Some of us are more observant than others. This can be both a blessing and a curse. Some, for example, can watch Netflix’s BoJack Horseman and enjoy a funny, sometimes soul-crushing animated series about a washed-up horse actor in a world where humans live amongst walking, talking animals. Others can also enjoy this show, but must do so with the knowledge that BoJack, a horse who wears a sport coat, talks on the phone wrong.
You see, phones are small, but BoJack, being a horse, has quite a long face, one with ears and a mouth that are very far apart. So, does he hold it at his ear and just speak very loudly? Or does he speak at a normal volume while cupping his other hand over his ear? Neither, actually. Instead, he holds the phone against the side of his huge skull like a total moron. Does this matter in any possible way whatsoever? No, but that hasn’t stopped people from writing on the internet about it.
Well, folks, BoJack producer and production designer Lisa Hanawalt has heard these complaints and, with the show’s sixth season kicking off on Friday, she’s taken to Twitter to address them. In an illustrated series of posts, she admitted to being “maybe too annoyed” by the critique. “But honestly,” she continues, “A lot of thought and many conversations went into this decision and it still looks stupid.”
In a subsequent tweet, she diagrams some of the possible solutions, but also admits that the process of him continuously swapping the phone between ear and mouth would be “so cumbersome for both animation and writing.” Junk like this matters when a team of living, breathing humans are tasked with illustrating a character’s every movement.