The first image from Central Park, a new animated musical show from Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard coming to Apple TV+, has been released. Bob’s Burgers, which follows the lovably quirky Belcher family as they try to run a burger restaurant, has been a huge success on the Fox animation block, running for nine seasons and picked up for a tenth, with a movie set to release this year. The show, which has been likened to other family-centric animated sitcoms like The Simpsons and King of the Hill, also received a run of comic books. Bouchard, who also created Home Movies and Lucy, Daughter of the Devil, first broke into animation with the 1995 cult series Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, which he produced, working with eventual Bob’s Burgers star H. Jon Benjamin.
Bouchard, a musician as well as a writer and animator, occasionally composes for Bob’s Burgers, having written the show’s chipper ukulele-centric opening theme. The show features several catchy musical numbers throughout its nine seasons, with a deep focus on music being a trademark of Bouchard’s work. Home Movies featured several musical episodes, with co-creator Brendon Small going on to create and compose for Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse; Lucy, Daughter of the Devil featured a different theme song for each of its 11 episodes.
Bouchard will write and executive produce Central Park for Apple TV+, which features a star-studded voice cast including Leslie Odom Jr., Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Tituss Burgess, Daveed Diggs, and Stanley Tucci. A full synopsis as well as the first image of the animated cast (below) was shared during from the Apple TV+ press conference (via Collider) at this year’s TCA’s. Central Park is set to launch in early summer 2020 after a premiere at SXSW in Austin, Texas.
Little other details besides the brief synopsis and picture of the main characters has released, although it seems to follow the same quirky charm and distinctive art style of Bob’s Burgers, with an even greater focus on music as evidenced by the cast. Leslie Odom, Jr. and Daveed Diggs are best known for their respective roles as Aaron Burr and Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in the Broadway sensation Hamilton; Kristen Bell, star of The Good Place and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, also has musical experience with roles such as Princess Anna in the Frozen franchise; Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Tituss Burgess is also a Broadway musical veteran.
Central Park is an animated musical comedy about the Tillermans, a family that lives in, and are the caretakers of, Central Park. Owen, the park manager, and Paige, his journalist wife, raise their kids Molly and Cole in the world’s most famous park, while fending off a hotel heiress Bitsy Brandenham and her long suffering assistant Helen, who would love nothing more than to turn the park into condos."
A large part of Bob’s Burgers success comes from its unique positivity amongs the more cynical adult animated comedies, like Family Guy, South Park, and even The Simpsons. Bob Belcher, played by long-time Bouchard collaborator H. Jon Benjamin, is a wonderful father behind his slightly downtrodden exterior, and recent seasons have brought the focus more on the family’s interactions with the ever-increasing cast of memorable characters around the community - and even an unlikely crossover with another character voiced by Benjamin. For fans of the feel-good vibes–and especially music–of Bob’s Burgers, be sure to check out Central Park when it drops on Apple TV+ this summer.
Next: Bob’s Burgers: 5 Things Confirmed For The Movie (&5 Things We Want To See)
Source: Apple TV+ (via Collider)
