Cuphead: Don't Deal With The Devil (Hanna-Barbera universe)

Cuphead: Don't Deal With The Devil is a 2018 animated television special based off the run and gun indie video game of the same name developed and published by StudioMDHR. Unlike the original game, the characters are drawn in Hanna-Barbera's current art style. The special was produced and directed by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone at Warner Bros. Animation and Hanna-Barbera Productions (in-name only).

Sypnosis
On the fictional Inkwell Isle, Cuphead and his brother Mugman are two fun-loving kids who live under the watchful eye of Elder Kettle. Against the elder's warnings, the brothers wander into the Devil's Casino and play craps. When the brothers go on a winning streak, the casino's manager King Dice calls upon the Devil, who raises the stakes. If Cuphead and Mugman can win another time, they will own the entire casino; if not, the Devil will have their souls. Cuphead rolls snake eyes and he and Mugman must give up their souls. The brothers beg for mercy, so the Devil makes a deal with them: collect the contracts that signify his ownership of the souls of his runaway debtors by midnight the next day, and he might let them off the hook. They visit Elder Kettle, who gives them a potion that allows them to fire blasts from their fingers to aid in their quest. The brothers travel around Inkwell Isle, earning soul contracts from residents who have lost their souls to King Dice and the Devil.

Voice cast

 * Jason Griffith as Cuphead
 * Patton Oswalt as Mugman
 * Maurice LaMarche as The Devil
 * John de Lancie as King Dice
 * Michael Bell as Elder Kettle
 * Frank Welker and Corey Burton as Ribby and Croaks
 * Rodger Bumpass as Moe Tato
 * as Weepy
 * Charlie Adler as Psycarrot
 * Patrick Warburton as Captain Brineybeard
 * Ariel Winter (normal) and Pat Carroll (as a Medusa figure) as Cala Maria
 * as Goopy Le Grande
 * Kath Soucie as Baroness Von Bon Bon
 * Alex Borstein as Hilda Berg

Additional voices

 * Bill Farmer
 * Candi Milo
 * Cree Summer
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Grey Griffin
 * Jeff Bennett
 * Jess Harnell
 * Jim Cummings
 * Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Rob Paulsen
 * Susanne Blakeslee
 * Tara Strong
 * Tress MacNeille

Development
Following the success of Cuphead, StudioMDHR reached an agreement with Warner Bros. to produce an animated adaptation of the video game. Their decision was to simulate the video game in the late 70s/early 80s Hanna-Barbera art and animation style, while retaining the subversive and surrealist qualities of the original game. In late 2017, StudioMDHR and Warner Bros. announced a TV special based on the game. All of the character designs were confirmed in January. In the spring of 2018, a sneak peek of the special was posted online.

Writing
The special was written by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone, along with game creators, Chad and Jared Moldenhauer as script supervisors in order to make the story more faithful to the game. "It was one of the most complicated things we've ever did.", said Chad Moldenhauer in a 2017 interview. "My brother and I had to make sure that the script retains most of the subversive and surreal humor from the game." Some of the special's songs, such as St. Louis, MO and The Woggle Bird Song were recycled from many of Hanna-Barbera's earlier projects, such as Hey, There It's Yogi Bear and their versions of Alice in Wonderland and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Most of the special relies on the plot and story from the original game, complete with spoken dialogue. Some portions of the special contain song-and-dance scenes which are animated more fluidly than the rest of the special. This was mainly due to Kevin Petrilak handling the character layouts for the song sequences to be shipped to Rough Draft Korea. The subversive and surrealist qualities from the original game translates very well into the television special. Both Brandt and Cervone worked on the script between October and November, and was finished in early December.

Voices
Veteran voice actor Jason Griffith, better known by its anime work on the now-defunct and as the current voice of Collin Brady/Collin the Speedy Boy, as well both Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog between 2003 and 2010, was selected to voice the title character, while comedian Patton Oswalt was chosen to voice his brother Mugman.

initially served as the special's voice director for the first part of the production, but due to her abrupt retirement announcement on July 31, 2017, replaced her for the rest of the production.

Animation
Animation was outsourced to Yearim Productions (for the scenes involving the plot) and Rough Draft Korea (for the song sequences). The character layouts for the song sequences were drawn by animator Kevin Petrilak.

Music
The music in this special is composed by the same composer who did the original game, Kristofer Maddigan.

Reception
This special received generally positive reviews. It was mostly praised for its classic jazzy soundtrack and borrowing the subversive and surrealist qualities of the original game in visuals, although a few reviews were mixed due to its different animation style. Fans were mostly satisfied with the characters drawn in the Hanna-Barbera style, besides the 30s Fleischer/Disney style from the original game. The special brought in over 3 million viewers.

The special is considered as one of the three best animated film adaptations of a video game, after  and Collin the Speedy Boy. In fact, it had a lot more viewers than what The Angry Birds Movie ever had.

Trivia

 * Unlike the original game, the special is animated in the Hanna-Barbera animation style from the late 70s/early 80s for unknown reasons.
 * The backgrounds are even done in the late 70s/early 80s Hanna-Barbera style as well.
 * The special uses the fictional Inkwell Isle as the opening and ending sequences instead of the Ub Iwerks ComiColor-style storybook opening and closing, as in the original game.
 * The special still retains its early 30s Fleischer/Disney subversive and surrealist qualities from the original game.
 * The game's creators, Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, were involved in the making of this special to make sure it retains the surreal humor of the game while working in the late 70s/early 80s Hanna-Barbera style.
 * The character designs are drawn in the style of both Ed Benedict and Iwao Takamoto, although the Devil's design is similar to a mixture of Count Dracula's from Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School and The Red Guy's from Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel, two Cartoon Network original series segments that came from the late 1990s.