Legends of Tomorrow's own Beebo is making the jump from live action to animation. On Wednesday, Dec. 1, the beloved blue furball will appear in his very own animated holiday adventure: Beebo Saves Christmas. The hour-long special sends Beebo (Ben Diskin) on a mission to save Santa Claus (Ernie Hudson). Along the way, his friends Turbo (Yvette Nicole Brown), Fleabo (Keith Ferguson) and Tweebo (Kimiko Glenn) join him on his journey to the North Pole, where they may learn a thing or two about the spirit of Christmas.
Speaking to CBR, Beebo himself Ben Diskin promised that Beebo Saves Christmas is a holiday special with a "universal" story that anyone can enjoy. He broke down Beebo's evolution from his first appearance in Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 up through Beebo Saves Christmas and introduced a few of the other characters who will appear in the special. He pinpointed his favorite song from Beebo Saves Christmas, as well as his favorite Easter egg. He also explained what makes Beebo the right main character for this story, why the Beebo role stands out to him and more.
CBR: Did you ever, in a million years, expect your role of Beebo to evolve like this?
Ben Diskin: Oh, no! Wow, no! [laughs] No, I got hired to do Beebo as part of a loop group, which is just a group of actors who come in to do background voices for the characters on the show who are in the background, and they said, "Hey, yeah, we need somebody who can do a Teddy Ruxpin kind of voice, like something cute."
The head of the loop group reached out to me and said, "Hey, Ben, can you do that?" I'm like, "I could try!" and that's all it was. I just thought it was a random little side character. Then they just kept bringing it back! [laughs] Yeah, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that. I'm so appreciative to all the people who keep liking Beebo and bringing him back for stuff like this.
Before we dive into Beebo Saves Christmas, take me back to the beginning and tell me a little about how you developed the right sound for Beebo's voice.
So the the idea behind the character is he's kind of a Furby ripoff -- well, not ripoff, but he's that world's Furby. But for me, that type of character voice existed back in the 80s with this talking teddy bear called Teddy Ruxpin. I remember that actually scaring me as a child, because I was like, "Oh my God, it's a toy that talks!" and, you know, Child's Play was a thing. But he had this very, very sweet, soft, calming voice. That was just the basis for it. So it just evolved from me doing an impression of a toy that actually scared me.
So until now, Beebo was basically just a talking doll. Tell me a little bit about working with writer Kevin Shinick to find his character and his personality.
Yeah, I feel like this is something that Kevin did really well with this character, is make a character without making too much of a character, right? Because they could have done something crazy, like, oh, I don't know -- Beebo has kleptomania, and also, he has a rocky relationship with his mother and a drinking problem! Like, whoa whoa whoa! This is way too much! That's too much of a character -- back it off.
But he had to have some sort of personality beyond just a smile and a catchphrase, and so the decision was to just keep him very positive and be that type of character who just never gives up, even when the going gets rough. That just suited the pre-established voice and appearance of the character anyway. So that was the balancing act, was keep him interesting without making him too interesting.
I think what Kevin did really well was he created all of these other Bo characters to surround Beebo that have very defining personality traits, that bring those personality traits forward, to balance out the sort of -- I don't want to say blandness of Beebo, but the very soft, gentle nature of this one character and have a bunch of other characters with these striking personalities that bring the whole thing together.
When I went into Beebo Saves Christmas, I kind of assumed it would be this niche Arrowverse story, but I was happily surprised to see that it's pretty accessible to newcomers, too. What do you think viewers should know about the special, especially those who haven't seen Legends of Tomorrow before?
Oh, yeah, I would say you don't really need to know much. I mean, I feel like what they did with this -- and obviously, I didn't write it, so I can't say for certain -- but I feel like what they did was they said, "We're going to create a special that could just exist within the Arrowverse Universe," as opposed to, "We're going to make something that's just for, say, Legends of Tomorrow fans, and that's really going to cater to them and it's gonna have a bunch of references to stuff -- you have to see the show."
I think they just said, "No, we're gonna pretend like this is a special that those characters could watch." It's very universal and has that very simple appeal. So I feel like you don't really need to know a lot going into this. You could just pretend like, hey, it's How The Grinch Stole Christmas or any of those other classic Christmas stories and just watch it and it'll make sense.
Beebo, obviously, is the heart of this special. Aside from the title, what do you think makes him the right character to be at the center of this story?
Oh, it's because Beebo represents what I think Christmas is supposed to represent, which is this positive time where, yeah, there's a lot of stress, there's a lot of anxiety going around, but hey, this is supposed to be a celebration; we're all supposed to be happy and Beebo is that guy who gets everybody back on track when things start feeling like, okay, yeah, we could all just devolve into madness. It's like, "No, no, no, no, it's Christmas, and Christmas is nice! But hey, let's all be happy." I feel like that's sort of the moral of the story, if you will, is recognizing the good parts of the holiday, instead of just focusing on the bad.
It wouldn't be a holiday special without a little singing. What were some of the joys -- and challenges -- of bringing those songs to life?
