Infinity Train
Infinity Train is an American animated anthology television series created by Owen Dennis, previously a writer and storyboard artist on Regular Show, for Cartoon Network. The pilot was published on November 1, 2016, with Cartoon Network greenlighting the full series due to positive reception; the series premiered on August 5, 2019. Two seasons have been released, plus a series of shorter episodes in late 2019. In July 2020, it was announced that a third season was in production and would air exclusively on HBO Max.
The series is set on a gigantic, mysterious and seemingly endless train traveling through a barren landscape, whose cars contain a variety of bizarre, fantastical and impossible environments; each season follows a different set of characters, as they try to find a way to leave the train. The first season, retroactively titled The Perennial Child, follows a young girl named Tulip trying to escape with the help of a robot named One-One and the talking dog Atticus, while the second, Cracked Reflection, focuses on "MT", Tulip's reflection from the mirror world, who befriends a boy named Jesse and a deer they name Alan Dracula. The third season will reportedly follow Grace and Simon, leaders of a gang of rogue passengers introduced in season two, as well as a new character named Hazel, who is traveling with a gorilla named Tuba.
Upon its debut, Infinity Train received critical acclaim for its plot, characters, visual animation style and voice acting. It was initially promoted as a miniseries, but following the first season's finale it was announced that Infinity Train would continue as an anthology series instead.
On July 6, 2020, it was announced that the third season will be released exclusively on HBO Max.. The third season will air on HBO Max on August 13, 2020.
Premise and synopsis
The series is set on a seemingly endless train traveling through a barren landscape; the cars of the train contain a variety of bizarre and fantastical environments. The train picks up passengers who have unresolved emotional issues or trauma. As they travel through the train's cars, passengers' adventures give them the opportunity to confront and resolve their problems, represented by a glowing number on their hand that goes down as each personal issue is confronted. Once they have resolved their issues and their number reaches zero, a portal opens and they are able to leave the train and return home.The first season focuses on Tulip Olsen, a girl struggling with her parents' recent divorce. She is accompanied by a small, confused robot named "One-One", and Atticus, a talking Corgi and king of a Corgi kingdom. She eventually uncovers many of the train's secrets and confronts Amelia, a passenger who, instead of resolving her trauma from her husband's death, has usurped the role of Conductor from One-One and tried to take control of the train. Before leaving the train, Tulip persuades Amelia to try to adapt to the changes in her life.
In one first-season episode, Tulip frees her own reflection from the mirror world, and the two part ways. The second season focuses on the emancipated Mirror Tulip, now on the run from enforcers attempting to kill her as punishment for abandoning her role as Tulip's reflection. She teams up with Jesse, a new train passenger, as well as Alan Dracula, a silent deer with a variety of powers. She helps Jesse leave the train by learning to stand up for himself, and he returns to the train to help her escape to the outside world as well.
The third season will center on Grace and Simon, who were antagonists in the second season, as they meet a young girl named Hazel and her gorilla friend Tuba.
Characters
Overview
Main characters
Book 1 – The Perennial Child
- Tulip Olsen ; Lily Sanfelippo ) – A 13-year-old girl struggling with her parents' divorce who finds herself trapped on the train when trying to get to game-design camp. She is analytical, down-to-earth, and determined to get off the train.
- One-One – A spherical robot consisting of two separate hemisphere-shaped robots. In Book 1, One-One accompanies Tulip on her journey, and eventually learns that it is the rightful Conductor of the train. In Book 2, One-One has resumed its duties as Conductor, overseeing the operations of the train and passengers.
- * Glad-One – The exuberant and optimistic part of One-One.
- * Sad-One – The morose and pessimistic part of One-One.
- Atticus – The talking Corgi king of Corginia, one of the train cars. He accompanies Tulip on her journey.
Book 2 – Cracked Reflection
- "MT" – Tulip's reflection, freed from the mirror world by Tulip in Book 1. At the start of Book 2, she has been living on the train as a fugitive from the reflection police. She accompanies Jesse on his journey through the train while struggling with her sense of identity as an independent person, rather than Tulip's reflection or a construct of the train. Upon escaping from the train at the end of Book 2, she names herself Lake.
