It’s always exciting to see a fun, new original 2D-animated show launch on Nickelodeon. This month’s hot new series Wylde Pak, which is created by Paul Watling and Kyle Marshall, follows the adventures of two half-siblings as they adjust to their newly formed Korean-American family. The show, which features the voices of Nikki Castillo, Benjamin Plessala, Jee Young Han, Ben Pronsky and Jean Yoon, is the second production launched via Nickelodeon’s Intergalactic Shorts Program following Rock Paper Scissors.
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| Wylde Pak [c/o Nickelodeon] |
The show’s executive producers, Watling (The Tiger’s Apprentice), Marshall (The Loud House) and Seonna Hong (The Wild Robot) were kind enough to answer a few questions about their new Nicktoon for Animation Magazine:
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| Nikki Castillo, Benjamin Plessala, Ben Pronsky, Jee Young Han, and Jean Yoon lead the voice cast of “Wylde Pak,” which is is produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, and executive produced by Watling, Marshall, Seonna Hong and Conrad Vernon. The musical trio LIONCHLD created and composed the theme song and musical score. [c/o Nickelodeon] |
Animation Magazine: Can you tell us a bit about the origins of the show? How did it all begin?
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| Paul Watling [c/o Nickelodeon] |
Paul Watling: To be honest, it began with spaghetti and meatballs at Little Dom’s restaurant in Los Feliz (in Los Angeles) , Kyle and I would meet regularly to catch up and talk shop. We’d hatched an earlier iteration of the show that revolved around Jack and Lily, however there was a whole sci-fi element. It was actually in development at another studio for a while … until it wasn’t of course.
Fast forward to us pitching a slew of ideas to Nickelodeon, one of which was the fragmented relics of this thing we’d been developing, and that was the one Nick really responded to: specifically, the two main characters, Jack and Lily. We ditched the whole sci-fi element and started thinking about the stories we wanted to tell, and for us, the most authentic storytelling comes from experience. That’s where we looked to start shaping the family and the world these kids would inhabit.
I had recently met my wife, Seonna, and lucked out by getting a two-for-one, in that I also got a Tigerlily, my stepdaughter. Having stepparents of my own, I had a full circle moment and thought there were some juicy stories to mine here. Kyle was a new dad as well, to two awesome little dudes, Jack and Charlie. We both realized we had no idea what we were doing when it came to adulting and joked about waiting for the real grown-ups to show up and help out. We liked this idea of exploring the messiness of family life, relationships, and the notion that there is no one size fits all when it comes to family. We threw all our own experiences, good, bad, and everything in between, into the DNA of this show and let it evolve from there.
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| “Wylde Pak” chronicles the adventures of two half-siblings, Lily Pak and Jack Wylde, and their daily exploits as they adjust to their newly formed Korean American family. (Image: Nickelodeon) |
How long did it take to get the show off the ground?
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| Kyle Marshall [c/o Nickelodeon] |
Kyle Marshall: We originally pitched the concept to Nickelodeon in 2019, and it became part of their Intergalactic Shorts Program. We made a seven-minute short along with a series bible and a few sample scripts. It was a rollercoaster, as all development is, and that original short looks and feels completely different from what you see now. However, the family and their relationships remain the same (it even had a different title). It was cool to make that short and see what was working and what wasn’t. Small tweaks were made to the look, sound, and tone, which totally elevated the series once we started production. We wanted to push the show and were lucky to have the studios’ support in overhauling these elements, resulting in what is now Wylde Pak.
Can you describe the visual style of Wylde Pak?
Kyle: We wanted Wylde Pak to have its own unique look but still feel familiar. The series tries to capture the messiness and beauty of family dynamics, and it was important to us to have that reflected in the design. Our art director, JiSoo Kim, and her team nailed this idea. The backgrounds are all a bit wonky with a messier line, no perfect angles, or straight lines. The characters are animated in Harmony, and our animation studio, Jam Filled, created a line that looks more organic, giving it subtle movement with each frame. The directing and board teams also played a huge part in influencing the style. The compositions and backgrounds are dynamic and wonky, but what really makes it unique is the way our teams handle expressions and posing. Those boards influenced everyone down the line, from design and color to animation.
