The animated TV series “Big Nate,” based on the long-running comic strip by Lincoln Peirce of Portland, will debut Feb. 17 on Paramount Plus, the streaming service announced Tuesday.
A sneak peek of the show will air Sunday on the Nickelodeon cable network during halftime of the NFL playoff football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers, which starts at 4:30 p.m.
Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Press Herald Staff Photographer
The Portland Press Herald talked to Lincoln Peirce about the show:
“I’ve always thought ‘Big Nate’ could be a really fun TV show, but I never wanted to do live action. He’s a cartoon character,” said Peirce, 58.
Peirce serves as a consultant for the series. He said Tuesday he got to see all the scripts for the episodes and was able to “punch up” some of them, in an effort to make the characters sound more like they might in the comic strips and books.
Whereas Animation World Network gets into the nitty-gritty (with multiple stills):
In the series premiere, “The Legend of the Gunting,” Nate has multiple detentions on the docket, per usual. But this time he is only one detention away from a fate only whispered about in the halls of P.S. 38. Meanwhile, the unhinged new kid is determined to become Nate’s prank partner. Jack Black (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) guest stars as Brad Gunter, a prankster of epic proportions and Nate’s inspiration, and Daniel Jacobs (All Hail King Julien: Exiled) lends his voice as Bentley Carter, the new kid at P.S. 38 eager to wreak havoc through the school on teachers and students alike.
The voice cast also includes Ben Giroux (Nate Wright); Dove Cameron (Ellen Wright); Rob Delaney (Martin Wright); Bryce Charles (Dee Dee Holloway); Daniel MK Cohen (Francis Pope); Arnie Pantoja (Teddy Ortiz); Charlie Schlatter (Chad Applewhite); Kevin Michael Richardson (Principal Nichols); Carolyn Hennesy (Mrs. Godfrey); Nik Dodani (Randy); Betsy Sodaro (Kim); Lisa Kay Jennings (Gina); Chandni Parekh (Jenny); Todd Haberkorn (Artur); Ryan Garcia (Mr. Rosa); Mike Rivkin (Mr. Galvin); and Chester Rushing (Zeff).
The series is executive produced by Mitch Watson (All Hail King Julien) and John Cohen (The Angry Birds Movie) and produced by Amy McKenna (Beware the Batman), with Lincoln Peirce serving as consultant throughout development and production. Bridget McMeel is co-producer.
All this promotion comes on the heels of Paramount releasing the official trailer.
https://youtu.be/huTB1q6r0e0
“Based on the best selling books.” But not on the Big Nate comic strip?