Emmy Award-winning actress Loretta Devine, world-famous drummer Sheila E. and renowned ballet dancer and New York Times bestselling author Misty Copeland have joined the cast of Disney Branded Television’s upcoming series Eureka! Devine will voice Eureka’s grandmother, Wanda, while Sheila E. and Copeland will voice the characters of Yurt, a traveling musician, and Rockanne, a dance teacher, respectively.
Also joining the cast in recurring guest roles are Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) as the school librarian, Chee; Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) as a pet kanga bird; Ryan Michelle Bathé (The Endgame) as Barry’s mom, Sierra; and Wendell Pierce (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) as Barry’s father, Cliff.
The series is set to premiere Wednesday, June 22 at 7:30 p.m. EDT/PDT on Disney Junior. An initial batch of episodes will also premiere the same day on on-demand platforms and streaming on Disney+.
Synopsis: Set in the fantastical prehistoric world of Rocky Falls, Eureka! follows the story of Eureka, a young girl inventor who is way ahead of her time. She designs inventions and contraptions in the hopes of making the world a better place and moving her prehistoric community into a more modern era.
The series stars Ruth Righi (Sydney to the Max) as Eureka, Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) and Lil Rel Howery (Free Guy) as Eureka’s parents, Roxy and Rollo, and Javier Muñoz (Hamilton) as her teacher, Ohm.
Rounding out the voice cast is Kai Zen (Amphibia) as Pepper, Devin Trey Campbell (Broadway’s Kinky Boots) as Barry, Fred Tatasciore (Big Hero 6 The Series) as Murphy, Cree Summer (Vampirina) as Verna, Kevin Michael Richardson (Family Guy) as Dima, Aydrea Walden (The Mandalorian) as Olive and Groopy, Connor Andrade (We Baby Bears) as Clod, Cade Tropeano (Raising Dion) as Bog, Madigan Kacmar (Chuggington) as Julia, Vivienne Rutherford (Seal Team) as Lark, Judah Howery (Uncle Drew) as twins Spruce and Cypress Stoneland, Dee Bradley Baker (Phineas and Ferb) as Ptero and André Sogliuzzo (American Dad!) as Link.
Eureka! is produced by Academy Award-nominated animation studio Brown Bag Films (Doc McStuffins) in association with Disney Junior. Emmy Award winner Norton Virgien (Doc McStuffins) and award-winning children’s book author/illustrator Niamh Sharkey (Henry Hugglemonster) are the series’ creators and executive producers. Emmy nominee Erica Rothschild (Sofia the First) developed the series with Virgien and Sharkey and serves as co-EP and story editor. Writer and director Rusty Cundieff (Tales from the Hood) and Emmy-nominated producer Donna Brown Guillaume (Happily Ever After: Fairytales for Every Child) are consulting producers.
Christiana “Chee” McGuigan, a science educator who has worked at the California Science Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, serves as the series’ science education consultant. Biomedical scientist, social entrepreneur and former senior policy advisor for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dr. Knatokie Ford, advised on the original series development. Engineering experts from Disney’s world-renowned Imagineering team advised on the early development of Eureka’s inventions.
Multitalented singer, songwriter and producer Kari Kimmel (Spirit Riding Free) is the series’ songwriter, and Emmy winner Frederik Wiedmann (All Hail King Julien) is the composer.
Read all about Eureka! in the 35th Anniversary Issue of Animation Magazine (June/July ’22, No. 321), available soon!
