AMC has announced some of the cast members that will be lending their voices to new stop-motion animated series Ultra City Smiths, which hails from Patriot and Perpetual Grace, LTD creator Steve Conrad.
Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, the outfit behind cult favorites Robot Chicken and Crossing Swords, are behind the project, which is set to premiere at some point this summer, although a locked-in premiere date hasn’t been confirmed as of yet.
Ultra City Smiths was first announced last September under the slightly different title of Mega City Smiths, with AMC handing the series a six-episode order. The premise follows an investigation into the disappearances of a local magnate, with two detectives fighting against citywide corruption as they try to unravel the case. The twist is that the entire cast are baby dolls refitted as grown-up characters starring in a whodunnit, so it’s hardly going to be a gritty hard-boiled noir.
As for the ensemble gathered, it’s a doozy. The two cops at the center of the story, Detective David Mills and Detective Gail Johnson, will be voiced by the always-reliable Jimmi Simpson and Dolemite Is My Name breakout star Da’Vine Joy Randolph. John C. Reilly is on board as Donovan Smith, the subject of the central investigation, while Jason Mantzoukas has been cast as Tim the TMZ reporter.
The rest of the ensemble is filled out by reliable character actors including Bebe Neuwirth as Lady Andrea the Giant, Justified and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s Damon Herriman as Street Hustler Boy, Saturday Night Live cast member Melissa Villaseñor as Sister Mary Margaret, and the grizzled gravitas of Kurtwood Smith no doubt being put to good use as Carpenter K. Smith. Patriot stars Chris Conrad and Hana Mae Lee are also set to appear as Nico Onasis and Christina, respectively.
The prospect of a stop-motion animated series from the minds behind both Robot Chicken and Patriot is certainly an intriguing prospect, especially if Ultra City Smiths is shaping up to be the comedy-crime thriller the synopsis is making it out to be. There’s already a stacked roster of established comedic talents in place, and with the show set to debut this summer it surely can’t be too long until we get our first look at some official images, perhaps even a trailer or poster.
via Collider