Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts
File:Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.png Season 1 promotional poster
Genre	Action Adventure Science fantasy Post-apocalyptic Comedy-drama
Created by	Radford Sechrist
Based on	Kipo by Radford Sechrist
Developed by	Bill Wolkoff
Voices of	Karen Fukuhara Sydney Mikayla Coy Stewart Deon Cole Dee Bradley Baker Sterling K. Brown Dan Stevens Jee Young Han Amy Landecker
Theme music composer	Vanessa Ruby Sandberg
Composer	Daniel Rojas
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	30
Production
Executive producers	Bill Wolkoff Radford Sechrist Yoo Jae Myung
Producers	Kim Han Byeol Park Sang Ah
Running time	24 minutes (Season 1) 23 minutes (Season 2 and 3)
Production companies	DreamWorks Animation Television Studio Mir (animation)
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	January 14 (2020-01-14) – October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is an American animated television series created by Radford Sechrist, adapted from his 2015 webcomic Kipo. The series is produced by DreamWorks Animation Television with animation outsourced to South Korean studio Mir.

The young adult animated series follows a girl called Kipo Oak, who is searching for her father after being forced to flee from her burrow, and must explore the post-apocalyptic surface world ruled by mutated animals to find him. Along the way she befriends human survivors Wolf and Benson, and the mutant animals Dave and Mandu.

The series has been critically acclaimed for its design, characterization, music, world-building, voice acting, and diversity. The series is particularly notable for its representation of LGBT and characters of color.

The show's three seasons, each ten episodes long, were released in 2020. Season 1 was released on January 14, season 2 on June 12, and season 3 on October 12.

Plot

Sometime by the 23rd century, animals have mutated to become anthropomorphic creatures known as "mutes". Most mutes rose up against their human oppressors, forcing the majority of the human race to live in underground cities known as burrows, while civilization has been reduced to a post-apocalyptic wasteland collectively known as "Las Vistas".

In the first season, Kipo Oak, a thirteen-year-old human girl, is separated from her father Lio after their burrow is attacked by a "mega monkey", a colossal, mutated spider monkey. Traversing through Las Vistas, she meets and befriends Wolf, a cold and hardened girl who has been surviving on her own after her adoptive wolf family turned on her, the upbeat Benson and his insect companion Dave, and the pig Mandu. Together, they set out to find the burrow Lio and the rest of Kipo's community fled to after their first one was destroyed. During their adventures, Kipo discovers that she has the DNA of a mega jaguar inside of her, and can partially transform her body into a jaguar. As the five journey along they make many mute allies and enemies, including the tyrant Scarlemagne, a mandrill mute who intends to subjugate humanity with his mind-controlling pheromones and force the other mutes into an utopian empire which he will rule with a human army.

In the second season, Kipo seeks to rescue her people after they are captured by Scarlemagne, and also discover the origin of her mute powers. Kipo learns she was experimented with mute DNA by her parents before her birth, turning her into a half-human, half-jaguar hybrid. She also learns that that her mother Song, previously thought to be deceased, is actually the mega monkey who destroyed her burrow, mutated as a side effect from her pregnancy with Kipo and mind-controlled by the manipulative Dr. Emilia, her parents' former employer who now seeks to create a resistance group against mutes. Later, she also discovers that Scarlemagne was originally an ordinary mandrill named Hugo whom Kipo's parents turned sentient and secretly raised as their son, but grew to hate them after they were forced to abandon him. These revelations slowly cause Kipo to start to lose control of her abilities, putting her at risk of transforming into a mega jaguar permanently, but she is able to regain control with the help of her friends and family. She defeats Scarlemagne and frees Song from her mind control, but meanwhile Dr. Emilia has turned most of Kipo's people over to her cause of reverting mutes back into normal animals so human civilization can rise again.

In the third season, Kipo creates the "Human Mute Ultimate Friendship Alliance" to thwart Dr. Emilia, but struggles to make humans and mutes work together. Emilia manages to create an anti-mute cure with Kipo's DNA, and it is with this cure that Kipo turns her mother human again. Ultimately, Kipo succeeds in making peace between mutes and humans. With her plans foiled and unwilling to accept change, Emilia turns herself into a mega mute to kill Kipo and her friends, but she is defeated with Scarlemagne's help, who sacrifices himself to save Kipo. Five years later, Kipo happily lives on the surface where humans and mutes finally co-exist in harmony.

