Look: We know the question of “Which anthropomorphized animals wear which articles of clothing?” has been internet joke machine’d into the dirt over the years, with a million comments about, say, the eternal pantslessness of Winnie The Pooh and Donald Duck completely filling the conceptual space. But when you’re explicitly marketing a new sex comedy about walking, talking animals—as the creators of Big Mouth are, with their just-announced new Netflix series Mating Season—we can’t help but get a bit bogged down in the minutiae.
We mean, look at this thing:
We could accept that the raccoon only wears sneakers—nobody gives Sonic The Hedgehog shit for that. But then you stick him right next to a fox wearing a vest? The deer next to her only has a necklace, while the bear is in kerchief-only mode; and, yes, you can argue that all of these animals are also wearing their fur—considered by many to be the clothing of the animal kingdom. So maybe they all just like to accessorize? But then our eyes are back down on the shoes, and then back to the vest, which we’d argue is clothing, and, really, it’s more thinking about this topic than we really had mentally budgeted for today.
In any case, Mating Season was announced today with a pitch that all but says “This’ll fill in for Big Mouth when it ends after this next season,” with a press release emphasizing creative continuity, including the involvement of production company Brutus Pink and executive producer credits for Big Mouth creators Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett, Andrew Goldberg, and Nick Kroll. (No word yet on casting, although it’d be pretty shocking if Kroll didn’t end up in the booth for at least some of the show’s cast.) The series is, per its own marketing materials, “set in the animal world starring a cast of bears, raccoons, deer, foxes and a host of other horny, lovable forest critters, as they navigate love, sexual relationships and the universal need to hook up and find a partner.” A rep for Brutus Pink added that, “After eight incredible seasons telling stories about growing up, we’re excited to tell stories about actual grown-ups. Who happen to be animals. Who are also cartoons.”
Big Mouth is set to end on May 23, ending what’ll be an eight-season run of deep-seated anxiety and literalized metaphors for budding human sexuality. In addition to the Mating Season news, Netflix also announced that Big Mouth‘s cast intends to do a national victory tour for their soon-to-be-ending show, with Kroll and crew holding screenings of new episodes in spots around the country. (You can get ticket information for the tour here.)
