Jonah Hill talks the look of FOX's Animation Domination newbie 'Allen Gregory'

By April MacIntyre Aug 6, 2011, 19:01 GMT

FOX's Animation Domination newbie "Allen Gregory" is the tale of a precocious seven year-old Allen Gregory, described as a "worldly boy" who has been coddled and never told "no" by his two Dads.

His adopted Asian sister was selected an accessory and PC status symbol, and his inappropriate penchant for Pinot Grigio and older women presents issues at school.

Hill was on panel August 5 at the Television Critics' Association summer press tour to discuss the animation that debuts Sunday, October 30th.

The new comedy follows the most pretentious 7 year old of all time as he embarks on the greatest challenge of his young life: attending elementary school.

"Allen Gregory" is the collaborative effort of showrunner David Goodman; creators and executive producers Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul; creator, executive producer, and voice actor Jonah Hill; and voice actors French Stewart, Nat Faxon, Cristina Pucelli, and Joy Osmanski.

Andrew Mogel, David Goodman and Jonah Hill answered critics' questions about the look of the animation in contrast with "Simpsons" and other iconic series.

Goodman says, "I don’t know that there is. I think there’s a certain way certainly the guys, when they created the show, had a very specific idea in mind of a visual style that was not going to look like any other show before it. And as good as this the presentation is, the animation is now even better. The show will look even more polished than it does now."

Mogel added, "We were more inspired by, like, The New Yorker look" and Capote...

Jonah Hill says, "It was important, because our show is going to be on between The Simpsons and Family Guy, that it really be differentiated visually than the other FOX shows and have its own style. And we really wanted like The New Yorker was a big thing. We were saying like, 'Allen Gregory’s world, when he’s in his loft with his family, it should look like a page out of The New Yorker.' Then when he goes to the school, he’s like an alien. It’s such a fish out of water thing. He’s an alien in this really bland environment that looks like he should be in The New Yorker.

Hill talked about the look of the show and his animation company.

"We should mention Bento Box, which is our animation company who do incredible work. They are really insanely talented. And our character designer James [McDermott], and Mark McJimsey, and Andy. Everyone there has been so great. And this guy, James, who designed our characters, did such a great job. Off the bat, we just kind of tell him what we wanted, and then our set our production designer now is amazing, too."