Development

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts was created by Radford Sechrist, previously a storyboard artist for Dan Vs. and later director on the Voltron: Legendary Defender. After quitting his job as an animator, Sechrist began posting the webcomic Kipo on Tumblr in 2015. The animated series based on the webcomic was first announced at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June 2019. Sechrist compared the series to The Wizard of Oz, "but instead of ruby slippers [Kipo] has Converse on".

The series has five writers in addition to showrunner Sechrist and executive producer Bill Wolkoff. They worked in two teams, each comprising a director and three board artists. The animation is made by Studio Mir in South Korea using traditional animation methods. About sixty people worked on the series at DreamWorks, and about fifty-five at Studio Mir.

Characters

Main

• Kipo Oak (voiced by Karen Fukuhara) – An enthusiastic and curious young girl who is searching for her people. She later learns that her parents injected her with mute DNA, giving her the powers of a huge purple jaguar.
• Wolf (voiced by Sydney Mikayla) – Kipo's best friend. A hardened and young survivor on the surface world who was raised by wolves. She wields a spear made from the stinger of a deathstalker scorpion that she dubs "Stalkie".
• Benson Mekler (voiced by Coy Stewart) – A happy-go-lucky surface survivor, Dave's best friend, and last of the "fanatics", a group previously at war with Dave's species for two centuries.
• Dave (voiced by Deon Cole) – A mutant insect and Benson's best friend who repeatedly molts from baby to child to teen to adult to elderly. He is the last of his kind, a species of identical-looking insects who all shared the name Dave and were at war for over two centuries with the "fanatics" over a cooling fan.
• Mandu (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) – A mutant pig with four eyes and six legs adopted by Kipo.
• Lio Oak (voiced by Sterling K. Brown) – Kipo's father, a scientist, and teacher of their underground community. He and Song were originally working for Dr. Emilia to turn mutes back into normal animals so humanity could reclaim the surface.
• Hugo "Scarlemagne" Oak (voiced by Dan Stevens) – A deranged, flamboyant, power-hungry mandrill and Kipo's adoptive older brother. He seeks to create a mute-only utopia and rule Las Vistas with an army of enslaved humans. Due to human experimentation, the pheromones in his sweat can control primate minds.
• Song Oak (voiced by Jee Young Han) – Kipo's mother and Lio's wife who originally worked with him to revert mutes back into normal animals before they changed their minds; thought to be deceased, she is later revealed to be alive.
• Dr. Emilia (voiced by Amy Landecker) – A cold-hearted, manipulative, remorseless human scientist who wants to end the mutes' existence.

Supporting

• Molly Yarnchopper (voiced by Lea Delaria) - A Timbercat and Yumyan Hammerpaw's second-in-command.
• Yumyan Hammerpaw (voiced by Steve Blum) - Axe Lord of the Timbercats. His name is a parody of the tall tale character Paul Bunyan.
• Cotton (voiced by Grey Griffin) - Rocker leader of the Umlaut Snakes from Cactus Town.
• Good Billions and Bad Billions (voiced by John Hodgman and GZA/Guy Lockard) - Astronomer co-leaders of the Newton Wolves.
• Jamack (voiced by Jake Green) - A Mod Frog who sought out to capture Kipo after she caused him to be banished from his pack, but has since become a reluctant ally.
• Tad Mulholland (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley) - A sentient colony of tardigrades who traps others in dream worlds.
• Hoag (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - A member of Kipo's underground community and Doag's father.
• Troy Sandoval (voiced by Giullian Yao Gioiello) - A boy from Kipo's underground community and Benson's boyfriend.
• Asher and Dahlia Berdacs (voiced by Rhea Butcher and Fryda Wolff) - Twin siblings from Kipo's underground community. Asher is non-binary while Dahlia is female.
• Amy and Brad (voiced by Avrielle Corti and Ace Gibson) - A pair of rats who manage an amusement park called Ratland.
• Zane and Greta (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui and Anna Vocino) - Dr. Emilia's assistants.
• Roberto Sandoval (voiced by Antonio Alvarez) - Troy's father.
• Fun Gus (voiced by Jack Stanton) - A sentient mold with a child-like personality.
• Label (voiced by Betsy Sodaro) - Leader of the Fitness Raccoons.
• Mrs. Sartori (voiced by Grey Griffin) - Leader of the Mod Frogs.
• Easy (voiced by Matt Lowe) - Leader of the Humming Bombers.
• Doag (voiced by Rebecca Husain) - Hoag's dance-obsessed daughter.
• Gerard (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - An orangutan Noble and Scarlemagne's second-in-command.
• Lemieux (voiced by Grey Griffin) - A tarsier Noble.
• Loretta and Wheels (voiced by Grey Griffin and Alanna Ubach) - Co-leaders of the Scooter Skunks.
• Harris and Kwat (voiced by Ian Harding and Grey Griffin) - A pair of Mod Frogs and Jamack's former goons.
• Camille (voiced by Joan Jett and Grey Griffin) - An Umlaut Snake.
• Puck (voiced by John Lavelle) - A theater musician otter.
• Ida, Florabel, and Bev (voiced by Kay Bess, Chris Anthony Lansdowne, and Mindy Sterling) - The "Chevre Sisters", a trio of blind, soothsaying goats.
• Ruffles (voiced by Matt Lowe) - A Timbercat.
• Tongue Depressor (voiced by David Neher) - A Fitness Raccoon.
• Margot (voiced by Faith Graham and Victoria Grace) - Wolf's adoptive wolf sister.
• Mr. Filburn (voiced by Jake Green) - A member of Kipo's underground community.
• Lily and Earl Berdacs (voiced by Kay Bess and Carlos Alazraqui) - Asher and Dahlia's parents.
• Hyun-soo (voiced by Raymond J. Lee) - Lead singer of a narwhal K-pop band.
• Boom-Boom (voiced by Alanna Ubach) - A Humming Bomber.

