Pilot (Hazbin Hotel)

"Pilot"
Hazbin Hotel episode
Directed byVivienne "VivziePop" Medrano[1]
Written by
Original air dateOctober 28, 2019 (2019-10-28)[2]
Running time31 minutes
Episode chronology
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"Overture"

The pilot episode of the American animated musical television series Hazbin Hotel, entitled "That's Entertainment", premiered to YouTube on October 28, 2019. Written and directed by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano, it was independently financed and animated over the course of three years by Medrano's independent animation group, SpindleHorse Toons.[3][4][5]

Following the pilot's success, a spin-off series set in the same fictional universe, Helluva Boss, was produced by SpindleHorse,[6] and a full Hazbin Hotel television series was produced by SpindleHorse in association with Bento Box Entertainment A24 for Amazon Prime Video, airing its first season in 2024.

Plot summary

Charlie, the princess of Hell, pursues her seemingly impossible goal of rehabilitating sinner demons to peacefully reduce overpopulation in Hell, as an alternative to Heaven's annual "Extermination" of sinners ("I'm Always Chasing Rainbows").[2] She opens the "Happy Hotel" in hopes that patients will be "checking out" into Heaven. While most of Hell mocks her goal after she announces it during a televised interview ("Inside of Every Demon Is a Rainbow"), her devoted girlfriend, Vaggie, and their first test subject, adult film star Angel Dust, stick by her side. When Alastor, a powerful entity also known as "The Radio Demon", reaches out to Charlie to assist in her endeavors, her dream is given a chance to become reality ("Alastor's Reprise"). Alastor summons Husk and Niffty to serve as the hotel's bartender and maid, respectively. He prevents Sir Pentious from destroying the hotel, and renames the hotel the "Hazbin Hotel" afterwards.[2]

Production and release

Several of the pilot's main characters had already existed for years when Medrano began working with people at School of Visual Arts on the "Misfit Demon Gang" in her webcomic series ZooPhobia. Many aspects of these characters would later become the protagonists of Hazbin Hotel.[7][8][9] The pilot was intended to be an adult comedy "with a raunchy, demonic aesthetic". It took over six months to write the episode, and over two years to animate it, with teasers released in the ensuing period to garner an audience of fans.[9][10]

A music video of the song "Inside of Every Demon Is a Rainbow", featured in the pilot, was released on October 5, 2018 as a teaser trailer for the series,[11] and it gained 54 million views by early February 2021.[9] Additionally, an official French dub of the pilot was released on May 8, 2020.[12] The podcast series HuniCast, co-hosted by Angel Dust's pilot voice actor Michael Kovach and pilot animator Ashley Nichols, featuring several skits involving various Hazbin Hotel voice actors and crew members, was also released from 2019 to 2023.[13]

Reception

Critical reception

"Pilot"/"That's Entertainment" was critically acclaimed for its animation quality, music, and characters.[14][15] Matthew Field of Go! & Express argued that the episode was part of the "animation renaissance" on YouTube, and said there may be "a lot more projects like Hazbin in the future".[16][17] Lidia Vassar of the MSU Reporter praised the show, noting its "raunchy sense of humor and quirky art style".[18] She also stated that she was looking forward to future episodes, enjoyed the "diversity of character designs", and stated that it is clear that the show's creators "put a lot of time and heart into this project". In December 2019, in an article about the current state of adult animation, CBR's Reuben Baron stated that while the pilot episode had garnered "some warranted criticism" because of its inappropriate and edgy humor, it was still a "clear labor of love from an animation standpoint".[19]

Reviewers argued the pilot would have a positive influence on independent animation going forward,[20][21] with Sean Cubillas for CBR praising the show for "quirky, ambitious, and dark humor" and some of the "fastest, wittiest, and raunchiest dialogue ever seen in independent animation".[22]

Expansion to full series

Further information: Hazbin Hotel

In August 2020, A24 picked up Hazbin Hotel for the production of a full series, co-produced with Bento Box Entertainment,[4][23] with an entirely new cast of voice actors.[24] In September, the first season's premiere was announced to be on Amazon Prime Video in January 2024, alongside an announcement that "season 2 is coming".[25] The series premiered its first eight-episode season from January 19 to February 2, 2024.

