Mar 9, 2016

Aaron Springer to Star in His Own Disney TV Series "Billy Dilly"

Veteran TV artist Aaron Springer, long recognized in the industry for his powerful cartooning chops, will finally get his own TV series, Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer, which will premiere in 2017 and will premiere on Disney XD in 2017, the network revealed last Friday.

The comedy series follows Billy Dilley, an "eccentric science-obsessed seventh grader," and his lab partners Zeke and Marsha, who discover a mysterious world beneath the surface during their summer vacation. Jessica McKenna ("Comedy Bang! Bang!") will voice Billy, Tom Kenny ("SpongeBob") will voice Zeke, and Katie Wayne ("Animalist") will voice Marsha. The series is based on a pilot released by Disney TV Animation in 2014.

Springer first came to prominence with the CalArts student film Baby's New Formula (1995), which screened at Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation In the late 1990s, Springer developed his skills at Spamco working on projects such as "A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith," the early online series "Weekend Pussy Hunt," and Bjork's music video "I Miss You." (Disclosure: In the early 2000s, Springer also drew the cover and several internal comics for my previous zine, Animation Blast.)

His industry credits include "Sponge Bob," "Samurai Jack," and most recently Disney's Mickey Mouse shorts, but he may be best known for projects that never made it past the pilot stage, such as Adult Swim's "Korgoth of Barbaria" and Cartoon Network's "Periwinkle Around the World" These projects can be seen below. These projects can be seen below:

Whether Springer will be able to incorporate his unique sensibilities into a Disney children's series remains to be seen. Another recent Disney series, Pickles and Peanuts, proves that there is room for experimentation in the studio's television division, but for a creator like Springer, who has a proven track record in quirky, freewheeling adult animation, children's series still feel like a compromise

Billy.

Along with Billy Dilly, Disney TV Animation also announced last week its decision to produce a second series: Country Club, from brothers Chris and Shane Horton (Harvey Beaks), follows the adventures of Cricket Green, a country boy living in the big city. Rob Renzetti ("Gravity Falls," "My Life as a Teenage Robot") will executive produce the film, with the Horton brothers serving as co-executive producers.

The network also ordered a season three pickup of Daron Nephewsy's Star vs. The Forces of Evil and a second season of Two More Eggs, a short comedy series by Mike and Matt Chapman.