‘Minotaur’ creator: Animated series celebrates power of supportnewsline24

NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) — My Brother the Minotaur creator Donal Mangan says he wanted to tell a supernatural tale that didn’t start with an extraordinary character hiding his identity from his friends and community.

“That’s kind of where the original concept came from: ‘What would happen if a minotaur kid was living in a human world?’ So, we really wanted to build a world around that and explore that story,” Mangan told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

“We do go into, as the story progresses, where he came from and how he came to be there, but that’s also part of his journey,” he explained.

“He’s trying to figure that out. He starts to have dreams and visions of where he came from and he starts to question, ‘Where does he truly belong?’ But because of that community that’s surrounded him — his friends, his family and even just further afield in that community — everybody has agreed to protect him and to keep him a secret and allow him to grow into the kid that he is and I think that’s something we really wanted to show, just the power of that support.”

Now streaming on Apple TV, the Dog Ears and Cartoon Saloon series was directed by Maurice Joyce and follows Lorcan (Ely Solan), who is half-boy, half-bull as he is raised by a loving human family.

Executive producer Fionnuala Deane said she loved the dynamic of brothers Lorcan and Charlie (Billy Jenkins.)

“Siblings love each other and drive each other crazy every single day. So, that felt very real,” Deane explained.

“The two kids are great and they’re very different personalities. Obviously, there’s extreme physical differences, as well, but they can complement each other,” she added.

“We just thought that that was gorgeous to show, particularly for Lorcan, who is supposedly this macho, strong character. He is actually more vulnerable than Charlie is and, straight away, there you go. There’s the plot. It’s lovely.”

As the real-life middle brother of three, Mangan was able to draw on his own relationships for inspiration.

“I have a unique understanding of what it’s like to be the older brother and the younger brother and I tried to tap into my experiences and different interactions with each brother,” he laughed.

“The younger brother sometimes supports and looks out for the bigger brother and that was a fun sort of route to go down. But, at the same time, Charlie idolizes Lorcan and looks up to him and wants the best for him.”

The show also features the voice talents of Luciana Akpobaro, Billie Boullet, Michael Sheen, Brian Cox, Paul Kaye and T’Nia Miller.

“We worked with a great casting director, Carla Stronge, and Carla was incredible, and she really helped us figure out the tone for each character and who were the type of people that we would ideally cast,” Deane said.

“So, she was really helpful and had such a clear vision from the outset of who would be available and everybody, as soon as they read some of the scripts, as soon as they saw some of the art work, anyone we approached, was really excited and really keen to be involved. So, it doesn’t take a lot of convincing for anybody, to be honest.”

Mangan was delighted Sheen, Cox, Kaye and Miller hopped onboard.

“I’m a big fan of the work and it’s just amazing to see what they brought to their characters and I really can’t wait for people to see it,” he said.

“But, at the same time, it was such a joy to see the kids be perfectly cast. Because it’s such a fun process to listen to and watch these audition tapes and you’re listening to the same line over and over again, but you’re just waiting for something that catches you, to something that feels right,” Mangan added.

“You don’t necessarily hear that voice in your head as you’re developing the character or writing the lines, but you just know when you hear it,” he said. “They just brought more to the characters than we could have hoped for.”