This Friday on Netflix, a brand new animated film is set to hit the streaming platform titled Thelma the Unicorn. The film was written by Jared and Jerusha Hess with Jared co-directing it alongside Lynn Wang. 

Thelma the Unicorn follows the story of Thelma, a small-time pony who dreams of becoming a glamorous music star. In a pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma is transformed into a unicorn and instantly rises to global stardom. But this new life of fame comes at a cost. Brittany Howard stars in the lead role of Thelma. 

Upon watching Thelma the Unicorn you can’t help but be set in a trance of the majestic color palette that easily reels you into this magical world. You are also quickly immersed in Thelma, whose vibrant, upbeat, and charismatic voice is brought to life by the brilliant voice work of Brittany Howard. Howard, who is working on her first animated film, hits the ground running in what seemed like a veteran performance. 

The combination of Jared and Jerusha Hess has delivered some fun content, but this is a side we hadn’t seen from the writing duo yet. I was astonished by their ability to bring this beautiful story to life in a way that didn’t just captivate children, but myself included. It’s heartfelt, beautiful, inspiring, and a journey worthy of a ride. 

I had the opportunity to catch up with co-directors Jared Hess and Lynn Wang, stars Brittany Howard and Will Forte to talk about working on the project. Throughout this article, you can watch some of those interviews while also checking out some excerpts below. 

Will Forte, Brittany Howard, Jared Hess and Lynn Wang talk Netflix’s Thelma the Unicorn.

Ricky Valero: Will, How did the role of Otis come about for you?

Will Forte: I’ve been friends with Jared and Isha Hesford for, oh God, I think about a decade, more than a decade now. And gotten to work with. With both of them a couple of times, and, and so, I don’t know how they thought of me for this role, but I’m so excited they did because it was, ugh, I love the script, so, yeah, they just came to me and said, take a look at this script, and I loved it, and all of a sudden, I’m, I’m doing a voice for the movie.

RV: When you work on an animation project, what’s the process like finding the character’s voice?

Forte: You do a lot of playing around. It was really funny because we played around quite a bit and then ultimately. I just kind of did my own voice. So I watch it, and I’m like, everybody’s voices sound so fantastic. And then I hear my voice. I’m like, oh, that’s so plain. Cause that’s the voice I walk around with every day and where we’re coffee with. And you know, it’s so, it sounds very boring.

RV: What was the reaction to getting approached by Jared to star as Thelma in the film? 

Brittany Howard: My initial reaction was fear because I don’t do this. And then after I read the story, um, you know, Jerry gave me the book. After I read the book, I was like, I actually found myself in tears. Cause it was so heartfelt. So real. So cute. I was like, yeah, I’m going to do it. I’m going to do it. And so began like the, like, two or three-year process.

RV: So you wrote fire inside to company the film. Was the writing process easier for you as you were in the role of film, or was it harder? 

Howard: Some songs were harder than others and the challenge lied in the fact that I had never sang songs like this before. It’s like a little bit outside my wheelhouse. But see, I enjoy that. I like to be challenged and learn about things I don’t know. So, at the end of the day, it just became fun.

RV: Jared, how did you discover the book Thelma the Unicorn? 

Jared Hess: You know, my wife and I, we were big fans of all of Aaron Blaby’s other books, like Pig the Pug and Bad Guys, and a common friend of ours that was developing Bad Guys with him introduced us to Aaron and Aaron, you know, asked Drew Shania if we’d want to develop it into a film, and we fell in love with the book. And so, yeah, the rest is history. 

RV: Lynn, what makes you want to jump on board to co-direct a project?

Lynn Wang: I’m a big fan of Jared and Jerusha’s work already. So, I wanted to jump on board to help with that. Also, I thought that by working with them, I would be allowed to let my weird flag fly, so I was really excited about that. On top of the story of Thelma and the messaging of Thelma, I could relate to that. So, all of that combined. 

Thelma the Unicorn is streaming on Netflix now.