Even though it came out more than a decade ago, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a cult classic movie that never seems to get old. There are spinoffs, video games, and the upcoming Scott Pilgrim Takes Off anime. Creator Bryan Lee O’Malley recently shared just how the latter came to happen.
Most of the original cast is returning for the anime, and while we don’t know much about the story yet, the assumption is it will expand the source material over a few seasons.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, O’Malley wanted to clarify that this isn’t going to be a straightforward adaptation.
“If you think you know what you’re going to see, you don’t,” he told the publication.
O’Malley said he got interested in the idea after Netflix mentioned that one of his favorite animation studios, Science Saru, would be involved.
“The idea of working with that particular studio was very exciting to me,” O’Malley said. “And I’ve always loved anime. I grew up on anime and never thought I would ever get a chance to make or even be anywhere near the process of it.”
The director said he’s always been strongly inspired by anime and manga and that enough time had left the film to make a return neither “scary nor awkward.”
He also didn’t want to retread old ground. He worked with fellow anime creator BenDavid Grabinski to ensure the anime would be “intriguing and new and fun.”
Grabinski is a lifelong fan. He “crashed a test screening” of the original movie and went to midnight releases for the graphic novels. “I went to the Comic-Con premiere. I saw the movie in theaters more than 10 times.”
When O’Malley told Grabinski that Science Saru was potentially interested, he “freaked out.” Then he started throwing out ideas, which O’Malley said helped him see the story in a different light.
“Once we started unlocking the potential of the new way of looking at the story, that really got me excited,” O’Malley said.
There are some benchmarks of Scott Pilgrim to make it feel authentic, and O’Malley said he was sure to include those. For example, it’s set in Toronto in the 2000s. That means the show won’t have any modern slang or colloquialisms.
“I think the characters would just start to feel forced and false if we tried to do that,” Grabinski said. Scott is still an unemployed musician who falls for Ramona Flowers. Ramona still makes deliveries in her skates. Oh, and Scott’s band is still called Sex Bob-Omb.
Still, the show is made for loyal fans but also for new fans as well.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off hits Netflix on Nov. 17.