Production

LGBTQ representation

Main article: Netflix and LGBTQ representation in Kipo

As Netflix pushed forward, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts became a shining example of expanded representation. In the first season of Kipo, which streamed on January 10, Benson said outright he was gay, saying he only liked the series protagonist, Kipo, in a platonic way. He also developed a crush on a male character, Troy, in the show's 10th episode. Due to these elements, some noted the show's "casual queerness."

The series is currently being nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming.

Music

The soundtrack to the series, including several original songs, was composed by Daniel Rojas. It draws on an eclectic mix of musical styles, from folk to classical music and hip-hop, with Wu-Tang Clan founding member and Bad Billions' voice actor GZA being given co-writing credit for the 'Newton Wolves Rap'. The first soundtrack album, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Season 1 Mixtape, was released in January 2020 by Back Lot Music. The second soundtrack album, titled Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Season 2 Mixtape, was released in late May 2020 by Back Lot Music.

Soundtracks

Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts (Season 3 Mixtape)

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released
1	10		January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
2	10		June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
3	10		October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)

Season 1 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Storyboard by	Original release date
1	1	"Burrow Girl"	Radford Sechrist	Bill Wolkoff	James P. Gibson, Radford Sechrist, and Young Ki Yoon	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
Kipo finds herself on the surface world and meets Mandu and Wolf.
2	2	"Explosion Berries"	Radford Sechrist	Bill Wolkoff	James P. Gibson, Radford Sechrist, and Young Ki Yoon	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
Benson saves Kipo, Wolf, and Dave from the Mod Frogs.
3	3	"Real Cats Wear Plaid"	Chase Conley	Bill Wolkoff	Jacob V. Eaton, James P. Gibson, and Ben Li	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
Kipo and her new friends are held captive by a clan of Timbercats.
4	4	"Cäctustown"	Chris Copeland	Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco	Bridget Underwood, Kalen Whitfield, and Zuke	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
Kipo leads an army of new allies to Umlaut Snäke turf.
5	5	"The Astronomers in Turtlenecks"	Chris Copeland and Bridget Underwood	Christopher Amick & Ben Mekler	Max Lawson, Kalen Whitfield, and Zuke	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
Kipo and her friends try to blend in with the Newton Wolves and continue searching for the burrow people.
6	6	"Ratland"	Chase Conley	Bill Wolkoff	Jacob V. Eaton, James P. Gibson, and Ben Li	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
It's Kipo's thirteenth birthday - and while she tries to crack her father's code, the wolves are reporting to Scarlemagne.
7	7	"Mulholland"	Chase Conley	Taylor Chapulín Orcí	Jacob V. Eaton, James P. Gibson, and Ben Li	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
The group gets trapped in an ideal dream world.
8	8	"Twin Beaks"	Chris Copeland	Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco	Adam Lucas, Bridget Underwood, and Kalen Whitfield	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
Kipo searches for another clue among the Fitness Raccoons.
9	9	"Mute-Eat-Mute World"	Chase Conley	Christopher Amick & Ben Mekler	Jacob V. Eaton, James P. Gibson, and Ben Li	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
Wolf struggles with some new information while the group has to escape from Mod Frogs again.
10	10	"Beyond the Valley of the Dogs"	Kalvin Lee and Young Ki Yoon	Bill Wolkoff	Ben Li, Adam Lucas, and Bridget Underwood	January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)
Kipo closes in on her burrow, but disaster is right behind her.

