The long-gestating Daria spinoff that focuses on one of its supporting characters, Jodie Landon, is finally moving forward. Per a press release provided to The Root, the project, which was originally ordered as a series, will now become an animated film.
As we previously reported at The Root, Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross will voice Jodie and executive produce the movie. “As a very cool bonus, Jodie will be the first adult animated show in almost 20 years that will star a Black woman,” Ross said when the project was first announced. “It will be a smart, funny workplace comedy full of commentary about everything from gentrification to sex to tech to call-out culture.”
Per the official synopsis: “Jodie follows Jodie Landon as she leaves college, moves to a gentrifying city, and begins a job at Firstfinity, a mysterious Google-like tech company.”
“What Daria did for showing how inane high school was for Gen X, Jodie will do for exploring the trials and tribulations of that first post-college job for a new generation. The show will satirize workplace culture, Gen Z struggles, tech, social media and more.”
In addition to Ross, the voice cast will include William Jackson Harper (The Underground Railroad) as Mack, “Jodie’s witty and supportive high school sweetheart;” Kofi Siriboe (Queen Sugar) as Raymond, “Jodie’s incredibly handsome, but not-so-friendly supervisor at Firstfinity;” Kal Penn (Designated Survivor) as Sandeep, a “fellow intern who is a fitness-obsessed, tech bro” and Dulcé Sloan (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah) as Cas, “Jodie’s fun-loving best friend from college and new roommate. A finance genius and social butterfly, Cas plays as hard as she grinds.”
Viewers will also hear the familiar voices of Pamela Adlon (Better Things), Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding), Arden Myrin (Insecure) and Alex Moffat (Saturday Night Live).
We originally met Jodie Landon on the MTV animated series Daria, which ran for five seasons from 1997 to 2002. She was basically Daria’s Black friend and didn’t have much to do beyond that. While Jodie was ambitious and always striving to be perfect, she was also one of the show’s few reasonable characters. Unlike everyone who wasn’t Daria or Jane, she wasn’t an over-the-top caricature. If there were going to be a spinoff on someone who wasn’t one of the two leads, Jodie is the best choice. That being said, I wouldn’t mind a quick update on Daria and Jane.
For the kids looking to catch up on one of the most entertaining shows of the ‘90s or Gen X fans who want to relive the glory days, Daria is now streaming on Paramount+.