantly and that Jackman loves the show! Samit said, “He’s been so supportive of it, and he’s amazing. To have him involved is just the cherry on top of everything.”
Jackman’s performance doesn’t top Roddy from “Flushed Away”, but it’s still pretty damn good! I also loved the voice acting from Hugo Weaving, who plays King Emudeus (from my favorite episode, “Emu War II”), and Jemaine Clement as Principal Bazwell. I encourage you to watch the show because Clement’s character gets more fun as the series progresses.
Ultimately, I give ‘Koala Man’ 7.2 koalas out of ten! It takes three episodes to get things going, but I couldn’t stop watching after that. I hope this show gets renewed because it’s a different pace that’s needed in the adult animated series genre.
