Love, Death + RobotsVolume 4continues the multi-Emmy-winning animated anthology series with 10 new episodes based on the works of beloved science fiction writers. Kicking off with a music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Can’t Stop” directed by David Fincher, the latest batch of episodes showcases the bold visions of the many filmmakers tapped for the project. Stories for the season are from authors including Bruce Sterling, Marc Laidlaw, and Siobhan Carroll.
Even those in charge of the overall direction ofLove, Death + Robotsstepped in to direct episodes in volume 4. Series creator Tim Miller (seen here debunking AI) directed two shorts–”Golgotha” and “The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur”–and supervising director Jennifer Yuh Nelson directed an emotional piece titled “Spider Rose”. The pair were joined by new and returning directors alike, including the Emmy-winner Robert Valley, who directed “400 Boys” in the new season.
ScreenRantspoke with Tim Miller, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, and (in a separate interview) Robert Valley about their work on thecelebrity-filledLove, Death + RobotsVolume 4.The three discussed the joys and pressures of bringing new entries to the world of the series and reflected on some inspired casting choices.Plus, Miller weighed in on the feature film potential ofLove, Death + Robotsstories.
“Golgotha” Is Love, Death + Robots’ Second Live-Action Short
And It’s Majorly Inspired By The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
“Golgotha”is arguably one ofLove, Death + Robots Volume 4’s weirder episodes, complete with a dolphin messiah andOur Flag Means Death’s Rhys Darby as a priest. Also, it’s live-action.“People forget,”Tim Miller said,“but we did do a live-action one in season one: “Ice Age”, the one with the civilization in the freezer.”
“It is really just to remind people that we can do whatever the f*** we want.”
“I love animation, but I like live-action too,”Miller continued, before saying the decision was ultimately made to best serve the story.“I really feel like, at the end of the day,”he said,“the story speaks to you … [it] just seemed like the proper way to mix the absurdity of Dolphin Jesus with our real world was to do it in the real world in live action.”
Miller also admitted that Douglas Adams’The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxywas“definitely”a big influence on the short.“And if you go back and watch the first [season’s] “Three Robots”, there’s a line, ‘So long, and thanks for all the fish,” which is my little insider callback. I liked all the Douglas Adams stuff–the Dirk Gently books and all the Hitchhiker’s Guides. They’re great.”
Jennifer Yuh Nelson Explains Her Return To A Familiar World
“Spider Rose” Revisits The World Of Volume 3’s “Swarm”
“Spider Rose” is a very different kind of story from “Golgotha”. The episode deals with grief by telling a story about a widow who learns to love again after finding a small animal companion. It also returns to the world established in the volume 3 episode “Swarm”, based on a Bruce Sterling short story.“There’s so much world there,”Jennifer Yuh Nelson said, explaining why she wanted to return to that setting.“There’s just no way we could fit it into a short.”
“‘Swarm’ was a wonderful glimpse into that world, this tiny little sliver, and ‘Spider Rose’ is a view of the other side of the sliver,”she continued.“‘Swarm’ was about the Shapers, and ‘Spider Rose’ is about the Mechanist side.”
“But what I really loved about the story,”Nelson shared,“was the emotional exploration of Rose, what all that grief does to a person, and the connection that she forges with this pet. Emotion is a big thing for me–it’s how I interface into the story. It’s how I know what to do with any part of a film of any kind. So, when I clocked into that, I was thinking, ‘Okay, I know what the shots are. I know what this needs to be.’”
“It’s such a beautiful world that it’s a pity not to show more of it.”
Robert Valley Explains The Challenge Of Making “400 Boys”
“You Probably Don’t Want To Drop The Ball On This One”
Although he came to it“quite accidentally”(literally by running into Tim Miller) Emmy-winning director Robert Valley had his work cut out for him on his return toLove, Death + Robots.The story he was asked to adapt–the post-apocalyptic bushido gang warfare tale ”400 Boys” by Marc Laidlaw–was one he knew Miller had“a kind of particular fondness for,”so, in Valley’s words,“I took it on knowing that you probably don’t want to drop the ball on this one.”
Valley would go on to describe the short as the most challenging project he and his crew have ever undertaken. Not only was there a sense of pressure to get it right, but there was a finite amount of manpower:“We don’t have a huge crew. There’s a core group of about 10 people, and then we add onto it with some new talent,”Valley said, adding,“Sometimes that works, and sometimes that doesn’t. There’s definitely a learning curve … [Passion Animation] is a bit outside of the traditional animation pipeline.”
