Hazbin Hotel Panel Recap

This past Friday Vivienne Medrano, aka VivziePop, independent animator and creator of Hazbin Hotel hosted a surprise cast panel on YouTube. In (virtual) attendance were various voice actors from her upcoming A24 endeavor, including Elsie Lovelock (the singing voice of Charlie), Faye Mata (Katie Killjoy), Michael Kovach (Angel Dust), Krystal LaPorte (Cherri Bomb), Mick Lauer (Husker), Edward Bosco (Alastor), and Gabriel Brown (singing voice of Alastor.) The two plus hour livestream was a rollicking showcase of behind-the-scenes antics, dynamics between the cast members, and the occasional improvised song.

In addition to a fun chance to for the cast to chat, this surprise steam was an opportunity to answer fan questions live, and reminisce about the pilot being released a little over a year ago. Medrano took a moment to thank the audience and the cast for the success of the show so far, which felt particularly poignant since the pilot had hit 50 million views as of November 25.

She also asked the cast how they felt about the show’s reception so far. LaPorte waxed poetic for a bit about how amazing it was to be part of this project from the beginning, while Bosco and Lauer chimed in to note how dedicated the fanbase is, and how the resulting fan art and cosplays are a testament to the quality of artists that appreciate a musical comedy set in hell. Kovach also commented on how quickly it was completed, and Medrano jumped in to confirm that it was produced in almost exactly two years. Bosco jokingly asked when we should expect “the Hazbin Hotel Broadway Musical”, at which point Medrano specified while she could not reveal anything about the current state of the show, she could confirm that “stage rights had come up.” This was followed by a moment of confusion regarding the source of the quote “all the world’s a stage, and the stage is a world of entertainment”, which resulted in Mata requesting “wrong answers only” from viewers in the live chat (top answers included Frozen and The Bible.)

At this point the conversation devolved a bit into a discussion about favorite musicals, but things eventually got back on track to discuss the fictional universe in which Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are both set. Medrano specified that while the two shows share a setting, they have entirely different focuses that don’t overlap much, if at all. “It’s more about redemption…It’s all about consequence, it’s like ‘redemption is a hard thing earned’, and it’s all about having that conversation,” she said of Hazbin‘s plot, whereas Helluva will follow the characters and societies that already exist in hell, with the main focus being on their interpersonal relationships. Bosco brought up a moment where there was a tiny bit of overlap between the two, from the most recent episode of Helluva Boss, which has a small musical moment lifted from Charlie’s “Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow” song. Lovelock added that she noticed this detail as well, and found it hilarious (which I’m sure carries extra weight, since she’s that song’s singer!) Medrano noted that this was due to Parry Gripp (of the pop punk band Nerf Herder) being the songwriting power behind both songs, and actually asking if they could “rip off” their own work.

While taking questions from the chat, LaPorte specified that her first line in the pilot is “edgelord”, not “egglord”, and one of the more challenging lines was just the word “more” following her character smashing into Sir Pentious’s ship, and threatening to “smash it…more.” Medrano revealed a bit about how she planned to portray the angels in Hazbin, specifying that they’d actually be modeled after the creatures in Alien. She clarified that wasn’t “too much of a spoiler, more of an aesthetic tip,” which the cast responded excitedly about, particularly Brown, who mentioned that her portrayal of hell is very unique. Mata mentioned that she was actually playing World of Warcraft while on the call, while Medrano rick rolled the chat with her ringtone.

Final highlights included Gabriel Brown’s headcanon of Katie Killjoy (Faye Mata’s character) being Joan Callamezzo from Parks and Recreation postmortem, Edward Bosco’s confession that the only French he knows comes from Dexter’s Laboratory, and Mick Lauer calling Bosco a butthead.

In addition to a hilarious surprise and thoroughly goofy showcase of the voice cast’s extensive talent, this panel was an incredible opportunity to learn more about the creative process behind Hazbin Hotel, and build anticipation for when the series is finally released, although we’re eagerly awaiting news on when that may be.