By TREVOR HOGGImages courtesy of Prime Video and A24.Collaborating with a group of freelance animators and aided by financial support provided by Patreon, American animator, writer, director and producer Vivienne Medrano released a pilot episode for Hazbin Hotel via her VivziePop YouTube Channel, which revolves around Charlie Morningstar, the Princess of Hell, setting up a rehabilitation establishment for demons to avoid the yearly extermination imposed by Heaven. Contributing to the 109 million views over the past four years was A24, the independent entertainment company responsible for the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once, which in turn got Amazon MGM Studios interested to produce a new pilot and seven more episodes to stream on Prime Video.A challenging aspect of getting Vaggie to emote properly is the X placed over the left eye.Hazbin Hotel is different in the sense that it came from a proof concept that went viral and also had the benefit of a company like A24 that is risk-taking. Its definitely not easy to put into a box that exists in the adult animation world, and Im excited because the adult animation world is starting to bloom into something different, and were seeing more diversity in the shows.Vivienne Medrano, Creator, Executive Producer, Showrunner and Writer, Hazbin HotelI had spent most of my career as a freelancer, so I havent experienced the nitty-gritty of productions, states Vivienne Medrano, Creator, Executive Producer, Showrunner and Writer of Hazbin Hotel. Ive mostly done visual development and things that never got to see the light of day. Hazbin Hotel is different in the sense that it came from a proof concept that went viral and also had the benefit of a company like A24 that is risk-taking. Its definitely not easy to put into a box that exists in the adult animation world, and Im excited because the adult animation world is starting to bloom into something different, and were seeing more diversity in the shows. Putting together a new pilot was complicated. We only had eight episodes and a tight time to tell the story. I didnt want to waste an episode on redoing the original pilot. We had to get the same information across, re-establish the world and characters, but also tell a new story with new characters and villains, Medrano says.Catering to Creator/Showrunner Vivienne Medranos attachment to zanier, sillier characters is Niffty.How Bruce Timm draws women, like Harlequin and Poison Ivy, the exaggerated shape language of Tim Burton, cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez and classic Warner Bros. Animation and Disney were major influences. It was fun to explore how to find an identity for the show and the style, Medrano remarks. The other aspect of my style is that its detailed with a lot of stripes; thats a Tim Burtonism! I like specific outfits and accessories. Its catered to my sensibilities. Angel Dust was simplified, while a different idea for Charlie was introduced, especially with her braids. Because its a hand-drawn show, I wanted to take off some of the superfluous details that were in the [original] pilot. However, I wanted to maintain those iconic, striking designs. Also, there were changes I always wanted to make to begin with from [original] pilot but we were too far in to do that. Black and red dominate the color palette. The biggest challenge of the show for my art director, Sam Miller, is that its a lot of red characters on numerous red backgrounds. It was a challenge to find the right balance and the tones of the reds that we use. Im trying to lean more into contrast in the second season, Medrano explains.Given that Vox is, in essence, a TV screen, side profiles of his head were avoided.Concept art for a billboard promoting politeness.A Morningstar Family portrait painting.I would red-line the change that I want; thats usually the easiest because they can take that and finalize it. I do that with character designs and ever so often with backgrounds. For storyboards, I also direct, so I do thumbnails. I use a Wacom Cintiq tablet where you can directly draw on to. I have a bigger one that Ive worked on since college and a smaller version that I use often. You can have it on your lap and work. Its much more mobile.Vivienne Medrano, Creator, Executive Producer, Showrunner and Writer, Hazbin HotelRevisions are articulated by drawing over the work of artists. I would red-line the change that I want; thats usually the easiest because they can take that and finalize it, Medrano states. I do that with character designs and ever so often with backgrounds. For storyboards, I also direct, so I do thumbnails. I use a Wacom Cintiq tablet where you can directly draw on to. I have a bigger one that Ive worked on since college and a smaller version that I use often. You can have it on your lap and work. Its much more mobile. Adult animation has provided more of an opportunity to blend 2D and 3D techniques. The combination of 3D and 2D is cool. A great example is Arcane where they could have the 3D style, but it still has an artistic layering of texture. However, all of the effects are done in 2D, like fire and smoke. 