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On Being a True Warrior Story editor Taneka Stotts talks about her work on Apple TV+’s Pinecone & Pony and the industry’s positive push for diversity.
T
he arrival of the new animated show Pinecone & Pony on Apple TV+ in April was one of the sweet surprises of the past season. Based on the acclaimed picture book by Kate Beaton, The Princess and the Pony, the show centers on a very unconventional heroine who along with her best friend discovers new ways to be a powerful warrior. The stereotype-defying show was adapted by animation veteran Stephanie Kaliner (Odd Squad), and features the voices of Maria Nash, Chase W. Dillon, Rachel House, Thom Allison, Alicia Richardson, Andy Hull and Viola Abley. The animation was produced by DreamWorks Animation, Atomic Cartoons and First Generation Films. The show’s story editor is Taneka Stotts, an Emmy-nominated TV writer and comic-book creator and publisher, whose credits include Young Justice, Magic: The Gathering, My Little Pony: Pony Life, Craig of the Creek and Steven Universe Future. She was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about the show,
her career and the changing impact of representation in animation: Animation Magazine: First of all, congrats on the show. It’s charming, funny and delivers a wonderful message. Can you tell us how you got involved with the production? Taneka Stotts: I joined the team in February 2020, right after wrapping up my work on Magic: The Gathering. I really loved the premise of the show because, for the first time, I saw myself clearly in a TV show. I had already been a fan of Kate Beaton’s book, which was about different ways of being a warrior, which I thought was unique and fun. However, once the show was getting started, it was being expanded upon, and we were able to push it to unexpected territories. The stories we are telling might be traditional in terms of the narratives, but they also take a slight deviation on some of those and give you something that's a little bit harder to digest, both as a kid and an adult.
What was the creative process like? Earlier on, it was me and [exec producer] Stephanie [Kaliner] working together pretty much 24/7. We had a few summits with our freelance and staff writers. The producers even went as far as changing some of the rules within the Canadian Writers Guild to get me in so that I could be credited as a guild member while working on a Canadian production. It was really beautiful, and it just went to show that studios are very capable of these things if they push for it. In addition, you have to keep in mind that they also went the extra mile of giving you a show that is not just the same kind of comedy-action hybrid that some feel we’ve been inundated with lately. This one was going a little bit deeper and asking us to really pull out a bit of emotion, and allowing us to have those quieter moments — moments where Pinecone cries or when Pinecone is really pumped! We all approached the show with the idea that we wanted to make the show for today's kids. That meant that we would push back on our own nostalgia a little bit.
www.animationmagazine.net 54
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june|july 22
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