''Animals'' is an American adult animated comedy television series created by Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano. The first two episodes were independently produced and presented at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

in January 2015. In May 2015,

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

picked the series up with a two-season order, which premiered on February 5, 2016. The series was renewed for a third season on May 19, 2017. Season 3 premiered on August 3, 2018. In October 2018, it was announced that HBO had canceled the series.

Plot

Each episode features a different cast of special guests, along with creators Matarese and Luciano playing various animals. The show features retroscripting and improvised dialogue based on plot outlines. Each season also has a story arc featuring humans in live-action sequences, such as a corrupt mayor and the events leading to his reelection in season one. In season two, the human story arc concerns a reporter investigating a virus outbreak created by mad scientist Dr. Labcoat, who is forced to release a gas that dissolves all human life in New York. In season three, which takes place three years after the dubbed "Green Day" incident, the animals of New York have formed their own governments while they are being observed by two soldiers who are losing their grip on reality.

Cast

Main

* Phil Matarese as himself ** Humans: Private Matarese ** Rats: Phil Jr. Also portrayed Phil Jr.'s biological father in the first episode. ** Pigeons ** Cats: Emperor Phil, a sociopathic cat who was initially the mayor's cat. Also portrayed Phil, a mafia cat who took over the family business. ** Dogs ** Flies ** Squirrels ** Roaches ** Worms ** Horses * Mike Luciano as himself ** Humans: Private Luciano ** Rats: Mike, Phil Jr's best friend. Also portrayed Phil Jr.'s grandfather in his youth. ** Pigeons ** Cats: Emperor Mike, a sociopathic cat who was initially the mayor's cat. Also portrayed Mike, a mafia cat leaving organized crime. ** Dogs ** Flies ** Squirrels ** Roaches ** Worms ** Horses

Recurring

Humans

RuPaul Charles RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

as Dr. Labcoat, the antagonist of season two's human storyline. A scientist of the unscrupulous conglomerate Pesci Co., Labcoat arranged for an epidemic in New York to sell the 'Green Pill' to enslave the populace. But after being exposed, Labcoat ends up destroying himself when he wiped out the human populace of New York. Posthumously, he established the Labcoat terrorists of season three. *

John Early John Early may refer to: *John Early (educator) (1814–1873), Irish-American Jesuit educator *John Early (politician) (1828–1877), Lieutenant Governor of Illinois *John Early (bishop) (1786–1873), American Methodist prelate *John Early (comedi ...

as The Assistant, Dr. Labcoat's aid and accomplice. * Demi Moore as The General, the antagonist of season three's human storyline. *

Mel Rodriguez Melvin Dimas Rodríguez (born June 12, 1973) is an American actor, best known for starring as Nurse Patsy de la Serda on the HBO comedy '' Getting On'', as Todd Rodriguez on the Fox comedy '' The Last Man on Earth'', and as Ernie Gomes on the S ...

as The Lieutenant

Animals

* Katie Aselton as Rebecca, Mom * Neil Casey as Principal Lief, a rat principal at the high school Phil Jr. and Mike attended in the first two seasons. He also played the human Executive 3, a Pesci Co. employee that became the founding leader of the Labcoats in season 3 after Dr. Labcoat subjected him to a mutative strain of the Green Pill in season 2, and Reporter. * Jay Duplass as Dennis * Lauren Lapkus as Jacob, CO298 * Jon Lovitz as Himself, Old Ben *

Claudia O'Doherty Claudia O'Doherty (born 29 November 1983) is an Australian actress, writer, and comedian. She won the 2009 Melbourne Fringe Best Comedy Award and the Brisbane Comedy Festival Award for her debut show ''Monsters of the Deep 3D''. O'Doherty co-wr ...

as April * Mindy Sterling as Psychic Lady * Kurt Vile as Himself

Guest stars

Jhené Aiko Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American singer who embarked on her music career contributing vocals and appearing in several music videos for R&B group B2K. In an effort to promote Aiko and cultivate a following for he ...

as Mary *

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, host and director. An Emmy and Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series '' Se ...

