Cleopatra in Space (TV series)


Cleopatra in Space is an American animated television series produced by DreamWorks Animation, based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Mike Maihack. The showrunners for the series are Doug Langdale and Fitzy Fitzmaurice.
In the United States, the first five episodes were released on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock for Xfinity customers on April 15, 2020, making this the first DreamWorks Animation series to be released on a streaming device other than Netflix or Amazon Video. On July 15, 2020, the first 12 episodes of the series were officially released when the service launched nationwide. Prior to its release in the United States, the series was first broadcast in Southeast Asia on DreamWorks Channel beginning on November 25, 2019. The show is geared toward those between ages 6 and 11. Langdale, in an interview, said that he is attempting to make sure the show is "accessible to a younger audience," even as he doesn't give much thought to what age demographic the show is aiming towards.
On July 15, the show premiered on Peacock, with 12 episodes, 1-5, 7-13 available to viewers to those who subscribed to "Peacock Premium," with a more limited selection for those who chose a free plan. It was one of the three animated Peacock Originals streaming on the platform, with the other two presumably as: season 13 of Curious George and season 2 of Where's Waldo?.

Plot

Cleopatra in Space is a comedic adventure focusing on Cleopatra’s teenage years, as she deals with the ups and downs of being a high school teenager, after she transported 30,000 years into her future to a planet with Egyptian themes ruled by talking cats, and she is said to the savior of a galaxy. Cleopatra and her newfound friends work to try and return her to her own time, in Ancient Egypt as she gains new combat skills in the process. Showrunner Doug Langdale described the show as a "real move-forward story" which continues forward without interruption.

Production

In January 2018, DreamWorks Animation filed trademark applications for the show to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Mike Maihack said that the series is in retroactive continuity to his comics because Cleo is a teenager and there is time travel. This differs from his comic book series which is "rooted from stories and research of the actual Cleopatra." He also may have been influenced by Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, ', ', , and Legends of Tomorrow. In an interview with Charles C. Dowd on I Heart Webcomics on July 22, Maihack said that he consulted in the early stages of the show, letting DreamWorks know the upcoming details of his book and remained supportive, admitting he did not want "a direct adaption of the novels." He further said that he saw the animated series as an opportunity to work on the Cleo in Space concept in another way, noting that while it was clear that those working on the series understood "the core components of the story," he stepped back, letting the "amazingly talented folks" involved in the show do their work.
In an interview with Jackson Murphy of Animation Scoop, showrunner Doug Langdale said the story lends itself to "serialized storytelling" rather than an animated feature film, and that developing the show has been a "pretty involved process." He also stated that that the different uniforms at the Academy are "different colors for different divisions in the school and emblems," that they used common science-fiction tropes, that the show is not lesson-based but is just entertainment, and that Mike Maihack was ok with deviating from the original graphic novels, so they could create something that fans would enjoy. Langdale expanded on this in an interview with Screen Rant where he noted that they found Maihack's books, noted that DreamWorks had been trying to create a feature film about it, which was abandoned so they could do a series. He further described the differences between the books and the series, which are on a "day-to-day basis," with the series not following the books closely at all, even as they used the "same set up, many of the same characters." Langdale explained how Egyptian history was an inspiration for many character names, sometimes by coincidence, the animation itself mirroring the scenes in the graphic novels, and how Lilimar Herendez was the choice for the main role of Cleopatra from the beginning, while stating how Sendhil Ramamurthy, Jorge Diaz, and Katie Crown influenced the show through their voice acting. He finally told the interview that the show ended up with a "predominantly female cast," with DreamWorks seeing this as a "good time to make a show with a female lead," and explained that the "first 12 episodes take place within a few months."
Langdale expanded on this further in an interview with the Animation World Network noting that the drawn-out visual development of the show allowed them to have a style close to Mailhack’s original graphic novels, that they wanted a visual style which "was going to be fun to look at," with the Academy divided into "three areas of specialization...identified by color" which is not directly noted in the show. He further pointed out that one challenge was with the digital 2D animation and they received help from the animators. A day later, Langdale, in an interview with CBR, he said he enjoyed Maihack's books, and agreed with DreamWorks to create the show, using Maihack's characters as a starting point, but then "went off in some different directions." He again reiterated that the episodes track the characters on a day-to-day basis, and differed from the original books because Brian and Akila are humans, rather than a cyborg and an alien, with the voice actors shaping their characters. He revealed that Bertrand Todesco, the show's main character designer, came up with Akila as a "fish-based character" while they went back-and-forth as to whether Brian would be a human or a cyborg, and that they shaped Cleopatra's character by what "someone with a passing familiarity" of her might think she was, while sidestepping the historical debate over her origins.