Season 2 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Storyboard by	Original release date
11	1	"Paw of the Jaguar"	Chase Conley	Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco	Jacob V. Eaton, James P. Gibson, and Ben Li	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
Kipo and her friends go to save the burrow residents from Scarlemagne while Kipo struggles to control her mute abilities.
12	2	"The Goat Cheese Prophecy"	Bridget Underwood	Bill Wolkoff	Yasmin Khudari and Sean Song	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
Kipo goes on a mission to control her powers leading her to a trio of goat prophets.
13	3	"The Ballad of Brunchington Beach"	Matt Ahrens	Christopher Amick & Ben Mekler	Steve Barr, Florent Lagrange, and Perin McLean	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
Kipo joins a troupe of Theotters in order to get into the restaurant of an informant who may know the location of her birth burrow.
14	4	"To Catch a Deathstalker"	Chase Conley	Taylor Chapulin Orci	James P. Gibson, Ben Li, and Sean Song	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
To reach Kipo's birth Burrow, Wolf teaches her the means to keep calm to avoid a pack of Deathstalkers near her old home.
15	5	"Fun Gus Part One"	Bridget Underwood	Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco	Michael Chang, Jacob V. Eaton, and Yasmin Khudari	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
Kipo's party reaches the burrow she was born in, where they learn the truth of her origins.
16	6	"Fun Gus Part Two"	Matt Ahrens	Leore Berris, Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco	Ricardo Curtis, Florent Lagrange, Perin McLean, and Seema Virdi	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
Kipo continues to learn the truth of her birth while she and her friends must deal with a bratty sentient mold that has overtaken the burrow.
17	7	"Benson and the Beast"	Michael Chang	Taylor Chapulin Orci	James P. Gibson, Ben Li, and Sean Song	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
Dr. Emilia takes in Kipo's group for her own purposes; while Benson works with Kipo to try and master how to fully control her Mega Jaguar state.
18	8	"Sympathy for the Mandrill"	Bridget Underwood	Christopher Amick & Ben Mekler	Michael Chang, Jacob V. Eaton, and Yasmin Khudari	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
Scarlemagne's origins are revealed while Kipo remains captured by him.
19	9	"All That Glitters"	Matt Ahrens	Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco	Florent Lagrange, Perin McLean, and Seema Virdi	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
Kipo and Lio work together to try to change Scarlemagne in order to stop his ambitions once and for all.
20	10	"Heroes on Fire"	Michael Chang	Bill Wolkoff	James P. Gibson, Ben Li, and Sean Song	June 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)
The fates of humans and Mutes hang in the balance as Scarlemagne's coronation ceremony takes an unexpected turn.