Well, the main challenge is that I am not a good singer at all. [laughs] I was like, "Oh, you want me to sing in a character voice? Oh no!" But weirdly, the opening song, which I believe is called "I La-La-Love the Holidays," it's great! That one, I was like, "You know what? I could hit these notes. I feel like I know what I'm doing."
The other songs? Oh my gosh! I don't know what they're going to do to make them sound good. I left going, "Oh no, I've ruined the entire special. I'm so terrible at singing. This is awful." But then I got to hear a little bit of it during a pickup session, and they actually did a good job. They must have worked some kind of autotune magic, but boy howdy. I am not a confident singer. So hopefully it does not come across in all of the other stuff.
Up until this point, Beebo must have been a pretty solitary role for you. What was it like to work with folks like Ernie Hudson, Yvette Nicole Brown, Kimiko Glenn and the others? What was something they brought to the table that surprised you?
Oh, I just feel like they brought so much of their own personality into all of the roles. I mean, not every single person is identical with those characters, but you can always tell when an actor is pouring that special bit of themselves into something, because even if the character is just a one-note thing, they feel alive and they feel real. They feel lived-in.
I felt like all of the different performers really brought that essence of who they are and injected it into their characters. So that way, it doesn't feel like I'm just talking to some non-existent thing, because unfortunately, we weren't able to record this ensemble, and we had to do it separately. So I wasn't able to hear their performances when I did mind, but when it all comes together, you go, "Oh wow! No, it really sounds like we're all in the same space, all talking to each other," because it's not people just saying words; it's people actually acting and really bringing something to the characters.
Which other Bo stood out to you, personally?
Fleabo! [laughs] I'm a sucker for the character who's just a grouch and a curmudgeon the entire time. I love that. If we're talking about SpongeBob, I'm a Squidward fan. I love that type of character. That's great. So that's Fleabo. He's our Squidward, and it makes me so happy.
What is one of your favorite Easter eggs or references in Beebo Saves Christmas?
I feel like I'm not spoiling anything, because there's technically a screenshot of this already, but Beebo gets his hands on the Legends of TomorBo DVD and I'm like, "Aaahh!" Yeah, they have a bunch of little Easter egg-y things that are sprinkled throughout the show. It's a wink and a nod without taking over the whole thing.
What is one of your favorite moments or scenes from the special?
Let's see! Oh boy, without spoiling anything... How can I put this? There is a type of thing that I personally do not care to consume that is a thing that winds up being a plot device in the show. That's all I can really say!
What are the odds we'll see you return as Beebo on Legends of Tomorrow someday?
I hope so! I hope it happens. Obviously, I wouldn't be allowed to say anything if it were, but I haven't heard anything. So who knows? Maybe they'll just keep bringing the character back! I know that people are split. Some people are like, [cheerfully] "Oh, boy, Beebo is back!" Other people are like, [groan] "Oh boy, Beebo is back." [laughs] So I always like seeing the reactions of both the positive and the negative, so hopefully they just keep teasing people with it.
You have so many voice acting credits. What makes Beebo stand out to you?
What makes people stand out to me is probably the reception, because most of the characters that I've played, I feel like I can kind of predict whether or not people are going to like them, Beebo, I thought, was just gonna be some random throwaway gag. I was just like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. A voice like this. Perfect. Yeah, fine. Yeah, that'll work," and it wound up becoming something that people really liked!
Oddly enough, it mirrored in real life what it is in the show, where people were actually interested in the character and the toy. What I would hope for is that someday, at some point, somebody makes an official Beebo toy that you can actually purchase, which I think would just be really cool. So that's what I want to see in the future!
Where would you like to see Beebo go next?
I mean, animated series is my default as a greedy actor who wants to do more work, but, yeah, I would just want to see them keep bringing him back and just popping him into things -- even if they don't use me, even if it's just in the background, just random Easter egg, I would just like to see it just hover around in the Arrowverse. I just think that would be cool.
What is one of your favorite memories or experiences from working with this character?
Oh, it's definitely -- I don't remember what the character's name is, and I'm sure you'll be able to tell me what it is -- the demon character [Mallus] that winds up fighting a giant Beebo. That whole fight scene. That is definitely the standout, just because it was like, "Make Bruce Lee noises as Beebo, and just take this giant monster out with this huge cuddly nonsense!" I'm like, "This is the dumbest thing, and that's what makes it the best thing ever!"
You also play AZI-3 in Star Wars: The Bad Batch. What's in store for that character in Season 2?
Oh, I don't know if I'm allowed to talk because I don't know if we're actually greenlit for more yet, but I believe -- because they always try to come up with stuff in advance. So I don't think that he's gone. I think that he does come back, but I would expect maybe a diminished role. I don't think he's going to join the team. I feel like he's sort of served as a bit of a plot point, if you will. I could only see him being used as like a sacrificial pawn. So hopefully, that's not what happens. But yeah, I don't know how much I'm allowed to talk about AZ!
Beebo Saves Christmas airs Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 8 pm ET/PT on The CW.