2D effects are the coolest looking. For Hazbin Hotel, we dont utilize a ton of 3D because its outside the process and pipeline of being a 2D show. On my other series, Helluva Boss, we utilized 3D a couple of times, and its fun to stylize the 3D to match the 2D world.Logo designed for 666 News.Collaborating on her third project with Medrano is Skye Henwood. Its an across-the-ocean story of an online relationship working out, states Skye Henwood, Animation Director at SpindleHorse Toons. I needed a job, she had a job opening, and I joined her studio. We ended up in a studio chatroom, and it was like an instant click. Now, its an Amazon show, and everybody knows the name. Its crazy! SpindleHorse Toons animated Episode 108 while Princess Bento was responsible for the rest of the series. Its all done digitally. Even the storyboards. We use Wacoms and work in Toon Boom Harmony. Ive made like a million guides on how to do a basic shot. The stylization is easier in a way because the policy that Viv, Sam Miller, and I have is, as long as it looks cool or appealing, thats it. It doesnt necessarily have to look like the model sheet. You can stretch Charlie, make her eyes big, and if its cute or funny enough its getting in. There is a lot of creative freedom. This show is for artists by artists, Henwood states.A poster of Charlie with her showman father Lucifer performing in the background.A color key for the Pentious Airship.A color concept for the rebuild of the Hazbin Hotel.Its all done digitally. Even the storyboards. We use Wacoms and work in Toon Boom Harmony. Ive made like a million guides on how to do a basic shot. The stylization is easier in a way because the policy that Viv, Sam Miller and I have is, as long as it looks cool or appealing, thats it. It doesnt necessarily have to look like the model sheet. You can stretch Charlie, make her eyes big, and if its cute or funny enough its getting in. There is a lot of creative freedom. This show is for artists by artists. Skye Henwood, Animation Director, SpindleHorse ToonsStoryboards and animatics are an essential part of the creative process. The strength of the boards is the strength of the series, Medrano notes. Im excited because for the second season we have some incredible artists joining and have more action, so theres more of a uniqueness to the technique of the boards. The poses of the characters are figured out in the storyboards. We dont usually invent many new ones from the boards. Thankfully, for Season 1 we had some fantastic board artists, in particular for the song sequences. Then my studio [SpindleHorse Toons] was able to do a little of the animation plus the boards. Im glad that we got to do that because it heightened those moments. The songs are vital during the writing stage. The challenge for Season 1 was that I wanted the songs to be the length that they needed to be. Because we have a tight 22-minute run time, we had to work closely with the songwriters and figure out what part of the script was going to be music and what genre of music. What I love about musicals is that they go hand-in-hand with animation. The characters get to be really expressive, and the songs get to be bombastic and out there, Medrano observes.A pentagram city map of Hell.We have the music from the start, so we dont have to go back and change it, Henwood remarks. Dealing with a musical in animation is hard because musicals are beautiful and so out there and over-the-top, we have to get that Wow! feeling, and there are reasons for why things are done in live-action and animation. We have to compromise and find how we can fit the wonders of a musical into a 2D TV animation. We find a way to make the reason why the character sings believable. Its important to try to feel seamless when starting those musical moments. Henwood did the first shots animated for Season 1. I wanted to make it simple enough that any studio could do it, yet also capturing Vivs emotions and style of drawing, which is the hardest thing because we draw every frame ourselves, he says.Deciding upon the color palette for the Gates of Heaven.One of the many key props that had to be designed was the Valentinos favorite gun.Maintaining the proper poses is more difficult for some characters compared to others. There is a spider demon and he has four arms, so when youre having someone cross their arms, what are his bottom arms doing? Henwood comments. You have to come up with that. If he is angry or sassy, maybe on his hips. You have to make sure that looks appealing. We dont want to hide his arms behind him. Its thought out. My favorite trivia is Vox. We have a