Music

The music of the series is composed by Jay Vincent and Ryan Lofty. It was described by Courtney Lofty, the score production manager, as "an epic cocktail of electronic beats, Egyptian melodies, and orchestral dramatics," with other melodies, with "an extreme amount of time" researching for the music, which references Paramore, M.I.A., and the score of The Prince of Egypt. The music was attuned to the specific scenes in each episode.
The series opening theme song was sung by Lilimar Hernandez, the voice actress for Cleopatra. Additionally, Matt Barrios worked on the main title. Jackson Murphy of Animation Scoop described the song as making it clear that Cleo's story is about "meaning, purpose and destiny."

Characters

Main

Release

In the United States, NBCUniversal's advertisement sales website previously suggested that Cleopatra in Space would be broadcast on Universal Kids. Later, it was emerged in January 2020 that the series would be instead included in the launch line-up of Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service on April 15, 2020 to Xfinity customers, and July 15 to all customers nationwide.
Prior to the scheduled release in the United States, the series premiered on November 25, 2019 on DreamWorks Channel, which is available in Southeast Asia and select other areas of Asia Pacific. 19 episodes have since aired on the channel. The series also premiered in Poland on Teletoon+ on February 15, 2020 with a Polish dub. The series was also available in South Africa on Showmax, including all episodes in season one by February 23, 2020. By June 9, 2020, all 26 episodes of the show's first season were made available on the Viaplay service in Scandinavia because of an agreement between NBCUniversal and the Nordic Entertainment Group.
On May 1, 2020, the entire first season of Cleopatra in Space was released on Globoplay, a Brazilian service and subsidiary of Grupo Globo, with the name "Cleópatra no Espaço."
On July 15, when the show premiered on Peacock to all those in the United States, Mike Maihack praised the show's release and all the hard work put in, giving it his endorsement. At the same time, he called the release of only 12 episodes "disappointing," and lamented the absence of the sixth episode, "Quarantine," which "deals with a zombie-like flu and the consequences of Cleo avoiding quarantine," saying that it is something the whole world should "be able to see right now." Two days later, when a fan asked about the missing sixth episode and the misspelled title of one of the episodes, an official Peacock account responded, saying they had corrected the episode title, but that for episode 6, "this content is temporarily unavailable on the platform" and that they appreciated the feedback, saying they "will pass it along to the proper team." Later the same day, the same account said that there was "
no news on that at the moment."
Although there has not been any official confirmation, storyboard artist Scooter Tidwell's resume lists the show as having two seasons in total.

Reception

contributor Steven Pearce gave a short positive review of the show, though was critical about the show's writing and Cleopatra's personality, saying it is "very much your feisty American teen." The entry praises the "nice background details" and calls the series fun, amusing, "brightly animated and engaging." Courtney Lofty described the series as being about "badass women, talking cats, space," noting that the overall vibe is a "classic Saturday morning cartoon, with extremely quotable moments" which is like Invader Zim. Cheryl Eddy on Gizmodo described the show as one aimed at children, but "looks like a fun ride for geeky grown-ups", while Karen Han and Petrana Radulovic in Polygon and Sam Stone on CBR reviewed it positively. Additionally, others described the show as "a fun take on the original Cleopatra story" and a "comedic adventure" which focuses on Cleopatra's teenage years, where she is transported into the future "to an Egyptian-themed planet...ruled by talking cats" while dealing with the pressures of being "a teenager in high school" as she tries to fit in even as Octavian tries to kill her. Later, Petrana Radulovic wrote a positive review of the show. She described the series as wacky and vibrant, using its "zany concept effectively," having interesting adventures, and has main characters who have "typical stock cartoon personalities." At the same time, she compared the impulsive and cocky behavior of Cleo to Lance in and Ben in Ben 10. She further contrasted Cleopatra to Korra in The Legend of Korra and Adora in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power in that she is not ready to accept her destiny but will have to "confront her own laziness," remaining as a "carefree, imperfect heroine" in the meantime. Radulovic also said that the "electronic-infused Egyptian melodies of the score" make it stand out, as do the outfits of the characters, while noting that the show is episodic like Gravity Falls rather than something like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.