Buddy Director Casper Kelly on Twisted Children’s TV Mascot Horror

Posted in: Exclusive, Horror, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Buddy, Roadside Attractions, Saban Films

Buddy Director Casper Kelly on Twisted Children's TV Mascot Horror

Writer-director Casper Kelly (Adult Swim) spoke to us about his latest Roadside Attractions/Saban Films slasher, Buddy, ensemble cast, and more.

Published Sun, 30 Aug 2026 19:17:09 -0500
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• Buddy director Casper Kelly reveals how children’s TV mascots inspired his twisted slasher-comedy horror vision.
• Kelly breaks down Buddy’s creepy premise, blending mascot horror, satire, scares, and emotional depth.
• Casper Kelly shares how Cristin Milioti, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt joined Buddy.
• Buddy’s creator explains how Adult Swim shaped the film’s fast pace, big scope, and challenging bloody set pieces.

Writer and director Casper Kelly is among those who wonder about the appeal of TV mascots on children's TV, whether it comes in the form of Sesame Street, Barney the Dinosaur, or Teletubbies, as the most famous examples, and what went on behind closed doors. While there have been twisted horror and satirical takes on the genre before with the 2002 black comedy Death to Smoochy and the 2019 horror comedy The Banana Splits Movie, a literal reimagining of the 1968 Hanna-Barbera children's TV series with a bloody twist, Kelly's take on it comes in the form of Buddy, which follows a woman (Cristin Milioti) who comes to realize she has a child (Delaney Quinn) no one remembers, including herself, whose disappearance is related to a forgotten 1990s style children's television show. Kelly spoke to Bleeding Cool about the inspiration behind the Roadside Attractions/Saban Films comedy slasher, working with co-writer Jamie King on the script, the film's ensemble cast, breaking down the film's themes, and how his work on Adult Swim influenced the project.

Buddy Writer-Director Casper Kelly on Crafting Slasher Through a Children's TV Character

BC: What's the inspiration behind Buddy?

Kelly: Tom, I was thinking about these children's shows of a certain kind where everything seems so perfect, the kids are so well behaved, and wondering if there's anything behind that. As a young kid, when I turned on the TV, I thought I wasn't looking into people's lives, so when I first saw characters suddenly break into song and start dancing, it made me wonder, "How do they all know to do that? What's going on? Have they been brainwashed? What's happening?" Just thinking about authority figures and how strange it is for a show to have an authority figure that's a giant purple dinosaur, or in our case, an orange unicorn.

What made Jamie an ideal creative partner for this?

Well, we were paired together, recommended by (executive producer) J.D. Lifshitz, this co-writer, Jamie King, and we just were on the same page. We just had a great time writing together, and I guess we have similar, sick sensibilities.

You have such a wide ensemble here. How'd you guys land just getting Cristin, Keegan-Michael (Key), Michael (Shannon), Topher (Grace), and Patton (Oswalt) involved?

It was [on] a case-by-case basis. With Cristin, her agent was a real advocate for our script. I met with Cristin, and we got along great, so we got her on board. I've worked with Patton Oswalt a lot before, so he was on board. The producers had made 'Take Shelter' (2011), which was Michael Shannon's breakout movie, so they were able to get the script to him, and Keegan-Michael Key, as soon as we thought of him, that seemed like the perfect person to play Buddy. Topher is just great, too. I've just always been a fan, so it's in myriad ways that we would get these people on board.

What made Delaney ideal to play Freddy?

I think her face is so expressive, and in watching the auditions, there were many, over and over, where I would start to doubt the scene that they were doing and if it was good or if I needed to rewrite it. When Delaney came on, she made it work, brought it to life, and made it feel real. I think she's a huge horror fan and wanted this role very badly, and I think it carried through.

What made a movie like Buddy ideal for being in the horror space? I was remembering one other movie that was more of a satirical space, which was 'Death to Smoochy' (2002). I was wondering why you think the idea in Buddy works so well in horror?

It's a great question. There is a sort of subgenre of mascot horror, and I guess something is appealing about the contrast of something cute and innocent doing something horrific. I took it as my job as the co-writer and director to make sure it's not just about that, to give it depth, and to make it funny and scary, but also moving and hopefully thought-provoking so that the audience can talk about it afterwards. It's an absurd premise, but I put a lot into it, and hopefully the audience gets a lot out of it.

You spent so much time contributing content for Adult Swim, and I was wondering how that time and experience helped, if at all, shape your experience and maybe make Buddy what it is?

Absolutely. Working with Adult Swim, which I did for decades, was a dream, and they're still my friends, and I still do work for them on occasion. I think it taught me a lot of things. I did a lot of live-action directing with them and animation, but it taught me to use time effectively, because usually our things are very short, like 11 minutes. So, we learned economy and how to put a lot into a short amount of time. When I started to do longer-form things, I found myself putting in a lot. Like, I had found that I had an ability, like I'm probably less likely to do a contained horror thriller in one house. I like to go to places and do a lot of things and really go on an adventure, and hopefully, I did that with Buddy.

Was there a particular sequence that was difficult to get through, or maybe a little more challenging than some of the other scenes?

Well, there were a lot of difficult scenes, because it was such a limited budget for such a story that's quite big in scope. I would say some of the violent sequences were challenging, because a lot of times, they involve puppets and people, but also, I would only get a chance to do it once, since there's a lot of blood flying. I would be told, "Well, we're not going to have an opportunity…we don't have time to clean the blood off and shoot another one, so you're going to have to make this one count." Luckily, we were able to make that work, and it made it more exciting.

Buddy is available in theaters on August 28th.

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