Rob Hoegee is the executive producer and main writer of the new animated series Stillwater, which premieres this Friday December 4th on AppleTV+. It’s based on a book about a panda whose stories, teachings and life experiences open the eyes of three kids. This is a refreshingly calm show, making it an instant standout. (This interview was conducted as an email Q&A.)

Jackson Murphy: How did the Zen Shorts book stand out to you?

Rob Hoegee: Jon J Muth’s books – Zen Shorts in particular – were favorite books in our home. I would read it to my daughter almost daily when she was very young. I loved how it was able to present a message about kindness and understanding that was instructive but never felt forced. My daughter of course fell in love with Stillwater – she wanted to have a giant cuddly panda as her next door neighbor too. (Who wouldn’t?) For me though, the biggest thing that stood out was Jon’s beautiful paintings. The books are simply gorgeous.

JM: The first episode “The Impossible Dream” is mostly very serene – quite a departure in the world of animation. Did you realize as you were making this that this show was going to be unconventional in that sense?

RH: Yes, and we were all very like-minded in that regard. There was never any doubt that this would be a chance to slow down, reflect and notice. So often the expectation is to keep things moving so you don’t “lose the audience”. We took the completely opposite approach. Our hope was that this would be a world the viewer could get lost in. Even in the moments when it doesn’t seem like there is much going on, you can always find something if you watch closely. We’re constantly looking for small opportunities to surprise and delight the audience – whether it’s following the path of a passing butterfly, watching Stillwater in his daily routine for a moment, or enjoying the antics of the neighborhood cat.

JM: James Sie is great as the voice of Stillwater. How did you and James approach the performance of the character?

RH: This was easy for us because James completely embodies the soul of the character he plays. He’s warm, kind, generous and has a wonderful sense of humor – just like Stillwater. The only thing we really had to figure out was the voice placement – how Stillwater would actually sound. This can be surprisingly technical, but for a seasoned voice actor like James, your voice is like an instrument. James Sie plays his very, very well.

JM: Did the CG and hand-drawn animation teams work simultaneously on their parts of each episode?

RH: We are lucky to have two top-notch animation studios working with us on Stillwater: Folivari out of France for the traditional animated sections, and the Tokyo-based Polygon Pictures for the CG. This was a tremendous advantage because we could play to the strengths of each studio rather than expecting one studio to handle two very different animation techniques. This also meant we had two separate production pipelines working simultaneously and completely independent of each other.

JM: What was more challenging for you to craft: the stories of Stillwater and the kids or the stories Stillwater tells the kids?

RH: For me it was the koans – which are the stories Stillwater tells. In the books and to a large degree in our series, these are actual koans from Zen and other Buddhist traditions – many of them hundreds of years old. We wanted to honor that in the series, but there are only a finite number of Zen Koans in existence. After compiling as many as we could find, the task was to identify ones that were appropriate to the series as a whole and the themes of each episode. There is a lot of death and swordplay in traditional Koans – not exactly in the zone for our sweet, family focused show – so our choices were somewhat limited. That meant we had to either adapt existing ones, or in some cases create entirely new stories that felt authentic. We also looked to other traditional stories, parables and even proverbs from texts such as the Tao Te Ching.

JM: The episode “Stuck in the Rain” is about learning what ‘perspective’ means. In your animation career, when did you take this theme to heart?

RH: This is an ongoing journey for me and for a lot of people. Just when I think I have things figured out, a new challenge or opportunity can upturn everything. I do however think that with experience comes some wisdom and perspective. As I’ve advanced in my career, I’ve gotten better at understanding what is important and what you can put aside. This can be as broad as finding the right family/life/work balance or as specific as knowing when to stop nagging when you’re not happy with the lighting in a shot. Stillwater teaches Addy in one of our episodes the mantra “let go and go with the flow”. It’s a pretty good lesson to take to heart.

JM: What are some of the contributions Apple and Scholastic have made to the series?

RH: We are fortunate to have a great team supporting this series, starting with Gaumont. This is a studio that’s been around for 125 years (they’re the oldest movie studio in the world in fact) so they have a lot of experience telling great stories. Nicolas Atlan and Terry Kalagian were champions of this series from the start, and knew not only what a great opportunity this was to expand the world of Jon J Muth’s books, but how important it was to put this show out into the world. Apple shares in this vision and they have constantly pushed us to do our best work and tell stories that truly mean something. Scholastic has been a great partner too, and in many ways acts as the protector and champion for Jon’s work and the Stillwater legacy. All three have really empowered our production team and have given us the freedom and opportunity to make something special.

JM: How has Stillwater impacted your life, and how do you hope it impacts the lives of families who watch it over this holiday season?

RH: Whenever you have the opportunity to make a show that hopes to reach out to kids and families in a positive way, it’s always the goal to want your series to help make the world a better place – even if in a small way. We certainly hold that hope for Stillwater. In these uncertain times, a little bit of calm can be a wonderful thing. Stress and anxiety are at an all time high, and one thing we try to do is give kids and families actual tools to improve their well being immediately. Self-care is essential no matter what your age, and we offer gentle guidance that can help kids and their parents. There is another aspect of this too, and it’s the thing that has surprised me the most. I can honestly say that making this show has made me a better person. When you spend all day writing a character that models kindness, empathy, patience and mindfulness, you can’t help but have some of that rub off on you. I usually try not to bring my work home with me, but in the case of this Stillwater, I’ve made a welcome exception.

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Jackson Murphy

Jackson Murphy is a movie critic and entertainment columnist. He is the creator of the website Lights-Camera-Jackson.com, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

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