Sparks fly at the red carpet premiere of ‘Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’

The cast of Marvel’s “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” stomped onto the Red Carpet at Walt Disney Studios for their world premiere on February 4. 

In a literally electric tale of events in The Bronx, “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” portrays how “one girl can make a difference.” The animated series emphasizes diversity and representation of the Black American, Latinx and LGBTQ+ communities in the show and behind-the-scenes in the voiceover booth. 

While one girl can make a difference, producing the show took the efforts of many. Yvette Nicole Brown (President Brown) said breathing life into an animated character is about “finding that kid within you and creating something magical, like when you would play make-believe as a kid.” 

For Diamond White (Moon Girl), the values of the show ignited her acting passion.

“As a Black woman, I would’ve loved to see this show growing up. I relate to my character since she goes through many experiences as I did growing up. I hope people realize we need more shows that represent diversity,” White said.

Diamond White, left, plays Moon Girl and Fred Tatasciore, right, plays Devil Dinosaur. (Video by Jullea Powell and Lauren Lee)

Ian Alexander (Tai) said he conjured his inner child in the recording studio. 

“I try to show up as my authentic self and maybe dial up certain parts of my personality, so if Tai is really excited, I’ll dial it up to 200%,” he said.

Supervising producer Rodney Clouden said his child was an inspiration. 

Supervising producer Rodney Clouden says all people from ages 8 to 80 can enjoy the show. (Video by Jullea Powell and Lauren Lee)

The journey to the red carpet stemmed from humble beginnings in closets to recording studios amidst a global pandemic. Gary Anthony Williams (Pops) only worked with Diamond White (Moon Girl) face-to-face once.

“I love my granddaughter, who is Moon Girl, and I love Moon Girl in real life even if she’s not my granddaughter,” he said.

Libe Barer (Casey) also shared a similar experience.

“I transformed my singular closet and one-bedroom apartment in New York into a recording studio with the equipment they sent me,” Barer said. “Diamond and I would be playing across the recordings from my New York apartment to Diamond’s in L.A.”

In contrast from Bronx culture to Japanese anime, Alexander recounted an unforgettable recording studio memory. 

“I was in a voice recording booth making some sound effects, and I did a certain gasp,” Alexander said. “The crew on the call said it sounded very anime-like. I was like, ‘I’d love to do voiceover for an anime!’ It was really special for me.”

Ian Alexander (Tai) shares one of his favorite memories from recording. (Video by Jullea Powell and Lauren Lee)

Pilar Flynn, the producer for Season 1 and co-executive producer for Season 2, describes how the show hit home for her as a Latina. 

“I’m so excited to be a part of a show that features diverse girls in such an amazing light,” Flynn said. “We collaborated in a way that I’ve never seen before. You can feel the passion on the screen.” 

Fred Tatasciore (Devil Dinosaur) said he values how the show “emphasizes family and how sometimes you make your own family” with a focus on “science and the joy of learning.”

While Tatasciore connects with his newfound cast family, he also connects to his character.

“Like Devil Dinosaur, I am a big force of nature that’s a puppy dog inside,” Tatasciore said. “Devil Dinosaur is always trying to do the right thing in his new life after being a destructor in his past life, which I apply to my life decisions.”

Michael Cimino (Eduardo) used his Bronx family experience to connect with his character and cast family. 

“I combined all my Bronx family experience and put it into Eduardo,” Cimino said. “Every time I record shots, I always reach out to my family and say ‘hey, how do you say this one word?’ because I want to represent them. I have a lot of Bronx vernacular in my role, so sometimes I will practice saying ‘what’s good?’ or ‘ur’ because I throw a lot of slang in there.”

Aside from practicing his Bronx regional dialect, Cimino’s favorite memory was when “one of the creators, Doug, was like ‘yo come in the office; let’s play Smash Bros,’” he said.

Like “Smash Bros,” “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” needed an iconic opening theme song. This was Series Executive Music Producer Raphael Saadiq’s favorite memory, he said. 

Executive Music Producer of “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” Raphael Saadiq shares his love for the show’s opening title song. (Video by Jullea Powell and Lauren Lee)

“That’s the time you have to make people happy … kids, adult, love animations,” Saadiq said.

Executive Producer Steve Loter also shared the sentiment since a theme song usually takes “a hundred tries,” but “Moon Girl Magic” was a slam dunk. 

“‘Moon Girl Magic’ was perfect on the first demo, and that never happens,” Loter said. “It was such a happy and special moment because we were all in sync about what the show should be and feel like.”

Brown shares how her life and character were also in sync, saying, “just as I am the President on the show, I’m the President of my own life.” and how we can all be the same. 

“I hope viewers take away that girls are magic, diversity matters, and everybody should get to be a Marvel superhero.”