as Algae *

Stephanie Allynne Stephanie Allynne is an American actress, writer, and comedian. She is best known for her roles in '' In a World...'' (2013), ''Dream Corp, LLC'' (2016), '' One Mississippi'' (2016–17), and '' The L Word: Generation Q'' (2019–present). Biogr ...

as TO89W * Eric André as Alex * Aziz Ansari as Charles * Scott Aukerman as Drug Dealer * Awkwafina as Annie * Bob Balaban as Himself * Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Giraffe *

Amir Blumenfeld Amir Shmuel Blumenfeld (; he, אמיר שמואל בלומנפלד; born January 18, 1983) is an Israeli-American comedian, actor, writer, Television presenter, television host, and member of the American comedy duo, Jake and Amir. Born in Isra ...

as Caterer 1 * Big Boi as Fox 2 *

Alex Borstein Alexandrea Borstein (born February 15, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. Borstein voices Lois Griffin on the animated comedy television series '' Family Guy'' (1999–present), and won a Primetime Emmy Award for the rol ...

as Lois Griffin *

Jessica Chastain Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in films with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. ''Time'' ...

as Sarah *

Emilia Clarke Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress. She is best known for her portrayal as Daenerys Targaryen in '' Game of Thrones''. She has received various accolades, including an Empire Award, a Saturn Award, ...

as Lumpy * Brett Davis as Lizard Executive * Charlie Duncan as Maddie * Mark Duplass as Ken * Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Wendy * Josh Fadem as FDB Representative * Edie Falco as Psycho * Nathan Fielder as DJ Lab Rat * Whoopi Goldberg as Dorothy * Kim Gordon as Tulip * Judy Greer as Ali *

David Harbour David Kenneth Harbour (born April 10, 1975) is an American actor. He has played supporting roles in films such as ''Brokeback Mountain'' (2005), ''Quantum of Solace'' (2008), '' State of Play'' (2009), ''The Green Hornet'' (2011), ''End of W ...

as Hawk * Dan Harmon as Ad Man 1 * Jonah Hill as Pesicorp President *

Mary Holland Mary Holland (born June 24, 1985) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Early life and education Holland was born and raised in Galax, Virginia. She attended Interlochen Center for the Arts and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from North ...

as Ashley, 69-69-420x *

Jake Hurwitz Jacob Penn Cooper Hurwitz (born August 5, 1985) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and member of the comedy duo Jake and Amir. He was hired by the comedy website CollegeHumor after becoming an intern there in 2006, and has written and app ...

as Caterer 2 *

Mitchell Hurwitz Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom ''Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of ''The Ellen Show''. He is a ...

as Larry * Brandon Johnson as Ad Man 3 * Jay Johnston as Ad Man 4 * January Jones as Diana * Dinosaur Jr. as Themselves as Beavers * Mindy Kaling as Sandy *

Ellie Kemper Elizabeth Claire Kemper (born May 2, 1980) is an American actress and comedian. She has been nominated for a Critics' Choice Movie Award, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Satellite Awards, and seven Scre ...

as Princess * Harmony Korine as Corey * Nick Kroll as Jerry * James Kyson *

Jennifer Lafleur Jennifer Lafleur is an American actress. She is known for appearing in the independent films '' The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'' (2012), ''The Pretty One'' (2013), '' The Midnight Swim'' (2014), ''MAD'' (2016) and ''6 Years'' (2015). On television, Lafl ...

as Wife *

Donna Lewis Donna Lewis (born August 1959) is a Welsh singer. She is best known for the 1996 pop hit single "I Love You Always Forever", which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, and also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Aust ...

as Donna Lewis Rat * Lucy Liu as Yumi * Melanie Lynskey as Linda * Anthony Mackie as Receipt * Jason Mantzoukas as Fink * Demetri Martin as Graham * Marc Maron as Marc Maron Rat * Tatiana Maslany as Sherman * Danny McBride as Gregory * Killer Mike as Fox 1 *

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

as Moby Pig * Robert Morse as Old Phil *

Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wri ...

as Rusty * Meghan O'Neill as Meghan, Natalie, Angels * Gil Ozeri as Chuck * Adam Pally as Max * Chelsea Peretti as Angela * Michael Rapaport as Erik * Andy Richter as Prisoner *

