[Exclusive Interview] Matt Maiellaro Talks About His Latest Movie “Pastacolypse” And Teases Some Tasty New “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” Details

Whether you’re craving some deeply intellectual talking fast food or freshly made pasta abominations, Matt Maiellaro has you covered. Ever since he struck gold with his cult classic show Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Maiellaro has been serving up deliciously twisted animation for well over 20 years with his close friend, Dave Willis. But sometimes, it’s also nice to grab dinner for one.

Premiering on May 21st, Pastacolypse tells the story of Alfredo Manicotti, a billionaire celebrity chef who seeks revenge on all mankind after a global ban on gluten destroys his business. In his quest for revenge, Alfredo is disfigured into a half-man, half-macaroni monster and leads a pasta uprising that threatens to take over the world. The only one standing in Manicotti’s way is his daughter, Emma, who attempts to quell her father’s pasta uprising with a band of ragtag mercenaries.

With Pastacolypse, Maiellaro looks to establish his own solo project and solidify his standing as one of the premiere animated comedy writers today. We sat down with Maiellaro to talk about how his film’s development came about, his gratitude and admiration for the team behind his film, and what Aqua Teen Hunger Force fans can look forward to in the near future.

Matthew Swigonski: I just watched the movie, and it’s really weird but also really good. Where does an idea like that even come from?

Matt Maiellaro: You know, it started as just a title on a whiteboard that I had, along with other ideas and concepts. And I started thinking about it. I think at the time I came up with it, which was in 2016, there were all these zombie TV shows, and I just thought that this is going to be my version of the apocalyptic concept. So that’s where it kind of came from. And then I just basically had concepts. You know, thinking about all the noodle shapes, and how they could be cool monsters, and how we could just make monsters out of multiple noodles. And I was like, “This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done.” And it wasn’t until last year, I just had a conversation with Fox after they had bought Tubi, and then they were interested in doing some original content. I wasn’t prepared to pitch anything, so I just started spouting out this idea and another one that I had. And they really took to the silly notion of noodles coming to life, and taking over the world. They just got silly, but I had no story to it. (Laughs) And then the next day they called and said, “We want to make Pastacolypse.” So I’m like “Cool. Let me come up with the story, and I’ll call you back.”

Matthew Swigonski: Was there ever a thought of exploring Pastacolypse as a series instead of a movie?

Matt Maiellaro: The original plan for Tubi was to launch a movie or two and then see if it could become a series. I could totally take this into a series. Look at The Walking Dead, this could just be my version of it. So yeah, I could totally see that.

Matthew Swigonski: So how’s it been working with Tubi? Is there any difference than with the executives at Adult Swim?

Matt Maiellaro: Well, I’m happy that Tubi took a chance on this thing, and believed in it enough to move it forward. As far as I know, I never really dealt with any one person at Tubi, but I developed it with Fox Animation with my buddy, Daniel [Weidenfeld.] I had known Daniel for decades from his Adult Swim days, and he knew my history and my track record, and I think he also had a hand in getting them to pull the trigger on Pastacolypse. So, I could say working with them was just super amazing. I mean, developing with them was awesome. Did it differ from Adult Swim? Yeah, a little bit. Everything has pros and cons. I think they kind of weigh each other out. But it was really fun to be on board with them because they were so enthusiastic about it. And that was what was different about working with them compared to Adult Swim. At Adult Swim, there wasn’t as much enthusiasm. It was just kind of a plug-it-in and move-forward. But with these guys, it was like, “Oh my God, this is going to be crazy. It’s just going to be nuts.” And when the story started forming they really got into it, and it just worked.

Matthew Swigonski: As far as the art direction, how did that come about? Especially designing the characters like Alfredo Manicotti and Al Dente Bob.

Matt Maiellaro: I’ve worked with Bento [Box Entertainment] and I’ve worked with Craig Hartin for a long time on Aqua Teen and the Aqua Teen movies. The people there are super great. So there was sort of a mindset, like this sort of unspoken, you know, ESP, like we all kind of knew we wanted something different looking. You get various ideas through pictures of wardrobes or people on the internet and I’ll send it over and say “Maybe something like this or look at that guy’s hat or his jacket” and it was super fun to watch it come together.

Matthew Swigonski: Just looking at all the gore as well was pretty insane. Have you ever thought about making a straight horror animated film or series?

Matt Maiellaro: I grew up loving horror and action movies and I would love to do that. In fact, I think the tone of the first-generation outline I had of this was more action-horror-oriented with moments of levity and then we completely changed it. So, I would say this isn’t a horror comedy, but it’s a comedy horror. But I would love to do something straight out like that because I believe there is a place for horror and action animation. You see very little of that in America. It’s just hard to convince a studio to take the chance on it and get it green-lit to succeed.

