The supervising director of BET+’s first original animated series, who like creator and star Kevin Hart, hails from Philadelphia, talks about the show’s affection for the city of brotherly love in its unique character designs, backgrounds, and animation style.
Lil Kev, BET+’s first original animated series, is based on comedian and actor Kevin Hart’s childhood growing up in a rough North Philadelphia neighborhood. But, for those who pay close attention to the episodes’ backgrounds, there are also plenty of nods to the life of the series’ supervising director Musa Brooker (The Boys, Black-ish, Waffles + Mochi).
“It’s just little hints here and there,” shares Brooker, who, like Hart, grew up in Philadelphia. “There’s a sequence that takes place in front of some storefronts and I got to add the names of my father and stepmother, who both have passed away, to an art supply store in that sequence. I also added my mother’s name to a flower shop and my sister’s name to a beauty salon. Most of my family is still there in Philadelphia. My mom still lives in the house I grew up in.”
Lil Kev, from Hartbeat Productions and ShadowMachine, offers a humorous, sincere look at Hart’s early years, blending satire with firsthand experiences to tackle real-life issues and relationships that helped shape him into the hugely successful artist we know today.
Hart voices the titular character, a small but determined 12-year-old boy with big dreams of escaping his tough surroundings. His wild imagination and unshakable optimism constantly collide with his neighborhood’s harsh realities. At the same time, his no-nonsense, fiercely protective mother Nancy, voiced by comedian Wanda Sykes, juggles night shifts as an E.R. nurse while waging a one-woman war to keep Kev on track. The first episode can be viewed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-JFAFKTG5I
Through it all, Lil Kev navigates his rocky upbringing with humor, hustle, and heart, which are the main ingredients of his widely popular comedy bits.
But finding the balance between the rough realities of homelessness and drug addiction alongside the sunny imagination and wonder that comes with being a kid was the biggest challenge of production, according to Brooker.
“Growing up in North Philadelphia in the 90s was definitely rough and tumble, and it still is in many aspects,” says Brooker. “We’re depicting a childhood, but it’s a rough childhood. Kevin has this optimism, but we were trying to find a balance between that and something that was grounded, pretty dark, and also funny. We wanted a look that was set apart from other prime time shows and made a bit of a splash.”
So, at the start of production, Brooker took on the challenging show with a visit to good ol’ mom.
“I get to go back a couple times a year, but I actually went back a few more times during the visual development to survey the neighborhood and take some pictures,” says the director. “My mother also grew up in North Philadelphia, so she took me around while I took pictures on my phone of the neighborhoods, the colors, the lights, the city’s unique architecture, and just the essence of North Philly, trying to make sure we incorporated it all into the look of the show.”
From strong character silhouettes and shape language to distorted backgrounds, the show’s design somewhat resembles the sketch art style of Cartoon Network’s 1999 series Ed, Edd 'n Eddy. It’s animated in Harmony.
“I really love the sort of inky lines of Ed, Edd 'n Eddy, for sure,” says Brooker. “But, for me, one of the other touchstones was Calvin and Hobbes. The roughness of those lines is just magical. We didn’t want to distort the backgrounds too much, but it is from Kevin’s point of view, and he was then, and still is, small in stature. So, we wanted to make sure the world looked slightly distorted like the early Rugrats.”
Lil Kev’s background design supervisor from ShadowMachine, Richard Lee, known for his wonky art style on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, is someone Brooker had been wanting to work with for a long time. The artist has also worked with Titmouse on projects like Bless the Harts and with Warner Bros. Animation on Bugs Bunny Builders.
“I really admired his work and was able to bring him on for this,” shares Brooker. “He helped really lock in that look and feel. Our art director Amanda Lake took all the elements that we’d put into the gumbo and ran with it. Cameron McClain, our character lead, helped maintain that style and bring out some unique and interesting characters. I don’t think the characters of the show look like anything else.”
There are less aesthetically pleasing – or just straight up grimy – parts of any major city, but Lil Kev turns even the dark and dirty parts of Philadelphia into art. Even the way trash is arranged on the street is an artistic choice.
“We put a lot of time into it,” notes Brooker. “And we had an amazing team of designers and painters, some from Philly as well, who found little ways to incorporate fun artistic choices that all united the tone of the show. There’s graffiti art throughout the show from the writers and background artists making their contributions.”
In addition to the names of his family members, Brooker also added in plenty of iconic Philadelphia brands, represented through parody names.
The real brand Tastycakes became “Tastee Cakez” and Herr’s Chips became “Hiss’s Chips.”
“There were a number of chances to incorporate stuff like that, like where Kevin has a Philly cheesesteak and it’s maybe a little on the sour side,” shares Brooker, laughing. “Though that’s never been my experience with cheesesteaks, it was fun to find humor in that authenticity and I got a lot of joy out of it. And I know not everybody will get it, but hopefully the viewers who are folks from Philadelphia will understand.”
But even for those who have never been to the city, Brooker hopes the show's more ‘hart’felt moments show why – despite the chaos of growing up downtown – people like Brooker and Hart are proud of their roots and cherish their Philadelphia community.
“In the pilot, when they're at this hospital and Kevin is misbehaving, he’s experiencing his mom as this tough person who doesn't give him a break or doesn't let him have fun,” shares Brooker. “But it's revealed that she's doing it because she loves him. I think there's an aspect to all parenting where the kid just wants to do what the kid wants to do and they’re not always aware of the dangers. But I love that there’s actual growth in the characters that happens throughout the season.”
He continues, “They change and evolve in terms of their outlook on the world and how they love and interact with each other. When you’re dealing with a comedy, there’s not always room for characters to evolve. But in this show, we explore people in the community and learn why they may be doing certain things under difficult circumstances.”
There are plenty of silly, absurdist visual gags, because it's a cartoon comedy. But Lil Kev, at its core, is about what it means to be a family, despite unfortunate events like drug addicts overtaking the swimming pool on the hottest day of the year.
“Philadelphia will always be my home,” says Brooker. “It was nice to get a chance to lend that sort of authenticity to this world of Lil Kev. It was one of the best jobs I've ever had, if not the best. I definitely want to play in that world again. So hopefully we'll get the chance.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
