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Captain Fall

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Captain Fall
Genre
Created by
  • Jon Iver Helgaker
  • Jonas Torgersen
Developed by
Written by
  • Jon Iver Helgaker
  • Jonas Torgersen
Directed byAdam Parton
Voices of
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1 (+ 1 unaired)
No. of episodes10 (+ 10 unaired)
Production
Executive producers
  • Jon Iver Helgaker
  • Jonas Torgersen
  • Joel Trussell
AnimatorBoulder Media
Running time27 minutes
Production companiesWriters & Models
Netflix Animation
Original release
NetworkNetflix
ReleaseJuly 28, 2023 (2023-07-28)

Captain Fall is an American adult animated absurdist dark comedy crime drama television series created by Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgersen that premiered on Netflix on July 28, 2023. Produced by Netflix Animation, viewers follow Jonathan Fall, who is the captain of a cruise ship where smuggling and human trafficking are taking place without his knowledge. Helgaker, Torgersen, and Joel Trussell serve as executive producers, with Adam Parton as supervising director.

Jason Ritter stars as the voice of Jonathan, with Christopher Meloni, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Anthony Carrigan, Alejandro Edda, Adam DeVine, and Trond Fausa also starring. Development on the series officially began in July 2020, with Helgaker, Torgersen, and Trussell hired in their respective roles. The cast and release date were announced in June 2023. Animation was provided by Boulder Media.

In November 2023, the series was canceled after 10 episodes, with its remaining 10 episodes left unaired, without a distributor.[1]

Premise

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A goofy, gullible sea captain is hired to helm a high-end cruise ship and becomes the perfect fall guy for an illicit smuggling and human trafficking operation.

— Netflix[2]

Cast and characters

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  • Jason Ritter as Jonathan Fall: a naïve but kind shipmaster, looked at horribly by his parents.[3][4][5]
  • Christopher Meloni as Agent Steel, an FBI agent.[6]
  • Lesley-Ann Brandt as Liza Barrel: The leader of the human traffickers, who aims to use Jonathan as her latest patsy, pitying him for his oblivious nature while framing him for trafficking children.[6][5]
  • Anthony Carrigan as Mr. Tyrant, the chief financier of the human traffickers.[6]
  • Alejandro Edda as Pedro: the human traffickers' muscle,[6] who takes glee in acts of violence while feeling sorry for Jonathan.
  • Adam DeVine as Tanner Fall: Jonathan's older brother who receives more attention and admiration from their parents than him. A shipmaster prodigy compared to his brother, Tanner is initially presented as a narcissistic manchild with delusions of being a ladies' man; after being fired and then tortured by Liza, Tanner attempts to turn himself around, and expose Liza to his brother.[6][5]
  • Trond Fausa as Nico: a new recruit to the human traffickers.[6]
  • Christopher McDonald as Blake Fall[7]
  • Bebe Neuwirth as Alexix Fall[8]

Episodes

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The series was planned to consist of 20 episodes split into two parts.[3] Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgersen served as writers while supervising director Adam Parton directed several episodes.[6][9] The first ten episodes were released in July 2023; following the series' cancellation in November 2023, the remaining ten episodes have yet to be aired.[1]

Production

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Development

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In July 2020, Netflix announced development had begun on Captain Fall, an adult animated comedy series created by Helgaker and Torgersen. Consisting of 20 episodes split into two parts, it would center on Jonathan Fall inadvertently in charge of a smuggling ship. Helgaker and Torgersen would serve as executive producers and showrunners, while Joel Trussell—an animation veteran and producer at Netflix—would also executive produce. Creators of Norsemen, Helgaker and Torgersen initially pitched Captain Fall as a live-action piece before the service saw its potential as animated, thus making it the duo's first work in the genre. While they found the transition daunting, the two eventually deemed animation "amazingly limitless and creative on a whole new level", expressing gratitude for Netflix and the team surrounding them. Though the switch was a prior decision, Variety was confident it would benefit from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting many shutdowns for live-action productions and the rise of adult animation at the time of the announcement.[3] ComicBook.com, and eventually Looper, agreed, believing the story was better suited for it.[10][11] In a 2020 interview with Variety, Helgaker described the series as The Love Boat, The Truman Show, and Ozark carrying "a cartoon baby".[12]

