HBO renews ‘Animals’ for third season

HBO has announced that Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano’s hit animated series Animals has been renewed for a third season.

The series, created by the duo from Duplass Brothers Productions, was initially produced independently and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015, where HBO was eager to pick it up for a two-season run.

Animals focuses on creatures living in Earth’s least-habitable environment: New York City. From lovelorn rats to gender-questioning pigeons, the film captures the “awkward small talk, moral ambiguity and existential woes of non-human urbanites.”

Each episode of the show is written and directed by Matarese and Luciano, who are among the few recurring voice actors on the series.

Animals’ past two seasons have featured special guests including Jessica Chastain (The Martian), Danny McBride (Pineapple Express), Jonah Hill (Superbad), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld), Andy Dick (Road Trip), Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act), Nick Kroll (The League), Jon Lovitz (Happiness), Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) and Adam Scott (Step Brothers).

The animation for the adult-only television series was created by Dan Harmon’s Starburn Industries, best known for Rick and Morty & Charlie Kaufman’s feature film Anomalisa in 2015.

Animals is produced by James Fino (King of the Hill), Joe Russo (Next Day Air) and Kenny Micka (The Goode Family). Jen Roskind (Best Man Down) serves as a co-executive producer, alongside Matarese and Luciano acting as executive producers.