Eureka! comes from creators Niamh Sharkey and Norton Virgien. This new animated series, about an ambitious, genius child inventor, her family and human (and animal) friends, premieres Wednesday June 22nd at 7:30pm on Disney Junior, with new episodes also available on Disney+. Eureka! is packed with positivity, creativity and imagination, thanks to Sharkey and Virgien. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity).

Jackson Murphy: Niamh, what was your “Eureka!” moment when it came to coming up with this series?

Niamh Sharkey: (laughs) I’m a children’s book illustrator, and myself and Norton worked on another show together based on one of my books, “Henry Hugglemonster”. We had such a good time working on “Henry” that we wanted to cook up another idea. So we are working at Brown Bag Films in Dublin. We would go to a local coffee shop and were just brainstorming ideas. I had an idea called “Ugg and a Kiss”. It was about a prehistoric couple and we were like, “What if they had a kid? What if this kid was a really smart kid?” That was our “Eureka!” moment together. “What could she be called?” “Eureka!”

Norton Virgien: She invented the wheel! What’s better? The first big invention.

JM: I’ve watched the first couple episodes. It’s a really sweet show. Norton, I really like Eureka’s line, “Does everyone else always have to do things the same?” How is she a new kind of animated role model for children?

NV: She’s… the first imagineer, for one thing. She’s this very positive kid with an amazing imagination who sees a problem and comes up with solutions. They don’t always work. Sometimes they fail comically, but she’s always ready with the next round of the idea. Even though she’s the smartest one of her gang of friends, she’s also the most popular — breaking patterns that maybe people don’t always want to be known as the smart kid. She does and she brings a whole lot to her world.

JM: And she’s proud of it. Niamh, at what stage of production is “Thinkering” the most important?

NS: It’s every part of it, but when you actually come up with an idea… what I love about Eureka is we get to see inside her head. We get to see those “Aha!” “Eureka!” moments. For kids watching, they’ll get to see the spark of inspiration. She’s always drawing and coming up with her ideas. We get to see how her mind works when she gets that spark of inspiration.

JM: That’s cool. I think that’s gonna help relate to that.

NV: Think. Tinker. Thinker. That’s where that comes from. (laughs)

JM: Another word I love is the name of this mammoth because my last name is Murphy.

NS: NO!!!

JM: YES! How did you come-up with Murphy the Mammoth? It’s awesome!

NS: (laughs)

NV: Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed it but my friend Niamh has a bit of an Irish accent. Murphy is from Niamh.

NS: When I’m creating a show, I like to sneak in Irish words. In “Henry Hugglemonster”, the dog was called Beckett. And on “Eureka!”, the mammoth is called Murphy. And I actually have a dog called Murphy. (laughs)

JM: I can’t wait for the merchandise to come out because I want a Murphy the mammoth.

NS: That would be sweet.

NV: Can we quote you? (laughs) It’ll be a great toy — a great plush.

NS: We’re working away on the show right now, but yeah — fingers crossed there might be a Murphy someday.

JM: There have been some animated series and films in the prehistoric era, including Ice Age and The Flintstones. How were they influences on “Eureka!” in terms of the tone and the time and place?

NS: We’re creating a fantastical prehistoric world in “Eureka!” It was great to see those shows [and films], but we were always trying to find a unique look for our show. We wanted everything to be this world untouched, full of lush, beautiful areas. We wanted to bring a quirky prehistoric twist to it, so all of the houses are made from organic materials and stone. They all have patterns on them that are inspired by neolithic patternings. We tried to get a very unique look for our show.

JM: And I think you do that. And I also think it’s unique because we’re getting this from the children’s perspective, and that’s going to help with the relating factor. Renee Elise Goldsberry and Lil Rel Howrey voice Eureka’s parents.

NS: He’s so fantastic as her dad.

NV: He’s so warm. Father-daughter relationships can be amazing and they have one. We love him. And it was such a revelation to us when he started singing. In the first episode he had a big song. He really nailed it. We love him.

JM: One of the first episodes you have is about Eureka meeting this new girl Julia and trying to find the perfect gift for her. I think it’s mature the way you go at this episode in Eureka realizing, “I can’t be overwhelming and I wanna do this right, but I don’t wanna step over the line.”

NS: Total kudos to our writing team, based in L.A., and under Erica Rothschild, our story editor. Laurie [Israel] is really good at getting into the mindsight of that new kind in school and trying to navigate it. Eureka just wants to make the best invention ever but actually her over the top-ness goes awry. That makes it real because she does make a mistake but then she learns from that mistake and realizes what Julia has — playing the simple flute — is actually perfect as it is. She doesn’t have to change anything. It’s a lovely, heartwarming story between the kids.

JM: I completely agree. Norton, can you expand on the real-life inspiration of where these storylines are coming from?

NV: My own emphasis has been on finding the best inventions for Eureka to come up with, to play into the STEM side of it a little bit. In one of my favorite episodes, she winds-up inventing hydropower — water power and water wheels. It’s all to make a swing go around for her friends — not a heavy duty thing; it’s all for fun. Our writing team has brought elements to it that have been a pleasant surprise. The fact that these inventions are often difficult to come to and she has to “Fall it to Nail It” — sometimes you have to make the most of your mistakes. That’s where the stories have come from a collaborative mix: the writers looking for an emotional story and some learning and us wanting to invent the coolest things ever!

NS: We wanted to come-up with those kid-centric inventions that kids will relate to the emotional side and the inventions. She’s doing them for her friends, or they’re dino centric. They’re playful.

JM: What is the invention you wish you had invented?

NS: Oh my goodness. The lightbulb. (laughs) Although I might’ve had a glow worm nightlight, which is what Eureka has, which is quite cute.

NV: I guess I’d like to invent a guitar that actually plays a lot better than my fingers know how to. (laughs) Or maybe some sort of vehicle that can hop over traffic jams. Wouldn’t that be nice? We’ll put Eureka to work on some of these ideas.