The long-delayed, much-anticipated debut of the Belcher family on the big screen arrives with the theatrical release of The Bob’s Burgers Movie on May 27, 2022. Series creator and The Bob’s Burgers Movie co-director and co-screenwriter Loren Bouchard promises the PG-13 animated film will treat fans of the series to a brand-new Belcher family adventure that will answer some lingering questions – including why Louise wears bunny ears – while also being accessible to those who haven’t caught on to Bob’s Burgers over its 12-season run on Fox. (Which raises the question, what are they waiting for?)
Bouchard joined his co-writer Nora Smith and co-director Bernard Derriman for a panel at the 2022 WonderCon to talk about The Bob’s Burgers Movie set for release over Memorial Day weekend. Voice cast members H. Jon Benjamin (“Bob”), John Roberts (“Linda”), Larry Murphy (“Teddy”), Kristen Schaal (“Louise”), Dan Mintz (“Tina”), and Eugene Mirman (“Gene”) also made the trek to the first in-person WonderCon since Covid-19 wreaked havoc on the world.
In addition to a Q&A with fans, The Bob’s Burgers Movie talent participated in interviews in support of the first – but hopefully not last – feature film inspired by the popular animated series.
LOREN BOUCHARD, NORA SMITH, AND BERNARD DERRIMAN INTERVIEW
How many versions of the script have there been?
Loren Bouchard: “We love this question.”
Nora Smith: “A lot. A lot. I find it fascinating how many versions because this is the first movie I’ve made so it was amazing to me how many different versions. We always knew where we were going to start, where we were going to end up, tentpoles in the middle. But the way we got there changed at least dramatically twice maybe. So, it was really fun to see that it finally got to where we were super happy with it.”
Loren Bouchard: “Nora and I wrote the script and Bernard and I directed the movie, and this is a group of people who loves to work. We ALL very, very [much] enjoy it. If you give us time, we will always do another draft. And that’s just…I think it’s baked into our DNA. And then we also wind each other up and stay up late and text each other new ideas. And so, when we were given any opportunity to tweak the script we took it. It’s really fun.”
Nora Smith: “Give us a note – we want a note. Give us a note and we’ll do another version.”
Loren Bouchard: “And same with Bernard for the boards.”
Bernard Derriman: “The thing is for every version of the script, we actually drew it too. Loren and Nora would do the temps; we didn’t always have the cast to record every version. So, the beauty was these guys would just record it and then we would draw every version, so we’d get to actually see it too which is a big part of it.”
Nora Smith: “You had to draw all these drawings that went away…”
How many of those past versions could now become the sequel?
Loren Bouchard: “None!”
You weren’t saving them up for the next movie?
Loren Bouchard: “No. I mean, who knows? A good idea sometimes manages to resurface and be reborn. We have that on the series all the time too. You try never to throw anything valuable away. All these little bits and pieces tend to get recycled and sorted through for everything. So, some pieces may show up in the series and, who knows, maybe some pieces will show up in a future movie. But it wasn’t like we had a sequel that we cut.”
Nora Smith: “We talked about stuff like, ‘Oh, we can’t fit it in this movie. Hopefully we’ll get to do another one so we can put it in there.’”
When the film was first talked about you said it was a musical and now it’s described as a mashup. What is it mostly?
Loren Bouchard: “I mean, we tried to make it really not all one thing. I think it’s fair to say it’s mostly Bob’s Burgers the movie…not to be cute about it. But I mean we didn’t want to make it too much of a musical because that wouldn’t be true to the show. We didn’t want to make it too much of a mystery because we want it to be funny and we want it to be hardy and character-driven. So, we had to mash it in a way where you don’t feel one ingredient dominates over the others. Would you say that’s true?”
Bernard Derriman: “I think so. And then at one point we had actually ambitions for more songs, but story sometimes got in the way. You’d start pulling them out, and we had to fit it all in. We didn’t want to force stuff in if we didn’t have to. I think we did the right amount.”
Will there be a lot of Easter eggs from seasons one through 12 scattered throughout the movie?
Loren Bouchard: (Laughing) “’A lot’ sounds like a lot.”
Nora Smith: “It’s also just like stuff that we know that the fans are wondering about that we get into. Which is less Easter egg and more just like questions that we’ve gotten a lot at events. And so we hope to delve into some of those areas.”
Bernard Derriman: “Also, it is in a fixed time and place so a lot of the series you’ll see stuff that will involve the movie and after the movie, too. A lot of stuff in the aftermath of the movie you’ll see in the series so you’ll be able to pinpoint between which episodes the [movie] was is the idea.”
Is the movie accessible for people who don’t watch Bob’s Burgers?
Loren Bouchard: “Yes, I’m so glad you asked that. From the very beginning we were aware that if we just made a fan movie, if we just made a movie for the folks who watch the show, not only does it leave some possible members of the audience out, but it also isn’t probably as good a movie. Those movies are fun, I guess, if you know all the characters and you can just jump right in. But I think to make a really good movie it has to stand on its own. That’s the definition of a movie. It can’t just be some add-on, some extra that only speaks to one portion of the population. It should be for anyone who cares to sit down and watch it for 90-something minutes.
We want to hear from you. After you see it – if you’ve never seen the series reach out and tell us if we succeeded. That’s the goal.”
Nora Smith: “If you liked it.”
Loren Bouchard: “Oh yeah. Don’t tell us how much you didn’t like it. We can’t handle that.”
We know the kids will never grow up in the series, but do you have any idea what they’d do for employment as adults?
Loren Bouchard: “For me anyway it feels like cheating to decide. Like, ‘Oh, I know. I’m the showrunner – I’ve got to know. Definitely goes into this particular field that I’m interested in.’ I think it’s fun to resist the urge because we have to stay in this time frame. So, in a way it’s cheating to have a card in your back pocket, like, ‘I know how it turns out.’ I think it’s fun for us to write from that same point of view as the audience watching it.”
