Earlier this year, animator Matt Braly announced that he was taking to the internet to crowdfund an original animated project dubbed Clara & The Below. Looking to create a new version of “The Nutcracker” with a far darker theme, Braly has employed the vocal talent of Alex Hirsch for his cast. While obviously not playing the titular character, Hirsch is set to play the role of Chompers, Clara’s friend, who is clearly a twisted iteration of the Nutcracker dolls. Considering Hirsch voiced the likes of Grunkle Stan and Bill Cipher in Gravity Falls, the animator has shown his versatility in the voice acting department.
Originally, Clara & The Below arrived on Kickstarter asking if fans could help fund the project with an ultimate goal of $25,000 USD. As promoted by the campaign, this dark animated series made that amount in fifteen minutes and has since skyrocketed to close to a quarter of a million dollars. The series has already announced that future episodes are in the works following the successful campaign, and here’s how Braly himself announced that Alex Hirsch and voice actress Anna Akana are joining the line-up:
“Happy Friday!!! To cap off our incredible week, take a look at who will be providing voices to our two leads!! The incredible Anna Akana and Alex Hirsch as Clara and Chompers, respectively!!! Anna was Sasha Waybright in “Amphibia” who was always a drop-dead fan favorite character, so we are so pleased to be working with her again. Hirsch has been nothing short of a cheerleader and mentor to me my entire career, so it’s a feel-good story to have him involved too!!”
As for Clara & The Below, if this is your first time hearing of the project, here’s the official description from the campaign: “To save her bedridden ex-military father, Clara must fight the spirits of the soldiers he killed on the battlefield, in a surreal world under her house known simply as The Below. She is aided by a mischievous toy mutcracker who represents her innocence and childhood, her only guide in a place where the ghosts of the past run rampant.” It might be some time before we see the first episode arrive, though, based on what fans have seen so far, it might be well worth the wait.
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