rule that he cant be seen sideways because hes a flat-screen TV. Youll notice that even if Vox should turn around to leave a shot, his head will stay forward. The one who has changed the most and for the better is Angel Dust. In older iterations, he was more monstrous and had a poison skull on his chest. But as Viv was realizing this character, Angel Dust became this cutesy guy. My favorite part of all of the design changes is, right before we started animating it, Viv let me have my opinion on how to simplify them. Jeremy Jordan has made clever vocal choices for Lucifer Morningstar. Jeremy gets into that booth and does the silliest little takes we have ever heard. My favorite thing he does is what we call the Lucifer wheeze. In Episode 105, Jeremy is coughing the name Charlie. Its really fun because that wasnt in the script, Henwood reveals.A lot of detail went into not only characters but also the background elements.A significant visual challenge was having red characters placed against red backgrounds.The strength of the boards is the strength of the series. Im excited because for the second season we have some incredible artists joining and have more action, so theres more of a uniqueness to the technique of the boards.Vivienne Medrano, Creator, Executive Producer, Showrunner and Writer, Hazbin HotelThe world-building for Hazbin Hotel has been a natural evolution. Something that Ive started working on is a bible of all the information that has been established about this world and rules that need to be maintained, Medrano says. Its challenging because I have my other series, Helluva Boss, which is a different side of this expansive world. We have to make sure that there is a consistency because our audience will notice and care. Adding life to the world is the background action. Its easier for the animators and less distracting to have a silhouetted character in the background; that is something stylistically I do a lot, Medrano adds. One of the changes from the original pilot is having an entirely different voice cast. I have the characters figured out and need to find the right voice. I have specific voices in mind. With Hazbin Hotel, we had the pilot where we established some voices that the audience was attached to. It was important to maintain a sense of cohesion between the two casts. When it came to casting for the new series, it was a re-audition for the original cast and new people. The actors we ended up going with were good at maintaining that original sound and vibe of the characters that I wanted and was attached to, but also bringing with it the musicality and singing talent that was needed for the show. Once we had the final cast, everything locked together, and it was exactly what I had envisioned but I am picky about casting.A pastel color palette was devised for Heaven.A number of characters are exaggerated representations of Medrano. Angel Dust is nothing like me, but I put a lot personal trauma and experiences in him, Medrano states. Charlie is a lot like me in the sense that she is a driven and determined person in a world that can be hard and naysaying. There is part of me in Vaggie when it comes to being more practical and reserved; shes more of a worrier and feisty. Like a lot of creators, I try to put in a little piece of real me, but it also came from things that I feel add to the story or character tropes that I enjoy. Niffty and Lucifer are catered to my sensibilities because I like the zanier, sillier characters as well. Showcasing the most action and characters was Episode 108.It was important to seamlessly integrate the musical numbers into the narrative.There is no shortage of characters and action in the battle sequence that takes place in Episode 108.Jeremy Jordan makes clever vocal choices for Lucifer Morningstar, such as having him wheeze.The character designs were influenced by Bruce Timms portrayal of women and the exaggerated shapes of Tim Burton.A film that greatly influenced the animation of Hazbin Hotel was Cats Cant Dance.A character that needed to be constantly checked by Animation Director Skye Henwood was Vox.Niffty stars in A24s first venture into adult animation with Hazbin Hotel, which started off as a proof of concept on YouTube.There is a shot where the camera is following characters through the battle, and it was comprised of two different shots that seamlessly come together as one, Medrano remarks. We start with Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb, who jumps up and throws a bomb. Then the bomb explosion transitions to another character. It was a challenge in the sense that the hookup had to be specific. Theres a lot of characters. There is a giant shield that had effects on it, so we had to make sure that the background was tracking and the camera was working with it while the effect was going on. That was a technical shot, but it turned out fantastic.