“Flight of the Conchords” gave the new Netflix film “Thelma” a big hit

The new animated film from Netflix Thelma the unicorn is full of soulful rock music, but one number stands out like a neon sore thumb: “Here Comes the Cud.” And that’s intentional. Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie crafted “Here Comes the Cud” to be as obnoxiously catchy and synthetic as possible. Creating a viral sensation—or at least a number that could pass for a viral sensation in a film’s fictional world—is a tall order. Thelma Directors Jared Hess (Napoleon dynamite) and Lynn Wang (Cartoon Network’s UniKitty! series) spoke to Polygon about how they conceived and planned it.

While unicorn-dressed pony Thelma (Brittany Howard) searches for fame, her manager Vic Diamond (McKenzie’s Flight of the Conchords partner Jemaine Clement) introduces her to wildly popular social media influencer Danny Stallion ( Fred Armisen). whose entire schtick breathes new life into his followers.

Wang says the filmmakers modeled the character based on real online behavior. “Danny was kind of just an amalgamation of all sorts of over-the-top influencers,” she says.

Image: Netflix

Thelma and Danny pretend to be in a relationship for PR reasons, just to give their followers a little intrigue and romance, and Vic decides to work on a song together. First, Thelma is eager to present a collection of songs similar to the powerful rock ballads she sings at the beginning of the film. But Vic says superstars don’t write their own songs: The Algorithm does it for them.

He enters a request into a machine called “Bridget” and it spits out “Here Comes the Cud”, a song with a catchy but soulless beat, simple lyrics, and an over-the-top music video set on a yacht. It’s incredibly catchy, but the lyrics involve chopping up partially digested food and are punctuated by burps and other bodily noises. It’s a far cry from the emotional, more personal songs Thelma sings in a barn at the beginning of the film. For fans of “Flight of the Conchords,” the direct humor, synthesizer music, and rap rhythms will also sound distinctly familiar.

“We had to establish Thelma’s musical brand and figure out what kind of music suits her, that comes naturally from her, and then show how she becomes corrupted by fame and fame,” says Hess. “So it was fun to be able to show that contrast. As soon as it gets to “Here Comes the Cud,” things go downhill.”

The difference between the music Thelma writes for herself and the music the world’s top stars make was very clearly defined. Wang and Hess worked with the film’s songwriters and music producers to explore how this dynamic affected Thelma’s storyline.

“Taura Stinson“Bret McKenzie and all of our songwriters really understood Thelma’s journey and knew what really needed to go into all the lyrics to really drive her emotional journey,” says Wang. “But it’s really fun at the same time. Bret really brought a sense of humor. It was really great.”

Thelma the unicorn is now streaming on Netflix.