Helgaker and Torgersen would operate as writers and, along with Trussell, receive credit for developing the series.[6] By the end of the month, Adam Parton was revealed to be the supervising director,[9] helming several episodes after working on Bojack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie. He described Captain Fall as having "an off-camber voice", praising Helgaker and Torgersen's style of work and believing their background helped made the show "stand out and keep you guessing as to where it is going to go".[13]

The series' first "part", comprising ten episodes, was released on Netflix on July 28, 2023,[3][6] before the series was cancelled in November 2023, the remaining ten episodes left unaired.[1]

According to the Creator Jon Iver Helgaker, the remaining ten episodes of the show were written, storyboarded and have their voice acting recorded. With only the animation left unfinished, he hopes that they could one day find another outlet for the remaining episodes.

Casting

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In March 2023, Jason Ritter was announced to voice the lead character, Jonathan Fall.[4] In June 2023, he was joined by Christopher Meloni as Agent Steel; Lesley-Ann Brandt as Liza; Anthony Carrigan as Mr. Tyrant; Alejandro Edda as Pedro; Adam DeVine as Tanner; and Trond Fausa as Nico.[6] Christopher McDonald would voice Blake Fall,[7] and Bebe Neuwirth cast as Alexix Fall.[8]

Animation

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The series' animation was provided by Boulder Media in Ireland,[8] with Helgaker citing The Adventures of Tintin and The Iron Giant as inspirations.[12] Parton described the production's content as "massive" due to the frequency of new characters and locations and toiling between having it "visually pop" and working under a confined budget and schedule. At the same time, the staff had "very ambitious ideas" that would be translated for the "cinematic quality" of the series, going beyond what is expected from most adult comedies.[13]

Marketing

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On June 21, 2023, Netflix unveiled the first trailer for the series, along with several images, the announcement of the cast, and the release date.[6] Despite voicing interest, many expressed doubts about a potential second season, contributing these concerns to multiple cancellations from the platform.[14] By July 26, The Messenger exclusively shared a clip showcasing the show's dark humor and Jonathan's background.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Andreeva, Nellie (November 15, 2023). "'Shadow And Bone', 'Glamorous' & 'Agent Elvis' Among 5 Series Canceled By Netflix Amid Strike Impact".
  2. ^ "Watch Captain Fall | Netflix Official Site". Netflix. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Lang, Jamie (July 29, 2020). "'Norsemen' Creators Reunite With Netflix on Animated Comedy Series 'Captain Fall' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Bell, BreAnna (March 14, 2023). "'Matlock' Reboot Set at CBS Adds Jason Ritter". Variety. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d Bell, Amanda (July 26, 2023). "Captain Fall: New Clip From Netflix's New Adult Animated Series". The Messenger. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sarto, Dan (June 21, 2023). "Netflix Drops Trailer and Cast for 'Captain Fall' from 'Norsemen' Creators". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Warrier, Vishnu (July 20, 2023). "Captain Fall on Netflix: Release date, air time, plot, and more details". Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "Captain Fall: 'Captain Fall' set to premiere on Netflix in July; Check release date here - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. June 21, 2023. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Lang, Jamie (June 28, 2023). "Australian Director Adam Parton On Challenges Faced By Immigrant Artists In The U.S." Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  10. ^ Ridgely, Charlie (2020-07-29). "Netflix Orders Captain Fall Animated Series From Norsemen Creators". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  11. ^ Connolly, Jason (June 21, 2023). "Netflix's Captain Fall - Everything You Need To Know". Looper. Archived from the original on June 23, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  12. ^ a b Lang, Jamie (August 19, 2020). "'Norsemen' Creators on Potential Season 4 and Their Upcoming Netflix Animated Series 'Captain Fall' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  13. ^ a b Zahed, Ramin (June 30, 2023). "Adam Parton, Supervising Director on the New Netflix Show 'Captain Fall,' Discusses His Animation Career". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  14. ^ "Netflix Comedy Action Animation Captain Fall For Release July 28". Leadership. June 23, 2023. Archived from the original on June 23, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
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