“On a couple of different fronts, it was absolute turmoil from start to finish.”
Valley revealed he“Kept thinking of Ernest Shackleton,”a captain famous for his coolheaded leadership through times of intense struggle (Look up hisEndurancevoyage).“I kept thinking, ‘Oh my God, if that guy did that, and he was able to pull that off, then I think we can get through this little animation production.’”
Part of the struggle in realizing “400 Boys” was finding the right actor for the character of Slash. That role was given to John Boyega, but he was the last character to be cast.“We probably went through 20 or more auditions for Slash,”Valley revealed,“and nobody was really able to give us the performance that we wanted, which was basically somebody that was youthful enough to pass for a 20-year-old but also sound like they’re in charge.”
Some actors were even recorded, then cut.“We actually recorded a couple of different people, cut it into the edit, [and it] didn’t sound right, so we were still spinning out and we got to the point where we desperately needed to start animation to stay on track to finish it,”Valley revealed.“I think the casting director knew John Boyega, and he came in, nailed the recording session, and was in the edit the next day.”
Mr. Beast’s Entrance Into Love, Death + Robots Explained (And Defended)
“I’m An Old Hat When it Comes To People Hating Stuff”
One of the more surprising casting choices inLove, Death + Robots Volume 4is that of Mr. Beast in Tim Miller’s “The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur.” Miller explained the choice by saying that Mr. Beast is a bigLove, Death + Robotsfan.“I went out and visited his place in North Carolina, which is super cool, out in the middle of nowhere. He’s got posters of Love, Death + Robots. He’s a huge fan–a huge nerd–so I knew that he wanted to be a part of a story if we could find the right one.”
“What better than an evil game master who takes such delight in putting these poor, helpless people through all these trials? It just felt like a Beast Games episode.”
“I don’t know about you,”Miller continued,“but I watched that show, and so many times, I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s so mean.’ So, I thought he would be perfect for that.”
Miller also admitted he hopes that Mr. Beast’s audience will find their way toLove, Death + Robotsbecause of his inclusion:“He’s got this huge audience and this really devoted fan base, and if he can bring some of them to the show and we can widen the tent and indoctrinate some of a younger audience into the dark arts of animation, [that’s a] win for everybody.”
Mr. Beast’s inclusion has generated its fair share of disparaging comments on social media. When asked if he had been bracing for that, Miller responded in a very Tim Miller fashion:“Oh, I’m an old hat when it comes to people hating stuff.” “You can’t be afraid to step in the arena,”he added,“and I am sure I’m wrong about this, but my motivations are always, I feel, the right thing.”
“I want what’s best for the show. I want what’s best for the characters, and I want what’s best for the stories.”
Can A Love, Death + Robots Feature Film Happen?
Tim Miller: “It’s Possible”
The continued success ofLove, Death + Robotsappears to prove that there is an audience for some of these stories, at least, to be adapted into longer-form projects. When asked about the possibility of such a thing in the context of “Swarm” and “Spider Rose” inhabiting the same universe, Miller made his interest clear.“There is a book, Schismatrix–these are two shorts set in the world of that book, and that book is great,”he said.“It’s in my top 10 of all time.”
“I’d love to do it. We would like to do it, because there are so many different kinds of stories, and some can’t be told in shorts.”
Miller did state that some stories simply worked better at shorts, saying,“I pitched a television series [where] the elevator pitch is ‘Lesbian necromancers in space.’ When I pitched that as a television series with live-action actors and stuff, what I get is, “Stop right there. We just don’t feel that the audience is going to be there for lesbian necromancers in space.”But, Miller said,“When I say to Netflix, ‘I’m going to do a short that’s lesbian necromancers in space’, they go, ‘Okay, what are they going to be doing?’”
Even with that, Miller shared a few stories he may want to adapt:“There are a few–Sonnie’s Edge lives in the world of Peter Hamilton’s Neutronium Alchemist, and the whole book series is great. So, yeah, it’s possible.”
The director also revealed that he had pitched a series based on theLove, Death + Robotsshort “Three Robots”, saying“we’re still waiting for the yes on that. But we’ve been waiting a long time.”
