The Netflix adaptation of Chad and Jared Moldenhauer's award-winning Cuphead video game has been dominating the streamer's charts. Releasing the first 12 episodes on February 18, The Cuphead Show! has held a spot on Netflix's Top 10 list in the United States for the entirety of its debuting week, showing no signs of stopping.
The animated series features the voices of Tru Valentino as Cuphead, Frank Todaro as Mugman, and Wayne Brady as King Dice. It follows the antics of Cuphead and his brother Mugman in their town of Inkwell Isles. Game Rant had the opportunity to chat with Tru Valentino and Frank Todaro about the rapid response to The Cuphead Show!, their experiences crafting their character's voices, and their favorite moments from the series.
GR: Did you expect this rapid fan response to the series? How have your friends and family reacted?
Frank Todaro: I hoped for it. I didn't think it would be as grand as it is. I guess I did. The most heartwarming thing is that everybody is watching it, like little kids are watching, and adults are watching. My parents can watch this and enjoy it in the same way that we used to watch Looney Tunes and Disney. It's that sort of broad, mass appeal that has really made it accessible to all the different circles of people. That's pretty cool. It's pretty cool to be able to bring a little joy to everybody's life.
Tru Valentino: Cuphead has such a big following for the video game. We hoped that some of that would bleed over into the show. I definitely thought that it would pick up some steam, for sure. As far as how it's doing now, I don't know how all the technical stuff works. I feel that it's doing well. I don't know the specific number. If you guys are saying that it's topping the charts or whatnot, then that's fantastic. And in terms of my friends and family watching it. It's cool because all my friends are adults, and they're watching it. But it's also cool that some of my friends who have kids now say their kids are obsessed. Another cool thing is friends have been sending me videos of their kids watching it and quoting certain stuff. I'm just like, wow, that's cool!
GR: What is your relationship with the source material? Did you play the video game before being cast in the series or did you wait until after you were cast?
Todaro: I have very vivid memories of looking at those early, early shots of footage when the game was first released. I'm a huge fan of that era of animation and a lot of the stuff that goes into it. I was following and when the audition came in there was a tiny version of myself that did a backflip inside my chest. I did play the game and I did fail egregiously, multiple times, many, many, many times. Because it's really hard. I think my fingers just don't move that fast anymore. But I kept playing it because it's so gorgeous, and I just wanted to see more of it.
Valentino: I always wanted to play Cuphead. I guess I never really knew what platform it was on. I just knew it was a video game. And I didn't know if you had to buy it or download it, but I would always see it. And it always looked cool, because I was like, what is that? It looks like a cartoon, but it's an actual game that you can play. I didn't really get a chance to actually play it until after I booked this role, but, like Frank was saying, it's very difficult. Very hard. People always tell you 'it's difficult' and you're always like 'oh, sure, we'll see,' but then you play you're like, 'oh, oh, oh, this is hard.'
GR: Frank, what was it like shaping Mugman's voice, especially coming in as someone who was already familiar with the character?
Todaro: Oh, gosh. I mean, I'm just a cog in the machine. Everybody worked on this thing and had this image of what it is because of the DNA of the era, and how that character existed before the show. For me, I like to say it's as close to time travel as you can get because you get to basically go back in time and originate a character from an older era of animation. They gave me references like Lou Costello and stuff.
I was coming up with voice for this, like, very sweet, kind of dorky, nerdy person, and I'm a kind of dorky, nerdy person myself. It was, in one sense, method acting, but on the other side of that, some of the little accent stuff is just impressions that I've done of my family for years. I'm an Italian guy from New York, so there's a bit of my grandmother and the way she pronounces the word "toilet" and stuff like that. It's fun to bring my family in the scene and know the world is watching it.
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GR: Tru, what inspirations did you look at when figuring out Cuphead's voice?
Valentino: I feel like they already had an idea. Obviously, they wanted Mugman and Cuphead to be from the East Coast. So, it was easy to go from there. And also, They gave us some people to get inspiration from, and I can't remember the name of the character they sent me, but it was an old-school cartoon from the 1940s. There's some vernacular of some mobsters movies from and stuff like that. Fun fact, I don't know if anyone knows, my mom is from New Jersey, and she doesn't have a strong Jersey accent but, every now and then, there are certain words she says that you can definitely tell she's from the East Coast. Having that stuff in my back pocket sometimes helps with saying certain words, certain ways.
GR: What is your favorite moment from the series? Do you have a scene that stands out to you?
Todaro: This feels like Sophie's Choice. There's a chase sequence that's just so beautiful. It's got this weird sort of Dumbo, technicolor vibe as they're running up the stairs and all of the doors are opening. It's just gorgeous. The more I watch it, I really like whatever I'm watching at the time. I love the back and forth schtick. I laugh so much. But I'm gonna say, final answer, that one sweeping shot in "Root Packed." Joe [Hanna] kills it, he plays two characters. There's that one long sweeping shot where you see all the different characters doing different things at different angle. I tear up. It's just so beautiful. It's gorgeous.
Valentino: Yeah, honestly, I think one of the moments I really like is from an episode that hasn't dropped yet. So, I want to keep it quiet on that. But in terms of what's up now for the series, there are just little moments that always crack me up and most of those moments come from Joe [Hanna] who plays Elder Kettle. There's this episode where Mugman chips off his handle on his cup, or mug should I say, you know when we're trying to convince him that everything will be fine but as soon as Elder kettle comes in, he just like points and starts screaming. There's also the episode where Elder Kettle puts on his old military uniform and gets ready for battle, and then that whole sequence cracks me up.
GR: Yes, we love it. Big Elder Kettle fans.
Valentino: Elder Kettle stan, here.
The Cuphead Show! is currently streaming on Netflix.