- Jesse Cosay – A passenger who becomes MT's friend and helps her escape the train. He is easygoing and friendly, but has a hard time standing up for himself and resisting bullies; his experience on the train teaches him how to stand up for his friends.
- Alan Dracula – A magical white-tailed deer who accompanies Jesse and MT.
Book 3 – Cult of the Conductor
- Grace – The leader of Apex, a gang of passengers who aim to raise their numbers to remain on the train indefinitely. She was an antagonist in Book 2.
- Simon - Grace's second-in-command. He was an antagonist in Book 2.
- Hazel - A young girl who traverses the train. The number on her hand does not glow.
- Tuba - Hazel's gorilla friend.
Recurring characters
- The Cat – A talking cat who is a collector and con artist. In Book 1, she is an agent for Amelia; in Book 2, she runs a carnival. '
- Amelia – A passenger who overthrew One-One and usurped his position as the Conductor, hoping to use the train to recreate her dead husband Alrick. '
- The Steward - A menacing robot that assists the Conductor. '
- Ghoms – Dog/cockroach-like creatures that inhabit the Wasteland outside the train and attempt to suck the life-force out of the living. '
- Megan Olsen – Tulip's struggling mother and Andy's ex-wife who works as a nurse. '
- Andy Olsen – Tulip's depressed father and Megan's ex-husband. '
- The Reflection Police – A pair of officers pursuing MT in order to destroy her for abandoning her responsibility as Tulip's reflection. '
- *Agent Mace – The gruff senior partner of the team.
- *Agent Sieve – The more upbeat junior partner to Mace.
- Toad / Terrence – A toad originating from the Toad Car where the objective is for the toad to be kicked. '
- Nathan “Nate” Cosay – Jesse's younger brother.
Production history
2016 pilot
Owen Dennis conceived Infinity Train in 2010, originally as a film. Like protagonist Tulip, Dennis created video games as an amateur in his teens, including point-and-click adventure games and mods for titles such as Half-Life 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004. He has stated that Myst has been one of his primary influences since he was 13, and its influence continued in Infinity Train. He also cites Doctor Who, Agatha Christie, The NeverEnding Story, The Matrix, Philip K. Dick, , and Sliders as influences, along with novels such as Nightbirds on Nantucket and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.The pilot was first released on the Cartoon Network App and VOD on November 1, 2016, and released the following day on the official Cartoon Network YouTube channel. The short garnered a million views within its first month of availability and has since gained 5.2 million views as of July 2020, making it the most viewed pilot on the channel while two other originals, Welcome to My Life is the second most viewed pilot, and Twelve Forever being the third most viewed pilot. A petition to greenlight Infinity Train made shortly after the pilot was released garnered over 57,000 signatures before the greenlight announcement.
Book 1
On March 11, 2018, Cartoon Network's official website launched a teaser site that confirmed the short had been greenlit as a full series. In July 2018, a sneak peek of the first season was revealed on the Cartoon Network panel at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con. It was released a couple of hours later on Cartoon Network's social media platforms. A full trailer for Infinity Train was released in June 2019 which was unlocked by playing the show theme on the Infinity Train website. It was later uploaded to Cartoon Network's YouTube channel. On July 11, 2019, the show was confirmed to premiere on August 5, 2019. On July 20, 2019, the first episode was shown during the Infinity Train panel at San Diego Comic-Con. It was then released on the Cartoon Network app and website later that same day. The first season would be 10 episodes long, with two episodes airing each night from August 5 to August 9, 2019.Shorts
From October 18, 2019, Cartoon Network started uploading a series of Infinity Train shorts onto their app and YouTube channel called "The Train Documentaries", which focused on One-One showing off a number of cars in the train, including "The Green Car", "Tiny Wizard Car", "The Kaiju Car" and "The Tech Support Car".Book 2
A promo after the final episode of the season confirmed the series would return. On November 22, 2019, the Infinity Train website was updated with a new claw machine puzzle. Completing the puzzle leads to a trailer for Book 2. The trailer was then released officially the next day.Book Two debuted on January 6, 2020.