Justin Roiland Mark Justin Roiland (born February 21, 1980) is an American voice actor, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known as the co-creator of Adult Swim's ''Rick and Morty'' and its subsequent Rick and Morty (franchise), franchise. H ...

as H&M *

Paul Rust Paul Robert Rust (born April 12, 1981) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred in the 2009 film ''I Love You, Beth Cooper'' and in the Netflix series ''Love''. Early life Rust was born in Le Mars, Iowa, the son of Jeanne and Bob R ...

as Mason * Horatio Sanz as Julio *

Ben Schwartz Benjamin Schwartz (born September 15, 1981) is an American actor and comedian. He has guest starred as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'' and Clyde Oberholt on the Showtime series ''House of Lies''; voiced Randy C ...

as Antonio, Geoff * Adam Scott as Shane * Rory Scovel as Ronnie * Ty Segall as Himself * Molly Shannon as Olivia * Alia Shawkat as Sharon * Pauly Shore as Pat * Jenny Slate as Snake * Cobie Smulders as Anni *

Jessica St. Clair Jessica St. Clair is an American actress and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. With frequent collaborator Lennon Parham, she co-created and co-starred in NBC's ''Best Friends Forever'' and USA Network's '' Playi ...

as Kaitlin * Dino Stamatopoulos as Ad Man 2 *

Wanda Sykes Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...

as Chance *

Raven Symone A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

as Nurse *

Jacob Tremblay Jacob Tremblay ( ; born October 5, 2006) is a Canadian actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Canadian Screen Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award, tw ...

as Nuke *

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

as Miles *

Marlon Wayans Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Wayans began his career portraying a pedestrian in ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' (1988). He went on to regularly collaborate with his brother Shawn Wa ...

as Ry-Ry * Shawn Wayans as Tommy * Joe Wengert as Priest, Baker, Boyfriend * Erin Whitehead as 49C74 *

Casey Wilson Cathryn Rose "Casey" Wilson (born October 24, 1980) is an American actress, comedienne, and screenwriter. She starred as Penny Hartz in the ABC comedy series '' Happy Endings'' for which she was twice nominated to the Critics' Choice Television A ...

as Queen Ant * John Witherspoon as Jimmy *

Zach Woods Zachary Woods (born September 25, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is best known for his roles as a series regular for three seasons as Gabe Lewis on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', as Jared Dunn on the HBO ...

as Brian * Steve Zissis as Husband * A$AP Ferg as Bodega Cat 1 *

A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

as Bodega Cat 2 * Nick Hexum as Himself * SA Martinez as Himself * Jet Eveleth as Scarf Rat

Episodes

Critical reception

The first season has received positive reviews from critics. As of April 2020, it holds a 68% "Fresh" rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 19 reviews, with an average of 6.5/10. On Metacritic, the series holds a rating of 54 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or above average reviews". Maureen Ryan of '' Variety'' gave the first season a negative review, writing, "The animated HBO show has a lot in common with programs like ''Girls'', ''Louie'' and ''Baskets'', and like ''Togetherness'', it boasts Mark and Jay Duplass as executive producers. But the extraordinarily tedious ''Animals.'', unlike those shows, fails to hit any of its chosen targets. It is unfunny, its animation is unexceptional and the studied banality of its dialogue is excruciating." Conversely,

David Wiegand Robert David Wiegand (May 19, 1947 – April 30, 2018) was an American journalist and short-story writer, head of arts and entertainment for the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. Life and career Wiegand was born in Rochester, New York, where he gradua ...

in the '' San Francisco Chronicle'' gave the season a positive review, writing, "The deadpan approach only enhances the delicious off the wall comedy of ''Animals.'' The series is batty and brilliant as it turns the whole notion of anthropomorphic cartoon animals on its fuzzy ear."

References

External links

* * {{HBONetwork Shows 2010s American adult animated television series 2010s American animated comedy television series 2016 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings American adult animated comedy television series English-language television shows HBO original programming Animated television series about birds Animated television series about cats Animated television series about dogs Animated television series about horses Animated television series about insects Animated television series about squirrels Television shows set in New York City Television series by Duplass Brothers Productions