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| “Wylde Pak” premieres on Nickelodeon this Friday (June 6). |
What sets the show apart in this busy animation market for children?
Kyle: The idea was to make a show that we enjoyed watching. We wanted the characters to be genuine and the stories to come from an honest place. They often start small and simple, then spiral out of control. Although the series has an arc, we viewed the season like a mixtape. You will tune in to watch the characters you love, but the episodes can be wildly different in tone, so you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into each week.
What were your biggest challenges?
Paul: We’ve been doing this for a few years now, and we wanted to step outside our comfort zone. We put together a team that would push us, just a crazy, talented group of people with different styles and experiences. We gave them freedom to run, and in the beginning, it was a little messy, but once we started putting it all together, we found exactly what we were looking for, and it was pretty amazing.
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| Wylde Pak [c/o Nickelodeon] |
Who are your big animation heroes/inspirations?
Paul: Probably the three biggest influences were The Amazing World of Gumball, My Neighbors the Yamada’s and Freaks and Geeks.
What do you hope audiences will take away from the show?
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| Seonna Hong [c/o Nickelodeon] |
Kyle: A few laughs, a couple tears, and to know that there’s not just one blueprint for a family.
Seonna Hong: We hope kids see themselves, their families and their friends in this show, whether it’s through multicultural, multigenerational, or blended family dynamics. All the characters are multi-dimensional too, which I think is important because that’s what makes it feel authentic too.
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| “Wylde Pak” follows half-siblings, Lily Pak (Nikki Castillo), a competitive and fun-loving 11-year-old girl, and Jack Wylde (Benjamin Plessala), an adventurous 13-year-old boy, as they navigate their evolving family dynamics, friendships, and hijinks within their newly formed Korean American family. (Nickelodeon) |
Do you have a favorite storyline this season?
Kyle: It’s hard to pick just one, and we can’t be giving any spoilers, but the journey of their entire summer is a storyline we are proud of.
Seonna: And any episode with Halmoni!
Can you perhaps offer some advice for those who dream of launching their own animated show one day?
Kyle: The industry has dramatically changed since we started. There are so many alternative routes outside of the traditional studio model to get your work out there. Use them, don’t wait for a studio to come knocking. If you build it, they will come.
Wylde Pak premieres on Nickelodeon on Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT) in the U.S. and later this year internationally.
From Parents:
A New Nickelodeon Show Explores Blended Family Dynamics With Realness and Humor
'Wylde Pak' premieres in June.
From The Proud Family to Phineas and Ferb, kids shows have long been surprisingly adept at providing kids with examples of diverse and inclusive families. Now we can add another show to the list: Premiering on Nickelodeon on June 6th, Wylde Pak tells the story of a blended family. Kids will find plenty to giggle at, and parents will enjoy that the adult characters on the show have their own rich and funny plot arcs, too.
What is Wylde Pak All About?
Wylde Pak kicks off by introducing viewers to a newly formed family. The 30-minute premiere episode “Best Summer Ever?” introduces viewers to 13-year-old 11-year-old Jack and Lily. Lily lives a cozy, chaotic life with her dad, William Wylde, her mom Min-Ju Pak and Min’s mom, Halmoni.
Meanwhile, Jack has mostly lived on the road with his mother, Alice Kelly who is a documentarian. When Kelly worries that a nomadic life isn’t the best fit for Jack, she sends him to live with his dad and step-mom, and he and his half-sister Lily begin to navigate a whole new family dynamic together—but the new family set-up proves to be challenging, as the kids have spent most of their childhood living apart.
In addition to the tumultuous period of adjustment to a family in the wake of a big change, the Wylde-Pak family's pet grooming and boarding business, which the kids help run, is also in the mix.
