By Beth Deitchman
We’ve got egg-cellent news: Disney Junior’s new animated comedy-adventure series The Chicken Squad will premiere with two back-to-back episodes on Friday, May 14 (7:30 p.m. EDT/PDT) on Disney Junior and DisneyNOW. The series, which takes inspiration from the popular books from Doreen Cronin, follows three young chicks—Coop, voiced by Ramone Hamilton; Sweetie, voiced by Gabriella Graves; and Little Boo, voiced by Maxwell Simkins—and their retired search-and-rescue dog mentor, Captain Tully, who is voiced by Yvette Nicole Brown. The chicken siblings and Captain Tully embark on all manner of adventures in their very own backyard—from rescuing a stranded puppy from a creek to helping a bird track down its missing food—and are always at the ready to lend a helping wing.
Today’s announcement also hatched a stellar recurring guest voice cast: Tony Hale (Forky Asks a Question and Disney+’s upcoming The Mysterious Benedict Society) will voice Frazz, a nervous squirrel; Jane Lynch (Glee) is Dr. Dirt, a forensic scientist snail; Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory) plays the chicks’ mother, Dinah; Sean Giambrone (The Goldbergs) voices gruff pack rat Riley; Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Resident) lends his voice to retired firehouse dog Lt. Scruffy; and Melissa Villaseñor (Saturday Night Live) and Zack Pearlman (Dragons: Race to the Edge) will voice mischievous raccoon siblings Wheeze and Snick. Also keep an ear out for Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and Chrissie Fit (Pitch Perfect franchise), who are among the guest stars fans will hear during The Chicken Squad’s first season. Bloom and Fit will lend their voices to Rebeecca, a nervous honeybee, and Quilla, a friendly porcupine, respectively.
A digital soundtrack, Disney Junior Music: The Chicken Squad, featuring the theme song and music from the series, is also set for release Friday, May 14, on Walt Disney Records. Check out the series’ catchy theme song, below (and you might just be tempted to cluck along):
Each episode is comprised of two 11-minute stories in which the chicks model what it means to be good community helpers and find the joy in assisting others. Every new mission will heralded by the recurring “Chicken Charge” anthem, sung by the chicks; and new original songs will showcase a wide range of musical styles, including pop, R&B, country, hip-hop, and electronic.
The Chicken Squad was developed and is executive produced by Emmy® Award winner Tom Rogers (Elena of Avalor). Humanitas Prize and Emmy® Award winner Rachel Ruderman (Sofia the First) is co-producer and story editor; Tony Trujillo (FarmVille 2) is art director; and Emmy Award-nominated Elliot M. Bour (Elena of Avalor) and Scott Bern (Puppy Dog Pals) are supervising directors.
GRAMMY® Award winner Alex Geringas (Voltron: Legendary Defender) and Emmy Award-nominated Mike Himelstein (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) are the series’ songwriters, and Emmy Award winner Gregory James Jenkins (T.O.T.S.) is composer. The Chicken Squad theme song is performed by multitalented actress, singer, and recording artist Renée Sandstrom (Kids Incorporated/Wild Orchid), along with Geringas.
The series is produced by Wild Canary in association with Disney Junior.