DAN MINTZ, KRISTEN SCHAAL, AND EUGENE MIRMAN INTERVIEW:
We know the movie will reveal the story behind Louise’s bunny ears. Have you always known why she wears the hat?
Kristen Schaal: “No, they never told me why Louise always wears her ears. They said that’s something that they’re kind of saving in their back pocket for a big occasion.”
Eugene Mirman: “I think there’s stuff that they had imagined in the conception but that we aren’t told until it’s time to reveal.”
Kristen Schaal: “I don’t think they knew then, either. I created that she had some sort of special horns that she didn’t want anyone to know about because then the scientists would take her away.”
What would the film be about if your characters wrote the movie?
Dan Mintz: “Tina’s would obviously be her erotic friend fiction. I guess if she had one movie to make, you’d probably compile little bits and pieces – like kind of a greatest hits thing. You’d have to make sure it’s all consistent.”
Kristen Schaal: “Louise would probably make the movie about probably destroying the earth with an alien invasion and she’s the only one who could save it.”
Eugene Mirman: “Gene would try to probably work with her but make it a rock opera.”
Who would direct?
Kristen Schaal: “Louise. There’s an episode where Louise directs – ‘Meat Man’ – and I think she does a dang good job.”
Of all the music over the 12 seasons, what’s your favorite song?
Dan Mintz: “I like the ‘Topsy’ song a lot.”
Kristen Schaal: “That’s a good one. I mean, ‘Bad Stuff Happens in the Bathroom.’ I recently read a fan said they sing it when they’re having a bad day to get them going. I thought that makes it a hit for me too then.”
Eugene Mirman: “You know, there’s a cover of ‘Alone’ that Gene sings that I always enjoy. But then also ‘Topsy’ and ‘Bad Stuff.’”
Kristen Schaal: “There’s some songs in the movie that are bangers. Bangers.”
LARRY MURPHY, H. JON BENJAMIN, AND JOHN ROBERTS INTERVIEW:
If your characters were put in charge of writing a movie, what would it be about?
Larry Murphy: “It would probably be drawn from real life so it would be like an adventure that happens on his way to Bob’s Burgers.”
H. Jon Benjamin: “So, like a road movie – Teddy Goes on the Road. Bob would be like some dystopian future sci-fi movie.”
John Roberts: “Well, that’s stupid. I think Linda would have a psychedelic fever dream with electronica music and a lot of fantasy.”
Larry Murphy: “I’d like her to remake Ghost.”
John Roberts: “There would be some Ghost moments in the movie, yeah. I already thought of that. That was my idea.”
Did you miss this camaraderie when you were apart during Covid?
Larry Murphy: “No.”
John Roberts: “No.”
H. Jon Benjamin: “I’m not loving this at all.”
Larry Murphy: “This isn’t a great day for me.”
John Roberts: “It was a nice break from Jon’s breath but right now it’s all coming back to me.”
H. Jon Benjamin: “I had a burrito. I did eat a burrito with onions.”
John Roberts: “No, we miss each other but we’re making up for lost time.”
The Bob’s Burgers voice cast is unusual in that you’re usually together while working on episodes. Covid-19 changed that. How easy was it to get into your characters when you didn’t have your co-stars around to work off of?
John Roberts: “Well, during the pandemic it’s like thank god I have a job. I’m so lucky to be doing this and being able to read something funny right now. Hats off to the writers for being able to be funny during that time and continue to write because it was a really hard time to be creative, I know, and funny in general but we managed. I’m proud of everybody…especially me.”
Is there an episode over the 12 seasons that you believe deserves its own movie?
H. Jon Benjamin: “Wow. Like all the holiday episodes could be – a Christmas movie or a Thanksgiving movie.”
John Roberts: “The Christmas episode where they end up at the rave. That’s got a lot of characters in it. I think it’s pretty big, pretty epic. The music in that is amazing.”
Do you ever pitch story ideas?
H. Jon Benjamin: “No.”
John Roberts: “No. We get to improvise. That’s where we get to put our special sauce.”
How much do they keep of your improv?
John Roberts: “Oh, 100%. I improvise all my lines.”
Larry Murphy: “You don’t even get the script, right?”
John Roberts: “I don’t even get a script. I just go with whatever I’m thinking.”
H. Jon Benjamin: “I don’t think they’ve actually kept one improv of yours.”
John Roberts: “Oh, I think they have. Like, ‘Pass the cranberry sauce…’”
H. Jon Benjamin: “Oh, that’s true. The song.”
John Roberts: “…and mashed potatoes. Improv!”
H. Jon Benjamin: “That was good. That was good. They often make John improvise the songs, right?”
John Roberts: “Not anymore they don’t.”
What are fans going to love about The Bob’s Burgers Movie?
Larry Murphy: “If you love the show, you’re going to love this movie.”
H. Jon Benjamin: “More music. More mystery.”
Larry Murphy: “More of what you love.”
H. Jon Benjamin: “More adventure. More Bob. More Linda. More Teddy. More Louise. What’s the other kid’s name?”
Larry Murphy: “Right. The other kid.”
H. Jon Benjamin: “The other daughter…what’s her name.”
Larry Murphy: “Tina.”
H. Jon Benjamin: “More Tina.”
John Roberts: “I would say put your best Bob’s Burgers outfit on, wave that freak flag high, get all your friends together…”
Larry Murphy: “And you’re going to be amongst your friends.”
John Roberts: “…make it an event. Make it fun. Enjoy. Get back out there into the world. We’ve had a rough go of it. Go have some fun and enjoy yourself.”