Season 3 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Storyboard by	Original release date
21	1	"Everything is Crabs"	Bridget Underwood	Bill Wolkoff	Jacob V. Eaton, James P. Gibson, and Yasmin Khudari	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
Several months after defeating Scarlemagne, Kipo's gang tries to create a greater alliance of Mutes and humanity while dealing with several strange disappearances.
22	2	"Code Word Milkshake"	Matt Ahrens	Leore Berris	Florent Lagrange, Perin McLean, and Seema Virdi	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
Discovering the location of Dr. Emilia and her human entourage, Kipo leads a stealth operation onto a cruise ship in order to talk sense into them and slow the mad doctor's Mute-reversal plans.
23	3	"A Wolf in Wolf's Clothing"	Michael Chang	Christopher Amick & Ben Mekler	Jacob V. Eaton, Ben Li, and Sean Song	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
Wolf has a tense reunion with a member of her old Wolf Pack as Kipo must work with Scarlemagne to try and solidify the Mute alliance.
24	4	"Don't You Forget a Meow Me"	Bridget Underwood	Taylor Chapulin Orci	Jacob V. Eaton, James P. Gibson, Yasmin Khudari, and Jam Respicio	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
Discovering her friends have been captured by Dr. Emilia and that her cure is complete, Kipo works with Mulholland to devise a plan to save them.
25	5	"Song ReMix"	Matt Ahrens	Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco	Joe Giampapa, Perin McLean, Seema Virdi, and Steve Walker	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
Kipo cures her mother Song, but must now figure out how to stop the humans from curing the Mutes.
26	6	"It's a Trap"	Michael Chang	Leore Berris	Jacob V. Eaton, Ben Li, and Sean Song	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
As Dr. Emilia's forces siege Timbercat village, Kipo and her allies must stop them and bring a peaceful end to the conflict.
27	7	"Requiem for a Dave"	Bridget Underwood	Christopher Amick & Ben Mekler	Jacob V. Eaton, Yasmin Khudari, and James Lien	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
As an angered Kipo prepares to retaliate against Emilia, the only one who can stop her from ruining the hard work of uniting humanity and Mutes is Dave.
28	8	"Hidden Treasures"	Matt Ahrens	Taylor Chapulin Orci	Perin McLean, Seema Virdi, and Steve Walker	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
Kipo makes an unexpected final move to try and create unity by throwing a "Prahm" for humans and Mutes.
29	9	"Prahmises"	Michael Chang	Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco	Jacob V. Eaton, Ben Li, and Sean Song	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
As Kipo's "Prahm" finally begins, several caught in the middle must come to terms with their circumstances behind their hatred of the other.
30	10	"Age of the Wonderbeasts"	Bridget Underwood	Bill Wolkoff	Jacob V. Eaton, Yasmin Khudari, and James Lien	October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
A final fight between Dr. Emilia and Kipo determines the fate of humans and Mutes alike.

Track Listing

Soundtrack: Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts (Season 3 Mixtape)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Age of Wonderbeasts"	2:25
2.	"Ocean of Love"	2:13
3.	"Drowning"	1:22
4.	"The Cure"	1:31
5.	"Cruel To The Beat"	1:43
6.	"Yumyan HammerMeow"	1:36
7.	"Treetop Butterflies"	1:11
8.	"Family Hunt"	1:59
9.	"MegaWalrus Attack"	1:03
10.	"A World of Wonderbeasts"	1:10
11.	"Ferris Wheel"	1:55
12.	"Scooter Skunks"	0:54
13.	"Catch Me"	0:47
14.	"It's Really You"	1:00
15.	"Mulholland"	2:13
16.	"Your Majesty Bee"	0:52
17.	"The Brunch Bunch"	1:19
18.	"A Second Chance"	0:34
19.	"Just One More Time"	1:31
20.	"Goodbyes"	0:54
21.	"A Safe Zone"	1:08
22.	"Las Vistas"	1:54
Total length:		31:02

Reception

All three seasons of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts have a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with too few reviews for a consensus. At io9, Beth Elderkin described Kipo as a "must-watch", writing that it joined the likes of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe as a series with a broad appeal to many age groups, and highlighting its music and art design. At Collider, Dave Trumbore noted Kipo's similarity to other recent female-led animated portal fantasy series such as Amphibia and The Owl House, and described it as a "classic in the making" that drew on cultural touchstones such as Fallout, The Warriors, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Planet of the Apes and Alice in Wonderland.

Writing for Polygon, Petrana Radulovic appreciated that beneath a standard fantasy exploration quest, the series is a "vibrant mosaic, with a unique world, multidimensional character relationships, and a deeper underlying plot" about the tensions between mutes and humans. She also noted that Benson was the first character to have an explicit coming out as gay in an all-ages animation series, and that the understated manner of the scene, in episode 6, made it all the more noteworthy. Charles Pulliam-Moore at io9 likewise wrote that the series's "casual queerness is fantastic" because Benson's orientation is not treated as a plot point to complicate Kipo's feelings for him, but, "with a distinct matter-of-factness", as just one aspect of his character.

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
2021	GLAAD Media Awards	Outstanding Kids & Family Programming	Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts	Pending

External links

• Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts on Netflix
• Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts at IMDb 
• Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts (Season 3 Mixtape) on Spotify