Matthew Swigonski: The voice acting, like in everything else you’ve worked on, is top-notch. What was it like working with William Sanderson and Lavell Crawford? I’m a big fan of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, so it was amazing to hear Lavell’s voice.

Matt Maiellaro: Oh my God. You know, the talent pool was just unbelievable. And they brought so much to the table, I knew that they would. I had worked with everybody before except Bill Sanderson. So when I sort of got the green light and started writing the script, I was like “Dana Snyder. He’s going to be Manicotti. I know he can pull this off with his ad-libs and his wild attitude.” I actually called him and said “I’m making a movie and I’m trying to get you to be the main character.” I probably shouldn’t have said that to him at the time, but I did. (laughs) And Lauren Holt, I just worked with her on Plantasm. She had a bit part in it, but her voice just completely fits what I’m trying to do with Emma. I reached out to her over some social media site thinking I’ll never hear back from her but I did. But I tell you, Bill Sanderson, as soon as I came up with Al Dente Bob, the only voice I ever heard in my head was the toy maker from Blade Runner. I’m like this character is Bill Sanderson. Just warmhearted, super friendly, and a little bit oblivious. I’m so happy to get him. He was so much fun to work with. Mary Spender is a friend of mine now. I found her over YouTube actually and I made her the star of 12 Oz. Mouse when I did season three. And then there’s Lavell, he’s just insane. He’s so funny. You put him in a booth and he just won’t stop going. He’ll read what’s on the page and then he’ll just keep going.

Matthew Swigonski: You touched on 12 Oz. Mouse, have you ever had any thought of maybe revisiting that series?

Matt Maiellaro: I think that Adult Swim has done a huge change in what they’re doing. I’m not sure if 12 Oz. Mouse is something that would [fit]. I feel like that was kind of the old-school days of Adult Swim and they’ve started to try to become something else. I would love to because it was great. It was so much fun to do. I mean that thing could go on for just hundreds of seasons.

Matthew Swigonski: Any update on new Aqua Teen content?

Matt Maiellaro: We’re wrapping up five new episodes. I’m not sure when they will air, but we’re getting close to finishing them. So, I don’t have an air day yet. They’re really fantastic episodes. We poured a lot into all of them, but these especially felt more special because it’s been so long since we made them. What can I tease you with? Ohhhhhh…I will tease you with something. We ended up casting a big part to the guy who plays Dr. Lecktor in Manhunter.

Matthew Swigonski: What would you say you value more as a creator, being weird, or being well known as someone that puts out that quality content?

Matt Maiellaro: I mean, I know that my stuff is out of the box, but I’m not trying to be weird for weird sake. These are things that come to me and I think this would be a fun story, something I would be a little bit more familiar with. I don’t think I’m trying to be weird. I know I have a sort of a core audience with Aqua Teen and I’m hoping those people like this thing just as much. I just want to make something that people enjoy. Not everybody’s going to like everything. And that’s totally cool. You know, I get emails and texts all the time about how stupid 12 Oz. Mouse was and I’m like, “Okay, that’s fine. I don’t like things too.” But I think Pastacolypse and the character dynamics are really amazing. And I think it’s going to find an audience broader than just maybe my core audience.

Matthew Swigonski: For anyone on the fence about watching this movie, what would you say to encourage them to check it out?

Matt Maiellaro: I always say just give this a shot. You’ve never seen this in your life. And it’s funny and it’s visually amazing. And it’s also just a lot of fun. I think there are identifiable characters. I think the story is pretty identifiable too. Underneath all those noodles and marinara there’s a real journey here with characters I think people could relate to. Even if they’re monsters. I like to think that’s how it is with Aqua Teen. I mean they’re food…hmmm…do you think maybe I’ve cornered the food market in animation?

Matthew Swigonski: (laughs) I think so, yes. So do you have any personal thoughts on gluten?

Matt Maiellaro: (laughs) No. I was like “If he [Alfredo Manicotti] is going to lose, how is he going to lose?” And I thought what if the world was gluten-free now? In a way, it’s just sort of a vehicle to motivate the character. I will also tease that there is a second pasta movie. It hasn’t been greenlit for production, but I’m on the third draft of the script.

Matthew Swigonski: Oh, nice! Is there any storyline you could possibly share with us?

Matt Maiellaro: Well, I’ll tell you what the title is. It’s called Pastalieninvasion. And it’s all one word.

Matthew Swigonski: Oh. (laughs)

Matt Maiellaro: (laughs) If you just write out the words pasta alien invasion without adding the extra “a” in pasta alien, that’s what it is.

Matthew Swigonski: My autocorrect might have an issue with that.

Matt Maiellaro: But that development is actually going really well. It has some new people but has a lot of the main core. And so the development is going to be a lot quicker on this next one.

Pastacolypse will be available to stream on May 21st, on Tubi.