References

  1. ^ "Hazbin Hotel (2019)". Letterboxd. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019. In attempt to find a non-violent alternative for reducing Hell's overpopulation, the daughter of Lucifer opens a rehabilitation hotel that offers a group of misfit demons a chance at redemption.
  2. ^ a b c Medrano, Vivienne (October 28, 2019). Hazbin Hotel (Pilot). VivziePop. Retrieved October 28, 2019 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Vollenbroek, Tunde (April 29, 2019). "7 Tips For Building A Successful Animation Channel On Youtube". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Amidi, Amid (August 7, 2020). "A24 Picks Up Online Pilot 'Hazbin Hotel' For Series". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  5. ^ "Making Your Own Cartoon with Special Guest VIVIENNE MEDRANO". Creative Talent Network. September 2, 2020. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  6. ^ Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano [@SpindleHorse] (November 14, 2019). "Blitz[o] was being developed during the making of this Hazbin [Hotel] scene! Fun to see what his design turned into" (Tweet). Archived from the original on November 20, 2020 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Medrano, Vivienne (May 24, 2013). "Misfit Demon Gang lineup as it stands right now! Been workin' on these off an' on over the last week n' a half. Was loads of fun, Gonna be doin' more lineups as time goes on cause they are relaxing, and help me diversify designs! Some of these guys reflect their time period, some of them kinda created their own look overtime, but I did a lot of research on each to try and stay in the right mindset. Enjoys <3". Retrieved May 24, 2013 – via Tumblr.
  8. ^ Medrano, Vivienne (September 9, 2013). "It's pretty safe by this point to say. This is NOT going to be my thesis film, so might as well post the crap I did for it. I realized this film is just to complex and too demanding for my current level of animation, and while it woulda been a very fun/interesting film, I have to shelf it for when my skills are able to tackle it. Also I'm very picky on the voices for these characters, so that became another issue I realized early on, not being able to find a suitable VA. Seein' these sketches still makes me twitch wanting to do it though gvbhjnm. so yeah. This film was too be titled "The Spider Brothers" and I'll prolly do it one day in future. ONE DAY". Retrieved September 9, 2013 – via Tumblr.
  9. ^ a b c Asarch, Steven (February 3, 2021). "A cartoon demon musical drew in 53 million YouTube viewers. The creator of 'Hazbin Hotel' says she couldn't have predicted its success". Insider. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  10. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (October 30, 2019). "News Bytes: 'Sarah & Duck' Quacks Back in US, Check in to 'Hazbin Hotel,' Tellys Get Immersive & More". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  11. ^ Medrano, Vivienne (October 6, 2018). Hazbin Hotel – "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow" (Original Song) Not For Kids. VivziePop. Retrieved October 6, 2018 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ Medrano, Vivienne (May 8, 2020). Hazbin Hotel (Pilot): French. VivziePop. Retrieved May 8, 2020 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Nichols, Ashley (January 18, 2020). HuniCast – So We Got Stamper. Ashley Nichols Art. Retrieved January 18, 2020 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ Liberman, Dr Esther (December 9, 2019). "A Salvadoran-American Artist's Conception of Hell". BeLatina. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  15. ^ Short, Dan (November 7, 2019). "Hazbin Hotel [Review]". Animated Views. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  16. ^ Field, Matthew (December 5, 2019). "'Hazbin Hotel' a bold step in indie animation". Go! & Express. Archived from the original on May 12, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  17. ^ Field, Matthew (December 5, 2019). "'Hazbin Hotel' and YouTube's animation renaissance". Go! & Express. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  18. ^ Vassar, Lidia (November 14, 2019). ""Hazbin Hotel" worthy of a binge". MSU Reporter. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  19. ^ Baron, Reuben (December 2, 2019). "Adult Animation Is Better Than Ever - So Why Does It Draw Ridicule?". CBR. Archived from the original on December 2, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  20. ^ Von Polko, Juno (November 4, 2020). ""Hazbin Hotel" a great place to check into". The All State. Austin Peay State University. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  21. ^ Bermudez, Lucas (August 12, 2020). "A24 Is Bringing Controversial Demon Cartoon Hazbin Hotel to TV". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  22. ^ Cabillas, Sean (November 24, 2020). "Hazbin Hotel: 10 Funniest Lines In The Show, Ranked". CBR. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  23. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (August 7, 2020). "A24 Checks in to VivziePop's Hellish 'Hazbin Hotel'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  24. ^ Noraas, Dana (November 13, 2022). "'Hazbin Hotel': Everything We Know So Far About the A24 Animated Series". Collider. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  25. ^ White, Peter (September 28, 2023). "'Hazbin Hotel' Animated Series from A24 & Bento Box Lands at Amazon". Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.