With warmth, tenderness, and relatable humor, the show explores and reflects the challenges and rewards of life in a big, blended, close-knit family that experiences its fair share of conflict—with love at the heart of everything they do.
In this exclusive clip from the show, Lily and Jack team up to take advantage of the "perfect summer day."
What Kids and Parents Can Take Away from the Show
Paul Watling and Seonna Hong aren’t just the co-executive producers of Wylde Pak. They are also married IRL and their family life served as the inspiration for the show: When Watling and Hong married, he got a “two for one,” in that Watling also became step-father to Hong’s daughter.
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| A still from the Nickelodeon show 'Wylde Pak' showing all the main characters. | Photo: Parents/Nickelodeon |
Kyle Marshall, an animator and creative partner of Watling, had also recently become a parent when they started sketching up the show that would eventually become Wylde Pak.
“We were laughing about how we had no idea what we were doing as new parents,” Watling says, explaining that his experience of becoming a step-parent was particularly poignant because he himself had been a step-child growing up. “Here I was in the shoes of a step-parent now, and there were so many amazing stories there.”
With Wylde Pak, he says that he, Marshall, and Hong set out to create a show that really explores and reflects the real-life messiness and beauty of everyone's first relationship, which is with their family.
In the show’s diversity and specificity, Hong hopes families watching will actually find a refreshing, relatable sense of authenticity in their depiction of a blended family, as well.
“There are characters on screen that you might not have seen before, and there are family dynamics that may not have been represented in animation before: Blended family, cultural dynamics, multi-generational dynamics at play. But at the heart of it, it's just a family trying to figure stuff out,” Hong says.
With a rich cast of characters, everyone in your family will be able to relate to the Wylde-Pak family in a different way. And though the animation style and overall tone of the show is quite different from Bluey, what it does have in common is a respect for the tender depths that can be reached by simply telling nuanced family stories that show both the messiness and the joy of growing up.
Here are the key characters your family will get to know in the first season:
Lily Pak
High-energy, curious and eager, Lily is an independent 11-year-old who longs to carve out her place in the world.
“Lily has grown up in a little bubble,” Watling says. “She's very comfortable in that bubble. She’s been living like an only child, so she's really close with her folks. She knows her town inside out. She's got her core friends. And she's very confident, outgoing. But when she's pushed outside of her comfort zone, she starts to unravel a little bit.”
Jack Wylde
After living largely with his mom, and traveling with her as she makes her world-renowned documentary films, Jack faces a big lifestyle change when he moves in with his dad, William.
“Jack has never set roots anywhere, he's not used to comfort. His comfort is in being a filmmaker with his mom,” explains Watling. “When he's forced to settle down in this town over the course of a summer with Lily, that pushes him outside of his comfort zone. So you can see we have this sort of a yin and yang, these characters who are very opposite. Hopefully through the course of the season, they see the benefit of having each other in their lives.”
William Wylde
Jack and Lily’s dad, a well-meaning, loving and occasionally-fumbling guy who is making it up as he goes along in a way that the adults watching with their kids will understand.
Min-Ju Pak
Juggling her marriage, her daughter, her mother, and now her step-son all under one roof (not to mention the pet grooming business), Min-Ju is a mom (and step-mom) with a lot on her plate.
Of writing the parent characters, Watling says, “We're really trying not to play into any stereotypes of parents, and we wanted to show the closeness of these parents, too. They have some really sweet moments on screen together. They're human beings with feelings for each other and for their families, and we wanted to explore that.”
Halmoni
The matriarch of the Wylde-Pak household, Halmoni is Lily’s grandmother. She is a balancing, grounding force in the home. Though she can be a bit unpredictable at times, she gives the kids (and adults!) a lot of love and care.
Wylde Pak premieres on Friday, June 6, and airs every Friday night on Nickelodeon.
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Originally published: June 06, 2025.
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